Seasonal Variation in Gut Microbiota of the Wild Daurian Ground Squirrel ( Spermophilus dauricus ): Metagenomic Insights into Seasonal Breeding

• Published in: Animals (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 13; p. 2235
• Main Authors: Song, Fengcheng, Ma, Shubao, Zhang, Yujiao, Yang, Xiaoying, Zhang, Haolin, Han, Yingying, Liu, Yuning, Gao, Fuli, Yuan, Zhengrong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 07-07-2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Analysis; Animal behavior; Animals; Annotations; Bacteroidetes; Breeding; Breeding seasons; Carbohydrates; Chemotaxis; Digestive system; Encyclopedias; Firmicutes; Gene expression; Genes; Genetic testing; Genomes; Genomics; gut microbiota; Hibernation; Hormones; Hypothalamus; Intestinal microflora; Laboratories; Melatonin; Metabolism; metagenome sequencing; Metagenomics; Methionine; Microbiology; Microbiota; Microbiota (Symbiotic organisms); Microorganisms; Phosphotransferase; Pituitary gland; Proteins; Reproductive behavior; Rodents; seasonal breeding; Seasonal variations; Seasons; Spermophilus dauricus; Structure-function relationships; Sucrose; wild Daurian ground squirrels; China; Beijing China; United States > US; Hebei China; wild Daurian ground squirrels; metagenome sequencing; gut microbiota; seasonal breeding
• ISSN: 2076-2615; 2076-2615
• DOI: 10.3390/ani13132235

The
the wild Daurian ground squirrel, is known to exhibit seasonal breeding behavior. Although the importance of gut microbiota in animal digestion, metabolism, and immunity is well-established, the correlation between gut microbiota and seasonal breeding in this species remains inadequately explored. In the present study, using metagenomic sequencing technology, the compositions and functions of the gut microbiota of wild Daurian ground squirrels in different breeding seasons were explored. The dominant gut microbial phyla were Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. The Firmicutes were predominant in the breeding season, whereas Bacteroidetes were predominant in the non-breeding season. At the genus level,
accumulated during the breeding season, whereas
and
increased during the non-breeding season. GO (Gene Ontology) and KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome) annotations indicated that genes in gut samples were highly associated with metabolic functions. The differential expression gene analysis showed that genes related to the phosphotransferase system, cysteine, and methionine metabolism were highly expressed during the breeding season, whereas the non-breeding season upregulated genes were enriched in starch and sucrose metabolism and bacterial chemotaxis pathways. In conclusion, this study could provide a reference for investigating gut microbiota in seasonal breeding animals and offer new insight into gut microbial function.