Abstract
The structure and composition of gut microbiota correlate with the occurrence and development of host health and disease. Diarrhea can cause alterations in gut microbiota in animals, and the changes in the gut microbial structure and composition may affect the development of diarrhea. However, there is a scarcity of information on the effects of diarrhea on gut fungal composition and structure, particularly in Baer's pochard (Aythya baeri). The current study was performed for high-throughput sequencing of the fungal-specific internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS-1) to detect the differences of gut mycobiota in healthy and diarrheal Baer's pochard. Results showed that the gut mycobiota not only decreased significantly in diversity but also in structure and composition. Statistical analysis between two groups revealed a significant decrease in the abundance of phylum Rozellomycota, Zoopagomycota, Mortierellomycota, and Kickxellomycota in diarrheal Baer's pochard. At the genus levels, fungal relative abundance changed significantly in 95 genera, with 56 fungal genera, such as Wickerhamomyces, Alternaria, Penicillium, Cystofilobasidium, and Filobasidium, increasing significantly in the gut of the diarrheal Baer's pochard. In conclusion, the current study revealed the discrepancy in the gut fungal diversity and community composition between the healthy and diarrheal Baer's pochard, laying the basis for elucidating the relationship between diarrhea and the gut mycobiota in Baer's pochard.
Highlights
The gut microbiota is a group of microorganisms that maintains the balance of the intestinal microecological system in birds
There were 264 operational taxonomic unit (OTU) in the healthy group that were not detected in the diarrheal group, while 116 OTUs
We systematically investigated the gut fungal alterations in Baer’s pochard associated with diarrhea and explored the effect of diarrhea on the gut fungal diversity of the Baer’s pochards
Summary
The gut microbiota is a group of microorganisms that maintains the balance of the intestinal microecological system in birds. They participate in the nutrition, metabolism, immunity, and development of the host [1, 2]. The proportion of fungi in gut microbiota is low, it is closely associated with the feeding, immunity, and metabolic health of the host [6,7,8]. Studies on the relationship between gut fungi and host health have confirmed that an imbalance in the gut fungal flora can cause diarrhea [9, 10].
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