发情是动物顺利交配的基础，对野生动物的繁育保护起着至关重要的作用。肠道微生物能够影响性激素及衍生前体物质-胆固醇的合成与分泌，但是与野生哺乳动物发情的关联性尚未见报道，其调控机制有待进一步探索。我们前期研究发现，肠道微生物与豺的发情具有显著的关联性且存在潜在的相互作用关系。本项目拟采用宏组学（宏基因组、宏转录组、宏蛋白组）技术，以不同发情状态下的多种野生哺乳动物肠道微生物为研究对象，结合生信工具和高级统计方法，继续深入了解发情期哺乳动物肠道微生物的结构特征，明确肠道微生物与哺乳动物发情的普遍关联性；通过探究肠道微生物对不同来源（体内合成、体外吸收）的性激素及胆固醇的调控，全面阐明肠道微生物对发情的调控机制，为促进动物发情进而保证动物的稳定繁育提供新的方法和思路。

Estrus is the basis for the successful mating of animals and plays a vital role in the breeding and protection of wild animals. Gut microbiome can affect the synthesis and secretion of sex hormones and derived precursors-cholesterol. However, the relationship between estrus and wild mammals has not been reported, and its regulation mechanism needs to be further explored. Our previous study found that there was a significant correlation and potential interaction between gut microbiome and the estrus of dholes. This project intends to use the technology of meta-data (meta-genomics, meta-transcriptomics and meta-genomics) to study a variety of mammalian gut microbiome under different estrus conditions. By combining big data advanced statistics and bioinformatics analysis, we understand the compositional characteristics of the gut microbiome and determine the universality of correlation between gut microbiome and mammalian estrus. Through the regulation of gut microbiome on the synthesis of precursors-cholesterol from different sources (in vivo synthesis and in vitro absorption) of sex hormones and cholesterol, the mechanism of the occurrence between gut microbes and estrus was deeply explored, providing a new method and thinking for promoting estrus in animals and ensuring stable breeding of animals.