We already know that humans have microbiomes on their skin that keep them happy and healthy. Animals have them too. But how are these communities influenced by outside factors? That's what scientists wanted to find out. Their subject? A freshwater organism called the Krefft's river turtle. Researchers took swab samples from the turtles' mouths, heads, and shells and performed a sequencing technique to identify and examine the micro-organisms present.
They found that the amounts of bacteria and micro-organisms shifted depending on whether or not macroalgae was present on the the carapace of the turtle. Algae plays an important role in camouflage, but it's not certain if it helps or hinders the microbiome yet. For example, scientists have not yet determined if the algae outcompetes the helpful bacteria or if it provides a base for that bacteria to grow.
One thing that is certain is that more diverse microbiomes help keep turtles healthy. Those that are in captivity possess less diverse microbiomes, which could potentially be dangerous if they were to be released. Continuing to study these microbial communities will help with future conservation efforts.
Dr. McKnight sums it up by saying "We are in the early stages of looking at how various environmental and demographic factors affect turtle microbiomes. For example, we want to see if they shift seasonally, if diet affects them, and if different ages and sexes have different microbiomes."
So we will have to stay tuned!
And now for my thoughts...
Due to the fact that this article was found on ScienceDaily, it can be assumed that it was geared towards a science-based audience. Written by the Microbiology Society, a fair amount of bias is involved; they are talking about their own findings. While there were no ultra-confusing words or concepts, there is no way the average individual would encounter the article- it wasn't found on a popular, lay-person medium like Buzzfeed or a mainstream news outlet. It was written by and for specific type of person.
As interesting as I found the article, I wish that there was more information present. No pictures or figures were used to help the reader visualize the data. I had to resort to the actual journal article itself in order to understand the research and even find a picture for you guys. Overall, I thought it was a good eye-catching news piece, but not one to possess a lot of material for the reader.
Here's the link to the ScienceDaily article if you want to see what I mean.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/03/200326144423.htm
And then if you want to do some more reading on the subject, the original journal article link is below. I highly recommend you check it out!
https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/docserver/fulltext/micro/10.1099/mic.0.000904/mic000904.pdf?expires=1586158327&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=9D6AD89EAB7C95259B122ACB7C6B0F15
1 comment:
Interesting article! I wonder if there are ways to augment the microbiome for animals in captivity...
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