Harnessing the strategy of metagenomics for exploring the intestinal microecology of sable (Martes zibellina), the national first-level protected animal

Abstract

Sable (Martes zibellina), a member of family Mustelidae, order Carnivora, is primarily distributed in the cold northern zone of Eurasia. The purpose of this study was to explore the intestinal flora of the sable by metagenomic library-based techniques. Libraries were sequenced on an Illumina HiSeq 4000 instrument. The effective sequencing data of each sample was above 6000 M, and the ratio of clean reads to raw reads was over 98%. The total ORF length was approximately 603,031, equivalent to 347.36 Mbp. We investigated gene functions with the KEGG database and identified 7140 KEGG ortholog (KO) groups comprising 129,788 genes across all of the samples. We selected a subset of genes with the highest abundances to construct cluster heat maps. From the results of the KEGG metabolic pathway annotations, we acquired information on gene functions, as represented by the categories of metabolism, environmental information processing, genetic information processing, cellular processes and organismal systems. We then investigated gene function with the CAZy database and identified functional carbohydrate hydrolases corresponding to genes in the intestinal microorganisms of sable. This finding is consistent with the fact that the sable is adapted to cold environments and requires a large amount of energy to maintain its metabolic activity. We also investigated gene functions with the eggNOG database; the main functions of genes included gene duplication, recombination and repair, transport and metabolism of amino acids, and transport and metabolism of carbohydrates. In this study, we attempted to identify the complex structure of the microbial population of sable based on metagenomic sequencing methods, which use whole metagenomic data, and to map the obtained sequences to known genes or pathways in existing databases, such as CAZy, KEGG, and eggNOG. We then explored the genetic composition and functional diversity of the microbial community based on the mapped functional categories.

Comparative metagenomics analysis reveals how the diet shapes the gut microbiota in several small mammals

“…The comparison of sympatric species allows us to study the relative influence of genetic and environmental factors on the composition in the gut microbial community of the species (Moeller et al, 2012 ). Previous researches have shown that the dominant phyla exclusively by species living in sympatry spanned the four major phyla of gut bacteria (i.e., Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria) (Huttenhower et al, 2012 ; Yan et al, 2020 ; Ye et al, 2016 ). Proteobacteria and Firmicutes are the most widespread phyla of gut microbiota, and they are commonly observed within gut environments of many mammals, such as human, mouse, and the ruminant animal (Lavrinienko et al, 2018 ; Maurice et al, 2015 ).…”

О РЕЗУЛЬТАТАХ СПАРИВАНИЯ СОБОЛЯ (Martes zibellina Linnaeus, 1758) КЛЕТОЧНОГО РАЗВЕДЕНИЯ И ПРОМЫСЛОВОГО ДЛЯ ПОЛУЧЕНИЯ ГЕНОТИПОВ С РАЗНОЙ ОКРАСКОЙ ВОЛОСЯНОГО ПОКРОВА

“…К подроду Martes на территории Евразии относят также лесную (M. martes L., 1754), каменную (M. foina foina Erxleben, 1777) куниц и харзу (M. flavigula Bjddaert, 1785) (1,5,6). За пределами Евразии обитают еще два представителя подрода Martes (7).…”