Xenobiotic estradiol-17ß alters gut microbiota of hatchling American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis)

Abstract

Environmental oestrogens pose serious concerns for ecosystems through their effects on organismal survival and physiology. The gut microbiome is highly vulnerable to environmental influence, yet the effects of oestrogens on gut homeostasis are unknown because they are poorly studied in wildlife populations. To determine the influence of environmental oestrogens (i.e., xenoestrogens) on the diversity and abundance of gut microbiota, we randomly assigned 23 hatchling American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) to three ecologically relevant treatments (control, low, and high oestrogen concentrations) for 10 weeks. We predicted that xenoestrogen exposure would decrease microbial diversity and abundance within the digestive tract and that this effect would be dose-dependent. Microbial samples were collected following diet treatments and microbial diversity was determined using 16S rRNA gene-sequencing. Individuals in oestrogen-treatment groups had decreased microbial diversity, but a greater relative abundance of operational taxonomic units than those in the control group. In addition, this effect was dose-dependent; as individuals were exposed to more oestrogen, their microbiome became less diverse, less rich and less even. Findings from this study suggest that oestrogen contamination can influence wildlife populations at the internal microbial-level, which may lead to future deleterious health effects.