Comparison of gut microbial diversity between wild and laboratory-reared plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae)

Gut microbiota play important roles in host physiological activity, immune regulation, and health. Although numerous studies have found that gut microbiota of plateau pikas are related to food and environment, the differences of gut microbiota between wild and laboratory-reared plateau pikas are still unclear. In this study, we used 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing technology to compare the differences of gut microbial communities between wild and laboratory-reared plateau pikas. Our results suggested that laboratory-reared plateau pikas had higher abundance of Bacteroidetes and Spirochetes, but lower abundance of Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria than wild plateau pikas. There was 50.1% overlap of gut operational taxonomic units (OTUs) between wild and laboratory-reared plateau pikas, while 49.9% of gut OTUs were specific in the wild and laboratory-reared plateau pikas. Significant differences were detected in both composition and community structure (β diversity) of gut microbes in the wild and laboratory-reared plateau pikas. Therefore, laboratory-reared plateau pika could not effectively reflect the gut microbiota of plateau pika in the wild.