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Urea nitrogen recycling via gut symbionts increases in hibernators over the winter fast

View ORCID ProfileMatthew D. Regan, Edna Chiang, Yunxi Liu, Marco Tonelli, Kristen M. Verdoorn, Sadie R. Gugel, Garret Suen, Hannah V. Carey, Fariba M. Assadi-Porter
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.02.24.432731
Matthew D. Regan
1Department of Comparative Biosciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706
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  • ORCID record for Matthew D. Regan
Edna Chiang
2Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI, 53706
3Microbiology Doctoral Training Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706
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Yunxi Liu
4Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706
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Marco Tonelli
5National Magnetic Resonance Facility at Madison (NMRFAM), University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706
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Kristen M. Verdoorn
1Department of Comparative Biosciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706
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Sadie R. Gugel
1Department of Comparative Biosciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706
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Garret Suen
2Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI, 53706
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Hannah V. Carey
1Department of Comparative Biosciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706
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  • For correspondence: hannah.carey@wisc.edu fariba@nmrfam.wisc.edu
Fariba M. Assadi-Porter
1Department of Comparative Biosciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706
4Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706
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  • For correspondence: hannah.carey@wisc.edu fariba@nmrfam.wisc.edu
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Abstract

Hibernation is a mammalian strategy that uses metabolic plasticity to reduce energy demands and enable long-term fasting. Fasting mitigates winter food scarcity but eliminates dietary nitrogen, jeopardizing body protein balance. Here, we reveal gut microbiome-mediated urea nitrogen recycling in hibernating 13-lined ground squirrels (TLGS). Ureolytic gut microbes incorporate urea nitrogen into organic compounds that are absorbed by the host, with the nitrogen reincorporated into the TLGS protein pool. Urea nitrogen recycling is greatest after prolonged fasting in late winter, when urea transporter abundance in gut tissue and urease gene abundance in the microbiome are highest. These results reveal a functional role for the gut microbiome in hibernation and suggest mechanisms by which urea nitrogen recycling contributes to protein balance in other monogastric animals, including humans.

One Sentence Summary Ground squirrels and their gut symbionts benefit from urea nitrogen recycling throughout hibernation.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Footnotes

  • ↵† Département de Sciences Biologique, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, H2B 0B3

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted February 25, 2021.
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Urea nitrogen recycling via gut symbionts increases in hibernators over the winter fast
Matthew D. Regan, Edna Chiang, Yunxi Liu, Marco Tonelli, Kristen M. Verdoorn, Sadie R. Gugel, Garret Suen, Hannah V. Carey, Fariba M. Assadi-Porter
bioRxiv 2021.02.24.432731; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.02.24.432731
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Urea nitrogen recycling via gut symbionts increases in hibernators over the winter fast
Matthew D. Regan, Edna Chiang, Yunxi Liu, Marco Tonelli, Kristen M. Verdoorn, Sadie R. Gugel, Garret Suen, Hannah V. Carey, Fariba M. Assadi-Porter
bioRxiv 2021.02.24.432731; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.02.24.432731

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