All animals carry a plethora of bacteria, viruses, archaea and fungi, and their internal microbial ecosystems provide them with nutrients, immunity, and defense against pathogens. Microbiome sequencing is becoming cheaper and more advanced from day to day. This means that microbiome sequencing of animals, even rare animals, which was once thought to be...
The gut microbiome is critical to good animal health and environmental factors are influential on the microbiome. Environmental variations such as altered ecosystems, degraded habitats, deforestation or captivity may have negative impacts on host-microbiome communities, and cripple host fitness, making it a vital issue for ecology research. In this blog, we will explore the...
The gut microbiome hosts many different microorganisms. There are more bacteria in the human gut than the stars in the Milky Way… From bacteria, to viruses and eukaryotes, these microbes are key players in the etiology of a number of diseases, such as cancer, depression, and diabetes. These microbes may even influence the host...
The development of DNA sequencing technologies has created a large amount of data on microbes that live with human hosts. Analysis of this data has led to an understanding of the links between the human microbiome, pathogen defense, food digestion and even human behavior. Before the development of mass DNA sequencing technologies, we could analyze...
Harmful algal bloom (HAB) incidence has been increasing over the past decades, particularly in various inland lakes and rivers in the United States. Human activities such as wastewater discharge and fertilizer, pesticide and urban water runoff into water bodies leads to algal proliferation and HABs. HABs secrete diverse cyanotoxins as secondary metabolites which may come...
Cats are notorious for excessive food intake and lazing around all day. When combined with a lack of physical activity, excess calories take the form of adipose tissue, or fat. Domestic cat obesity is an epidemic with a current prevalence of 45%, meaning almost 1 in 2 domestic cats are obese. Obesity in cats is...
A recent article from the Smithsonian Magazine highlights the importance of animal gut microbiomes in conserving animal species, both in captivity and in the wild. Microbes help animals digest their food, defend them against disease and even contribute to nursing their babies. Consequently, animal ecologists, nutritionists, and veterinarians work alongside geneticists to illuminate the role...
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