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The global threat of COVID-19 has led to an increased use of metabolomics to study SARS-CoV-2 infections in animals and humans. In spite of these efforts, however, understanding the metabolome of SARS-CoV-2 during an infection remains difficult and incomplete. In this study, metabolic responses to a SAS-CoV-2 challenge experiment were studied in nasal washes collected from an asymptomatic ferret model ( n = 20) at different time points before and after infection using an LC-MS-based metabolomics approach. A multivariate analysis of the nasal wash metabolome data revealed several statistically significant features. Despite no effects of sex or interaction between sex and time on the time course of SARS-CoV-2 infection, 16 metabolites were significantly different at all time points post-infection. Among these altered metabolites, the relative abundance of taurine was elevated post-infection, which could be an indication of hepatotoxicity, while the accumulation of sialic acids could indicate SARS-CoV-2 invasion. Enrichment analysis identified several pathways influenced by SARS-CoV-2 infection. Of these, sugar, glycan, and amino acid metabolisms were the key altered pathways in the upper respiratory channel during infection. These findings provide some new insights into the progression of SARS-CoV-2 infection in ferrets at the metabolic level, which could be useful for the development of early clinical diagnosis tools and new or repurposed drug therapies.

Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a growing concern for humans, wildlife, and more broadly, ecosystem health. Previously, we characterised the microbial and biochemical impact of elevated PFAS on the gut microbiome of freshwater turtles ( Emydura macquarii macquarii ) within a contaminated catchment in Queensland, Australia. However, the understanding of PFAS impacts on this species and other aquatic organisms is still very limited, especially at the host-gut microbiome molecular interaction level. To this end, the present study aimed to apply these leading-edge omics technologies within an integrated framework that provides biological insight into the host turtle-turtle gut microbiome interactions of PFAS-impacted wild-caught freshwater turtles. For this purpose, faecal samples from PFAS-impacted turtles ( n = 5) and suitable PFAS-free reference turtles ( n = 5) were collected and analysed. Data from 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and metabolomic profiling of the turtle faeces were integrated using MetOrigin to assign host, microbiome, and co-metabolism activities. Significant variation in microbial composition was observed between the two turtle groups. The PFAS-impacted turtles showed a higher relative abundance of Firmicutes and a lower relative abundance of Bacteroidota than the reference turtles. The faecal metabolome showed several metabolites and pathways significantly affected by PFAS exposure. Turtles exposed to PFAS displayed altered amino acid and butanoate metabolisms, as well as altered purine and pyrimidine metabolism. It is predicted from this study that PFAS-impacted both the metabolism of the host turtle and its gut microbiota which in turn has the potential to influence the host's physiology and health.

The New Zealand abalone industry relies mostly on the export of processed products to distant Asian markets, notably China. Over the past five years, live export of high quality abalone from New Zealand has proven successful. However, transport of live animals is associated with multiple stressors that affect survival and meat quality at the end of the transport phase. Better understanding of transport-derived stress is needed to improve transport conditions and recovery at destination to ensure high product quality and safety throughout the supply chain. To this end, we applied an untargeted GC-MS-based metabolomics approach to examine the changes in metabolite profiles of abalone after a 2-day transport event and subsequent water re-immersion for 2 days. The results revealed alterations of many metabolites in the haemolymph and muscle of post-transported abalone. Decreased concentrations of many amino acids suggest high energy demands for metabolism and stress responses of transported abalone, while increases of other amino acids may indicate active osmoregulation and/or protein degradation due to oxidative stress and apoptosis. The accumulation of citric acid cycle intermediates and anaerobic end-products are suggestive of hypoxia stress and a shift from aerobic to anaerobic metabolism (resulting from aerial exposure). Interestingly, some features in the metabolite profile of reimmersed abalone resembled those of pre-transported individuals, suggesting progressive recovery after reimmersion in water. Evidence of recovery was observed in the reduction of some stress biomarkers (e.g., lactic acid, succinic acid) following reimmersion. This study revealed insights into the metabolic responses to transport stress in abalone and highlights the importance of reimmersion practices in the supply chain of live animal exports.