Gut site and sex-specific enrichment of bacterial taxa and predicted metabolic pathways in wild American black bear (Ursus americanus)

Erin A. McKenney; Erik De Jesus; Taylor Hatfield; Dorian Hayes; Kaleb Holder; Christian Ivarsson; Natalie Morais; Hunter Payne; Kalle Simpson; Adrianna M. Staal; Holly Thompson; Rachael Hildreth; Colleen Olfenbuttel; Diana J. R. Lafferty

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0345317

Loading metrics

Open Access

Peer-reviewed

Research Article

Gut site and sex-specific enrichment of bacterial taxa and predicted metabolic pathways in wild American black bear (Ursus americanus)

Erin A. McKenney ,

Roles Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Software, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

* E-mail: eamckenn@ncsu.edu

Affiliation Department of Applied Ecology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9874-1146

⨯
Erik De Jesus ,

Contributed equally to this work with: Erik De Jesus, Taylor Hatfield, Dorian Hayes, Kaleb Holder, Christian Ivarsson, Natalie Morais, Hunter Payne, Kalle Simpson, Adrianna M. Staal, Holly Thompson

Roles Formal analysis, Software, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America
⨯
Taylor Hatfield ,

Contributed equally to this work with: Erik De Jesus, Taylor Hatfield, Dorian Hayes, Kaleb Holder, Christian Ivarsson, Natalie Morais, Hunter Payne, Kalle Simpson, Adrianna M. Staal, Holly Thompson

Roles Formal analysis, Software, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Current address: Tributary Land Design and Build, Durham, NC

Affiliation Department of Horticulture, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America
⨯
Dorian Hayes ,

Contributed equally to this work with: Erik De Jesus, Taylor Hatfield, Dorian Hayes, Kaleb Holder, Christian Ivarsson, Natalie Morais, Hunter Payne, Kalle Simpson, Adrianna M. Staal, Holly Thompson

Roles Formal analysis, Software, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Current address: Director’s Office, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission

Affiliation Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America
⨯
Kaleb Holder ,

Contributed equally to this work with: Erik De Jesus, Taylor Hatfield, Dorian Hayes, Kaleb Holder, Christian Ivarsson, Natalie Morais, Hunter Payne, Kalle Simpson, Adrianna M. Staal, Holly Thompson

Roles Formal analysis, Software, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Natural Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America

https://orcid.org/0009-0007-4202-4958

⨯
Christian Ivarsson ,

Contributed equally to this work with: Erik De Jesus, Taylor Hatfield, Dorian Hayes, Kaleb Holder, Christian Ivarsson, Natalie Morais, Hunter Payne, Kalle Simpson, Adrianna M. Staal, Holly Thompson

Roles Formal analysis, Software, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America
⨯
Natalie Morais ,

Contributed equally to this work with: Erik De Jesus, Taylor Hatfield, Dorian Hayes, Kaleb Holder, Christian Ivarsson, Natalie Morais, Hunter Payne, Kalle Simpson, Adrianna M. Staal, Holly Thompson

Roles Formal analysis, Software, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America
⨯
Hunter Payne ,

Contributed equally to this work with: Erik De Jesus, Taylor Hatfield, Dorian Hayes, Kaleb Holder, Christian Ivarsson, Natalie Morais, Hunter Payne, Kalle Simpson, Adrianna M. Staal, Holly Thompson

Roles Formal analysis, Software, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America
⨯
Kalle Simpson ,

Contributed equally to this work with: Erik De Jesus, Taylor Hatfield, Dorian Hayes, Kaleb Holder, Christian Ivarsson, Natalie Morais, Hunter Payne, Kalle Simpson, Adrianna M. Staal, Holly Thompson

Roles Formal analysis, Software, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America
⨯
Adrianna M. Staal ,

Contributed equally to this work with: Erik De Jesus, Taylor Hatfield, Dorian Hayes, Kaleb Holder, Christian Ivarsson, Natalie Morais, Hunter Payne, Kalle Simpson, Adrianna M. Staal, Holly Thompson

Roles Formal analysis, Software, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Microbiology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America
⨯
Holly Thompson ,

Contributed equally to this work with: Erik De Jesus, Taylor Hatfield, Dorian Hayes, Kaleb Holder, Christian Ivarsson, Natalie Morais, Hunter Payne, Kalle Simpson, Adrianna M. Staal, Holly Thompson

Roles Formal analysis, Software, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Current address: Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

Affiliation Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America
⨯
Rachael Hildreth,

Roles Data curation, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Biology, Northern Michigan University, Marquette, Michigan, United States of America
⨯
Colleen Olfenbuttel,

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, Wildlife Management Division, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America
⨯
Diana J. R. Lafferty

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Biology, Northern Michigan University, Marquette, Michigan, United States of America
⨯

Gut site and sex-specific enrichment of bacterial taxa and predicted metabolic pathways in wild American black bear (Ursus americanus)

Erin A. McKenney,
Erik De Jesus,
Taylor Hatfield,
Dorian Hayes,
Kaleb Holder,
Christian Ivarsson,
Natalie Morais,
Hunter Payne,
Kalle Simpson,
Adrianna M. Staal

Published: April 20, 2026
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0345317

Reader Comments (0)

Post a new comment on this article

Subject Areas
?

For more information about PLOS Subject Areas, click here.
We want your feedback. Do these Subject Areas make sense for this article? Click the target next to the incorrect Subject Area and let us know. Thanks for your help!

Bears
Is the Subject Area "Bears" applicable to this article?

Thanks for your feedback.
Colon
Is the Subject Area "Colon" applicable to this article?

Thanks for your feedback.
Jejunum
Is the Subject Area "Jejunum" applicable to this article?

Thanks for your feedback.
Metabolic pathways
Is the Subject Area "Metabolic pathways" applicable to this article?

Thanks for your feedback.
Biosynthesis
Is the Subject Area "Biosynthesis" applicable to this article?

Thanks for your feedback.
Clostridium
Is the Subject Area "Clostridium" applicable to this article?

Thanks for your feedback.
Wildlife
Is the Subject Area "Wildlife" applicable to this article?

Thanks for your feedback.
Shannon index
Is the Subject Area "Shannon index" applicable to this article?

Thanks for your feedback.