The following newly published paper is available Open Access at the link
below (so no need to email for a pdf).
http://msystems.asm.org/content/2/5/e00119-17
DOI: 10.1128/mSystems.00119-17
Title:
Extensive Core Microbiome in Drone-Captured Whale Blow Supports a
Framework for Health Monitoring
Authors:
Amy Apprill, Carolyn A. Miller, Michael J. Moore, John
W. Durban, Holly Fearnbach, Lance G. Barrett-Lennard
ABSTRACT
The pulmonary system is a common site for bacterial infections in
cetaceans, but very little is known about their respiratory microbiome.
We used a small, unmanned hexacopter to collect exhaled breath
condensate (blow) from two geographically distinct populations of
apparently healthy humpback whales (/Megaptera novaeangliae/), sampled
in the Massachusetts coastal waters off Cape Cod (/n/ = 17) and coastal
waters around Vancouver Island (/n/ = 9). Bacterial and archaeal
small-subunit rRNA genes were amplified and sequenced from blow samples,
including many of sparse volume, as well as seawater and other controls,
to characterize the associated microbial community. The blow microbiomes
were distinct from the seawater microbiomes and included 25
phylogenetically diverse bacteria common to all sampled whales. This
core assemblage comprised on average 36% of the microbiome, making it
one of the more consistent animal microbiomes studied to date. The
closest phylogenetic relatives of 20 of these core microbes were
previously detected in marine mammals, suggesting that this core
microbiome assemblage is specialized for marine mammals and may indicate
a healthy, noninfected pulmonary system. Pathogen screening was
conducted on the microbiomes at the genus level, which showed that all
blow and few seawater microbiomes contained relatives of bacterial
pathogens; no known cetacean respiratory pathogens were detected in the
blow. Overall, the discovery of a shared large core microbiome in
humpback whales is an important advancement for health and disease
monitoring of this species and of other large whales.
Further images etc available at:
http://www.whoi.edu/news-release/whale-blow-microbiome
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