Observation of the Gut Microbiota Profile in BALB/c Mice Induced by 17XL Infection.

Rodent malaria caused by 17XL (Py 17XL) is an ideal animal model for human malaria studies. Although the gut microbiota plays an important role in the occurrence and development of infectious diseases, the gut microbiota associated with Py 17XL infection remains unclear. In the current study, the gut microbiota composition of infected BALB/c mice was surveyed. Mouse fecal samples were collected at 0, 2, 5 days post-infection (dpi), and the gut microbiota was characterized by 16S rRNA sequencing. Operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were 634 ± 26 on average. and were typically predominant in the gut microbiota composition at the phylum level. Compared with the Ctrl, was significantly decreased after infection, while was notably increased. The most dominant family was in all samples. The alpha diversity index showed that compared with that of the Ctrl, the observed OTU number was decreased at 2 dpi and then slightly increased at 5 dpi. LEfSe analysis revealed several bacterial taxa were notably related to Py-infected mice at the phylogenetic level. Several bacterial genera, such as , were overrepresented in the Pyinfected fecal microbiota at 2 dpi, while was overrepresented at 5 dpi. Moreover, were overrepresented at 5 dpi compared with 2 dpi. The results indicated Py infection could alter the gut microbiota composition of mice. Besides, biomarkers could serve as direct targets to elucidate their roles in the progression and pathogenesis of malaria and provide insights into studies of antimalarial drugs and malaria vaccines.