Song Fengcheng, Ma Shubao, Zhang Yujiao, Yang Xiaoying, Zhang Haolin, Han Yingying, Liu Yuning, Gao Fuli, Yuan Zhengrong
College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China.
Animals (Basel). 2023 Jul 7;13(13):2235. doi: 10.3390/ani13132235.
The the wild Daurian ground squirrel, is known to exhibit seasonal breeding behavior. Although the importance of gut microbiota in animal digestion, metabolism, and immunity is well-established, the correlation between gut microbiota and seasonal breeding in this species remains inadequately explored. In the present study, using metagenomic sequencing technology, the compositions and functions of the gut microbiota of wild Daurian ground squirrels in different breeding seasons were explored. The dominant gut microbial phyla were Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. The Firmicutes were predominant in the breeding season, whereas Bacteroidetes were predominant in the non-breeding season. At the genus level, accumulated during the breeding season, whereas and increased during the non-breeding season. GO (Gene Ontology) and KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome) annotations indicated that genes in gut samples were highly associated with metabolic functions. The differential expression gene analysis showed that genes related to the phosphotransferase system, cysteine, and methionine metabolism were highly expressed during the breeding season, whereas the non-breeding season upregulated genes were enriched in starch and sucrose metabolism and bacterial chemotaxis pathways. In conclusion, this study could provide a reference for investigating gut microbiota in seasonal breeding animals and offer new insight into gut microbial function.
野生达乌尔黄鼠已知具有季节性繁殖行为。尽管肠道微生物群在动物消化、代谢和免疫中的重要性已得到充分证实，但该物种肠道微生物群与季节性繁殖之间的相关性仍未得到充分探索。在本研究中，利用宏基因组测序技术，探索了野生达乌尔黄鼠在不同繁殖季节的肠道微生物群的组成和功能。肠道微生物的优势门类为厚壁菌门和拟杆菌门。厚壁菌门在繁殖季节占主导地位，而拟杆菌门在非繁殖季节占主导地位。在属水平上， 在繁殖季节积累，而 和 在非繁殖季节增加。基因本体论（GO）和京都基因与基因组百科全书（KEGG）注释表明，肠道样本中的基因与代谢功能高度相关。差异表达基因分析表明，与磷酸转移酶系统、半胱氨酸和蛋氨酸代谢相关的基因在繁殖季节高表达，而非繁殖季节上调的基因则富集于淀粉和蔗糖代谢以及细菌趋化途径。总之，本研究可为调查季节性繁殖动物的肠道微生物群提供参考，并为肠道微生物功能提供新的见解。
