Rookery through rehabilitation: Microbial community assembly in newborn harbour seals after maternal separation.

ABSTRACT: Microbial community assembly remains largely unexplored in marine mammals, despite its potential importance for conservation and management. Here, neonatal microbiota assembly was studied in harbour seals (Phoca vitulina richardii) at a rehabilitation facility soon after maternal separation, through weaning, to the time of release back to their native environment. We found that the gingival and rectal communities of rehabilitated harbour seals were distinct from the microbiotas of formula and pool water, and became increasingly diverse and dissimilar over time, ultimately resembling the gingival and rectal communities of local wild harbour seals. Harbour seal microbiota assembly was compared to that of human infants, revealing the rapid emergence of host specificity and evidence of phylosy

SUBMITTER: Switzer AD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11180496 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature