Bao Wuyundalai, Yu Jinghe, He Yuxing, Liu Mingchao, Yang Xiaofeng
College of Food Science and Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, China.
Front Microbiol. 2022 Sep 7;13:973828. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.973828. eCollection 2022.
The intestinal flora has a variety of physiological functions involved in the regulation of host metabolism, immunity and endocrinology, and plays an important role in maintaining the health of the host. In this study, we used high-throughput sequencing technology to analyze the intestinal bacterial diversity and their gene functions in three equine species of the genus Shetland Pony (SP), Mongolian Wild Ass (MA), and Plain Zebra (PZ) in captivity in two wildlife parks in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. The results showed that only the SP intestinal bacterial abundance index (Chao1) was significantly different ( < 0.05) between the same species in the two wildlife parks, but neither the intestinal bacterial diversity index (Shannon) nor the community composition were significantly different ( > 0.05). The bacterial abundance index (Chao1) was significantly higher in MA than SP ( < 0.05) and highly significantly higher than PZ ( < 0.01); the bacterial diversity index (Shannon) was higher in MA than PZ, but there was no significant difference, but both MA and PZ were significantly higher than SP ( < 0.05). Moreover, the intestinal bacterial community composition was significantly different among the three equine species ( = 0.001). The dominant bacterial phyla for SP, MA, and PZ were Firmicutes and Bacteroidota; among them, the bacterial family with the highest relative abundance was Lachnospiraceae and the bacterial genus was . Analysis of the metabolic gene functions of intestinal bacteria revealed that the highest relative abundance at Pathway level 2 was for global and overview maps; at Pathway level 3, the highest relative abundance was for biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. In sum, the intestinal bacterial community composition and diversity of the above three equine species differed significantly, but their metabolic gene functions were similar. Moreover, the results of this manuscript fill the gap in the study of intestinal bacterial diversity in SP, MA, and PZ. It also provides a reference for the study of the dominant bacteria in the intestinal microorganisms of these three equine species and the discovery of novel functional genes.
肠道菌群具有多种生理功能，参与宿主代谢、免疫和内分泌的调节，对维持宿主健康起着重要作用。在本研究中，我们利用高通量测序技术，对中国内蒙古自治区两个野生动物园圈养的设得兰矮种马（SP）、蒙古野驴（MA）和平原斑马（PZ）这三种马属动物的肠道细菌多样性及其基因功能进行了分析。结果表明，仅SP的肠道细菌丰度指数（Chao1）在两个野生动物园的同一物种之间存在显著差异（<0.05），但肠道细菌多样性指数（Shannon）和群落组成均无显著差异（>0.05）。MA的细菌丰度指数（Chao1）显著高于SP（<0.05），极显著高于PZ（<0.01）；细菌多样性指数（Shannon）MA高于PZ，但无显著差异，不过MA和PZ均显著高于SP（<0.05）。此外，三种马属动物的肠道细菌群落组成存在显著差异（=0.001）。SP、MA和PZ的优势菌门为厚壁菌门和拟杆菌门；其中，相对丰度最高的菌科为毛螺菌科，菌属为 。对肠道细菌的代谢基因功能分析表明，二级通路水平2上相对丰度最高的是全局和概览图谱；在二级通路水平3上，相对丰度最高的是次生代谢物的生物合成。总之，上述三种马属动物的肠道细菌群落组成和多样性存在显著差异，但其代谢基因功能相似。此外，本研究结果填补了SP、MA和PZ肠道细菌多样性研究的空白。它也为研究这三种马属动物肠道微生物中的优势菌以及发现新的功能基因提供了参考。
