Comparative Analysis of the Fecal Microbiota of Wild and Captive Beal's Eyed Turtle (Sacalia bealei) by 16S rRNA Gene Sequencing.

ABSTRACT: The Beal's eyed turtle (Sacalia bealei) is threatened with extinction due to hunting for large-scale trade. In Hong Kong, there are some of the world's remaining wild populations of S. bealei, as well as a breeding colony. This breeding colony is at the core of conservation efforts (captive breeding, reintroduction programs). Therefore, we would like to know how captivity, in particular diet, affects the gut microbiota. Using high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we comparatively analyzed the fecal microbiota of wild and captive S. bealei. We found that wild S. bealei have higher alpha diversity than captive S. bealei, but the difference was not significant. Significant differences were found in β-diversity; at the phylum level, wild S. bealei

SUBMITTER: Fong JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7677423 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature