Gut microbiome is affected by inter-sexual and inter-seasonal variation in diet for thick-billed murres (Uria lomvia)

Abstract

The role of the gut microbiome is increasingly being recognized by health scientists and veterinarians, yet its role in wild animals remains understudied. Variations in the gut microbiome could be the result of differential diets among individuals, such as variation between sexes, across seasons, or across reproductive stages. We evaluated the hypothesis that diet alters the avian gut microbiome using stable isotope analysis (SIA) and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. We present the first description of the thick-billed murre (Uria lomvia) fecal microbiome. The murre microbiome was dominated by bacteria from the genus Catellicoccus, ubiquitous in the guts of many seabirds. Microbiome variation was explained by murre diet in terms of proportion of littoral carbon, trophic position, and sulfur isotopes, especially for the classes Actinobacteria, Bacilli, Bacteroidia, Clostridia, Alphaproteobacteria, and Gammaproteobacteria. We also observed differences in the abundance of bacterial genera such as Catellicoccus and Cetobacterium between sexes and reproductive stages. These results are in accordance with behavioural observations of changes in diet between sexes and across the reproductive season. We concluded that the observed variation in the gut microbiome may be caused by individual prey specialization and may also be reinforced by sexual and reproductive stage differences in diet.

Reconstructing Long-Term Changes in Avian Populations Using Lake Sediments: Opening a Window Onto the Past

“…For instance, it may be possible to identify unique microbes of avian intestines and feces, whose presence in sediments may indicate avian inputs. One such bacterial genus is Catellicoccus, which is ubiquitous in the gut microbiome of numerous avian species, including the colonial thick-billed murre (Uria lomvia) (Góngora et al, 2021). The presence of Catellicoccus has been used to track gull fecal contamination in coastal environments (Sinigalliano et al, 2013) and, by extension, it may be possible to track avian trends if it were present in sediments.…”

Distinct gut microbiomes in two polar bear subpopulations inhabiting different sea ice ecoregions

“…Yet, differences in the species composition within phyla among host species appears to be the norm 7 . In mammalian wildlife, variation in bacterial community composition among host species has been attributed to a combination of host phylogeny, habitat, and diet 2 , 8 , 9 ; however, diet appears to be a predominant driver of interspecific variation in gut bacterial community composition and of intraspecific variation 10 – 12 .…”

Establishment of Gut Microbiome During Early Life and Its Relationship With Growth in Endangered Crested Ibis (Nipponia nippon)

“…In birds, in addition to ecological variables such as diet ( Torok et al, 2011 ; Huang et al, 2018 ), captivity status ( Xenoulis et al, 2010 ; Wienemann et al, 2011 ), locality ( Hird et al, 2014 ; Capunitan et al, 2020 ), and seasons ( Lewis et al, 2016 ; Góngora et al, 2021 ), biological factors, such as age, are important factors shaping gut microbiota. For example, gut microbiota during early life has been reported to differ markedly from gut microbiota in conspecific adults, as observed in house sparrow ( Passer domesticus ) ( Kohl et al, 2019 ), black-legged kittiwakes ( Rissa tridactyla ) ( van Dongen et al, 2013 ), chinstrap penguins ( Pygoscelis antarctica ) ( Barbosa et al, 2016 ), and folivorous hoatzin ( Opisthocomus hoazin ) ( Godoy-Vitorino et al, 2010 ).…”