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. 2024 Dec 30;19(12):e0313263.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0313263. eCollection 2024.

Gut bacterial communities in roadkill animals: A pioneering study of two species in the Amazon region in Ecuador

Manuel Alejandro Coba-Males  1 , Magdalena Díaz  1 , C Alfonso Molina  1 , Pablo Medrano-Vizcaíno  2   3   4 , David Brito-Zapata  4   5 , Sarah Martin-Solano  6 , Sofía Ocaña-Mayorga  7 , Gabriel Alberto Carrillo-Bilbao  1 , Wilmer Narváez  1 , Jazzmín Arrivillaga-Henríquez  1 , Manuela González-Suárez  2 , Sandra Enríquez  1 , Ana Poveda  1
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Gut bacterial communities in roadkill animals: A pioneering study of two species in the Amazon region in Ecuador

Manuel Alejandro Coba-Males et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Studying the microbial communities within the gastrointestinal tract of vertebrate species can provide insights into biodiversity, disease ecology, and conservation. Currently, we have very limited understanding of the composition of endogenous microbiota in wildlife, particularly in high biodiversity tropical areas. Knowledge is limited by the logistical and ethical challenges of obtaining samples for free-living animals. Roadkill carcasses offer a largely untapped source for biological material, including endogenous gut microbiota. These animals that have died on roads due to collisions with vehicles are suitable for accessible, opportunistic sampling. Here, we used metabarcoding for the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene in gut samples of nine roadkill samples collected from a road in Ecuador representing two vertebrate species: the speckled worm lizard (Amphisbaena bassleri) and the smooth-billed ani (Crotophaga ani). We successfully identify microbial phyla in both samples including Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria for A. bassleri, and Firmicutes and Actinobacteria for C. ani. Our study provides the first description of the gut microbiota for these two vertebrates, and demonstrates the feasibility of studying endogenous microbial communities from roadkill material that can be opportunistically collected and preserved in biobanks.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Microbiota composition in roadkill samples of A. bassleri.
(A) Stacked bar plots of relative abundance labelling the most abundant phyla (>3%), and the category “Others” grouping all phyla with relative abundance <3%. (B) Heatmap at family level depicting the most abundant 25 different OTUs according to postmortem hours and hierarchical clustering of the OTUs and the samples.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Microbiota composition in roadkill samples of C. ani.
(A) Stacked bar plots of relative abundance labelling the most abundant phyla (>3%), and the category “Others” grouping all phyla with relative abundance <3%. (B) Heatmap at family level depicting the most abundant 25 different OTUs according to postmortem hours and hierarchical clustering of the OTUs and the samples.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Principal Coordinates Analysis of bacterial communities among (A) A. bassleri, and (B) C. ani samples.
Hours since death indicated the estimated time since death due to wildlife-vehicle collision of the sampled roadkill specimens.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Gut core microbiota.
Gut core microbiota at Genus level showing the number of shared OTUs across all the samples for (A) A. bassleri and (B) C. ani.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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