Skin, but not gut, microbial communities vary with social density in Antarctic fur seals.

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Main Authors:	Botsidou, Petroula, Schloter, Michael, Maraci, Öncü, Gschwendtner, Silvia, Nagel, Rebecca, Forcada, Jaume, Hoffman, Joseph I
Format:	Artículo científico
Language:	en
Published:	Frontiers in microbiology 2025
Online Access:	Acceder al recurso
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author	Botsidou, Petroula Schloter, Michael Maraci, Öncü Gschwendtner, Silvia Nagel, Rebecca Forcada, Jaume Hoffman, Joseph I
author_facet	Botsidou, Petroula Schloter, Michael Maraci, Öncü Gschwendtner, Silvia Nagel, Rebecca Forcada, Jaume Hoffman, Joseph I Botsidou, Petroula Schloter, Michael Maraci, Öncü Gschwendtner, Silvia Nagel, Rebecca Forcada, Jaume Hoffman, Joseph I
collection	PubMed - marine biology
contents	Skin, but not gut, microbial communities vary with social density in Antarctic fur seals. Botsidou, Petroula Schloter, Michael Maraci, Öncü Gschwendtner, Silvia Nagel, Rebecca Forcada, Jaume Hoffman, Joseph I Comparative studies of microbial communities occupying different body sites in wild vertebrates are scarce, but they are crucial for advancing our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary factors shaping animal microbiomes. We therefore used a natural experiment comprising mother-offspring pairs from two adjacent Antarctic fur seal breeding colonies that differ in social density to investigate differences between skin and gut microbial communities in relation to host-specific and environmental factors. Using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, we uncovered a strong influence of colony on the diversity and composition of skin but not gut microbial communities. Specifically, we observed a suppressive effect of high social density on skin microbial alpha diversity as well as an overabundance of phyla associated with diseases and bite wounds in the high-density colony. Our findings suggest that skin microbial communities may be more sensitive to external factors, whereas gut communities are more tightly regulated by the host. Overall, this study highlights the importance of considering multiple body sites and their distinct microbial communities to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the factors shaping microbial diversity and composition in marine mammals.
format	Artículo científico
id	pubmed_40673147
institution	PubMed
language	en
publishDate	2025
publisher	Frontiers in microbiology
record_format	pubmed
spellingShingle	Skin, but not gut, microbial communities vary with social density in Antarctic fur seals. Botsidou, Petroula Schloter, Michael Maraci, Öncü Gschwendtner, Silvia Nagel, Rebecca Forcada, Jaume Hoffman, Joseph I Skin, but not gut, microbial communities vary with social density in Antarctic fur seals. Botsidou, Petroula Schloter, Michael Maraci, Öncü Gschwendtner, Silvia Nagel, Rebecca Forcada, Jaume Hoffman, Joseph I Comparative studies of microbial communities occupying different body sites in wild vertebrates are scarce, but they are crucial for advancing our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary factors shaping animal microbiomes. We therefore used a natural experiment comprising mother-offspring pairs from two adjacent Antarctic fur seal breeding colonies that differ in social density to investigate differences between skin and gut microbial communities in relation to host-specific and environmental factors. Using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, we uncovered a strong influence of colony on the diversity and composition of skin but not gut microbial communities. Specifically, we observed a suppressive effect of high social density on skin microbial alpha diversity as well as an overabundance of phyla associated with diseases and bite wounds in the high-density colony. Our findings suggest that skin microbial communities may be more sensitive to external factors, whereas gut communities are more tightly regulated by the host. Overall, this study highlights the importance of considering multiple body sites and their distinct microbial communities to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the factors shaping microbial diversity and composition in marine mammals.
title	Skin, but not gut, microbial communities vary with social density in Antarctic fur seals.
url	https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40673147/