A Comparative Study on the Faecal Bacterial Community and Potential Zoonotic Bacteria of Muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) in Northeast Greenland, Northwest Greenland and Norway

Abstract

Muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) are ruminants adapted to a high-fibre diet. There is increasing interest in the role that gut microbes play in the digestion and utilization of these specialized diets but only limited data available on the gut microbiome of high-Arctic animals. In this study, we metabarcoded the 16S rRNA region of faecal samples from muskoxen of Northeast Greenland, Northwest Greenland and Norway, and quantified the effects of physiological and temporal factors on bacterial composition. We found significant effects of body mass, year of sampling and location on the gut bacterial communities of North East Greenland muskoxen. These effects were however dwarfed by the effects of location, emphasizing the importance of the local ecology on the gut bacterial community. Habitat alterations and rising temperatures may therefore have a considerable impact on muskoxen health and reproductive success. Moreover, muskoxen are hunted and consumed in Greenland, Canada and Alaska; therefore, this study also screened for potential zoonoses of food safety interest. A total of 13 potentially zoonotic genera were identified, including the genera Erysipelothrix and Yersinia implicated in recent mass die-offs of the muskoxen themselves.

Geography, seasonality, and host‐associated population structure influence the fecal microbiome of a genetically depauparate Arctic mammal

“…The Canadian muskox bacterial communities were found to be similar to previous fecal microbiome studies from muskoxen from Norway and Greenland ( n = 3 and 39 individuals, respectively) (Andersen‐Ranberg et al, ; Salgado‐Flores et al, ; Ungerfeld et al, ). The core genus Ruminococcaceae UCG‐005 was also reported in all muskoxen samples from Norway and Greenland, while the other three core genera were present in low abundances and were not shared by all samples (Andersen‐Ranberg et al, ). Andersen‐Ranberg et al, () hypothesized the difference in relative bacterial abundances between Eastern Greenland and Norway was due to dietary differences, although the authors did not explicitly test this hypothesis.…”

“…The core genus Ruminococcaceae UCG‐005 was also reported in all muskoxen samples from Norway and Greenland, while the other three core genera were present in low abundances and were not shared by all samples (Andersen‐Ranberg et al, ). Andersen‐Ranberg et al, () hypothesized the difference in relative bacterial abundances between Eastern Greenland and Norway was due to dietary differences, although the authors did not explicitly test this hypothesis. The diversity indices for muskoxen were congruent with the high gut bacterial diversity of ruminants and conformed to the values seen in Norwegian muskox as well as other ungulates, such as sheep, musk deer, and reindeer (Kittelmann et al, ; Li et al, ; Salgado‐Flores et al, ).…”

“…Proteobacteria includes many pathogenic genera, such as the Escherichia , Pseudomonas , and Yersinia genera found within our samples, but it is also symbiotic to the plants that make up the muskox diet and may be naturally found in the intestinal tract (Lock & Wellehan, ). The Ruminococcaceae family composed the majority of the sequences from Firmicutes phyla, and this bacteria family is known to help with digesting highly lignified plant material and made up the majority of the core and common microbiome of muskoxen (Andersen‐Ranberg et al, ; Salgado‐Flores et al, ).…”

“…Mainland had a higher proportion of potentially pathogenic bacteria, which might be expected due to the more recent emergence and northern expansion of pathogens to Victoria Island (Kutz et al, ). Likely as a matter of our more stringent quality control, only three pathogenic bacterial genera ( Streptococcus , Escherichia , and Serratia / Yersinia) were found in common with muskoxen from Greenland (Andersen‐Ranberg et al, ). Among the potential pathogenic bacteria reported in Greenland, an OTU similar to Erysipelothrix was found.…”

“…Previous studies have demonstrated that the muskox gastrointestinal microbiome can be affected by season and diet (Andersen‐Ranberg et al, ; Thulin et al, ; Ungerfeld et al, ), though a study by Ungerfeld et al, () found that quality of forage appeared to drive greater changes than season alone in captive muskoxen in Alaska. With known differences in available flora species, length of growing seasons, and pathogen/parasite abundance and diversity between the mainland and Arctic island regions, spatial differences are expected in the microbiomes of muskoxen.…”