Comparative Study of Gut Microbiota in Wild and Captive Giant Pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)
Comparative Study of Gut Microbiota in Wild and Captive Giant Pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)
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DOI：
10.3390/genes10100827
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发表时间：
2019-10-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.5
通讯作者：
Li, Ying
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Guo, Wei;Mishra, Sudhanshu;Li, Ying
圈养繁殖已被用作保护濒危动物的有效方法，但其对肠道微生物组的影响和这些物种的保护状况在很大程度上是未知的。大熊猫是野生动物保护的旗舰物种。通过包括圈养繁殖在内的综合努力，该物种最近已从“濒危”升级为“脆弱”（IUCN 2016）。由于大熊猫全球种群的很大一部分（21.8%）仍然是圈养的，因此了解圈养如何改变这些大熊猫的肠道微生物组以及这些微生物组的改变如何影响它们未来的适应性以及释放到野外后对生态系统的潜在影响至关重要。在这里，我们使用16 S rRNA（核糖体RNA）标记基因测序和鸟枪宏基因组测序来证明野生和圈养大熊猫之间的粪便微生物组存在显着差异。圈养大熊猫的粪便微生物组多样性显着降低，功能基因的多样性也是如此。此外，圈养大熊猫的纤维素降解功能潜力降低，但淀粉代谢途径丰富，这表明它们在被释放到野外后可能不适应野生饮食，因为它们在野外饮食的主要成分是竹子。最重要的是，我们观察到一个显着较高水平的淀粉酶活性，但较低水平的纤维素酶活性圈养大熊猫比野生大熊猫，在体外实验测定。此外，抗生素抗性基因和毒力因子以及重金属耐受基因在圈养大熊猫的微生物组中富集，这引起了人们对这些基因在释放到野生环境中时传播到其他野生动物和生态系统的极大关注。我们的研究结果清楚地表明，圈养已经改变了大熊猫的微生物组，这可能会对大熊猫的适应性和生态系统产生意想不到的负面影响。
Captive breeding has been used as an effective approach to protecting endangered animals but its effect on the gut microbiome and the conservation status of these species is largely unknown. The giant panda is a flagship species for the conservation of wildlife. With integrated efforts including captive breeding, this species has been recently upgraded from "endangered" to "vulnerable" (IUCN 2016). Since a large proportion (21.8%) of their global population is still captive, it is critical to understand how captivity changes the gut microbiome of these pandas and how such alterations to the microbiome might affect their future fitness and potential impact on the ecosystem after release into the wild. Here, we use 16S rRNA (ribosomal RNA) marker gene sequencing and shotgun metagenomics sequencing to demonstrate that the fecal microbiomes differ substantially between wild and captive giant pandas. Fecal microbiome diversity was significantly lower in captive pandas, as was the diversity of functional genes. Additionally, captive pandas have reduced functional potential for cellulose degradation but enriched metabolic pathways for starch metabolism, indicating that they may not adapt to a wild diet after being released into the wild since a major component of their diet in the wild will be bamboo. Most significantly, we observed a significantly higher level of amylase activity but a lower level of cellulase activity in captive giant panda feces than those of wild giant pandas, shown by an in vitro experimental assay. Furthermore, antibiotic resistance genes and virulence factors, as well as heavy metal tolerance genes were enriched in the microbiomes of captive pandas, which raises a great concern of spreading these genes to other wild animals and ecosystems when they are released into a wild environment. Our results clearly show that captivity has altered the giant panda microbiome, which could have unintended negative consequences on their adaptability and the ecosystem during the reintroduction of giant pandas into the wild.