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Fecal Bacterial Composition of the Endangered Yangtze Finless Porpoises Living Under Captive and Semi-natural Conditions

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Abstract

Intestinal microbiota is essential to the health and physiology of host animals. We undertook the first microbiological study of the fecal bacterial composition from critically endangered (CR) Yangtze finless porpoises (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis; YFPs) living under captive and semi-natural conditions using both high-throughput sequencing method and 16S rRNA gene clone library method. As determined by high-throughput sequencing of V3–V4 regions of the 16S rRNA gene, semi-natural samples harbored 30 and 36 operational taxonomic units (OTUs), which was more than the 22 and 27 OTUs detected from YFPs living in captivity. In captive YFPs Firmicutes was the predominant phylum, whereas this was Proteobacteria for YFPs living in semi-nature conditions. This suggests habitat-specific fecal bacterial composition of YFPs. Plesiomonas spp. and Aeromonas spp., which are potentially pathogenic, were identified in all the feces. Bacterial diversity from one porpoise living in captivity was also determined by constructing a 16S rRNA gene clone library and only 1 phylum was identified. High-throughput sequencing was more effective at determining the bacterial diversity compared to the 16S rRNA gene clone library. This study provides important information for the management and conservation of the CR YFPs.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Chaoqun Wang and Qingzhong Zhao for their help in collecting fecal samples. We also thank Zhigang Mei and Lin Zhang for their helpful critique on an earlier version of this manuscript. Special gratitude to Prof. Erko Stackebrandt and anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestions for improving the manuscript. This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31430080; No. 31000168), the Experimental Platform Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. CZBZX-1), and the Special Conservation Fund for the Yangtze finless porpoise from the Ministry of Agriculture of China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Key Laboratory of Aquatic Biodiversity and Conservation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 7 Donghu South Road, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Xiaoling Wan, Rui Ruan, Richard William McLaughlin, Yujiang Hao, Jinsong Zheng & Ding Wang

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100039, China

    Xiaoling Wan & Rui Ruan

  3. Biology Department, Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, 700 Terrace, Winona, MN, 55987-1399, USA

    Richard William McLaughlin

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  1. Xiaoling Wan
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  2. Rui Ruan
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  3. Richard William McLaughlin
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  4. Yujiang Hao
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  5. Jinsong Zheng
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Correspondence to Jinsong Zheng or Ding Wang.

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Wan, X., Ruan, R., McLaughlin, R.W. et al. Fecal Bacterial Composition of the Endangered Yangtze Finless Porpoises Living Under Captive and Semi-natural Conditions. Curr Microbiol 72, 306–314 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-015-0954-z

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