Seasonal variation in extreme environments is a threat to endangered species. The gut microbiota is important in the adaptive strategies of wild herbivores, and herbivores will contact the soil microbiota when they are feeding. However, there are no studies about the effects of soil microbiota on the gut microbiota of wild herbivores. Understanding the seasonal adaptive strategies of wild herbivores based on their gut microbiota and the effects of soil microbiota on the herbivorous gut microbiota is indispensable for making optimal conservation recommendations. To address those issues, we compared the diversity and functions of gut microbiota in goitered gazelles between winter and summer with a non-invasive fecal sampling method from the Qaidam Basin based on 16S rRNA V3–V4 regions. The data showed that seasonal variations caused the significant changes in gut microbiota at α-and β-diversity levels. The main gut microbial function was “Metabolism.” It showed significant seasonal changes. The goitered gazelles adapted to the seasonal changes by increasing the relative abundance of Firmicutes, Christensenellaceae, Bacteroides and the function about “Metabolism” in the winter to improve the adaptability. We also compared the effects of soil microbiota on the gut microbiota between winter and summer, covering source tracking analysis and the seasonal differences in ecological assembly processes. The contribution of soil microbiota on the gut microbiota of goitered gazelles was 5.3095% and 15.6347% in winter and summer, respectively, which was greater than on species of animals living underground. Seasonal variation also influenced the ecological processes of microbiota both in the gut and soil. Due to the differences in environments, the ecological processes between fecal microbiota and soil microbiota showed significant differences, and they were dominated by stochastic processes and deterministic processes, respectively. The soil microbiota has contributed to the gut microbiota, but not a decisive factor. Our research laid the foundation on the seasonal and soil microbiota effects on the adaptive strategies of goitered gazelles, and is the first study to explain the soil microbiota influence on the gut microbiota of wild herbivores.

Rodents’ lifestyles vary in different environments, and to adapt to various lifestyles specific digestion strategies have been developed. Among these strategies, the morphology of the digestive tracts and the gut microbiota are considered to play the most important roles in such adaptations. However, how subterranean rodents adapt to extreme environments through regulating gut microbial diversity and morphology of the digestive tract has yet to be fully studied. Here, we conducted the comparisons of the gastrointestinal morphology, food intake, food assimilation, food digestibility and gut microbiota of plateau zokor Eospalax baileyi in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and laboratory rats Rattus norvegicus to further understand the survival strategy in a typical subterranean rodent species endemic to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Our results revealed that plateau zokor evolved an efficient foraging strategy with low food intake, high food digestibility, and ultimately achieved a similar amount of food assimilation to laboratory rats. The length and weight of the digestive tract of the plateau zokor was significantly higher than the laboratory rat. Particularly, the weight and length of the large intestine and cecum in plateau zokor is three times greater than that of the laboratory rat. Microbiome analysis showed that genus (i.e., Prevotella, Oscillospira, CF231, Ruminococcus and Bacteroides), which are usually associated with cellulose degradation, were significantly enriched in laboratory rats, compared to plateau zokor. However, prediction of metagenomic function revealed that both plateau zokor and laboratory rats shared the same functions in carbohydrate metabolism and energy metabolism. The higher digestibility of crude fiber in plateau zokor was mainly driven by the sizes of cecum and cecum tract, as well as those gut microbiota which associated with cellulose degradation. Altogether, our results highlight that both gut microbiota and the morphology of the digestive tract are vital to the digestion in wild rodents.

The Datong yak (Bos grunniens) is the first artificial breed of yaks in the world and has played an important role in the improvement of domestic yak quality on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The Datong yak breeding farm in the Qinghai province of China is the main place for the breeding and feeding of Datong yaks. It hosts domestic Datong yaks and wild male yaks, mainly in mixed groups. Different managements have different effects on livestock. The gut microbiota is closely related to the health and immunity of Datong yaks, and mixed grouping can affect the composition and diversity of the gut microbiota of Datong yaks. To reveal the effects of mixed grouping on the gut microbiota of Datong yaks and wild yaks and identify the main dominant factors, we compared the gut microbial diversities of domestic males and females and wild males based on 16S rRNA V3–V4 regions using fresh fecal samples. The data showed significant differences in the gut microbial diversity of these three groups, and the α-diversity was the highest in wild males. Different factors influence the gut microbiota, and the main influencing factors were different in different groups, including sex differences, host genetics, and physical interactions. We also compared ecological assembly processes in the three groups. The results showed that mixed grouping contributed to the improvement of gut microbial diversity in domestic females. Our study provides effective and feasible suggestions for the feeding and management of the Datong yaks.

Gut microbiota are important for the health and adaptability of the domestic yak. Fecal microbiota are one of the most popular groups of microorganisms used to estimate the domestic yaks’ status, given the ease of obtaining fecal samples. However, because gut microbiota differ between gut sections, the representativeness of feces in microbiota is unclear in yak. To fill this gap, we compared the gut microbial diversities and functions of microbiota in the feces and seven other intestinal parts of domestic yaks based on 16S rRNA, including the rumen, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, cecum, colon, and rectum. The gut microbiota of eight intestinal parts showed significant differences at the beta-diversity level. However, there were no significant differences in the diversity and functions of microbiota between the feces and cecum and the feces and colon because of the digestive process. According to source-tracking analysis, most fecal microbiota originate from the cecum and colon. We speculated that the representativeness of fecal microbiota is limited to cecum and colon in domestic yak. Our study is the foundation of the use of fecal microbiota for animal husbandry research.