Abstract
Hydatidosis/cystic echinococcosis (CE) caused by Echinococcus granulosus is a parasitic zoonotic disease worldwide, threatening animal health and production and public health safety. However, it is still unclear that whether E. granulosus infection can result in the alteration of gut microbiota in Tibetan sheep. Therefore, a study was designed to investigate the influences of E. granulosus infection on gut microbiota of Tibetan sheep. A total of 10 ovine small intestinal contents (five from healthy and five from infected) were obtained and subjected to high-throughput sequencing by MiSeq platform. A total of 2,395,641 sequences and 585 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were identified. Firmicutes and Proteobacteria were the most dominant phyla in all samples. Moreover, the proportions of Armatimonadetes and Firmicutes in the infected Tibetan sheep were significantly decreased, whereas Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Acidobacteria had significantly increased. At the genus level, the Christensenellaceae_R-7_group and Ruminococcaceae_NK4A214_group were the predominant bacterial genera in all the samples. Furthermore, the healthy Tibetan sheep exhibited higher abundances of Intestinimonas, Butyrivibrio, Pseudobutyrivibrio, Ruminococcaceae, Eubacterium_coprostanoligenes_group, Oxobacter, Prevotella_1, Ruminiclostridium_6, Coprococcus_1, Ruminococcus, Lachnospiraceae_UCG-002, Olsenella, and Acetitomaculum, whereas Kocuria, Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1, Slackia, Achromobacter, and Stenotrophomonas levels were lower. In conclusion, our results conveyed an information that E. granulosus infection may cause an increase in pathogenic bacteria and a decrease in beneficial bacteria. Additionally, a significant dynamical change in gut microbiota could be associated with E. granulosus infection.
Highlights
Tibetan sheep is an ancient species of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau that prevails from central Kazakhstan to Shanxi province in China and from Altai mountains to Himalaya
Increasing evidence indicated that gut microbial community poses a barrier for the host against colonization and invasion of the pathogenic bacterium [13, 14]
Numerous research have investigated the relationship of microbial community structure and multiple diseases including diarrhea, diabetes, asthma, and obesity [9, 10]
Summary
Tibetan sheep is an ancient species of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau that prevails from central Kazakhstan to Shanxi province in China and from Altai mountains to Himalaya. It is the largest prevailing wild-type sheep in the world and has adapted to hypoxic conditions (3,500–5,000 m above sea level) and low temperature of the area [1]. The abundant herbage resources in the Tibetan plateau have provided subsistence conditions for this sheep This region has a higher incidence of echinococcosis in sheep and their herdsmen probably due to prevailing substandard hygienic practices [3]. Echinococcus granulosus mainly infects the liver but may infect the lungs, heart, brain, and intestines in the hosts, resulting in rashes, fever, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and even death [5]
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