Uncovering the microbiome of invasive sympatric European brown hares and European rabbits in Australia.

ABSTRACT:

Background

European brown hares (Lepus europaeus) and European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) are invasive pest species in Australia, with rabbits having a substantially larger environmental impact than hares. As their spatial distribution in Australia partially overlaps, we conducted a comparative microbiome study to determine how the composition of gastrointestinal microbiota varies between these species, since this may indicate species differences in diet, physiology, and other internal and external factors.

Methods

We analysed the faecal microbiome of nine wild hares and twelve wild rabbits from a sympatric periurban reserve in Canberra, Australia, using a 16S rRNA amplicon-based sequencing approach. Additionally, we compared the concordance between result

SUBMITTER: Shanmuganandam S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7441920 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature