| Title |
Captivity-Induced Changes in the Skin Microbial Communities of Hellbenders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis)
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Microbial Ecology, September 2018
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s00248-018-1258-1 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Obed Hernández-Gómez, Jeffrey T. Briggler, Rod N. Williams |
| Abstract |
Variation in environmental conditions can result in disparate associations between hosts and microbial symbionts. As such, it is imperative to evaluate how environmental variables (e.g., habitat quality) can influence host-associated microbiome composition. Within wildlife conservation programs, captive conditions can negatively influence the establishment and maintenance of "wild-type" microbiotas within a host. Alternative microbial communities can result in the proliferation of disease among captive stock or upon reintroduction. Hellbenders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) are a threatened salamander for which extensive captive management is currently employed. Using metabarcoding, we characterized the skin microbiota of wild and captive hellbenders from two subspecies in the state of Missouri, the eastern (C. a. alleganiensis) and the Ozark hellbender (C. a. bishopi). Both subspecies in our study included wild adults and captive juveniles that were collected from the wild as eggs. Our objectives were to investigate differences in the skin microbial communities' richness/diversity, composition, and functional profiles of microbes between wild and captive individuals. Captive eastern hellbenders possessed richer communities than wild cohorts, whereas the opposite pattern was observed within the Ozark subspecies. We found significant microbial community structure between wild and captive populations of both subspecies. Microbiota structure translated into differences in the predicted metagenome of wild and captive individuals as well. As such, we can expect captive hellbenders to experience alternative microbial structure and function upon reintroduction into the wild. Our study provides a baseline for the effect of captivity on the skin microbial communities of hellbenders, and highlights the need to incorporate microbiota management in current captive-rearing programs. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 16 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 5 | 31% |
| Australia | 1 | 6% |
| New Zealand | 1 | 6% |
| Netherlands | 1 | 6% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | 6% |
| Unknown | 7 | 44% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 10 | 63% |
| Scientists | 5 | 31% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 6% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 39 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 39 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 11 | 28% |
| Student > Master | 10 | 26% |
| Researcher | 6 | 15% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 4 | 10% |
| Student > Bachelor | 2 | 5% |
| Other | 2 | 5% |
| Unknown | 4 | 10% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 14 | 36% |
| Environmental Science | 9 | 23% |
| Veterinary Science and Veterinary Medicine | 4 | 10% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 2 | 5% |
| Immunology and Microbiology | 1 | 3% |
| Other | 3 | 8% |
| Unknown | 6 | 15% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 12. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 19 April 2019.
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#3,088,461
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Outputs from Microbial Ecology
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#59,252
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Outputs of similar age from Microbial Ecology
#6
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