Metabolic specialization in the gut microbiome of aquatic mammalian herbivores.

An ultradeep gut microbiome atlas of 47 manatees identifies 1,215 non-redundant prokaryotic metagenome-assembled genomes and reveals an epilactase-linked pathway enabling niche-specific carbohydrate use.

• Why it matters: Sirenians are the only living mammals adapted to aquatic herbivory, yet their gut microbial metabolic potential and how it supports nutrient fluxes remain poorly defined.
• What they did: The study built a genomic atlas across freshwater and marine manatees at distinct developmental stages, integrating metagenome-assembled genomes with virome data, plus biochemical and structural characterization.
• The result: It uncovers a previously unrecognized epilactase pathway in a specific Bacillota species that exploits a carbohydrate inaccessible to most microbes, supporting nutrient niche partitioning.

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