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<p>As the pinnacle of the food chain, marine mammals play a pivotal role in maintaining the stability of ecosystems and are particularly susceptible to environmental changes. A comprehensive understanding of their gut microbiota can serve as an effective metric for assessing their health and predicting their response to disturbances. However, our knowledge of the gut fungal community in marine mammals and its associated potential health risks remains limited. This study focuses on the gut fungal profiles of spotted seals in the Liaodong Bay of China, utilizing PacBio sequencing to obtain the full-length sequences of the fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) gene. The analysis revealed that wild seals exhibited significantly higher alpha diversity compared to captive seals. Furthermore, a clear distinction in the composition of gut fungal communities was observed between the two groups, with the wild population exhibiting higher abundances of <i>Alternaria</i> and <i>Cladosporium</i>, and lower abundances of <i>Kurtzmaniella</i> and <i>Clydaea</i>. In addition, the comparison of fungal functional guilds revealed that the gut fungal community of wild seals contains a greater proportion of pathotrophs compared to that of captive seals. Furthermore, null model analysis revealed that the gut fungal communities of spotted seals were governed by deterministic assembly, a phenomenon that manifested with greater intensity in wild individuals. Additionally, distinguishing between abundant and rare fungal taxa revealed that the higher diversity, greater abundance of pathotrophs, and stronger deterministic assembly observed in the gut fungal community of wild seals can be attributed to the presence of a more diverse array of rare fungi. These findings contribute to our understanding of the gut fungal community of spotted seals and its variations in response to captivity, which will inform the development of effective strategies to improve the conservation, salvation, and reintroduction of this endangered marine mammal.</p>

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Rarer fungal taxa contribute to pathotrophic and deterministic assemblages in wild spotted seal faeces

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年7月31日

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  • Jiashen Tian,
  • Zhichuang Lu,
  • Zhen Wang,
  • Jing Du,
  • Yankuo Xing,
  • Xianggang Gao,
  • Zhongren Kong,
  • Jiabo Han

摘要

As the pinnacle of the food chain, marine mammals play a pivotal role in maintaining the stability of ecosystems and are particularly susceptible to environmental changes. A comprehensive understanding of their gut microbiota can serve as an effective metric for assessing their health and predicting their response to disturbances. However, our knowledge of the gut fungal community in marine mammals and its associated potential health risks remains limited. This study focuses on the gut fungal profiles of spotted seals in the Liaodong Bay of China, utilizing PacBio sequencing to obtain the full-length sequences of the fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) gene. The analysis revealed that wild seals exhibited significantly higher alpha diversity compared to captive seals. Furthermore, a clear distinction in the composition of gut fungal communities was observed between the two groups, with the wild population exhibiting higher abundances of Alternaria and Cladosporium, and lower abundances of Kurtzmaniella and Clydaea. In addition, the comparison of fungal functional guilds revealed that the gut fungal community of wild seals contains a greater proportion of pathotrophs compared to that of captive seals. Furthermore, null model analysis revealed that the gut fungal communities of spotted seals were governed by deterministic assembly, a phenomenon that manifested with greater intensity in wild individuals. Additionally, distinguishing between abundant and rare fungal taxa revealed that the higher diversity, greater abundance of pathotrophs, and stronger deterministic assembly observed in the gut fungal community of wild seals can be attributed to the presence of a more diverse array of rare fungi. These findings contribute to our understanding of the gut fungal community of spotted seals and its variations in response to captivity, which will inform the development of effective strategies to improve the conservation, salvation, and reintroduction of this endangered marine mammal.