Abstract
The gut microbiome refers to the microorganism community living within the digestive tract. The environment plays a crucial role in shaping the gut microbiome composition of animals. The gut microbiome influences the health and behavior of animals, including the critically endangered Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni). However, the gut microbiome composition of Malayan tigers, especially those living in their natural habitats, remains poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap, we used next-generation sequencing DNA metabarcoding techniques to analyze the gut microbiome of wild Malayan tigers using fecal samples collected from their natural habitats and in captivity. Our aim was to determine the gut microbiota composition of the Malayan tiger, considering the different types of habitat environments. The results revealed a diverse microbial community within the gut microbiome of Malayan tigers. The prominent phyla that were observed included Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteriota, Fusobacteriota and Bacteroidota. Beta diversity analysis revealed significant differences in gut microbiome composition of Malayan tigers that inhabited oil palm plantations, in villages and protected areas. Diversity analysis also revealed significant difference in the gut microbiome between wild and captive Malayan tigers. However, the distinctions of gut microbiome between wild and captive alpha diversity did not yield significant differences. The differences in microbiome diversity resulted from the interplay of dietary intake and environmental factors. This information will facilitate the establishment of focused conservation approaches and enhance our understanding of the effect of microbiome composition on Malayan tiger health.
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Data availability
Raw sequence reads have been submitted to the GenBank with BioProject accession number PRJNA1004977.
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Acknowledgements
We especially thank the Director General (YBhg. Dato' Abdul Kadir bin Abu Hashim) and Director of the Ex-situ Conservation Division of PERHILITAN Peninsular Malaysia (Dr. Pazil Abdul Patah) for the support and permission to conduct this study (Permit No.: P06/10/2020). We also thankful to the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia for the ethical permit approval in our research protocol (UKMAEC approval number: FST/2021/BADRUL MUNIR/22-SEPT./1198-OCT.-2021-OCT.-2023-NAR-CAT2). The authors are sincerely thankful to all PERHILITAN staff (MyTAG teams, National Wildlife Rescue Centre (NWRC), Carnivore Unit Wildlife Conservation Division, SPARTA PERHILITAN, PERHILITAN Terengganu, PERHILITAN Kelantan, and PERHILITAN Perak), all staff in Zoos, Royal Belum State Park staff, and Panthera Malaysia who helped with sample collections. The author acknowledges the funding from Fundamental Research Grants Scheme (FRGS), grant number (FRGS/1/2020/WAB11/UKM/01/1) by Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), Malaysia. This study was also funded by the Government of Malaysia under the 12th Malaysia Plan Project: Strengthening Wildlife Forensics, Ex-Situ Conservation and Biobanking-Phase 2 (Project Code: P23071000810008), and also partial financial support was received from Geran Universiti Penyelidkan (GUP), grant number GUP-2022-043 Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
Funding
This study received support from the Fundamental Research Grants Scheme (FRGS) with grant number FRGS/1/2020/WAB11/UKM/01/1, provided by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) in Malaysia. Additionally, this study was also supported by the Government of Malaysia as part of the 12th Malaysia Plan Project: Strengthening Wildlife Forensics, Ex-Situ Conservation, and Biobanking—Phase 2 (Project Code: P23071000810008), and also a part of this study was funded by Geran Universiti Penyelidikan (GUP), grant number GUP-2022–043 from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
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MG wrote the manuscript. MG, FTS, ZK, SSS and NMZA conducted field sampling. MG conducted laboratory work. MG conducted all the data analyses. KVK, ARMR, BMMZ critically revised the intellectual content. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
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This study was conducted with approval by Department of Wildlife and National Parks (PERHIILTAN) Peninsular Malayasia [JPHL&TN(IP):100-34/1.24 Jld 16 (60)] and ethical permit approval by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKMAEC approval number: FST/2021/BADRUL MUNIR/22-SEPT./1198-OCT.-2021-OCT.-2023-NAR-CAT2).
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Gani, M., Mohd-Ridwan, A.R., Sitam, F.T. et al. Habitat shapes the gut microbiome diversity of Malayan tigers (Panthera tigris jacksoni) as revealed through metabarcoding 16S rRNA profiling. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 40, 111 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-023-03868-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-023-03868-x