Characterization of the Blood Bacterial Microbiota in Lowland Tapirs (Tapirus terrestris), a Vulnerable Species in Brazil.

ABSTRACT: Microbiome studies targeting hypervariable regions of the 16S rRNA gene are suitable for understanding interactions between animals and their associated bacteria. While many studies focus on the gut microbiome, assessments of blood microbiota remain scarce despite the prevalence of blood-borne pathogens in vertebrates. This study aimed to investigate the bacterial community in blood samples from 79 living and 7 road-killed lowland tapirs (Tapirus terrestris), a vulnerable species, sampled in two biomes in midwestern Brazil: Pantanal and Cerrado. Animals were categorized by condition (living or road-killed), sex, age, and biome. V3-V4 16S rRNA fragments were obtained from 86 blood samples and 4 negative controls. After filtering contaminants, 13,742,198 sequences representing 2146 AS

SUBMITTER: Mongruel ACB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11596849 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature