The Analysis Of Gut Microbial Diversity Of Different Geographic Populations In Rhesus Macaque On The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The gut microbiota could adjust the dietary intake and physiological metabolism of the animals,affect the adaptation of the host to extreme environment,and improve their fitness.The harsh natural environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau presents a significant challenge to the survival of wildlife in the area,and the gut microbiota may participate in the adaptation of the host to the high-altitude environment.Analyzing the diversity of gut microbiota in multiple dispersed rhesus macaque(Macaca mulatt)populations in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau can help us explore the responsive changes of gut microbiota in wild macaques adapting to the high-altitude environment,and understand the effects of geographic isolation and host phylogeny on the gut microbiota of wild macaques in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.This study targeted 8 rhesus macaque populations(altitude > 3000 m)in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,collected 79 fresh fecal samples and extracted the total microbial DNA.The V3-V4 region of 16 S rRNA gene was sequenced by high-throughput sequencing and clustered into ASVs,followed by bioinformatics and statistical analysis.The main results are as follows:1.Comparative analysis of the diversity and composition of gut microbiota in different macaque populations showed that there was no significant difference in microbial α diversity among different populations,except for the Gongbujiangda(GB)population,which was significantly higher than individual populations.The β diversity analysis results showed that the gut microbiota community structure of macaques was mainly related to the geographical distribution of populations.Regression analysis results showed that as the distance between geographical populations increased,the dissimilarity in macaque gut microbiota composition getting greater.2.The taxonomy annotation results indicated that at the phylum level,the Firmicutes(65.30 ± 15.35%)was dominant in the gut microbiota of macaque in the Tibetan Plateau;at the family level,Ruminococcaceae(36.96 ± 13.71%)and Lachnospirillaceae(12.24 ±6.41%)are dominant;at the genus level,Ruminococcaceae＿UCG-005(8.69 ± 4.67%)and Prevotella＿9(x = 6.09 ± 5.72%).Different populations shared a large number of microbes(74.56%-91.62%),which all came from high-abundance bacteria(relative abundance >1%)and were considered the core gut microbiota of macaques in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,these communities may help macaques adapt to extreme environments.The functional prediction results of PICRUSt2 showed that the enriched pathways in the macaque gut microbiota in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau were mainly related to metabolism.3.There was no significant difference in microbial diversity between the different subspecies in the Tibetan Plateau.However,the random forest model(AUC = 0.94)predicted some marker microbes that can distinguish between the two subspecies with an accuracy of 86.36% were identified.These microbes include ASV27(Intestinibacter),ASV456(dg A-11 gut group),and ASV14(Ruminococcaceae UCG-005),which may have co-evolved with macaque migration and dispersion.Differences in the gut microbiota of wild macaques in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau region may be related to host environmental adaptation and diet,and shared microbes among macaque populations may play an important role in host adaptation to the high-altitude environment.Geographical isolation may hinder the communication of different macaque populations,leading to thire gut microbiota differentiations.In addition,different macaque phylogenetic branches may be predicted by microbial phylogenetic patterns based on the results.