Gut microbiota reveals the environmental adaption in gastro-intestinal tract of wild boar in karst region of Southwest China

Abstract

Background: Gut microbes has become one of the research hotspots in animal ecology, playing an important role in monitoring dietary adaptation and health status of host. However, there are few studies on the gut microbiota in the stomach, smallintestine (ileum), and large intestine (cecum, colon, and rectum) of wild boar. Results: Alpha diversity and Beta diversity showed there were significant differences in the abundance and distribution of microbes in gastrointestinal tract of wild boar. Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were the most dominant phyla in stomach, cecum, colon and rectum of wild boar, while Proteobacteria and Firmicutes were the most dominant in ileum. At genus level, there were different leading genera in stomach (Prevotella and Lactobacillus), small intestine (Escherichia-Shigella and Lactobacillus), and large intestine (Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005, Christensenellaceae_R-7_group, and Escherichia-Shigella). PICRUSt function predictive analysis suggested that there were significant differences in microbial metabolic pathways among five locations of wild boar. Conclusions: This study comprehensively revealed the differences in composition of microbial community in gastrointestinal trac of wild boar. Future work links microbes with the metabolites to accurately reveal the health of wild boar.