Social odours covary with bacterial community in the anal secretions of wild meerkats

Abstract The fermentation hypothesis for animal signalling posits that bacteria dwelling in an animal’s scent glands metabolize the glands’ primary products into odorous compounds used by the host to communicate with conspecifics. There is, however, little evidence of the predicted covariation betwe...

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Autores principales:	Sarah Leclaire, Staffan Jacob, Lydia K. Greene, George R. Dubay, Christine M. Drea
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2017
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/d2eaf476d455444289ceee89c5e01017
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:d2eaf476d455444289ceee89c5e010172021-12-02T11:41:22ZSocial odours covary with bacterial community in the anal secretions of wild meerkats10.1038/s41598-017-03356-x2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/d2eaf476d455444289ceee89c5e010172017-06-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-03356-xhttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract The fermentation hypothesis for animal signalling posits that bacteria dwelling in an animal’s scent glands metabolize the glands’ primary products into odorous compounds used by the host to communicate with conspecifics. There is, however, little evidence of the predicted covariation between an animal’s olfactory cues and its glandular bacterial communities. Using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, we first identified the volatile compounds present in ‘pure’ versus ‘mixed’ anal-gland secretions (‘paste’) of adult meerkats (Suricata suricatta) living in the wild. Low-molecular-weight chemicals that likely derive from bacterial metabolism were more prominent in mixed than pure secretions. Focusing thereafter on mixed secretions, we showed that chemical composition varied by sex and was more similar between members of the same group than between members of different groups. Subsequently, using next-generation sequencing, we identified the bacterial assemblages present in meerkat paste and documented relationships between these assemblages and the host’s sex, social status and group membership. Lastly, we found significant covariation between the volatile compounds and bacterial assemblages in meerkat paste, particularly in males. Together, these results are consistent with a role for bacteria in the production of sex- and group-specific scents, and with the evolution of mutualism between meerkats and their glandular microbiota.Sarah LeclaireStaffan JacobLydia K. GreeneGeorge R. DubayChristine M. DreaNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 1-13 (2017)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Sarah Leclaire Staffan Jacob Lydia K. Greene George R. Dubay Christine M. Drea Social odours covary with bacterial community in the anal secretions of wild meerkats
description	Abstract The fermentation hypothesis for animal signalling posits that bacteria dwelling in an animal’s scent glands metabolize the glands’ primary products into odorous compounds used by the host to communicate with conspecifics. There is, however, little evidence of the predicted covariation between an animal’s olfactory cues and its glandular bacterial communities. Using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, we first identified the volatile compounds present in ‘pure’ versus ‘mixed’ anal-gland secretions (‘paste’) of adult meerkats (Suricata suricatta) living in the wild. Low-molecular-weight chemicals that likely derive from bacterial metabolism were more prominent in mixed than pure secretions. Focusing thereafter on mixed secretions, we showed that chemical composition varied by sex and was more similar between members of the same group than between members of different groups. Subsequently, using next-generation sequencing, we identified the bacterial assemblages present in meerkat paste and documented relationships between these assemblages and the host’s sex, social status and group membership. Lastly, we found significant covariation between the volatile compounds and bacterial assemblages in meerkat paste, particularly in males. Together, these results are consistent with a role for bacteria in the production of sex- and group-specific scents, and with the evolution of mutualism between meerkats and their glandular microbiota.
format	article
author	Sarah Leclaire Staffan Jacob Lydia K. Greene George R. Dubay Christine M. Drea
author_facet	Sarah Leclaire Staffan Jacob Lydia K. Greene George R. Dubay Christine M. Drea
author_sort	Sarah Leclaire
title	Social odours covary with bacterial community in the anal secretions of wild meerkats
title_short	Social odours covary with bacterial community in the anal secretions of wild meerkats
title_full	Social odours covary with bacterial community in the anal secretions of wild meerkats
title_fullStr	Social odours covary with bacterial community in the anal secretions of wild meerkats
title_full_unstemmed	Social odours covary with bacterial community in the anal secretions of wild meerkats
title_sort	social odours covary with bacterial community in the anal secretions of wild meerkats
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2017
url	https://doaj.org/article/d2eaf476d455444289ceee89c5e01017
work_keys_str_mv	AT sarahleclaire socialodourscovarywithbacterialcommunityintheanalsecretionsofwildmeerkats AT staffanjacob socialodourscovarywithbacterialcommunityintheanalsecretionsofwildmeerkats AT lydiakgreene socialodourscovarywithbacterialcommunityintheanalsecretionsofwildmeerkats AT georgerdubay socialodourscovarywithbacterialcommunityintheanalsecretionsofwildmeerkats AT christinemdrea socialodourscovarywithbacterialcommunityintheanalsecretionsofwildmeerkats
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Social odours covary with bacterial community in the anal secretions of wild meerkats

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