Sexual dimorphism shapes the gut microbiome of northern elephant seal
pups across environments
Abstract
Northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) exhibit some of the
strongest anatomical and behavioral sexual dimorphism of any mammalian
species. The degree of dimorphism at the microbial level, especially in
young individuals, is still relatively unknown. Here, we investigated
the interplay between sex, county of stranding, rehabilitation
environment, and host genetics on the gut microbiomes of 44 northern
elephant seal pups that were stranded along the California coastline and
brought to a rehabilitation facility. Using a metabarcoding approach, we
characterized microbial communities shortly after admission to the
facility and found that both sex and county of stranding contributed to
variation in microbial composition. Through population genetic analyses,
we showed that the effect of county of stranding on microbial
composition was not driven by underlying genetic structure. More
broadly, we did not find any correlation between host genetics and
microbiome dissimilarity, perhaps related to the extremely low genetic
diversity of this bottlenecked species. Finally, we analyzed paired
samples from a subset of 24 seals at two time points: shortly after
admission to the rehabilitation facility and a month post-acclimation in
the facility. Although microbiome compositions became more similar over
time, sex continued to contribute to variation. Sex had a weaker effect
on microbiome variation at the second time point in comparison to the
first, potentially due to the homogenizing effects of rehabilitation.
Our findings ultimately help shape our understanding of how environment
and sex shape the gut microbiomes of young NES during an understudied
period of development.