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\begin{document}

\title{A Comparative Study of the faecal microbiota of grey seal (Halichoerus
grypus) pups and yearlings - a marine mammal sentinel species}



\author[1]{Craig Watkins}%
\author[1]{Taylor Gaines}%
\author[2]{Fiona Strathdee}%
\author[3]{Johanna Bailey}%
\author[1]{Eleanor Watson}%
\author[4]{Ailsa Hall}%
\author[2]{Andrew Free}%
\author[1]{Mark Dagleish}%
\affil[1]{Moredun Research Institute}%
\affil[2]{The University of Edinburgh}%
\affil[3]{University of Stirling}%
\affil[4]{University of St Andrews}%


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  \date{May 23, 2024}


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\begin{abstract}
Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) can act as sentinel species reflecting
the condition of the environment they inhabit. Our previous research
identified strains of pathogenic Campylobacter and Salmonella,
originating from both human and agricultural animal hosts, on rectal
swabs from live grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) pups and yearlings on the
Isle of May, Scotland, UK. We examined rectal swabs from the same pup
(n=90) and yearling (n=19) grey seals to gain further understanding into
the effects of age-related changes (pup versus yearling) and three
different natal terrestrial habitats on seal pup faecal microbiota. DNA
was extracted from a subset of rectal swabs (pups n=23, yearlings n=9)
using an optimised procedure, and the V4 region of 16S rDNA sequenced to
identify each individual's microbiota. Diversity in pup samples was
lower (3.92 \selectlanguage{ngerman}± 0.19) than yearlings (4.66 ± 0.39) although not
significant at the p=0.05 level (p = 0.062), but differences in
composition of the microbiota were (p \textless{} 0.001). Similarly,
differences between the composition of the microbiota from pups from
three different terrestrial habitats (PH, RR and TS) was highly
significant (p \textless{} 0.001). Pairwise tests showed significant
differences between all three habitats: PH vs TS (p = 0.019), PH vs RR
(p = 0.042) and TS vs RR (p = 0.020). This preliminary study suggests a
general trend, that seal microbiomes are modified by both age and, in
pups, different terrestrial habitats. Furthermore, knowledge of the
microbiota species present has the potential to be used in determining
the environmental quality index.%
\end{abstract}\selectlanguage{ngerman}%



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\textbf{Hosted file}

\verb`CWatkins_etal_2021_A_Comparative_Study_of_the_faecal_microbiota_of_grey_seal_Molecular_Ecology.docx`  available at \url{https://authorea.com/users/465893/articles/713118-a-comparative-study-of-the-faecal-microbiota-of-grey-seal-halichoerus-grypus-pups-and-yearlings-a-marine-mammal-sentinel-species}

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