Effects of captivity and artificial breeding on microbiota in feces of the red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis)

Abstract

Reintroduction of the threatened red-crowned crane has been unsuccessful. Although gut microbiota correlates with host health, there is little information on gut microbiota of cranes under different conservation strategies. The study examined effects of captivity, artificial breeding and life stage on gut microbiota of red-crown cranes. The gut microbiotas of wild, captive adolescent, captive adult, artificially bred adolescent and artificially bred adult cranes were characterized by next-generation sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons. The gut microbiotas were dominated by three phyla: Firmicutes (62.9%), Proteobacteria (29.9%) and Fusobacteria (9.6%). Bacilli dominated the ‘core’ community consisting of 198 operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Both captivity and artificial breeding influenced the structures and diversities microbiota of the gut. Especially, wild cranes had distinct compositions of gut microbiota from captive and artificially bred cranes. The greatest alpha diversity was found in captive cranes, while wild cranes had the least. According to the results of ordination analysis, influences of captivity and artificial breeding were greater than that of life stage. Overall, captivity and artificial breeding influenced the gut microbiota, potentially due to changes in diet, vaccination, antibiotics and living conditions. Metagenomics can serve as a supplementary non-invasive screening tool for disease control.

A bird's-eye view of phylosymbiosis: weak signatures of phylosymbiosis among all 15 species of cranes

“…In terms of similarities, we found that the crane gut microbiota, regardless of host species, was primarily composed of taxa in the phylum Firmicutes (76%). The dominance of Firmicutes is consistent with previous descriptions of crane gut microbiota [46,47] and the avian gut microbiome in general [11]. However, cranes in our study harboured a higher relative abundance of Firmicutes compared with the previous studies of crane gut microbiota [46,47] and was similar to that reported in mammals [48,49].…”

“…The dominance of Firmicutes is consistent with previous descriptions of crane gut microbiota [46,47] and the avian gut microbiome in general [11]. However, cranes in our study harboured a higher relative abundance of Firmicutes compared with the previous studies of crane gut microbiota [46,47] and was similar to that reported in mammals [48,49]. While the potential effects of Firmicutes on crane physiology are currently unknown, studies in mammals [50] and chickens [51] have demonstrated that Firmicutes are important to host metabolism and digestive health, most likely through their ability to produce short-chain fatty acids through the breakdown of dietary carbohydrates and polysaccharides [52].…”

Characterizing the microbiota in gastrointestinal tract segments of Rhabdophis subminiatus: Dynamic changes and functional predictions

“…At the phylum level, Proteobacteria was the predominant phylum in all GIT segments. Proteobacteria are facultative anaerobes and have been found to be the dominant phylum in the gastrointestinal tract of some fish (Givens, Ransom, Bano, & Hollibaugh, ), snakes (Colston et al, ), and birds (Xie et al, ). These bacteria typically breakdown and ferment complex sugars, and Escherichia may be important in the production of vitamins for the host (Colston & Jackson, ).…”

Gut microbiome shifts with urbanization and potentially facilitates a zoonotic pathogen in a wading bird

“…The roles of environmental exposure and diet in shaping the host microbiome may cause the gut microbiome to act as an important mediator for how urban environments or changing diets may affect host health. The shifts in diet and habitat exhibited by wildlife in urban environments likely influence their gut microbial communities as they do for animals in captivity [15][16][17][18] and humans in urban vs. rural communities [19]. While a rapidly growing body of literature has characterized the avian microbiome for many species [20], little is known about how the novel foods and habitat types available to urban birds may shape microbiome diversity and composition.…”