Laboratory of Virology, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA.
Research Technologies Branch, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA.
Sci Rep. 2024 Feb 9;14(1):3381. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-53645-5.
The intestinal microbiome plays an important role in mammalian health, disease, and immune function. In light of this function, recent studies have aimed to characterize the microbiomes of various bat species, which are noteworthy for their roles as reservoir hosts for several viruses known to be highly pathogenic in other mammals. Despite ongoing bat microbiome research, its role in immune function and disease, especially the effects of changes in the microbiome on host health, remains nebulous. Here, we describe a novel methodology to investigate the intestinal microbiome of captive Jamaican fruit bats (Artibeus jamaicensis). We observed a high degree of individual variation in addition to sex- and cohort-linked differences. The intestinal microbiome was correlated with intestinal metabolite composition, possibly contributing to differences in immune status. This work provides a basis for future infection and field studies to examine in detail the role of the intestinal microbiome in antiviral immunity.
肠道微生物群在哺乳动物的健康、疾病和免疫功能中发挥着重要作用。鉴于其功能，最近的研究旨在描述各种蝙蝠物种的微生物群，这些蝙蝠物种作为几种已知对其他哺乳动物具有高度致病性病毒的储存宿主而引人注目。尽管对蝙蝠微生物群的研究仍在继续，但它在免疫功能和疾病中的作用，尤其是微生物群的变化对宿主健康的影响，仍然不清楚。在这里，我们描述了一种研究圈养牙买加果蝠（Artibeus jamaicensis）肠道微生物群的新方法。我们观察到了高度的个体差异，此外还有性别和群体相关的差异。肠道微生物群与肠道代谢物组成相关，可能对免疫状态的差异有贡献。这项工作为未来的感染和实地研究提供了基础，以详细研究肠道微生物群在抗病毒免疫中的作用。
