关键词: 刚毛棉鼠, 肠道菌群, 16S rRNA 高通量测序

Abstract: Objective　This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of gut microbiota of cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus), and promote the open sharing of this laboratory animal resources.Methods Cecal, colonic, and rectal contents were collected from 10 cotton rat. The V3 and V4 regions of 16S rRNA was amplified with bacterial universal primers, and high-throughput sequencing was performed. QIIME was used to analyze the bacterial diversity and analyze the differences among the samples from different groups. The LEfSe software was used to determine the biomarkers among different groups. Results　A total of 2 359 297 valid sequences was obtained from samples of all cotton rat. At the phylum level, Firmicutes, Bacteroidota, and Verrucomicrobiota were the top three dominant bacteria in terms of relative abundance in each group. The alpha diversity analysis showed that there were no significant differences in five indicators, including observed features, Chao1, Shannon, Simpson, and Good’s Coverage, among the three groups of samples. The beta diversity analysis result indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between the cecal and colonic contents samples. The result of LEfSe analysis suggested that the bacteria belonging to Desulfobacterota, Desulfovibrionia, Desulfovibrionales, Desulfovibrionaceae, Desulfovibrio, Firmicutes, Clostridia, Lachnospirales, Lachnospiraceae, Oscillospirales and Oscillospiraceae were the biomarkers that have significant differences in cecal contents, while the bacteria of the Bacteroidota, Bacteroidia, Bacteroidales, and Muribaculaceae were the biomarkers in the rectal contents.Conclusion　The composition and abundance characteristics of the gut microbiota of Sigmodon hispidus were analyzed by 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing. It provides basic data for the research on the gut microbiota of Sigmodon hispidus.

Key words: Sigmodon hispidus, gut microbiota, 16S rRNA sequencing