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Characterization of the gut microbiome of black-necked cranes (Grus nigricollis) in six wintering areas in China

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Abstract

The black-necked crane (Grus nigricollis) is a vulnerable species, breeding exclusively on the high-altitude wetlands of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Bird species harbor diverse communities of microorganisms within their gastrointestinal tracts, which have important roles in the health, nutrition, and physiology of birds. Hitherto, virtually nothing was known about the gut microbial communities associated with wild black-necked cranes. For the first time, this study characterized the gut microbial community compositions, diversity, and functions of black-necked cranes from six wintering areas in China using the Illumina Miseq platform. The taxonomic results revealed that Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes were the four most abundant phyla in the gut of black-necked cranes. At the genus level, 11 genera including Lactobacillus, Pseudomonas, Carnobacterium, Pantoea, Enterococcus, Erwinia, Turicibacter, Bacillus, Phenylobacterium, Sanguibacter, and Psychrobacter were dominant. The differences in the gut microbial community alpha and the beta diversities of black-necked cranes among the six wintering areas were investigated. Furthermore, the representative microbial taxa and their predicted functions in each wintering location were also determined. These data represent the first analysis of the gut microbiome of black-necked cranes, providing a baseline for further microbiological studies and a foundation for the conservation of this bird.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 31960277), the Natural Science Foundation of Qinghai Province of China (Grant no. 2018-ZJ-932Q), the Project of Qinghai Science and Technology Department (Grant no. 2016-ZJ-Y01), the Open Project of State Key Laboratory of Plateau Ecology and Agriculture, Qinghai University (Grant no. 2017-ZZ-21), and the Project of Tao He Yuan National Wetland Park in Qinghai Province (Grant no. 2018-THY-03). Dr. Wen Wang was supported by “1000 Talent” programs of Qinghai Province. The authors would like to express their sincere thanks to Doctor Ian Mather for his kind help in revising the English in this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Plateau Ecology and Agriculture, Qinghai University, Xining, 810016, Qinghai Province, China

    Wen Wang

  2. Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, Qinghai Province, China

    Fang Wang & Laixing Li

  3. College of Eco-Environmental Engineering, Qinghai University, Xining, 810016, Qinghai Province, China

    Aizhen Wang

  4. Research Institute of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, 630117, Russia

    Kirill Sharshov

  5. Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, 630091, Russia

    Alexey Druzyaka

  6. School of Finance and Economics, Qinghai University, Xining, 810016, Qinghai Province, China

    Zhuoma Lancuo

  7. KunLun College of Qinghai University, Xining, 810016, Qinghai Province, China

    Shuoying Wang & Yuetong Shi

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  1. Wen Wang
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Contributions

WW and LXL designed experiments; WW, LXL, SYW, and YTS collected samples; FW, AZW, SYW, and YTS conducted experiments; WW, FW, and ZMLC conducted data analysis; WW, KS, and AD drafted the manuscripts; AZW and LXL revised the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Wen Wang or Laixing Li.

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Communicated by Erko Stackebrandt.

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Wang, W., Wang, F., Li, L. et al. Characterization of the gut microbiome of black-necked cranes (Grus nigricollis) in six wintering areas in China. Arch Microbiol 202, 983–993 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-019-01802-0

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