Dataset Information

Stress and the microbiome: linking glucocorticoids to bacterial community dynamics in wild red squirrels.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial diversity within animals is emerging as an essential component of health, but it is unknown how stress may influence the microbiome. We quantify a proximate link between the oral microbiome and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity using faecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGM) in wild red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus). Not only was bacterial diversity lower at higher levels of FGM, but also between capture periods a change in bacterial relative abundance was related to an increase in FGM. These linkages between the HPA axis and microbiome communities represent a powerful capacity for stress to have multi-dimensional effects on health.

SUBMITTER: Stothart MR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4785925 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Stress and the microbiome: linking glucocorticoids to bacterial community dynamics in wild red squirrels.

Stothart Mason R MR Bobbie Colleen B CB Schulte-Hostedde Albrecht I AI Boonstra Rudy R Palme Rupert R Mykytczuk Nadia C S NC Newman Amy E M AE

Biology letters 20160101 1

Bacterial diversity within animals is emerging as an essential component of health, but it is unknown how stress may influence the microbiome. We quantify a proximate link between the oral microbiome and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity using faecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGM) in wild red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus). Not only was bacterial diversity lower at higher levels of FGM, but also between capture periods a change in bacterial relative abundance was related ...[more]

PMID: 26740566

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Project description:Understanding what processes drive community structure is fundamental to ecology. Many wild animals are simultaneously infected by multiple parasite species, so host-parasite communities can be valuable tools for investigating connections between community structures at multiple scales, as each host can be considered a replicate parasite community. Like free-living communities, within-host-parasite communities are hierarchical; ecological interactions between hosts and parasites can occur at multiple scales (e.g., host community, host population, parasite community within the host), therefore, both extrinsic and intrinsic processes can determine parasite community structure. We combine analyses of community structure and assembly at both the host population and individual scales using extensive datasets on wild wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) and their parasite community. An analysis of parasite community nestedness at the host population scale provided predictions about the order of infection at the individual scale, which were then tested using parasite community assembly data from individual hosts from the same populations. Nestedness analyses revealed parasite communities were significantly more structured than random. However, observed nestedness did not differ from null models in which parasite species abundance was kept constant. We did not find consistency between observed community structure at the host population scale and within-host order of infection. Multi-state Markov models of parasite community assembly showed that a host's likelihood of infection with one parasite did not consistently follow previous infection by a different parasite species, suggesting there is not a deterministic order of infection among the species we investigated in wild wood mice. Our results demonstrate that patterns at one scale (i.e., host population) do not reliably predict processes at another scale (i.e., individual host), and that neutral or stochastic processes may be driving the patterns of nestedness observed in these communities. We suggest that experimental approaches that manipulate parasite communities are needed to better link processes at multiple ecological scales.

Project description:BackgroundThe composition of the vaginal microbiota during the menstrual cycle is dynamic, with some women remaining eu- or dysbiotic and others transitioning between these states. What defines these dynamics, and whether these differences are microbiome-intrinsic or mostly driven by the host is unknown. To address this, we characterized 49 healthy, young women by metagenomic sequencing of daily vaginal swabs during a menstrual cycle. We classified the dynamics of the vaginal microbiome and assessed the impact of host behavior as well as microbiome differences at the species, strain, gene, and phage levels.ResultsBased on the daily shifts in community state types (CSTs) during a menstrual cycle, the vaginal microbiome was classified into four Vaginal Community Dynamics (VCDs) and reported in a classification tool, named VALODY: constant eubiotic, constant dysbiotic, menses-related, and unstable dysbiotic. The abundance of bacteria, phages, and bacterial gene content was compared between the four VCDs. Women with different VCDs showed significant differences in relative phage abundance and bacterial composition even when assigned to the same CST. Women with unstable VCDs had higher phage counts and were more likely dominated by L. iners. Their Gardnerella spp. strains were also more likely to harbor bacteriocin-coding genes.ConclusionsThe VCDs present a novel time series classification that highlights the complexity of varying degrees of vaginal dysbiosis. Knowing the differences in phage gene abundances and the genomic strains present allows a deeper understanding of the initiation and maintenance of permanent dysbiosis. Applying the VCDs to further characterize the different types of microbiome dynamics qualifies the investigation of disease and enables comparisons at individual and population levels. Based on our data, to be able to classify a dysbiotic sample into the accurate VCD, clinicians would need two to three mid-cycle samples and two samples during menses. In the future, it will be important to address whether transient VCDs pose a similar risk profile to persistent dysbiosis with similar clinical outcomes. This framework may aid interdisciplinary translational teams in deciphering the role of the vaginal microbiome in women's health and reproduction. Video Abstract.

Dataset Information

Stress and the microbiome: linking glucocorticoids to bacterial community dynamics in wild red squirrels.

Publications

Stress and the microbiome: linking glucocorticoids to bacterial community dynamics in wild red squirrels.

Similar Datasets

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