Exploring the gut microbiota of healthy captive Asian elephants from various locations in Yunnan, China.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) is a giant herbivore classified as an endangered wildlife species by the International Union for Conservation of Threatened Species.This study aims to investigate and compare the core gut microbiota of captive Asian elephants from three different locations in Yunnan Province, China, to explore the impact of environmental and husbandry factors on microbial diversity.

Methods

We collected fecal samples from 29 captive Asian elephants from three locations and performed full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Microbial diversity was assessed using alpha diversity (Chao1 and Shannon indexes) and beta diversity (Bray-Curtis and Euclidean distance metrics). Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) was used to visualize microbial va

SUBMITTER: Wang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11468275 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature