Gut microbial community structure and function of Przewalski's horses varied across reintroduced sites in China

Abstract

Host‐associated microbiota can significantly impact host fitness. Therefore, naturally occurring variations in microbiota may influence the health and persistence of their hosts. This finding is particularly important in reintroduced animals, as they typically experience habitat changes during translocations. However, little is known about how microbiomes are altered in response to conservation translocation. Here, we accessed the gut microbiome of Przewalski's horse (Equus przewalskii) populations in China from three nature reserves (i.e. Xinjiang Kalamaili Nature Reserve, KNR; Dunhuang Xihu National Nature Reserve, DXNNR; and Anxi Extreme‐arid Desert Nature Reserve, AENR) using 16s rRNA gene and metagenome sequencing. The results showed that the microbial composition and function differed significantly across locations, while a subset of core taxa was consistently present in most of the samples. The abundance of genes encoding microbe‐produced enzymes involved in the metabolism of carbohydrates, especially for glycoside hydrolases, was significantly higher in open‐spaced KNR populations than in more confined AENR individuals. This study offers detailed and significant differential characters related to the microbial community and metabolic pathways in various reintroduced sites of Przewalski's horse, which might provide a basis for future microecological and conservation research on endangered reintroduced animals.

Stochastic Processes Derive Gut Fungi Community Assembly of Plateau Pikas (Ochotona curzoniae) along Altitudinal Gradients across Warm and Cold Seasons

“…The mammalian gastrointestinal tract is colonized by many microorganisms, most of which are bacteria and fungi [1,2]. Variations in gut microbes are closely associated with host growth and development [3], nutrient digestion and absorption [4][5][6][7], energy metabolism [8][9][10], immune regulation [11], and cognitive behavior [12,13]. Although the number of fungi in the intestinal tract is much lower than that of bacteria [1,2], they play extremely important functional roles in host metabolism and health [11,[14][15][16].…”