Scientists and many ordinary citizens know that various species of animals (in part, even humans themselves) use smell to communicate with each other. A new study led by experts at the University of California at Davis (United States) now shows new details about how domestic cats send signals to each other using, specifically, odors derived from families of bacteria that live in their anal glands. The results of this research have been published in the journal Scientific Reports (online edition November 8).
The University of California highlights that the new research adds to the achievements made in recent years on an international scale in the study of "the relationship between microbes and odor in mammals, including domestic dogs, wild animals such as foxes, pandas, hyenas, and humans."
Cat odor comes from a mixture of volatile organic compounds, including aldehydes, alcohols, esters, and ketones. While mostly undetectable to the human nose, these odors are important in the behavior and social life of cats. They mark territory, attract mates and repel rivals.
Connie Rojas, a postdoctoral researcher working with Professor Jonathan Eisen in the Department of Evolution, Ecology and Genome Center at UC Davis, led a three-part study on the anal gland secretions of domestic cats. They used DNA sequencing, mass spectrometry and microbial culture to look at the chemicals in the secretions and the microbes that produce them.
The study subjects were 23 domestic cats cared for at the University of California, Davis, University Hospital of Veterinary Medicine. The owners of these pets gave written permission for their cats to participate in the study, in which the animals were not harmed.
The authors detail that in their study they detected the presence of five genera of bacteria (Corynebacterium, Bacteroides, Proteus, Lactobacillus and Streptococcus), although the microbial composition was highly variable between individual cats. Older cats generally had a different microbiome than younger animals. There were also some apparent differences in cats assessed as obese, but the sample size was not large enough to confirm this. Microbial populations in the digestive system in cats, as in many other species - also in humans - can be affected by factors such as diet, health conditions and the general living environment.
In the study now published, by observing the chemicals produced in the anal glands, the researchers detected hundreds of organic compounds. Genetic analysis showed that bacteria living in the anal gland could be responsible for producing these compounds.
The researchers hope to continue and expand the study to include more domestic cats and other species of cats, as highlighted by the University of California in the note presenting the results of this work in which David Coil (Genome Center), Stanley have also participated. Marks (School of Veterinary Medicine), Eva Borras, Mitchell McCartney and Cristina Davis (Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Pulmonary Center at UC Davis) and Hira Lesea (Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics).
