Journal Article

Gut microbiome variations in Rhinopithecus roxellanae caused by changes in the environment

Yu, Huiliang, Yang, Jingyuan, Chen, Huanchun, Guo, Aizhen, Wang, Qiankun, Hu, Changmin, Li, Xiang, Chen, Yingyu, Zhao, Gang, Qi, Mingpu

2023

Overview

Background The snub-nosed monkey ( Rhinopithecus roxellanae ) is an endangered animal species mainly distributed in China and needs to be protected. Gut microbiome is an important determinant of animal health and population survival as it affects the adaptation of the animals to different foods and environments under kinetic changes of intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Therefore, this study aimed to elucidate gut fecal microbiome profiles of snub-nosed monkeys affected by several extrinsic and intrinsic factors, including raising patterns (captive vs. wild), age, sex, and diarrheal status to provide a reference for making protection strategies. Results The 16S rRNA gene sequencing was firstly used to pre-check clustering of 38 fecal samples from the monkeys including 30 wild and 8 captive (5 healthy and 3 diarrheal) from three Regions of Shennongjia Nature Reserve, Hubei Province, China. Then the 24 samples with high-quality DNA from 18 wild and 6 captive (4 healthy and 2 diarrheal) monkeys were subjected to shotgun metagenomic sequencing to characterize bacterial gut microbial communities. We discovered that the raising pattern (captive and wild) rather than age and sex was the predominant factor attributed to gut microbiome structure and proportionality. Wild monkeys had significantly higher bacterial diversity and lower Bacteroidetes/Firmicutes ratios than captive animals. Moreover, the gut microbiomes in wild healthy monkeys were enriched for the genes involved in fatty acid production, while in captive animals, genes were enriched for vitamin biosynthesis and metabolism and amino acid biosynthesis from carbohydrate intermediates. Additionally, a total of 37 antibiotic resistant genes (ARG) types were detected. Unlike the microbiome diversity, the captive monkeys have a higher diversity of ARG than the wild animals. Conclusion Taken together, we highlight the importance of self-reprogramed metabolism in the snub-nosed monkey gut microbiome to help captive and wild monkeys adapt to different intrinsic and extrinsic environmental change.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Acid production / Adaptation / Amino acids / Animal Genetics and Genomics / Animal health / Animal species / Animals / Antibiotic resistance / Antibiotic resistant genes / Antibiotics / Bacteria - genetics / Bacteroidetes/Firmicutes ratio / Bar codes / Biomedical and Life Sciences / Biosynthesis / Carbohydrates / Clustering / Colobinae - genetics / Colobinae - microbiology / Composition / Diarrhea / Digestive system / Drug resistance / Drug resistance in microorganisms / Endangered & extinct species / Endangered animals / Endangered Species / Environmental changes / Fatty acids / Feces / Food / Gastrointestinal Microbiome - genetics / Gene sequencing / Genes / Genomics / Gut microbiome / Gut microbiota / Intermediates / Intestinal microflora / Land degradation / Life Sciences / Metabolism / Metagenomics / Microarrays / Microbial activity / Microbial Genetics and Genomics / Microbiomes / Microbiota / Microbiota (Symbiotic organisms) / Microorganisms / Monkeys / Nature reserves / Physiology / Plant Genetics and Genomics / Presbytini - genetics / Prevention / Protection and preservation / Proteomics / Rhinopithecus roxellanae / RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics / rRNA 16S / Sex / Synthesis / Taxonomy / Veterinary medicine / Wild animals