title: Fecal microbiota of a dugong (Dugong dugong) in captivity at Toba Aquarium.
abstract: A captive female dugong at Toba Aquarium (Japan) was examined to describe the microbiota of its lower digestive tracts using the molecular-biological technique, a culture-independent method. The phylogenetic analysis of bacterial 16S rRNA genes was conducted for fecal samples, which were taken at 3 different periods. Based on phylogenetic analysis of these sequences, the representatives of six bacterial phyla could be identified: Actinobacteria (0.7%), Bacteroidetes (15%), Firmicutes (83.1%), Lentisphaerae (0.1%), Proteobacteria (0.1%), and Verrucomicrobia (1.0%), suggesting the existence of bacterial species newly found not only in the digestive tract but also in natural field.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Bioresources, Mie University, Tsu, Japan.
authors.forename: Eiko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tsukinowa
authors.forename: Shuichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karita
authors.forename: Shiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Asano
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wakai
authors.forename: Yukari
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oka
authors.forename: Masami
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Furuta
authors.forename: Masakazu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000836:Animals, Zoo / Q000382:microbiology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D020454:Dugong / Q000382:microbiology*; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D020459:Genes, rRNA; D007564:Japan; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S