Diverse methanogens, bacteria and tannase genes in the feces of the endangered volcano rabbit (Romerolagus diazi)

Abstract

Background The volcano rabbit is the smallest lagomorph in Mexico, it is monotypic and endemic to the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. It is classified as endangered by Mexican legislation and as critically endangered by the IUCN, in the Red List. Romerolagus diazi consumes large amounts of grasses, seedlings, shrubs, and trees. Pines and oaks contain tannins that can be toxic to the organisms which consume them. The volcano rabbit microbiota may be rich in bacteria capable of degrading fiber and phenolic compounds. Methods We obtained the fecal microbiome of three adults and one young rabbit collected in Coajomulco, Morelos, Mexico. Taxonomic assignments and gene annotation revealed the possible roles of different bacteria in the rabbit gut. We searched for sequences encoding tannase enzymes and enzymes associated with digestion of plant fibers such as cellulose and hemicellulose. Results The most representative phyla within the Bacteria domain were: Proteobacteria, Firmicutes and Actinobacteria for the young rabbit sample (S1) and adult rabbit sample (S2), which was the only sample not confirmed by sequencing to correspond to the volcano rabbit. Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Cyanobacteria were found in adult rabbit samples S3 and S4. The most abundant phylum within the Archaea domain was Euryarchaeota. The most abundant genera of the Bacteria domain were Lachnoclostridium (Firmicutes) and Acinetobacter (Proteobacteria), while Methanosarcina predominated from the Archaea. In addition, the potential functions of metagenomic sequences were identified, which include carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism. We obtained genes encoding enzymes for plant fiber degradation such as endo 1,4 β-xylanases, arabinofuranosidases, endoglucanases and β-glucosidases. We also found 18 bacterial tannase sequences.

Short Term Effect of Ivermectin on the Bacterial Microbiota from Fecal Samples in Chinchillas (Chinchilla lanigera)

“…At the phylum level, the significant change was decreased Cyanobacteria post ivermectin administration. Cyanobacteria exists widely in surrounding environment like marine and freshwater and has also been detected in the fecal bacteria communities of horses and volcano rabbit [ 19 , 20 , 21 ], which some similarity in hindgut fermenters. As a minor component of intestinal microflora, one study hypothesized that the Cyanobacteria overgrowth with production of neurotoxins had been related to the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Equine Motor Neuron Disease [ 22 ].…”

Constructing Micro-Landscapes: Management and Selection Practices on Microbial Communities in a Traditional Fermented Beverage

“…Alpha diversity was evaluated with the Hill numbers ( q D), where the order q determines the sensitivity of the measure to the relative abundance (Chao and Chiu, 2016). 0 D is equivalent to the richness; the measure 1 D counts the ASVs proportionally to their abundances and corresponds to the effective numbers of common ASVs; the measure for 2 D considers the most abundant ASVs and can be interpreted as the effective number of dominant ASVs (Chao et al, 2014;Montes-Carreto et al, 2021). The comparisons of the diversity measures among colonche management practices were made under the same sample coverage and the no overlap in the 95% CI values indicates significant differences (Cumming et al, 2007).…”

Design and application of an efficient cellulose-degrading microbial consortium and carboxymethyl cellulase production optimization

“…Though many studies indicate the presence of various cellulase-producing microbial strains in rabbit feces (Dong et al, 2017;Montes-Carreto et al, 2021), few have isolated efficient cellulose-degrading strains from rabbit feces. Dong et al (2017) isolated two Grampositive cellulose-degrading Bacillus strains from rabbit feces, but their cellulose-degrading efficiency warrants further evaluation.…”