![]() ![]() Unclassified Ruminococcaceae, unclassified Lachnospiraceae, and unclassified Bacteroidales were the three most predominant groups in the feces of X3, X4, and X5. In the feces of X2, the most abundant genera were unclassified Ruminococcaceae, unclassified Lachnospiraceae, RC9 gut group, unclassified Prevotellaceae, unclassified Bacteroidales, and unclassified Rikenellaceae, which made up 68.9% of total sequences. In the feces of X1, genus Aerococcus was predominant with the abundance higher than 17%, followed by unclassified Lachnospiraceae, unclassified Ruminococcaceae, and unclassified Lactobacillales. Relative abundance of bacterial groups (family level) in the feces of five white rhimoceroses.Īt the genus level, 57.94% of total reads classified as bacteria in the feces of rhinoceros X1 were unclassified, while the abundances of unclassified bacteria in the samples from X2, X3, X4, and X5 were higher, approximantely 80% (75.40% to 84.78%) ( Figure 4). Fecal bacterial community at the family level. ![]() Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the microbial community in the feces of white rhinoceroses using the high throughput pyrosequencing analysis.įigure 3. The development of high throughput sequencing has led to a revolution in the characterization of complex microbial populations. To understand whether this animal has distinctive gut microbiota, and whether the tolerance of the white rhinoceros to toxicants is related to gut microbiota, comprehensive analysis of the bacterial community is required. To our knowledge, there has been no report using molecular techniques to study microbial flora in the feces of white rhinoceros.Īs a specialized grazing species (focusing on leaves and grass), the white rhinoceros is able to eat plants that are toxic to other animals. However, information on microbial diversity in the hindgut of the white rhinoceros remains limited. At the genus level, previous studies showed that cellulose-digesting microflora (e.g., Ruminococcus and Fibrobacter species) were important members of the microbial community in the rumen or the hindgut of non-ruminant herbivores, , which enabled the host to gain nutrients from fibrous plant materials. found that Firmicutes predominated (68%) in the feces of healthy horses, followed by Bacteroidetes (14%) and Proteobacteria (10%). Comparative studies among non-ruminant herbivores showed that the rhinoceros had a similar digestive system to horses and elephants. As a hindgut fermenter, the white rhinoceros has the ability to utilize fibrous plant matter through microbial fermentation in the hindgut. The white rhinoceros is, after the elephant, the largest extant mammalian herbivore. Relative to the four other species which are in the list of endangered wild animals, the white rhinoceros is classed as vulnerable, with roughly 16,000 remaining in the wild in 2007 (IUCN 2008). The five different species of rhinoceros include two African species, the white rhinoceros ( Ceratotherium simum) and the black rhinoceros ( Diceros bicornis), and three Asian species, Indian rhinoceros ( Rhinoceros unicornis), Sumatran rhinoceros ( Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), and Javan rhinoceros ( Rhinoceros sondaicus). The rhinoceros is one of five surviving species of odd-toed ungulates in the Rhinocerotidae family. The present work provides a phylogenetic framework for understanding the complex microbial community of the rhinoceros however, further studies are required to link the distinctive microbiota with their digestive role in the hindgut of the white rhinoceros. The core microbiota in the healthy rhinoceros were dominated by phyla Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes, represented by the Ruminococcaceae, Lachnospiraceae, Rikenellaceae and Prevotellaceae families. ![]() The microbiota of one animal treated with drug therapy differed from those in other healthy animals, and was dominated by Aerococcus -related bacteria. Results showed that Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were the predominant phyla in the samples, which were comprised largely of unclassified bacteria. We used barcoded pyrosequencing to characterize 105,651 sequences of 16S rRNA genes obtained from fecal samples from five white rhinoceroses. So far, there has been no report using molecular techniques to study the gut microbiota of the white rhinoceros. ![]() As a non-ruminant herbivore, the white rhinoceros has the ability to utilize fibrous plant matter through microbial fermentation in the hindgut. ![]()
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