Microbiota changes in lactation in the short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus).

ABSTRACT: Monotreme and marsupial development is characterized by a short gestation, with young exposed to the environment at an early developmental stage and supported by a long lactation in the pouch, pseudo-pouch, or burrow. The lack of a functional adaptive immune system in these altricial young raises questions about how they survive in a microbe-rich environment. Previous studies on marsupial pouches have revealed changes to pouch microbe composition during lactation, but no information is available in monotremes. We investigated changes in the echidna pseudo-pouch microbiota (n = 22) during different stages of the reproductive cycle and whether this differs between wild and zoo-managed animals. Metataxonomic profiling using 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed that pseudo-pouch microbial communi

SUBMITTER: Wilson I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12001884 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature