Domínguez-Sánchez, C.A., D., Gendron, R.C., Álvarez-Martínez & K.A., Acevedo-Whitehouse (2025). Respiratory bacteriome and its predicted functional profiles in blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) from the Gulf of California, Mexico. Scientific Reports. 15: 44434. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-28025-2.
Carlos Andres Domínguez-Sánchez 1, Diane Gendron 2, Roberto C. Álvarez-Martínez 3 y Karina A. Acevedo-Whitehouse 3
The respiratory microbiome plays a pivotal role in thehealth and resilience of marine mammals, offering insights intohost-environment interactions and potential responses to environmentalstressors. In this study, we characterized the core respiratory bacteriome andfunctional profiles of Eastern North Pacific blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus)sampled in the Gulf of California using next-generation sequencing. Thecompositional analysis revealed that the respiratory tract of blue whales isdominated by 15 bacterial phyla, with Proteobacteria (34.44%), Firmicutes (26.98%),Bacteroidota (20.26%), Fusobacteriota (7.61%), and Actinobacteria (5.55%) beingthe most abundant. We detected nineteen ASVs, belonging to 12 bacterial genera(mainly, Corynebacterium, Oceanivirga, Tenacibaculum, and Psychrobacter),that were shared by over 60% of all blue whales and had a relative abundancehigher than 0.02%. These bacteria were considered the common core respiratory bacteriomeand contributed significantly to functional pathways associated withmetabolism, environmental information processing, and cellular processes.Interestingly, two individuals exhibiting high relative abundances of Mycoplasma spp. and Streptococcus spp. showedoverexpression of pathways related to nucleotide metabolism and translation,potentially reflecting suboptimal immune status or dysbiosis. These findingsestablish a baseline respiratory microbiome for blue whales, enabling futurestudies to detect shifts linked to environmental changes, health deterioration,or anthropogenic pressures. Functional profile analyses underscore theecological importance of microbial diversity and highlight their potential astools for monitoring the health and resilience of sentinel marine species in arapidly changing ocean.
Palabras clave: Respiratory Bacteriome; Functional Profiles; blue whales
Para obtener una copia del documento contacta la personal de la biblioteca a través del correo bibliocicimar{a}ipn.mx