Age is an important factor that significantly impacts the gut microbiota of various mammals. Captive spotted seals (Phoca largha) provide an ideal opportunity to study how age affects their gut microbiota, excluding other environmental factors, which is a challenge when monitoring wildlife. Here, the bacterial composition of the feces of captive spotted seals from four age groups were analyzed; namely, pup (<1 year old), juvenile (1–2 years old), subadult (2–3 years old), and adult (≥4 years old). Firmicutes were the dominant bacteria in all measured feces; however, the composition of gut microbiota in seals of different ages was distinct. Blautia, Slackia, and an unclassified Peptostreptococcaceae were more abundant in pups; Clostridium was abundant in juveniles; Fusobacterium, Bacteroides, and Psychrobacter were abundant in subadults; and Dorea and Peptostreptococcus abundant in adults. Two and 4 years of age appeared to be the most influential time nodes for variation in gut microbiota. In conclusion, this study identified age‐related differences in the composition of gut microbiota in P. largha.

中文翻译：

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圈养斑海豹（Phoca largha）肠道微生物群落组成的年龄相关差异

年龄是重要影响各种哺乳动物肠道菌群的重要因素。圈养斑海豹（Phoca largha）提供了一个理想的机会来研究年龄如何影响其肠道菌群，但不包括其他环境因素，这在监测野生动植物时是一个挑战。在这里，分析了来自四个年龄组的圈养斑点海豹粪便的细菌组成。即，幼犬（<1岁），少年（1-2岁），亚成年（2-3岁）和成年（≥4岁）。硬毛虫是所有测得的粪便中的主要细菌。然而，不同年龄海豹中肠道菌群的组成是不同的。幼犬中的Blautia，Slackia和未分类的肽链球菌科更为丰富。梭状芽胞杆菌幼鱼丰富。亚成体中富集了梭状芽孢杆菌，拟杆菌和精神杆菌。和Dorea和消化链球菌在丰富的成年人。两岁和四岁似乎是影响肠道菌群变化的最有影响的时间节点。总之，本研究确定了P. largha肠道菌群组成的年龄相关差异。