Prevalence of pathogenic bacteria in wild rodents near natural water bodies from Sarawak, Borneo

Abstract

The gut microbiota of wild rodents is characterised by high bacterial diversity that could be influenced by the surrounding environment. However, specific environmental features that directly influence the gut bacterial diversity of rodents remain relatively unknown. Natural water bodies could play a role in shaping the gut microbiota as rodents could act as a reservoir for the bacterial community that is present in water surfaces. Characterising the gut microbiome of wild rodents is essential as the transmission of pathogenic bacteria to human settlements could occur due to the synanthropic nature of the rodents. Rodent trappings and water quality assessments of nearby natural bodies were carried out in forested areas adjacent to human settlements across Sarawak, Borneo. Nanopore sequencing was performed on the extracted DNA from the collected faecal samples (n=16). 51 pathogenic bacterial genera, representing approximately 11% of the overall bacterial abundance, were detected from sequencing 16 rodent individuals from five distinct species. These bacteria could cause zoonotic diseases and includes the genera Clostridium, Klebsiella, and Helicobacter. Some bacterial species were also found to be commonly shared between study sites (e.g. Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus). Correlation analysis revealed that only one genus (Enterococcus) had significant correlation with water quality (BOD). This study highlights the potential public health risks that could be caused by the transmission of pathogenic bacteria to nearby human settlements by rodents as the host.