Rex rabbit is an important small herbivore for fur and meat production. However, little is known about the gut microbiota in rex rabbit, especially regarding their relationship with different fecal types and growth of the hosts. We characterized the microbiota of both hard and soft feces from rex rabbits with high and low body weight by using the Illumina MiSeq platform targeting the V4 region of the 16S rDNA. High weight rex rabbits possess distinctive microbiota in hard feces, but not in soft feces, from the low weight group. We detected the overrepresentation of several genera such as YS2/Cyanobacteria, and Bacteroidales and underrepresentation of genera such as Anaeroplasma spp. and Clostridiaceae in high weight hard feces. Between fecal types, several bacterial taxa such as Ruminococcaceae, and Akkermansia spp. were enriched in soft feces. PICRUSt analysis revealed that metabolic pathways such as “stilbenoid, diarylheptanoid, gingerol biosynthesis” were enriched in high weight rabbits, and pathways related to “xenobiotics biodegradation” and “various types of N-glycan biosynthesis” were overrepresented in rabbit soft feces. Our study provides foundation to generate hypothesis aiming to test the roles that different bacterial taxa play in the growth and caecotrophy of rex rabbits.
The red panda is the only living species of the genus Ailurus. Like giant pandas, red pandas are also highly specialized to feed mainly on highly fibrous bamboo. Although several studies have focused on the gut microbiota in the giant panda, little is known about the gut microbiota of the red panda. In this study, we characterized the fecal microbiota from both wild (n = 16) and captive (n = 6) red pandas using a pyrosequecing based approach targeting the V1-V3 hypervariable regions of the 16S rRNA gene. Distinct bacterial communities were observed between the two groups based on both membership and structure. Wild red pandas maintained significantly higher community diversity, richness and evenness than captive red pandas, the communities of which were skewed and dominated by taxa associated with Firmicutes. Phylogenetic analysis of the top 50 OTUs revealed that 10 of them were related to known cellulose degraders. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of the gut microbiota of the red panda. Our data suggest that, similar to the giant panda, the gut microbiota in the red panda might also play important roles in the digestion of bamboo.
Scope: Myogenesis involves a series of complex cellular and developmental processes regulated by many genes, transcription factors and non-coding RNAs. Recent studies have demonstrated the involvement of circular RNAs (circRNAs) in myogenesis. While previous studies have established a role for some circRNAs, the precise functions and mechanisms of circRNAs in skeletal muscle development are still not completely understood in chicken.Methods: To identify potential circRNAs during chicken embryonic skeletal muscle development, rRNA- libraries sequencing was performed in breast muscles from 12 broilers and 12 layers at four different embryonic points, embryonic day 10 (E10), E13, E16 and E19. Through circRNA differential expression analysis and target miRNA prediction, the circTMTC1 was predicted to participate in the embryonic muscle formation by sponging miRNA, which were verified in vitro experiments.Results: We identified 228 differentially expressed circRNAs between broilers and layers (fold change >2; p-value < 0.05), and 43 circRNAs were differentially expressed at multiple embryonic days. circTMTC1, a novel circRNA transcribed from the TMTC1 gene, was expressed significantly higher in layers than in broilers at E10, E13 and E16. Furthermore, circTMTC1 knockdown accelerated proliferation and differentiation in chicken skeletal muscle satellite cells (SMSCs), besides, circTMTC1-overexpressing cells showed opposite effects. circTMTC1 functioned as a miR-128-3p sponge at the differentiation stage of SMSCs, and circTMTC1 inhibited the expression of miR-128-3p. Furthermore, miR-128-3p promoted differentiation of chicken SMSCs, and circTMTC1 inhibited the promotion effect of miR-128-3p on chicken SMSC differentiation.Conclusion: Our study revealed that circRNAs are differentially expressed during chicken embryonic development between the two chicken models, and circTMTC1 inhibits chicken SMSC differentiation by sponging miR-128-3p.
The independent dietary shift from carnivore to herbivore with over 90% being bamboo
in the giant and the red pandas is of great interests to biologists. Although
previous studies have shown convergent evolution of the giant and the red pandas at
both morphological and molecular level, the evolution of the gut microbiota in these
pandas remains largely unknown. The goal of this study was to determine whether the
gut microbiota of the pandas converged due to the same diet, or diverged. We
characterized the fecal microbiota from these two species by pyrosequencing the 16S
V1–V3 hypervariable regions using the 454 GS FLX Titanium platform. We also
included fecal samples from Asian black bears, a species phylogenetically closer to
the giant panda, in our analyses. By analyzing the microbiota from these 3 species
and those from other carnivores reported previously, we found the gut microbiotas of
the giant pandas are distinct from those of the red pandas and clustered closer to
those of the black bears. Our data suggests the divergent evolution of the gut
microbiota in the pandas.
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