Distinct microbiotas of anatomical gut regions display idiosyncratic seasonal variation in an avian folivore.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Current knowledge about seasonal variation in the gut microbiota of vertebrates is limited to a few studies based on mammalian fecal samples. Seasonal changes in the microbiotas of functionally distinct gut regions remain unexplored. We investigated seasonal variation (summer versus winter) and regionalization of the microbiotas of the crop, ventriculus, duodenum, cecum, and colon of the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), an avian folivore specialized on the toxic foliage of sagebrush (Artemesia spp.) in western North America.

Results

We sequenced the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene on an Illumina MiSeq and obtained 6,639,051 sequences with a median of 50,232 per sample. These sequences were assigned to 457 bacterial and 4 archaeal OTUs. Firmicutes (5

SUBMITTER: Drovetski SV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7803122 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature