Characterisation of the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) pouch microbiota in a captive population reveals a dysbiotic compositional profile associated with neonatal mortality.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Captive koala breeding programmes are essential for long-term species management. However, breeding efficacy is frequently impacted by high neonatal mortality rates in otherwise healthy females. Loss of pouch young typically occurs during early lactation without prior complications during parturition and is often attributed to bacterial infection. While these infections are thought to originate from the maternal pouch, little is known about the microbial composition of koala pouches. As such, we characterised the koala pouch microbiome across the reproductive cycle and identified bacteria associated with mortality in a cohort of 39 captive animals housed at two facilities.

Results

Using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, we observed significant changes in pouch ba

SUBMITTER: Maidment TI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10105441 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature