Abstract:

Gut microbiota plays a crucial role in host physiological homeostasis and is influenced by many factors. We employed high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rDNA and bioinformatic analysis to investigate the composition and abundance of the gut microbiota of male and female Tibetan antelopes (Pantholops hodgsonii).The results showed that 6 896 OTUs were obtained from female, 5 609 OTUs from male, and 2 650 OTUs were shared between male and female. Female Tibetan antelopes had a higher bacterial richness than males (P < 0.05). Firmicutes and Bacteroidota were the predominant phyla in the microbial community. At the genus level, the relative abundance of 12 genera, including Aeromonas, Pseudomonas,and Methylobacterium, in the intestinal tract of male Tibetan antelope was significantly higher than that of female (P < 0.05). The relative abundance of 16 bacteria genera, including Ruminococcaceae_UCG, Akkermansia, and Peptococcus, in the intestinal tract of female Tibetan antelope was significantly higher than that of male (P < 0.05). Principal coordinate analysis revealed a significant difference in the structure of the intestinal flora between the two groups, and the reproducibility of female samples was better than that of male samples. Functional prediction analyses revealed that the gut microbiota of Tibetan antelopes was mainly involved in carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, metabolism of cofactors and vitamins, metabolism of terpenoids and polyketides, and no significant differences in metabolic pathways were found between females and males. This study explored associations between sex of the host and their gut microbiota, which may provide a reference for further understanding of the adaptive evolutionary mechanism of Tibetan antelopes to extreme high-altitude environments.

Key words: Tibetan antelopes (Pantholops hodgsonii), Gut microbiota, Sex difference, High-throughput sequencing

摘要：

肠道菌群在宿主的生理稳态中起着至关重要的作用，受多种因素的影响。本研究运用16S rDNA高通量测序和生物信息学方法对雄性和雌性藏羚（Pantholops hodgsonii）肠道菌群组成及多样性进行分析。结果表明：雌性藏羚获得6 896个OTUs，雄性藏羚获得5 609个OTUs，二者共有2 650个OTUs。在α多样性分析中雌性藏羚的肠道菌群丰富度显著高于雄性藏羚（P < 0.05）。厚壁菌门（Firmicutes）和拟杆菌门（Bacteroidota）为雌雄性藏羚优势菌门。气单胞菌属（Aeromonas）、假单胞菌属（Pseudomonas）、甲基杆菌属（Methylobacterium）等12个菌属在雄性藏羚肠道中的丰度显著高于雌性（P < 0.05），而Ruminococcaceae_UCG、阿克曼氏菌属（Akkermansia）、消化球菌属（Peptococcus）等16个菌属在雌性藏羚肠道中的丰度显著高于雄性（P < 0.05）。主坐标分析两组之间的群落结构组成存在明显分离，雌性的样本重复性好于雄性。菌群功能预测分析发现，藏羚肠道微生物群主要参与碳水化合物代谢、氨基酸代谢、辅酶因子和维生素代谢、萜类和多酮类代谢，此外，未发现雌性和雄性之间有显著差异的代谢通路。本研究探讨了藏羚肠道微生物组成与性别的关系，为深入理解藏羚对高原极端环境的适应性进化机制提供了参考。

关键词: 藏羚, 肠道菌群, 不同性别, 高通量测序