title: Characterization of the faecal bacterial community of wild young South American (Arctocephalus australis) and Subantarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus tropicalis).
abstract: The microbiota of wild marine mammals is poorly understood, perhaps due to the migratory habits of some species and the difficulty in obtaining samples. Using high-throughput sequencing, the present study examines the faecal bacterial community of wild young South American (Arctocephalus australis) and Subantarctic fur seals (A. tropicalis). Faecal samples from South American (n = 6) and Subantarctic fur seals (n = 4) found dead along the south coast of Brazil were collected. Sequences were assigned to taxa using the Ribosomal Database Project-Bayesian classifier. Diversity of the microbiota was assessed by categorization of sequence reads into operational taxonomic units. Results indicate that Firmicutes (88.556%-84.016%) was the predominant phylum in South American and Subantarctic fur seals. The distribution of Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria varied according to the fur seal species. Fusobacteria and Bacteroidetes represented less than 1% of the sequences. The most abundant order in both fur seals was Clostridiales (88.64% and 87.49%). Individual variable incidences were observed in the composition of family among the fur seals, though the families Lachnospiraceae, Peptostreptococcaceae, Ruminococcaceae and Coriobacteriaceae were more prevalent. This study provides insight into the faecal bacterial community of wild young South American and Subantarctic fur seals.
authors.affiliation: Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology Department, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, 90050-170, Brazil.
authors.forename: Aline Weber
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Medeiros
authors.affiliation: Institute of Petroleum and Natural Resources, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, 90619-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giongo
authors.affiliation: Molecular Genomics Biology Laboratory, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, 90619-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernanda P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Valdez
authors.affiliation: Center for Coastal Studies, Limnology and Marine (Ceclimar), Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Imbé, RS, 95625-000, Brazil.
authors.forename: Derek
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Blaese de Amorin
authors.affiliation: Center for Coastal Studies, Limnology and Marine (Ceclimar), Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Imbé, RS, 95625-000, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maurício
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tavares
authors.affiliation: Gram Positive Coccus Laboratory, Federal University of Health Sciences Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, 90050-170, Brazil.
authors.forename: Pedro A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: d'Azevedo
authors.affiliation: Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology Department, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, 90050-170, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Claudia
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, 91501-970, Brazil.
authors.forename: Jeverson
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Frazzon
authors.affiliation: Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology Department, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, 90050-170, Brazil ana.frazzon@ufrgs.br.
authors.forename: Ana P G
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Frazzon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000864:Antarctic Regions; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D001938:Brazil; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology*; D046069:Fur Seals / Q000382:microbiology*; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny
keywords: 16S rRNA sequencing; faecal bacterial community; wild fur seals