AUTHOR=Xi Li , Song Yumin , Qin Xinxi , Han Jincheng , Chang Yung-Fu 

TITLE=Microbiome Analysis Reveals the Dynamic Alternations in Gut Microbiota of Diarrheal Giraffa camelopardalis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Veterinary Science

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2021.649372

DOI=10.3389/fvets.2021.649372

ISSN=2297-1769

ABSTRACT=<p>The ruminant gut microbial community's importance has been widely acknowledged due to its positive roles in physiology, metabolism, and health maintenance. Diarrhea has been demonstrated to cause adverse effects on gastrointestinal health and intestinal microecosystem, but studies regarding diarrheal influence on gut microbiota in <italic>Giraffa camelopardalis</italic> have been insufficient to date. Here, this study was performed to investigate and compare gut microbial composition and variability between healthy and diarrheic <italic>G. camelopardalis</italic>. The results showed that the gut microbial community of diarrheal <italic>G. camelopardalis</italic> displayed a significant decrease in alpha diversity, accompanied by distinct alterations in taxonomic compositions. Bacterial taxonomic analysis indicated that the dominant bacterial phyla (<italic>Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes</italic>, and <italic>Firmicutes</italic>) and genera (<italic>Escherichia Shigella</italic> and <italic>Acinetobacter</italic>) of both groups were the same but different in relative abundance. Specifically, the proportion of <italic>Proteobacteria</italic> in the diarrheal <italic>G. camelopardalis</italic> was increased as compared with healthy populations, whereas <italic>Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Tenericutes</italic>, and <italic>Spirochaetes</italic> were significantly decreased. Moreover, the relative abundance of one bacterial genus (<italic>Comamonas</italic>) dramatically increased in diarrheic <italic>G. camelopardalis</italic>, whereas the relative richness of 18 bacterial genera decreased compared with healthy populations. Among them, two bacterial genera (<italic>Ruminiclostridium_5</italic> and <italic>Blautia</italic>) cannot be detected in the gut bacterial community of diarrheal <italic>G. camelopardalis</italic>. In summary, this study demonstrated that diarrhea could significantly change the gut microbial composition and diversity in <italic>G. camelopardalis</italic> by increasing the proportion of pathogenic to beneficial bacteria. Moreover, this study first characterized the distribution of gut microbial communities in <italic>G. camelopardalis</italic> with different health states. It contributed to providing a theoretical basis for establishing a prevention and treatment system for <italic>G. camelopardalis</italic> diarrhea.</p>