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...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
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:
R
Q
Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/9a36d2ec6d5a4bbb8321664d4eb23135
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
id oai:doaj.org-article:9a36d2ec6d5a4bbb8321664d4eb23135
record_format dspace
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
_version_ 1718372089613778944