Diet-driven mercury contamination is associated with polar bear gut microbiota

Abstract The gut microbiota may modulate the disposition and toxicity of environmental contaminants within a host but, conversely, contaminants may also impact gut bacteria. Such contaminant-gut microbial connections, which could lead to alteration of host health, remain poorly known and are rarely...

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Autores principales:	Sophie E. Watson, Melissa A. McKinney, Massimo Pindo, Matthew J. Bull, Todd C. Atwood, Heidi C. Hauffe, Sarah E. Perkins
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/9a36d2ec6d5a4bbb8321664d4eb23135
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:9a36d2ec6d5a4bbb8321664d4eb231352021-12-05T12:15:43ZDiet-driven mercury contamination is associated with polar bear gut microbiota10.1038/s41598-021-02657-62045-2322https://doaj.org/article/9a36d2ec6d5a4bbb8321664d4eb231352021-12-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-02657-6https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract The gut microbiota may modulate the disposition and toxicity of environmental contaminants within a host but, conversely, contaminants may also impact gut bacteria. Such contaminant-gut microbial connections, which could lead to alteration of host health, remain poorly known and are rarely studied in free-ranging wildlife. The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is a long-lived, wide-ranging apex predator that feeds on a variety of high trophic position seal and cetacean species and, as such, is exposed to among the highest levels of biomagnifying contaminants of all Arctic species. Here, we investigate associations between mercury (THg; a key Arctic contaminant), diet, and the diversity and composition of the gut microbiota of polar bears inhabiting the southern Beaufort Sea, while accounting for host sex, age class and body condition. Bacterial diversity was negatively associated with seal consumption and mercury, a pattern seen for both Shannon and Inverse Simpson alpha diversity indices (adjusted R2 = 0.35, F1,18 = 8.00, P = 0.013 and adjusted R2 = 0.26, F1,18 = 6.04, P = 0.027, respectively). No association was found with sex, age class or body condition of polar bears. Bacteria known to either be involved in THg methylation or considered to be highly contaminant resistant, including Lactobacillales, Bacillales and Aeromonadales, were significantly more abundant in individuals that had higher THg concentrations. Conversely, individuals with higher THg concentrations showed a significantly lower abundance of Bacteroidales, a bacterial order that typically plays an important role in supporting host immune function by stimulating intraepithelial lymphocytes within the epithelial barrier. These associations between diet-acquired mercury and microbiota illustrate a potentially overlooked outcome of mercury accumulation in polar bears.Sophie E. WatsonMelissa A. McKinneyMassimo PindoMatthew J. BullTodd C. AtwoodHeidi C. HauffeSarah E. PerkinsNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Sophie E. Watson Melissa A. McKinney Massimo Pindo Matthew J. Bull Todd C. Atwood Heidi C. Hauffe Sarah E. Perkins Diet-driven mercury contamination is associated with polar bear gut microbiota
description	Abstract The gut microbiota may modulate the disposition and toxicity of environmental contaminants within a host but, conversely, contaminants may also impact gut bacteria. Such contaminant-gut microbial connections, which could lead to alteration of host health, remain poorly known and are rarely studied in free-ranging wildlife. The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is a long-lived, wide-ranging apex predator that feeds on a variety of high trophic position seal and cetacean species and, as such, is exposed to among the highest levels of biomagnifying contaminants of all Arctic species. Here, we investigate associations between mercury (THg; a key Arctic contaminant), diet, and the diversity and composition of the gut microbiota of polar bears inhabiting the southern Beaufort Sea, while accounting for host sex, age class and body condition. Bacterial diversity was negatively associated with seal consumption and mercury, a pattern seen for both Shannon and Inverse Simpson alpha diversity indices (adjusted R2 = 0.35, F1,18 = 8.00, P = 0.013 and adjusted R2 = 0.26, F1,18 = 6.04, P = 0.027, respectively). No association was found with sex, age class or body condition of polar bears. Bacteria known to either be involved in THg methylation or considered to be highly contaminant resistant, including Lactobacillales, Bacillales and Aeromonadales, were significantly more abundant in individuals that had higher THg concentrations. Conversely, individuals with higher THg concentrations showed a significantly lower abundance of Bacteroidales, a bacterial order that typically plays an important role in supporting host immune function by stimulating intraepithelial lymphocytes within the epithelial barrier. These associations between diet-acquired mercury and microbiota illustrate a potentially overlooked outcome of mercury accumulation in polar bears.
format	article
author	Sophie E. Watson Melissa A. McKinney Massimo Pindo Matthew J. Bull Todd C. Atwood Heidi C. Hauffe Sarah E. Perkins
author_facet	Sophie E. Watson Melissa A. McKinney Massimo Pindo Matthew J. Bull Todd C. Atwood Heidi C. Hauffe Sarah E. Perkins
author_sort	Sophie E. Watson
title	Diet-driven mercury contamination is associated with polar bear gut microbiota
title_short	Diet-driven mercury contamination is associated with polar bear gut microbiota
title_full	Diet-driven mercury contamination is associated with polar bear gut microbiota
title_fullStr	Diet-driven mercury contamination is associated with polar bear gut microbiota
title_full_unstemmed	Diet-driven mercury contamination is associated with polar bear gut microbiota
title_sort	diet-driven mercury contamination is associated with polar bear gut microbiota
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/9a36d2ec6d5a4bbb8321664d4eb23135
work_keys_str_mv	AT sophieewatson dietdrivenmercurycontaminationisassociatedwithpolarbeargutmicrobiota AT melissaamckinney dietdrivenmercurycontaminationisassociatedwithpolarbeargutmicrobiota AT massimopindo dietdrivenmercurycontaminationisassociatedwithpolarbeargutmicrobiota AT matthewjbull dietdrivenmercurycontaminationisassociatedwithpolarbeargutmicrobiota AT toddcatwood dietdrivenmercurycontaminationisassociatedwithpolarbeargutmicrobiota AT heidichauffe dietdrivenmercurycontaminationisassociatedwithpolarbeargutmicrobiota AT saraheperkins dietdrivenmercurycontaminationisassociatedwithpolarbeargutmicrobiota
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Diet-driven mercury contamination is associated with polar bear gut microbiota

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