Ren Shien, Zhang Liangzhi, Tang Xianjiang, Zhao Yaqi, Cheng Qi, Speakman John R, Zhang Yanming
Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China; Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Ecological Genomics, Xining 810008, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China; Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Ecological Genomics, Xining 810008, China.
Sci Total Environ. 2024 Jan 10;907:167776. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167776. Epub 2023 Oct 15.
Most wild animals follow Bergmann's rule and grow in body size as cold stress increases. However, the underlying thermogenic strategies and their relationship with the gut microbiota have not been comprehensively elucidated. Herein, we used the plateau pikas as a model to investigate body mass, thermogenic capacity, host transcriptome, gut microbiota and metabolites collected from seven sites ranging from 3100 to 4700 m on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) in summer and winter to test the seasonal thermogenesis strategy in small herbivorous mammals. The results showed that the increase in pika body mass with altitude followed Bergmann's rule in summer and an inverted parabolic shape was observed in winter. However, physiological parameters and transcriptome profiles indicated that the thermogenic capacity of pikas increased with altitude in summer and decreased with altitude in winter. The abundance of Firmicutes declined, whereas that of Bacteroidetes significantly increased with altitude in summer. Phenylalanine, tyrosine, and proline were enriched in summer, whereas carnitine and succinate were enriched in winter. Spearman's correlation analysis revealed significant positive correlations between Prevotella, Bacteroides, Ruminococcus, Alistipes and Akkermansia and metabolites of amino acids, pika physiological parameters, and transcriptome profiles. Moreover, metabolites of amino acids further showed significant positive correlations with pika physiological parameters and transcriptome profiles. Our study highlights that the changes in body mass and thermogenic capacity with altitude distinctly differentiate small herbivorous mammals between summer and winter on the QTP, and that the gut microbiota may regulate host thermogenesis through its metabolites.
大多数野生动物遵循伯格曼法则，随着寒冷压力的增加，体型会增大。然而，其潜在的产热策略及其与肠道微生物群的关系尚未得到全面阐明。在此，我们以高原鼠兔为模型，研究了从青藏高原（QTP）海拔3100至4700米的七个地点在夏季和冬季采集的体重、产热能力、宿主转录组、肠道微生物群和代谢产物，以测试小型食草哺乳动物的季节性产热策略。结果表明，鼠兔体重随海拔的增加在夏季遵循伯格曼法则，而在冬季呈倒抛物线形状。然而，生理参数和转录组图谱表明，鼠兔的产热能力在夏季随海拔升高而增加，在冬季随海拔降低而降低。夏季，厚壁菌门的丰度下降，而拟杆菌门的丰度随海拔显著增加。苯丙氨酸、酪氨酸和脯氨酸在夏季富集，而肉碱和琥珀酸在冬季富集。Spearman相关性分析显示，普雷沃氏菌属、拟杆菌属、瘤胃球菌属、艾利斯菌属和阿克曼菌属与氨基酸代谢产物、鼠兔生理参数和转录组图谱之间存在显著正相关。此外，氨基酸代谢产物与鼠兔生理参数和转录组图谱进一步显示出显著正相关。我们的研究强调，在青藏高原上，小型食草哺乳动物在夏季和冬季体重和产热能力随海拔的变化明显不同，并且肠道微生物群可能通过其代谢产物调节宿主的产热。
