Zhu Wei, Zhao Chunlin, Feng Jianyi, Chang Jiang, Zhu Wenbo, Chang Liming, Liu Jiongyu, Xie Feng, Li Cheng, Jiang Jianping, Zhao Tian
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bioresource Utilization & Ecological Restoration Biodiversity Conservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chengdu, China.
Key Laboratory of Bioresources and Ecoenvironment (Ministry of Education), College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
Front Microbiol. 2022 Jun 13;13:884880. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.884880. eCollection 2022.
The reintroduction of captive-bred individuals is a primary approach to rebuild the wild populations of the Chinese giant salamander (), the largest extant amphibian species. However, the complexity of the wild habitat (e.g., diverse microorganisms and potential pathogens) potentially threatens the survival of reintroduced individuals. In this study, fresh (i.e., containing environmental microbiota) or sterilized river sediments (120°C sterilized treatment) were added to the artificial habitats to treat the larvae of the Chinese giant salamander (control group-Cnt: 20 individuals, treatment group 1 with fresh river sediments-T1: 20 individuals, and treatment group 2 with sterilized river sediments-T2: 20 individuals). The main objective of this study was to test whether this procedure could provoke their wild adaptability from the perspective of commensal microbiotas (skin, oral cavity, stomach, and gut) and larvae transcriptomes (skin, spleen, liver, and brain). Our results indicated that the presence of habitat sediments (whether fresh or sterilized) reshaped the oral bacterial community composition. Specifically, Firmicutes decreased dramatically from ~70% to ~20-25% (mainly contributed by ), while Proteobacteria increased from ~6% to ~31-36% (mainly contributed by Gammaproteobacteria). Consequently, the proportion of antifungal operational taxonomic units (OTUs) increased, and the function of oral microbiota likely shifted from growth-promoting to pathogen defense. Interestingly, the skin microbiota, rather than the colonization of habitat microbiota, was the major source of the pre-treated oral microbiota. From the host perspective, the transcriptomes of all four organs were changed for treated individuals. Specifically, the proteolysis and apoptosis in the skin were promoted, and the transcription of immune genes was activated in the skin, spleen, and liver. Importantly, more robust immune activation was detected in individuals treated with sterilized sediments. These results suggested that the pathogen defense of captive-bred individuals was improved after being treated, which may benefit their survival in the wild. Taken together, our results suggested that the pre-exposure of captive-bred Chinese giant salamander individuals to habitat sediments could be considered and added into the reintroduction processes to help them better adapt to wild conditions.
放归人工繁育个体是重建中国大鲵野生种群的主要方法,中国大鲵是现存最大的两栖类物种。然而,野生栖息地的复杂性(如多样的微生物和潜在病原体)可能威胁放归个体的生存。在本研究中,将新鲜的(即含有环境微生物群的)或经过灭菌处理的河底沉积物(120℃灭菌处理)添加到人工栖息地中,以处理中国大鲵幼体(对照组-Cnt:20只个体,添加新鲜河底沉积物的处理组1-T1:20只个体,添加灭菌河底沉积物的处理组2-T2:20只个体)。本研究的主要目的是从共生微生物群(皮肤、口腔、胃和肠道)和幼体转录组(皮肤、脾脏、肝脏和大脑)的角度,测试该程序是否能激发它们的野生适应性。我们的结果表明,栖息地沉积物的存在(无论是新鲜的还是经过灭菌处理的)重塑了口腔细菌群落组成。具体而言,厚壁菌门从约70%急剧下降至约20%-25%(主要由 贡献),而变形菌门从约6%增加至约31%-36%(主要由γ-变形菌纲贡献)。因此,抗真菌可操作分类单元(OTU)的比例增加,口腔微生物群的功能可能从促进生长转变为病原体防御。有趣的是,皮肤微生物群而非栖息地微生物群的定殖是预处理后口腔微生物群的主要来源。从宿主角度来看,处理后的个体所有四个器官的转录组都发生了变化。具体而言,皮肤中的蛋白水解和细胞凋亡得到促进,皮肤、脾脏和肝脏中免疫基因的转录被激活。重要的是,在接受灭菌沉积物处理的个体中检测到更强的免疫激活。这些结果表明,人工繁育个体在经过处理后病原体防御能力得到改善,这可能有利于它们在野外的生存。综上所述,我们的结果表明,可以考虑将人工繁育的中国大鲵个体预先暴露于栖息地沉积物,并将其纳入放归过程,以帮助它们更好地适应野外条件。