The gut microbiome of the Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica) reveals its adaptation to specialized myrmecophagy

Abstract

Background The gut microbiomes of mammals are closely related to the diets of their hosts. The Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica) is a specialized myrmecophage, but its gut microbiome has rarely been studied. Methods Using high-throughput Illumina barcoded 16S rRNA amplicons of nine fecal samples from nine captive Sunda pangolins, we investigated their gut microbiomes. Results The detected bacteria were classified into 14 phyla, 24 classes, 48 orders, 97 families, and 271 genera. The main bacterial phyla were Firmicutes (73.71%), Proteobacteria (18.42%), Actinobacteria (3.44%), and Bacteroidetes (0.51%). In the PCoA and neighbor-net network (PERMANOVA: pangolins vs. other diets, weighted UniFrac distance p < 0.01, unweighted UniFrac distance p < 0.001), the gut microbiomes of the Sunda pangolins were distinct from those of mammals with different diets, but were much closer to other myrmecophages, and to carnivores, while distant from herbivores. We identified some gut microbiomes related to the digestion of chitin, including Lactococcus, Bacteroides, Bacillus, and Staphylococcus species, which confirms that the gut microbiome of pangolins may help them to digest chitin. Significance The results will aid studies of extreme dietary adaption and the mechanisms of diet differentiation in mammals, as well as metagenomic studies, captive breeding, and ex situ conservation of pangolins.

Differences in gut microbes in captive pangolins and the effects of captive breeding

“…The dominant genera in group 1 were Staphylococcus, Porphyromonas , and Anaerococcus ; the dominant genera in group 2 were Staphylococcus, Anaerococcus , and Bacteroides ; and the dominant genera in group 3 were Staphylococcus, Bacteroides , and Streptococcus . This was different from previous studies that reported Lactobacillus, Escherichia / Shigella , and Clostridium sensu stricto 1 as the dominant genera (Ma et al, 2018 ; Liu et al, 2021 ; Yan et al, 2021 ; Zhang et al, 2021 ). From now on, this is the first study to identify the dominant intestinal microbial species in pangolins using 16S full-length sequencing.…”

Fecal and gastric fluid microbiome profiles in the indopacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus)

“…In contrast, the Rank abundance curve reflects the richness and evenness of species in samples. These curves have been reported in other mammals, including humans (29), wildlife species (30), and Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica) (31). ANOSIM analysis is a nonparametric test that determines whether group variation is significantly larger than group variation, which aids in determining the reasonability of group division.…”

Taxonomic, Genomic, and Functional Variation in the Gut Microbiomes of Wild Spotted Hyenas Across 2 Decades of Study

“…More-detailed studies are required to determine whether the core genera are potentially interacting with a hyena’s metabolism. We do know that Bacteroides forms part of the core microbiome or is highly abundant in the guts of wild cats ( Felis silvestris catus ), coyotes ( Canis latrans ), raccoon dogs ( Nyctereutes procyonoides ), black-backed jackals ( Canis mesomelas ), and myrmecophagous pangolins ( Manis javanica ) ( 84 – 87 ). Members of this bacterial genus are known to be functionally involved in the degradation of protein and are related to a high-fat and protein-based diet ( 88 ).…”