High‐throughput sequencing reveals the core gut microbiome of Bar‐headed goose ( Anser indicus ) in different wintering areas in Tibet

Abstract

Elucidating the spatial dynamic and core gut microbiome related to wild bar‐headed goose is of crucial importance for probiotics development that may meet the demands of bar‐headed goose artificial breeding industries and accelerate the domestication of this species. However, the core microbial communities in the wild bar‐headed geese remain totally unknown. Here, for the first time, we present a comprehensive survey of bar‐headed geese gut microbial communities by Illumina high‐throughput sequencing technology using nine individuals from three distinct wintering locations in Tibet. A total of 236,676 sequences were analyzed, and 607 OTUs were identified. We show that the gut microbial communities of bar‐headed geese have representatives of 14 phyla and are dominated by Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes. The additive abundance of these four most dominant phyla was above 96% across all the samples. At the genus level, the sequences represented 150 genera. A set of 19 genera were present in all samples and considered as core gut microbiome. The top seven most abundant core genera were distributed in that four dominant phyla. Among them, four genera (Lactococcus, Bacillus, Solibacillus, and Streptococcus) belonged to Firmicutes, while for other three phyla, each containing one genus, such as Proteobacteria (genus Pseudomonas), Actinobacteria (genus Arthrobacter), and Bacteroidetes (genus Bacteroides). This broad survey represents the most in‐depth assessment, to date, of the gut microbes that associated with bar‐headed geese. These data create a baseline for future bar‐headed goose microbiology research, and make an original contribution to probiotics development for bar‐headed goose artificial breeding industries.

Distinctive gut microbial community structure in both the wild and farmed Swan goose (Anser cygnoides)

“…The analysis of composition of gut microbiota demonstrated that the most dominant bacteria of both wild and farmed Swan geese belonged to two phyla, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria , which are commonly founded in the vertebrate gastrointestinal tract . These findings are consistent with studies on the gut microbiome of other wild birds, such as parrots , kakapos , common diving petrels and Bar‐headed goose . Although the Swan geese gut microbiota in this study is similar to that of other birds, they do differ from other birds in regard to the very low abundance of Bacteroidetes (0.10%‐2.30%) and Actinobateria (0.04%‐1.36%).…”

The gut microbiome of hooded cranes (Grus monacha) wintering at Shengjin Lake, China

“…The most abundant phyla of gut microbes of wintering hooded cranes were as follows: Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria. The microbial content was similar to wild bar‐headed geese: Firmicutes predominated (58.33%), followed by Proteobacteria (30.67%), Actinobacteria (7.33%), and Bacteroidetes (3.33%) (Wang et al, a; Wang et al., b). The most populous phylum was Firmicutes that includes species that catabolize complex carbohydrates, polysaccharides, sugars, and fatty acids to provide an energy source for the host (Flint et al, ; Tap et al., ).…”

“…The high abundance of Firmicutes was largely accounted for by Clostridium , Lysinibacillus , and Lactobacillus , which are often found as flora of the giant panda and hoatzin (Godoyvitorino et al., ; Zhu et al., ). Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria inhabit mammals, including horse (Dougal et al., ) as well as avian species such as the bar‐headed goose ( Anser indicus ) (Wang et al, a; Wang et al, b). In the present study, we detected a high abundance of Proteobacteria, mainly Enterobacter .…”

Comparative metagenomics of the gut microbiota in wild greylag geese (Anser anser) and ruddy shelducks (Tadorna ferruginea)

“…At the phylum level, Firmicutes , Proteobacteria, and Fusobacteria were found to be present at high abundance in each sample. Firmicutes and Proteobacteria , the most widespread intestinal phyla, are commonly observed within gut environments of many birds (Waite & Taylor, ; Wang, Cao, Li, et al., ; Wang, Cao, Yang, et al., ; Wang, Zheng, et al., ). Members of these two phyla were frequently studied for their food digestion roles.…”