Microbial community structure and composition is associated with host species and sex in Sigmodon cotton rats.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The cotton rat (genus Sigmodon) is an essential small animal model for the study of human infectious disease and viral therapeutic development. However, the impact of the host microbiome on infection outcomes has not been explored in this model, partly due to the lack of a comprehensive characterization of microbial communities across different cotton rat species. Understanding the dynamics of their microbiome could significantly help to better understand its role when modeling viral infections in this animal model.

Results

We examined the bacterial communities of the gut and three external sites (skin, ear, and nose) of two inbred species of cotton rats commonly used in research (S. hispidus and S. fulviventer) by using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, constituting the

SUBMITTER: Strickland BA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8051552 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature