Anthropogenic factors shape the gut microbiota of tigers in Indian tiger reserves

IF 3.4 2区环境科学与生态学 Q1 BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION

Global Ecology and Conservation Pub Date : 2025-09-24 DOI:10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03874

Gudimella Anusha , Aamer Sohail Khan , Gopi Krishnan , Govindhaswamy Umapathy

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Tigers still face threats because of anthropogenic activities, including wildlife tourism and cattle grazing in tiger reserves. Previous studies have shown that human-related activities can impact gut health in other mammals. Many extrinsic factors shape gut bacteria and play a significant role in host health. However, very little is known about tiger gut bacteria and how they vary among different tiger reserves in India. To understand this, we collected fresh scats of tigers from five tiger reserves for two years from the buffer and core zones during all seasons (summer, monsoon, and winter). We investigated the gut bacterial composition using amplicon-based metabarcoding of the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene. We also predicted KEGG orthologues and annotated the functional pathways to understand the role of gut bacteria in host health. Our study revealed that tiger gut bacterial community structures varied due to habitats and seasons. We identified thirty-six core bacterial genera (more than 90 % of samples) from all the samples. The microbiome abundance varied across tiger reserves. A few unique bacterial genera were also identified in some tiger reserves. We conclude that human-related activities in tiger reserves can influence the bacterial community structures, with potential implications for tiger health and fitness

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人为因素塑造了印度老虎保护区老虎的肠道微生物群

老虎仍然面临着人为活动的威胁，包括野生动物旅游和在老虎保护区放牧。先前的研究表明，与人类有关的活动会影响其他哺乳动物的肠道健康。许多外在因素塑造肠道细菌，并在宿主健康中发挥重要作用。然而，人们对老虎肠道细菌以及它们在印度不同老虎保护区之间的差异知之甚少。为了了解这一点，我们在两年的时间里从五个老虎保护区的缓冲区和核心区收集了老虎的新鲜粪便，这些老虎在夏季、季风和冬季的所有季节都是如此。我们利用基于扩增子的16S rRNA基因V4区元条形码研究了肠道细菌组成。我们还预测了KEGG同源物并注释了功能途径，以了解肠道细菌在宿主健康中的作用。我们的研究表明，老虎肠道细菌群落结构因栖息地和季节而变化。我们从所有样品中鉴定出36个核心细菌属（占样品的90% %以上）。不同老虎保护区的微生物丰度不同。在一些老虎保护区也发现了一些独特的细菌属。我们的结论是，老虎保护区的人类活动可能会影响细菌群落结构，对老虎的健康和适应有潜在的影响

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来源期刊

Global Ecology and Conservation Agricultural and Biological Sciences-Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

CiteScore

8.10

自引率

5.00%

发文量

346

审稿时长

83 days

期刊介绍： Global Ecology and Conservation is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal covering all sub-disciplines of ecological and conservation science: from theory to practice, from molecules to ecosystems, from regional to global. The fields covered include: organismal, population, community, and ecosystem ecology; physiological, evolutionary, and behavioral ecology; and conservation science.