Comparative study of gut microbiota from captive and confiscatedrescued wild pangolins  

作　　者：Chunbing Liu Jingyang Hu Yajiang Wu David M.Irwin Wu Chen Zhigang Zhang Li Yu 

机构地区：[1]State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan,School of Life Sciences,Yunnan University,Kunming 650091,China [2]Guangzhou Zoo&Guangzhou Wildlife Research Center,Guangzhou 510070,China [3]Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology,University of Toronto,Toronto,Ontario M5S 1A8,Canada

出　　处：《Journal of Genetics and Genomics》2021年第9期825-835,共11页遗传学报（英文版）

基　　金：supported by the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, China (31925006);the Major Science and Technology Project in Yunnan Province of China, China (202001BB050001);the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (STEP) program, China (2019QZKK0503);the Animal Branch of the Germplasm Bank of Wild Species, Chinese Academy of Sciences。

摘　　要：Pangolins are among the most critically endangered animals due to widespread poaching and worldwide trafficking. Captive breeding is considered to be one way to protect them and increase the sizes of their populations. However, comparative studies of captive and wild pangolins in the context of gut microbiota are rare. Here, the gut microbiome of captive and confiscated-rescued wild pangolins is compared, and the effects of different periods of captivity and captivity with and without antibiotic treatment are considered.We show that different diets and periods of captivity, as well as the application of antibiotic therapy, can alter gut community composition and abundance in pangolins. Compared to wild pangolins, captive pangolins have an increased capacity for chitin and cellulose/hemicellulose degradation, fatty acid metabolism, and short-chain fatty acid synthesis, but a reduced ability to metabolize exogenous substances. In addition to increasing the ability of the gut microbiota to metabolize nutrients in captivity, captive breeding imposes some risks for survival by resulting in a greater abundance of antibiotic resistance genes and virulence factors in captive pangolins than in wild pangolins. Our study is important for the development of guidelines for pangolin conservation, including health assessment, disease prevention, and rehabilitation of wild pangolin populations.

关 键 词：PANGOLIN Gut microbiome CAPTIVITY Antibiotic resistance genes Virulence factors 

分 类 号：S852.6[农业科学—基础兽医学]