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. 2024 Aug 4;12(8):1587.
doi: 10.3390/microorganisms12081587.

Microbial Biogeography along the Gastrointestinal Tract of a Wild Chinese Muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi)

Yuan Liu  1   2 , Yan Shu  1   2 , Yuling Huang  1   2 , Jinchao Tan  1   2 , Fengmei Wang  1   2 , Lin Tang  1   2 , Tingting Fang  1   2 , Shibin Yuan  1   2 , Le Wang  1   2
Affiliations

Microbial Biogeography along the Gastrointestinal Tract of a Wild Chinese Muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi)

Yuan Liu et al. Microorganisms. .

Abstract

The gut microbiota plays an important role in host nutrient absorption, immune function, and behavioral patterns. Much research on the gut microbiota of wildlife has focused on feces samples, so the microbial composition along the gastrointestinal tract of wildlife is not well reported. To address this gap, we performed high-throughput sequencing of 16s rRNA genes and ITs rRNA genes in the gastrointestinal contents of a wild adult male Chinese muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi) to comparatively analyze the microbial diversity of different gastrointestinal regions. The results showed that the dominant bacterial phyla were Firmicutes (66.19%) and Bacteroidetes (22.7%), while the dominant fungal phyla were Ascomycetes (72.81%). The highest bacterial diversity was found in the stomach, and the highest fungal diversity was found in the cecum. The microbial communities of the large intestine and small intestine were of similar structures, which were distinct from that of the stomach. These results would facilitate the continued exploration of the microbial composition and functional diversity of the gastrointestinal tract of wild Chinese muntjacs and provide a scientific basis for microbial resource conservation of more wildlife.

Keywords: Chinese muntjac; gastrointestinal tract; gut microbiota.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Diagram of gastrointestinal tract sampling of the Chinese muntjac and microbial composition. (A) Pie charts of bacterial and fungal phylum abundance in different in-testinal segments. (B) Pie chart of different intestinal segments in the bacterial and fungal phylum.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Bacterial diversity of the gastrointestinal tract. (A) Rarefaction curves based on Richness’s index. (B) The bacterial composition of the gastrointestinal tract at the genus level. (C) Unique bacterial genera of the gastrointestinal tract. (D) Venn diagrams of bacterial ASVs in the gastrointestinal tract. (E) Heat map of differential bacterial ASVs in the gastrointestinal tract. (F) Shannon index for bacterial ASVs in the gastrointestinal tract. (G) Principal coordinate analysis of bacterial ASVs in the gastrointestinal tract.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Fungal diversity of the gastrointestinal tract. (A) Rarefaction curves based on Richness’s index. (B) The fungal composition of the gastrointestinal tract at the genus level. (C) Unique fungal genera of the gastrointestinal tract. (D) Venn diagrams of fungal ASVs in the gastrointestinal tract. (E) Heat map of differential fungal ASVs in the gastrointestinal tract. (F) Shannon index for fungal ASVs in the gastrointestinal tract. (G) Principal coordinate analysis of fungal ASVs in the gastrointestinal tract.
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