Jiang Yuanlin, Han Xiangyu, Li Mengqi, Feng Nuannuan, Yang Pengcheng, Zhao Haoxi, Zhang Chenxi, Shi Minghui, Huang Zhixin, Sun Rubin, Liu Shuqiang, Hu Defu
School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China.
Zhangzhou Pien Tze Huang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Zhangzhou, Fujian, China.
Front Microbiol. 2022 Sep 8;13:969593. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.969593. eCollection 2022.
conservation is an important technique for protecting rare and endangered wildlife, and maintaining stable individual health is crucial to its success. Gut microbiota composition is a critical indicator of animal health and should therefore be closely monitored during conservation to track impacts on animal health. Forest musk deer () were historically distributed in Hebei Province, China, however, they are now extinct in the region. Thus, conservation efforts were conducted in 2016 whereby approximately 50 individuals were artificially migrated from Weinan, Shaanxi to Huailai, Hebei. To monitor gut health of these migrated individuals, we used 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing technology to examine the microbiota differences between Huailai juvenile and Weinan juvenile groups, and between Huailai adult and Weinan adult groups. Alpha diversity analysis indicated that the richness of microbiota significantly decreased after migration to the Huailai area, and the beta diversity results also showed significant dissimilarity in gut microbial communities, demonstrating the distinct microbial structure differences in the forest musk deer population from the two areas, for both juvenile and adult groups, respectively. In addition, PICRUSt functional profile prediction indicated that the functions of gut digestion and absorption, and degradation of toxic substances were significantly weakened after conservation. Differences in diet composition between the individuals of the two sites were also observed and the impact of food on gut microbiota compositions within forest musk deer during conservation was investigated. This study provides a theoretical basis for developing conservation measures, especially for the protection of forest musk deer.
保护是保护珍稀濒危野生动物的一项重要技术，维持个体健康稳定对其成功至关重要。肠道微生物群组成是动物健康的关键指标，因此在保护过程中应密切监测，以追踪对动物健康的影响。林麝历史上分布于中国河北省，但目前该地区已灭绝。因此，2016年开展了保护工作，约50只林麝从陕西渭南人工迁移至河北怀来。为监测这些迁移个体的肠道健康，我们使用16S rRNA高通量测序技术，研究了怀来幼年组与渭南幼年组、怀来成年组与渭南成年组之间的微生物群差异。α多样性分析表明，迁移至怀来地区后，微生物群丰富度显著降低，β多样性结果也显示肠道微生物群落存在显著差异，分别表明两个地区林麝种群（幼年组和成年组）的肠道微生物结构明显不同。此外，PICRUSt功能谱预测表明，保护后肠道消化吸收功能以及有毒物质降解功能显著减弱。还观察到两个地点个体的饮食组成差异，并研究了保护期间食物对林麝肠道微生物群组成的影响。本研究为制定保护措施，特别是保护林麝提供了理论依据。
