Gut microbiota of Mink in Europe

One of the threats that the critically endangered European mink (<em>Mustela lutreola</em>) faces throughout its relict range, including the occidental population, is the impact of the American mink (<em>Mustela vison</em>) invasion in its natural habitat. We aimed to explore the differences in microbiota and genetic diversity between European and American mink to test phylosymbiosis theory. We investigated the gut microbiota composition of European and American mink in controlled environments (captive breeding compounds and fur farms respectively) to account for the impact of the environment on gut bacterial composition. We compared them to the gut microbiota of both mink species in the natural environment across habitats. Our exploratory results showed differences between free-ranging and captive individuals, with more extreme changes in American mink compared to European mink. However, feral American mink from a long-established population exhibited gut bacterial composition closer to the free-ranging native species compared to more recently established feral populations. This result could be explained by dietary shifts in the area sampled based on prey availability through different landscape, but also to a lesser extent due to greater genetic differentiation. This exploratory work contributes to the scarce literature currently available on the dynamics between gut microbiota and mammal invasion.

极危物种欧洲水貂（<em>Mustela lutreola</em>）在其整个孑遗分布区（含西部种群）所面临的威胁之一，为美洲水貂（<em>Mustela vison</em>）入侵其自然栖息地所带来的影响。本研究旨在探究欧洲水貂与美洲水貂在微生物群组成及遗传多样性上的差异，以验证系统共生理论。我们分别在可控环境下（欧洲水貂样本取自圈养繁育场，美洲水貂样本取自毛皮养殖场）对二者的肠道微生物群组成展开调查，以厘清环境对肠道细菌组成的影响；同时将上述结果与两个水貂物种在自然环境不同生境中的肠道微生物群进行对比。本探索性研究结果显示，野生个体与圈养个体的肠道微生物群存在显著差异，且美洲水貂的变化幅度较欧洲水貂更为剧烈。但相较于新近定居的野化美洲水貂种群，长期定居的野化美洲水貂种群，其肠道细菌组成与本地野生欧洲水貂更为接近。该结果可通过采样区域内基于不同景观类型下猎物可获得性引发的饮食结构转变加以解释，同时在较小程度上源于更高程度的遗传分化。本项探索性研究为当前关于肠道微生物群与哺乳动物入侵之间动态互作关系的稀缺研究文献提供了有益补充。