Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Sanders JG
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4595633 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Sanders Jon G JG Beichman Annabel C AC Roman Joe J Scott Jarrod J JJ Emerson David D McCarthy James J JJ Girguis Peter R PR
Nature communications 20150922
Mammals host gut microbiomes of immense physiological consequence, but the determinants of diversity in these communities remain poorly understood. Diet appears to be the dominant factor, but host phylogeny also seems to be an important, if unpredictable, correlate. Here we show that baleen whales, which prey on animals (fish and crustaceans), harbor unique gut microbiomes with surprising parallels in functional capacity and higher level taxonomy to those of terrestrial herbivores. These similar ...[more]