Department of Veterinary Science, University of Parma, Via del Taglio 8, 43100 Parma, Italy.
Laboratory of Probiogenomics, Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences, and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 11a, 43124 Parma, Italy.
FEMS Microbiol Ecol. 2019 Sep 1;95(9). doi: 10.1093/femsec/fiz121.
Domestication is the process by which anthropogenic forces shape lifestyle and behavior of wild species to accommodate human needs. The impact of domestication on animal physiology and behavior has been extensively studied, whereas its effect on the gut microbiota is still largely unexplored. For this reason, 16S rRNA gene-based and internal transcribed spacer-mediated bifidobacterial profiling, together with shotgun metagenomics, was employed to investigate the taxonomic composition and metabolic repertoire of 146 mammalian fecal samples, corresponding to 12 domesticated-feral dyads. Our results revealed that changes induced by domestication have extensively shaped the taxonomic composition of the mammalian gut microbiota. In this context, the selection of microbial taxa linked to a more efficient feed conversion into body mass and putative horizontal transmission of certain bacterial genera from humans were observed in the fecal microbiota of domesticated animals when compared to their feral relatives and to humans. In addition, profiling of the metabolic arsenal through metagenomics highlighted extensive functional adaptation of the fecal microbial community of domesticated mammals to changes induced by domestication. Remarkably, domesticated animals showed, when compared to their feral relatives, increased abundance of specific glycosyl hydrolases, possibly due to the higher intake of complex plant carbohydrates typical of commercial animal feeds.
驯化是人为因素塑造野生动物生活方式和行为以适应人类需求的过程。驯化对动物生理和行为的影响已经得到了广泛的研究，而其对肠道微生物群的影响在很大程度上仍未得到探索。出于这个原因，本研究采用 16S rRNA 基因和内部转录间隔区介导的双歧杆菌分析，以及 shotgun 宏基因组学，调查了 146 个哺乳动物粪便样本的分类组成和代谢谱，这些样本对应于 12 对驯化-野生对偶体。我们的研究结果表明，驯化引起的变化广泛地塑造了哺乳动物肠道微生物群的分类组成。在这方面，与野生亲属和人类相比，在驯化动物的粪便微生物群中观察到了与更有效地将饲料转化为体重相关的微生物类群的选择，以及某些细菌属从人类的可能水平传播。此外，通过宏基因组学对代谢武器库进行的分析强调了驯化引起的变化对驯化哺乳动物粪便微生物群落的广泛功能适应。值得注意的是，与野生亲属相比，驯化动物表现出特定糖苷水解酶的丰度增加，这可能是由于它们摄入了更多的复杂植物碳水化合物，这些碳水化合物是商业动物饲料的典型特征。
