Myna stress microbiome

The bi directional effects of stress on the gut microbiome and the microbiomes mediation of stress response are an important facet of the brain-gut axis. Stressors can alter hormones present in the body, particularly circulating glucocorticoids, which in turn can affect the composition and diversity of the gut microbiome. Likewise, bacterial community members have been linked to improved or worsened responses to stress. In this study, we manipulated common myna birds both using sleep deprivation and by increasing glucocorticoids to determine how their gut microbiome changed in composition and diversity. We also determined if activity level and measured faecal glucocorticoid level correlated with gut community, and if birds experiencing the highest stress response shared any community members. We found that alpha-diversity in the gut significantly decreased both following sleep deprivation and the ingestion of corticosterone. We also found significant shifts in beta-diversity following both treatments, though with substantial differences in individual community composition progression. Despite these significant shifts in the gut, we found only a marginally significant correlation between gut community and activity level, and between gut community and measured corticosterone level. This work provides new evidence for the longitudinal effect of stress on the gut microbiome, and identifies key bacterial genera which were significantly elevated or depressed following stress treatments.