Shift of maternal gut microbiome of Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii) during the perinatal period (original) (raw)

Wild environment and diet structure shape gut microbiome and functional composition in semi-feral Tibetan goats

Background :The gut microbiota composition is influenced by diet as well as the environment in both wild and domestic animals. Although the rumen microbiome in herbivorous ruminants has been studied, the gut metagenome and the underlying ecological mechanisms of different feeding systems in extreme environment have not been elucidated. Here, the influence of two feeding systems, grazing and drylot, on the gut microbiome composition of Tibetan goats was investigated. These goats are a semi-feral highland breed that lives at an altitude of ~4800 m. 16S rRNA gene sequencing and metagenomic analysis was conducted using the gastrointestinal tract lumen and mucosa (rumen, cecum, and colon) samples obtained from yearling animals. Results: We observed distinct microbiome functions potential in the rumen and hindgut (cecum and colon). The peptidases, arginine and proline metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation, cysteine and methionine metabolism were highly enriched in the rumen microbiome. We...

Maternal Gut Microbes Contribute to Rapid Acquisition of Intestinal Microbiota and High-Altitude Adaptation of Pre-Weaning Yak Calves

2021

BackgroundLong time exposure to seasonal forage availability and harsh environment on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) has resulted in a series of unique adaptation mechanisms following the evolution of yak to cope with nutritional deficiencies and other adverse conditions. This is likely achieved by an unprecedented genetic resource for fibrolytic enzymes of microbial origins that allow the host to efficiently degrade plant polysaccharides. However, to what extent of maternal symbiotic microbial transmission throughout early microbial successions and its adaptation to high-altitude hypoxia in grazing yak driven by the harsh environment and nutritional stress have been far from clear. Understanding the colonization and succession of yak gut microbiota would help to clarify the functional interaction and crosstalk between microorganisms and their hosts. This study explored the succession of intestinal microbiota of yak ( Bos grunniens ) and cattle ( Bos taurus ) kept in the same hab...

Marked variation between winter and spring gut microbiota in free-ranging Tibetan Macaques (Macaca thibetana)

Scientific reports, 2016

Variation in the availability and distribution of food resources is a strong selective pressure on wild primates. We explored variation in Tibetan macaque gut microbiota composition during winter and spring seasons. Our results showed that gut microbial composition and diversity varied by season. In winter, the genus Succinivibrio, which promotes the digestion of cellulose and hemicellulose, was significantly increased. In spring, the abundance of the genus Prevotella, which is associated with digestion of carbohydrates and simple sugars, was significantly increased. PICRUSt analysis revealed that the predicted metagenomes related to the glycan biosynthesis and metabolic pathway was significantly increased in winter samples, which would aid in the digestion of glycan extracted from cellulose and hemicellulose. The predicted metagenomes related to carbohydrate and energy metabolic pathways were significantly increased in spring samples, which could facilitate a monkey's recovery ...

Anthropogenic interferences lead to gut microbiome dysbiosis in Asian elephants and may alter adaptation processes to surrounding environments

2021

Human activities interfere with wild animals and lead to the loss of many animal populations. Therefore, efforts have been made to understand how wildlife can rebound from anthropogenic disturbances. An essential mechanism to adapt to environmental and social changes is the fluctuations in the host gut microbiome. Here we give a comprehensive description of anthropogenically induced microbiome alterations in Asian elephants (n = 30). We detected gut microbial changes due to overseas translocation, captivity and deworming. We found that microbes belonging to Planococcaceae had the highest contribution in the microbiome alterations after translocation, while Clostridiaceae , Spirochaetaceae and Bacteroidia were the most affected after captivity. However, deworming significantly changed the abundance of Flavobacteriaceae , Sphingobacteriaceae , Xanthomonadaceae , Weeksellaceae and Burkholderiaceae . These findings may provide fundamental ideas to help guide the preservation tactics and...

Seasonal dynamics of diet–gut microbiota interaction in adaptation of yaks to life at high altitude

npj Biofilms and Microbiomes, 2021

Dietary selection and intake affect the survival and health of mammals under extreme environmental conditions. It has been suggested that dietary composition is a key driver of gut microbiota variation; however, how gut microbiota respond to seasonal dietary changes under extreme natural conditions remains poorly understood. Sequencing plant trnL (UAA) region and 16S rRNA gene analysis were employed to determine dietary composition and gut microbiota in freely grazing yaks on the Tibetan plateau. Dietary composition was more diverse in winter than in summer, while Gramineae and Rosaceae were consumed frequently all year. Turnover of seasonal diet and gut microbiota composition occurred consistently. Yaks shifted enterotypes in response to dietary change between warm and cold seasons to best utilize nitrogen and energy, in particular in the harsh cold season. Our findings provide insights into understanding seasonal changes of diet–microbiota linkages in the adaptation of mammals to ...

Gut microbiota composition in Himalayan and Andean populations and its relationship with diet, lifestyle and adaptation to the high-altitude environment

Journal of anthropological sciences = Rivista di antropologia : JASS, 2019

Human populations living at high altitude evolved a number of biological adjustments to cope with a challenging environment characterised especially by reduced oxygen availability and limited nutritional resources. This condition may also affect their gut microbiota composition. Here, we explored the impact of exposure to such selective pressures on human gut microbiota by considering different ethnic groups living at variable degrees of altitude: the high-altitude Sherpa and low-altitude Tamang populations from Nepal, the high-altitude Aymara population from Bolivia, as well as a low-altitude cohort of European ancestry, used as control. We thus observed microbial profiles common to the Sherpa and Aymara, but absent in the low-altitude cohorts, which may contribute to the achievement of adaptation to high-altitude lifestyle and nutritional conditions. The collected evidences suggest that microbial signatures associated to these rural populations may enhance metabolic functions able...

Space, time, and captivity: quantifying factors influencing the microbiome of an alpine ungulate

The community of microorganisms in the microbiome is affected by host species, diet, and environment and is linked to normal functioning metabolism, immune system, and development. Although the microbiome fluctuates in response to host demands and environmental changes, there are core groups of microorganisms that remain relatively constant throughout the hosts lifetime. Ruminants are mammals that rely on highly specialized digestive and metabolic modifications, including microbiome adaptations, to persist in extreme environments. We assayed the gut microbiome of four mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus) populations in western North America. We quantified microbiome diversity and composition between groups in the wild and captivity, across space, and over time. There were no differences in community evenness or diversity across groups, although we observed a decreasing diversity trend across the summer. Pairwise dissimilarity estimates grouped the captive population distinctly from t...

Convergent Evolution of Rumen Microbiomes in High-Altitude Mammals

Current biology : CB, 2016

Studies of genetic adaptation, a central focus of evolutionary biology, most often focus on the host's genome and only rarely on its co-evolved microbiome. The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) offers one of the most extreme environments for the survival of human and other mammalian species. Yaks (Bos grunniens) and Tibetan sheep (T-sheep) (Ovis aries) have adaptations for living in this harsh high-altitude environment, where nomadic Tibetan people keep them primarily for food and livelihood [1]. Adaptive evolution affects energy-metabolism-related genes in a way that helps these ruminants live at high altitude [2, 3]. Herein, we report convergent evolution of rumen microbiomes for energy harvesting persistence in two typical high-altitude ruminants, yaks and T-sheep. Both ruminants yield significantly lower levels of methane and higher yields of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) than their low-altitude relatives, cattle (Bos taurus) and ordinary sheep (Ovis aries). Ultra-deep metagenomic...