Network-guided genomic and metagenomic analysis of the faecal microbiota of the critically endangered kakapo.

ABSTRACT: The kakapo is a critically endangered, herbivorous parrot endemic to New Zealand. The kakapo hindgut hosts a dense microbial community of low taxonomic diversity, typically dominated by Escherichia fergusonii, and has proven to be a remarkably stable ecosystem, displaying little variation in core membership over years of study. To elucidate mechanisms underlying this robustness, we performed 16S rRNA gene-based co-occurrence network analysis to identify potential interactions between E. fergusonii and the wider bacterial community. Genomic and metagenomic sequencing were employed to facilitate interpretation of potential interactions observed in the network. E. fergusonii maintained very few correlations with other members of the microbiota, and isolates possessed genes for the generation

SUBMITTER: Waite DW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5970201 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature