We are pleased to share this recent publication with the community.
Title: Bacterial microbiomes from mucus and breath of southern resident killer whales (Orcinus orca)
Abstract: Opportunities to assess odontocete health are restricted due to their
limited time at the surface, relatively quick movements and large
geographic ranges. For endangered populations such as the southern
resident killer whales (SKRWs) of the northeast Pacific Ocean, taking
advantage of non-invasive samples such as expelled mucus and exhaled
breath is appealing. Over the past 12 years, such samples were
collected, providing a chance to analyse and assess their bacterial
microbiomes using amplicon sequencing. Based on operational taxonomic
units, microbiome communities from SRKW and transient killer whales
showed little overlap between mucus, breath and seawater from SRKW
habitats and six bacterial phyla were prominent in expelled mucus but
not in seawater. Mollicutes and Fusobacteria were common and abundant in
mucus, but not in breath or seawater, suggesting these bacterial
classes may be normal constituents of the SRKW microbiome. Out of 134
bacterial families detected, 24 were unique to breath and mucus,
including higher abundances of Burkholderiaceae, Moraxellaceae and Chitinophagaceae. Although there were multiple bacterial genera in breath or mucus that include pathogenic species (e.g. Campylobacter, Hemophilus, Treponema),
the presence of these bacteria is not necessarily evidence of disease
or infection. Future emphasis on genotyping mucus samples to the
individual animal will allow further assessment in the context of that
animal’s history, including body condition index and prior contaminants
burden. This study is the first to examine expelled mucus from cetaceans
for microbiomes and demonstrates the value of analysing these types of
non-invasive samples.