Seasonal and Soil Microbiota Effects on the Adaptive Strategies of Wild Goitered Gazelles Based on the Gut Microbiota

Abstract

Seasonal variation in extreme environments is a threat to endangered species. The gut microbiota is important in the adaptive strategies of wild herbivores, and herbivores will contact the soil microbiota when they are feeding. However, there are no studies about the effects of soil microbiota on the gut microbiota of wild herbivores. Understanding the seasonal adaptive strategies of wild herbivores based on their gut microbiota and the effects of soil microbiota on the herbivorous gut microbiota is indispensable for making optimal conservation recommendations. To address those issues, we compared the diversity and functions of gut microbiota in goitered gazelles between winter and summer with a non-invasive fecal sampling method from the Qaidam Basin based on 16S rRNA V3–V4 regions. The data showed that seasonal variations caused the significant changes in gut microbiota at α-and β-diversity levels. The main gut microbial function was “Metabolism.” It showed significant seasonal changes. The goitered gazelles adapted to the seasonal changes by increasing the relative abundance of Firmicutes, Christensenellaceae, Bacteroides and the function about “Metabolism” in the winter to improve the adaptability. We also compared the effects of soil microbiota on the gut microbiota between winter and summer, covering source tracking analysis and the seasonal differences in ecological assembly processes. The contribution of soil microbiota on the gut microbiota of goitered gazelles was 5.3095% and 15.6347% in winter and summer, respectively, which was greater than on species of animals living underground. Seasonal variation also influenced the ecological processes of microbiota both in the gut and soil. Due to the differences in environments, the ecological processes between fecal microbiota and soil microbiota showed significant differences, and they were dominated by stochastic processes and deterministic processes, respectively. The soil microbiota has contributed to the gut microbiota, but not a decisive factor. Our research laid the foundation on the seasonal and soil microbiota effects on the adaptive strategies of goitered gazelles, and is the first study to explain the soil microbiota influence on the gut microbiota of wild herbivores.

Microbial communities are thermally more sensitive in warm-climate lizards compared with their cold-climate counterparts

“…Two-component system pathway is involved in the information communication between microbes and their environment, allowing bacteria to sense and respond to environmental change. Consistent with a study on goitred gazelles (Gazella subgutturosa) exposed to low temperatures in winter (Qin et al, 2022), our study showed that the relative abundant of two-component system was significantly higher in P. przewalskii acclimated to the lowest temperature (20 • C). This finding suggests the role of two-component system in cold adaptation.…”

Semi‐captive Przewalski's gazelles cope with winter adversity by adjusting their gut bacterial communities

“…The bacterial community assembly mechanisms in the guts of Przewalski's gazelles differed between seasons, which aligns with findings from previous studies on goitered gazelles (Gazella subgutturosa) and amphibians (Qin et al 2022, Xu et al 2022; Figure 4). There was a higher proportion of deterministic processes (heterogeneous selection) in the assembly of the gut bacterial community in winter compared to summer.…”

Fecal microbiota reveal adaptation of herbivores to the extreme environment of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

“…The dominant ecological processes varied significantly among the gut microbiota of the three herbivores (Figure 7), indicating that gut microbiota exhibit different stable states in high‐altitude environments. To maintain homeostasis in the gut environment, the gut microbiota undergoes rapid changes through random reproduction, death, and exchange, resulting in a dominant stochastic process (Qin, Song, et al, 2022). The assembly of gut microbiota co‐evolves with the host, which filters and selects specific microbes from the external environment (Kohl, 2020).…”

“…The assembly of gut microbiota co‐evolves with the host, which filters and selects specific microbes from the external environment (Kohl, 2020). The differences in ecological assembly patterns in gut microbiota may be attributed to the varying acclimatization and adaptation of herbivores to changes in the environment (Li et al, 2018; Macke et al, 2017; Qin, Song, et al, 2022). Furthermore, the dietary segregation of herbivores may also shape the community assembly processes in the gut microbiota (Smith et al, 2015).…”