Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Liu, Gang
• Li, Chao
• Liu, Yan
• Zheng, Chang-ming
• Ning, Yu
• Yang, Hong-guo
• Suo, Lang
• Qi, Xin-zhang
• Li, Hui-xin
• Wen, Wan-yu
• Wang, Yu-hang
• Qi, Hong-yun
• Cai, Ping
• Gong, Ming-hao

Titel

Highland adaptation of birds on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau via gut microbiota

Ist Teil von

• Applied microbiology and biotechnology, 2022-10, Vol.106 (19-20), p.6701-6711

Ort / Verlag

Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg

Erscheinungsjahr

2022

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

SpringerLink (Online service)

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Highland birds evolve multiple adaptive abilities to cope with the harsh environments; however, how they adapt to the high-altitude habitats via the gut microbiota remains understudied. Here we integrated evidences from comparative analysis of gut microbiota to explore the adaptive mechanism of black-necked crane, a typical highland bird in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Firstly, the gut microbiota diversity and function was compared among seven crane species (one high-altitude species and six low-altitude species), and then among three populations of contrasting altitudes for the black-necked crane. Microbiota community diversity in black-necked crane was significantly lower than its low-altitude relatives, but higher microbiota functional diversity was observed in black-necked crane, suggesting that unique bacteria are developed and acquired due to the selection pressure of high-altitude environments. The functional microbial genes differed significantly between the low- and high-altitude black-necked cranes, indicating that altitude significantly impacted microbial communities’ composition and structure. Adaptive changes in microbiota diversity and function are observed in response to high-altitude environments. These findings provide us a new insight into the adaptation mechanism to the high-altitude environment for birds via the gut microbiota. Key points • The diversity and function of gut microbiota differed significantly between the low- and high-altitude crane species. • Black-necked crane adapts to the high-altitude environment via specific gut microbiota. • Altitude significantly impacted microbial communities’ composition and structure.