Microbial diversity in the gastrointestinal tract of Hipposideros pratti

Abstract:

[Objective] We studied the bacterial diversity and pathogenicity in the gastrointestinal tract of Hipposideros pratti. [Methods] The 16S rRNA gene V1?V2 genes were sequenced by using MiSeq high-throughput sequencing to study the bacterial community in stomach and intestine of H. pratti. MG-RAST V3.3.6 was used to evaluate the abundance, diversity and operational taxonomic units (OTUs) of the bacteria. [Results] In total 144 998 and 275 274 original sequences, and 48 332 and 91 758 high quality reads were obtained from the stomach and intestine of H. pratti. They belonged to 894 and 756 OTUs. The bacterial abundance indices (Chao, 1 490; ACE, 2 221) and Shannon diversity index (2.405) in the stomach were lower than those of intestinal tract (Chao, 2 051; ACE, 3 556; Shannon, 2.407). On the contrary, Simpson diversity index (0.168) in the stomach was lower than that of intestinal tract (0.151). Phylogenetic analysis results show that the gastrointestinal bacteria were mainly distributed in 6 Phyla, dominated by Proteobacteria (56.4% in stomach and 46.0% in intestines) and Firmicutes (40.7% in stomach and 49.2% in intestines). There were 24 genera above 0.1% in stomach and intestine of H. pratti. Lactococcus and Hafnia were the 2 dominant bacterial genera in stomach accounting for 26.1% and 21.0% respectively. Enterococcus and Salmonella were 2 dominant genera in intestine accounting for 15.2% and 12.7%, respectively. Unfortunately, these dominant bacteria were human pathogenic bacteria or opportunistic pathogen. [Conclusion] H. pratti carried a large number of human pathogens and thus should be paid more attentions to prevent transmission of diseases from the bats to human.