College of Veterinary Medicine, Henan Agricultural University, No. 15 Longzihu University Area, Zhengzhou New District, Zhengzhou, 450046, China.
International Joint Research Laboratory for Zoonotic Diseases of Henan, Zhengzhou, 450046, China.
BMC Genomics. 2023 Oct 24;24(1):635. doi: 10.1186/s12864-023-09742-2.
With the promotion of "One Health," the health of animals and their impact on the environment have become major concerns recently. Widely distributed in China, the whooper swans (Cygnus cygnus) and black swans (Cygnus atratus) are not only important to the ecological environment, but they may also potentially influence public health security. The metagenomic approach was adopted to uncover the impacts of the gut microbiota of swans on host and public health.
In this study, the intestinal microbiome and resistome of migratory whooper swans and captive-bred black swans were identified. The results revealed similar gut microbes and functional compositions in whooper and black swans. Interestingly, different bacteria and probiotics were enriched by overwintering whooper swans. We also found that Acinetobacter and Escherichia were significantly enriched in early wintering period swans and that clinically important pathogens were more abundant in black swans. Whooper swans and black swans are potential reservoirs of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and novel ARGs, and the abundance of novel ARGs in whooper swans was significantly higher than that in black swans. Metagenomic assembly-based host tracking revealed that most ARG-carrying contigs originated from Proteobacteria (mainly Gammaproteobacteria).
The results revealed spatiotemporal changes in microbiome and resistome in swans, providing a reference for safeguarding public health security and preventing animal epidemics.
随着“One Health”理念的推广，动物健康及其对环境的影响已成为当前的主要关注点。大天鹅（Cygnus cygnus）和黑天鹅（Cygnus atratus）在中国广泛分布，它们不仅对生态环境很重要，而且可能对公共卫生安全产生潜在影响。本研究采用宏基因组学方法揭示了天鹅肠道微生物群对宿主和公共卫生健康的影响。
本研究鉴定了迁徙的大天鹅和圈养的黑天鹅的肠道微生物群和抗性组。结果表明，大天鹅和黑天鹅的肠道微生物和功能组成相似。有趣的是，经过越冬的大天鹅富集了不同的细菌和益生菌。我们还发现，越冬早期的天鹅中丰度较高的细菌为不动杆菌属（Acinetobacter）和大肠埃希氏菌属（Escherichia），而且黑天鹅中存在更多的临床重要病原体。大天鹅和黑天鹅是抗生素耐药基因（ARGs）和新型 ARGs 的潜在储存库，大天鹅中新型 ARGs 的丰度明显高于黑天鹅。基于宏基因组组装的宿主追踪显示，大多数携带 ARG 的基因簇源自变形菌门（主要是γ变形菌纲）。
本研究结果揭示了天鹅肠道微生物群和抗性组的时空变化，为保障公共卫生安全和预防动物疫病提供了参考。
