Abstract
BackgroundGut microbiota plays a key role in the survival and reproduction of wild animals which rely on microbiota to break down plant compounds for nutrients. As compared to laboratory animals, wild animals face much more threat of environmental changes (e.g. food shortages and risk of infection). Therefore, studying the gut microbiota of wild animals can help us better understand the mechanisms animals use to adapt to their environment.MethodsWe collected the feces of Brandt’s voles in the grassland, of three age groups (juvenile, adult and old), in both sexes. We studied the gut microbiota by 16S rRNA sequencing.ResultsThe main members of gut microbiota in Brandt’s voles were Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria. As voles get older, the proportion of Firmicutes increased gradually, and the proportion of Bacteroides decreased gradually. The diversity of the microbiota of juveniles is lower, seems like there is still a lot of space for colonization, and there are large variations in the composition of the microbiome between individuals. In adulthood, the gut microbiota tends to be stable, and the diversity is highest. In adult, the abundances of Christensenellaceae and Peptococcus of female were significantly higher than male voles.ConclusionsThe gut microbiota of Brandt’s vole was influenced by sex and age, probably due to growth needs and hormone levels. Gut microbiota of wild animals were much influenced by their life-history reflected by their age and sex. Future studies will be directed to identify functions of these “wild microbiota” in regulating physiological or behavioral processes of wild animals in different life stage or sexes.
Highlights
The intestinal microbiome maintains a commensal relationship with the intestinal mucosa of a healthy individual and plays an essential role of metabolism and immunity in the host (Bäckhed et al, 2005; Rup, 2012)
The purpose of this study aims to examine the impacts of sex and aging on microbiotata of Brandt’s voles, and to discuss the difference of microbiotat between wild and laboratory voles, so as to to understand the ecological and evolutionary role of the gut microbiota throughout the lifetime of the voles in wild conditions
From Kruskal-Wallis, Shannon index of gut microbiota showed significant difference between age groups (Fig. 1A, p < 0.001); it was significantly lower in juveniles than adult in female (p = 0.0048), juvenile group was lower than old group in female (p = 0.029)
Summary
The intestinal microbiome maintains a commensal relationship with the intestinal mucosa of a healthy individual and plays an essential role of metabolism and immunity in the host (Bäckhed et al, 2005; Rup, 2012). Studies showed the gut microbiota of animals would change significantly with aging (Claesson et al, 2012). Sex- and age-specific variation of gut microbiota in Brandt’s voles. The diversity of gut microbiota in fecal samples of children was significantly lower than in adults (Yatsunenko et al, 2012). We collected the feces of Brandt’s voles in the grassland, of three age groups (juvenile, adult and old), in both sexes. The gut microbiota of Brandt’s vole was influenced by sex and age, probably due to growth needs and hormone levels. Gut microbiota of wild animals were much influenced by their life-history reflected by their age and sex. Future studies will be directed to identify functions of these ‘‘wild microbiota’’ in regulating physiological or behavioral processes of wild animals in different life stage or sexes
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