Metagenomic analyses of gut microbiome composition and function with age in a wild bird; little change, except increased transposase gene abundance.

ABSTRACT: Studies on wild animals, mostly undertaken using 16S metabarcoding, have yielded ambiguous evidence regarding changes in the gut microbiome (GM) with age and senescence. Furthermore, variation in GM function has rarely been studied in such wild populations, despite GM metabolic characteristics potentially being associated with host senescent declines. Here, we used 7 years of repeated sampling of individuals and shotgun metagenomic sequencing to investigate taxonomic and functional changes in the GM of Seychelles warblers (Acrocephalus sechellensis) with age. Our results suggest that taxonomic GM species richness declines with age and in the terminal year, with this terminal decline occurring consistently across all ages. Taxonomic and functional GM composition also shifted with hos

SUBMITTER: Lee CZ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11833318 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature