Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, Qinghai, 810008, China.
Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Ecological Genomics, Xining, Qinghai Province, China.
Microb Biotechnol. 2021 Jul;14(4):1300-1315. doi: 10.1111/1751-7915.13687. Epub 2020 Dec 26.
The previous studies have reported that the mammalian gut microbiota is a physiological consequence; nonetheless, the factors influencing its composition and function remain unclear. In this study, to evaluate the contributions of the host and environment to the gut microbiota, we conducted a sequencing analysis of 16S rDNA and shotgun metagenomic DNA from plateau pikas and yaks, two sympatric herbivorous mammals, and further compared the sequences in summer and winter. The results revealed that both pikas and yaks harboured considerably more distinct communities between summer and winter. We detected the over-representation of Verrucomicrobia and Proteobacteria in pikas, and Archaea and Bacteroidetes in yaks. Firmicutes and Actinobacteria, associated with energy-efficient acquisition, significantly enriched in winter. The diversity of the microbial community was determined by the interactive effects between the host and season. Metagenomic analysis revealed that methane-metabolism-related pathway of yaks was significantly enriched in summer, while some pathogenic pathways were more abundant in pikas. Both pikas and yaks had a higher capacity for lipid degradation in winter. Pika and yak shared more OTUs when food shortage occurred in winter, and this caused a convergence in gut microbial composition and function. From winter to summer, the network module number increased from one to five in pikas, which was different in yaks. Our study demonstrates that the host is a dominant factor in shaping the microbial communities and that seasonality promotes divergence or convergence based on dietary quality across host species identity.
先前的研究报告表明，哺乳动物的肠道微生物群是一种生理后果；然而，影响其组成和功能的因素仍不清楚。在这项研究中，为了评估宿主和环境对肠道微生物群的贡献，我们对高原鼠兔和牦牛这两种共生食草哺乳动物的 16S rDNA 和 shotgun 宏基因组 DNA 进行了测序分析，并进一步比较了夏季和冬季的序列。结果表明，夏季和冬季高原鼠兔和牦牛的肠道微生物群之间存在明显的差异。我们检测到 Verrucomicrobia 和 Proteobacteria 在鼠兔中过度表达，而 Archaea 和 Bacteroidetes 在牦牛中过度表达。Firmicutes 和 Actinobacteria 与高效获取能量有关，在冬季显著富集。微生物群落的多样性由宿主和季节之间的交互作用决定。宏基因组分析显示，夏季牦牛的甲烷代谢相关途径显著富集，而一些致病途径在鼠兔中更为丰富。冬季鼠兔和牦牛的脂质降解能力都有所提高。当冬季食物短缺时，鼠兔和牦牛共享更多的 OTUs，这导致肠道微生物群落组成和功能趋同。从冬季到夏季，鼠兔的网络模块数量从一个增加到五个，而牦牛则不同。我们的研究表明，宿主是塑造微生物群落的主导因素，季节性根据宿主物种身份的饮食质量促进了趋同或发散。
