Abstract
During the early-life period, the hatchlings of red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans) rely on their own post-hatching internal yolk for several days before beginning to feed. The gut microbiome is critical for the adaptation of organisms to new environments, but, to date, how the microbiome taxa are assembled during early life of the turtle is unknown. In this study, the intestinal microbiome of red-eared slider hatchlings (fed on commercial particle food) was systematically analyzed at four different growth stages (0 d, 10 d, 20 d, 30 d) by a high-throughput sequencing approach. Results showed that the dominant phyla were Firmicutes (58.23%) and Proteobacteria (41.42%) at 0-day, Firmicutes (92.94%) at 10-day, Firmicutes (67.08%) and Bacteroidetes (27.17%) at 20-day, and Firmicutes (56.46%), Bacteroidetes (22.55%) and Proteobacteria (20.66%) at 30-day post-hatching. Members of the Bacteroidaceae family were absent in 0-day and 10-day turtles, but dominated in 20-day and 30-day turtles. The abundance of Clostridium also showed the highest value in 10-day turtles. The richness of the intestinal microbiomes was lower at 0-day and 30-day than that at 10-day and 20-day, while the diversity was higher at 10-day and 30-day than that at 0-day and 20-day. The results endowed the turtles with an ability to enhance their tolerance to the environment.
Highlights
The microbial community in the gastrointestinal tract has a major role to play in several physiology processes of the host, such as maintaining intestinal microecological balance, promoting host health, and providing nutrients (Chung et al, 2012; Kahrstrom, Pariente & Weiss, 2016; Mohd Shaufi et al, 2015; Yamashiro, 2017)
At 10-day, the percentage of Firmicutes increased greatly to 92.94% whereas Proteobacteria decreased sharply to 5.68%, and no significant change was seen for Bacteroidetes (0.31%)
The results suggested that the microbiome of the turtle adjusts itself to optimize the bacterial species needing for the particular food that is given which is in this case is a constant single food. Another explanation was the richness and diversity of gut microbes varied with development stage in turtles. This is consistent with previous reports showing that the diversity and richness of gut microbiome of pigs and chicks decreased with age (Ballou et al, 2016; Zhao et al, 2015)
Summary
The microbial community in the gastrointestinal tract has a major role to play in several physiology processes of the host, such as maintaining intestinal microecological balance, promoting host health, and providing nutrients (Chung et al, 2012; Kahrstrom, Pariente & Weiss, 2016; Mohd Shaufi et al, 2015; Yamashiro, 2017). The gut microbiome is associated with gut disease, feed conversion, parasite colonization, and immune system activity of the host (Li et al, 2017; Singh et al, 2012). Promotion of nutrient metabolism and innate immune response depend upon the bacterial species that. Early-life intestinal microbiome in Trachemys scripta elegans analyzed using 16S rRNA sequencing. Research on the microbiota of animals is gaining popularity in order to understand the relationships between host health, immunity, and disease resistance
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