RESEARCH PAPER

Adaptive Changes in Structure and Function of Gut Microbiota in Wild Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus dauricus) during Induced Hibernation

  • YANG Xiaoying ,
  • LIU Xuhao ,
  • GAO Fuli ,
  • ZHANG Haolin ,
  • HAN Yingying ,
  • WENG Qiang ,
  • YUAN Zhengrong
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  • College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China

Received date: 2021-05-31

  Online published: 2022-01-18

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to study the changes in structure and function of gut microbiota in wild ground squirrel during induced hibernation. The purpose was to explore how the gut microbiota played its role in maintaining the normal physiological function of the body during the induced hibernation, so as to provide basis for further study of its mechanism in the future. After 14 days of adaptive feeding, eight wild ground squirrels were randomly divided into two groups. The squirrels in control group were housed at room temperature and those in the induced hibernation group were housed at 4℃ with dark environment to induce hibernation. Both two groups were fed standard rat chow and free access to water. After 10 days of induction in induced hibernation group, cecal contents of squirrels were taken for 16S rRNA sequencing and the data were performed bioinformatics analysis. The results showed as follows:the Shannon index of the induced hibernation group was significantly higher than that of the control group (P<0.05), it indicated that the richness and evenness of gut microbiota of the induced hibernation group were increased. β diversity analysis revealed that there were differences in the gut microbiota between the control group and induced hibernation group. Gut microbiota structure analysis revealed that the four dominant phyla in the gut microbiota of wild ground squirrel were Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Verrucomicrobia and Proteobacteria. The analysis of the differences of the microbiota structure showed that at the phylum level, the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes of the induced hibernation group was increased and the relative abundances of Firmicutes and Verrucomicrobia were decreased. At the genus level, the relative abundances of Phascolarctobacterium, Clostridium_ⅩⅣa, Barnesiella, Eggerthella, Lactonifactor, and Robinsoniella of the induced hibernation group were increased. The microbiota functional prediction results showed that 11 functional pathways including carbohydrate metabolism, pentose phosphate pathway, and bacterial chemotaxis were significantly enriched in the induced hibernation group (P<0.05), and 5 functional pathways including lipid biosynthesis proteins, prenyltransferases were significantly enriched in the control group (P<0.05). In conclusion, the gut microbiota of the wild ground squirrel is changed into the direction of degrading polysaccharides and carbohydrates during the induced hibernation, so as to better make energy for the body and keep normal life activities.

Cite this article

YANG Xiaoying , LIU Xuhao , GAO Fuli , ZHANG Haolin , HAN Yingying , WENG Qiang , YUAN Zhengrong . Adaptive Changes in Structure and Function of Gut Microbiota in Wild Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus dauricus) during Induced Hibernation[J]. Chinese Journal of Animal Nutrition, 2022 , 34(1) : 671 -680 . DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1006-267x.2022.01.061

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