Comparison of the gut microbiota of captive common bottlenose dolphins <i>Tursiops truncatus</i> in three aquaria

Suzuki, Akihiro; Segawa, Tatsuya; Sawa, Shinichiro; Nishitani, C.; Itou, Takuya; Asahina, Kiyoshi; Suzuki, Miwa

doi:10.1111/jam.14109

Cited by 26 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Since Staphylococcus, Streptococcus and Corynebacterium have also been reported in the healthy human respiratory microbiota [33,34], we could not exclude any possible field contamination which may have altered results despite our use of sterile gloves and face masks during sampling procedures. The similarities of our results with those obtained analyzing blow microbial communities of humpback whales [10], the findings of bacterial Genera reported also in other cetaceans' respiratory and skin microbiome [27,28,29,30,32], the peculiarities of cetaceans' respiratory microbiota and the absence of the same bacterial species in the seawater sample confirm the success of our sampling efforts by using the above described tool.…”

Section: Plos Onesupporting

confidence: 87%

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The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to sample the blow microbiome of small cetaceans

et al. 2020

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Recent studies describe the use of UAVs in collecting blow samples from large whales to analyze the microbial and viral community in exhaled air. Unfortunately, attempts to collect blow from small cetaceans have not been successful due to their swimming and diving behavior. In order to overcome these limitations, in this study we investigated the application of a specific sampling tool attached to a UAV to analyze the blow from small cetaceans and their respiratory microbiome. Preliminary trials to set up the sampling tool were conducted on a group of 6 bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) under human care, housed at Acquario di Genova, with approximately 1 meter distance between the blowing animal and the tool to obtain suitable samples. The same sampling kit, suspended via a 2 meter rope assembled on a waterproof UAV, flying 3 meters above the animals, was used to sample the blows of 5 wild bottlenose dolphins in the Gulf of Ambracia (Greece) and a sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy), to investigate whether this experimental assembly also works for large whale sampling. In order to distinguish between blow-associated microbes and seawater microbes, we pooled 5 seawater samples from the same area where blow samples' collection were carried out. The the respiratory microbiota was assessed by using the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene via Illumina Amplicon Sequencing. The pooled water samples contained more bacterial taxa than the blow samples of both wild animals and the sequenced dolphin maintained under human care. The composition of the bacterial community differed between the water samples and between the blow samples of wild cetaceans and that under human care, but these differences may have been mediated by different microbial communities between seawater and aquarium water. The sperm whale's respiratory microbiome was more similar to the results obtained from wild bottlenose dolphins. Although the number of samples used in this study was limited and sampling and analyses were impaired by several limitations, the results are rather encouraging, as shown by the evident microbial differences between seawater and blow samples, confirmed also by the meta-analysis carried out comparing our results with those

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Section: Plos Onesupporting

confidence: 87%

“…and Corynebacterium sp. were found only in wild cetaceans [27,28,29,30]. Same of these Genera were already been reported in blow of humpback whales [10] and killer whales [13].…”

Section: Plos Onesupporting

confidence: 67%

The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to sample the blow microbiome of small cetaceans

et al. 2020

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“…Sample-specific 7 bp barcodes were incorporated into the primers for multiplex sequencing. The PCR components contained 5 μL of Q5 reaction buffer (×5), 5 μL of Q5 High-Fidelity GC buffer (×5), 0.25 μL of Q5 High-Fidelity DNA Polymerase (5 U/μL), 2 μL (2.5 mM) of dNTPs, 1 μl (10 µM) of each forward and reverse primer, 2 μL of DNA template and 8.75 μL of ddH 2 O [20]. Thermal cycling consisted of initial denaturation at 98°C for 2 min, followed by 25 cycles consisting of denaturation at 98°C for 15 s, annealing at 55°C for 30 s and extension at 72°C for 30 s, with a final extension for 5 min at 72°C.…”

Section: S Rrna Gene Amplicon Sequencingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in the fecal microbiome of the Yangtze finless porpoise during a short-term therapeutic treatment

You

Ying

et al. 2020

Open Life Sciences

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AbstractThe fecal microbiome is an integral part of aquatic mammals, like an inner organ. But we know very little about this inner organ of the threatened aquatic species, Yangtze finless porpoise (YFP). Four YFPs were placed into a purse seine for skin ulceration treatment, and this opportunity was taken to nurse the animals closer. In particular, we collected the feces of the YFPs before and after the paired healing and therapeutic treatment, along with samples of their fish diet and water habitat, to explore the changes in their fecal microbiome. Firmicutes (20.9–96.1%), Proteobacteria (3.8–78.7%), Actinobacteria (0.1–35.0%) and Tenericutes (0.8–17.1%) were the most dominant phyla present in the feces. The proportion of Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria increased after the treatment. Firmicutes showed a significant decrease, and most potential pathogens were absent, which reflected the administration of ciprofloxacin hydrochloride. Moreover, environmental shifts can also contribute to changes in the fecal microbiome. These results indicate that certain microbial interactions can be affected by environmental shifts, dietary changes and health-care treatments, which can also help maintain the internal environment of YFPs. These findings will inform the future enhanced protection and management of endangered YFPs and other vulnerable aquatic animals.

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“…There are currently twenty-one studies on the cetacean microbiota available, mostly focused on bottlenose dolphin ( Tursiops truncatus ) samples retrieved in different regions of the world, including captive and in the wild individuals 20–29 . Godoy-Vitorino et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbiota fingerprints within the oral cavity of cetaceans as indicators for population biomonitoring

Soares-Castro

Araújo-Rodrigues

Godoy-Vitorino³

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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The composition of mammalian microbiota has been related with the host health status. In this study, we assessed the oral microbiome of 3 cetacean species most commonly found stranded in Iberian Atlantic waters (Delphinus delphis, Stenella coeruleoalba and Phocoena phocoena), using 16S rDNA-amplicon metabarcoding. All oral microbiomes were dominated by Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes and Fusobacteria bacteria, which were also predominant in the oral cavity of Tursiops truncatus. A Constrained Canonical Analysis (CCA) showed that the major factors shaping the composition of 38 oral microbiomes (p-value < 0.05) were: (i) animal species and (ii) age class, segregating adults and juveniles. The correlation analysis also grouped the microbiomes by animal stranding location and health status. Similar discriminatory patterns were detected using the data from a previous study on Tursiops truncatus, indicating that this correlation approach may facilitate data comparisons between different studies on several cetacean species. This study identified a total of 15 bacterial genera and 27 OTUs discriminating between the observed CCA groups, which can be further explored as microbiota fingerprints to develop (i) specific diagnostic assays for cetacean population conservation and (ii) bio-monitoring approaches to assess the health of marine ecosystems from the Iberian Atlantic basin, using cetaceans as bioindicators.

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Comparison of the gut microbiota of captive common bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus in three aquaria

Abstract: This is the first study revealing the differences in gut microbiota of captive dolphins among facilities. Our findings will provide valuable information for improving the health management of dolphins.

Cited by 26 publications

References 46 publications

The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to sample the blow microbiome of small cetaceans

The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to sample the blow microbiome of small cetaceans

Changes in the fecal microbiome of the Yangtze finless porpoise during a short-term therapeutic treatment

Microbiota fingerprints within the oral cavity of cetaceans as indicators for population biomonitoring

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