Functional analysis for gut microbes of the brown tree frog (Polypedates megacephalus) in artificial hibernation.
Annual hibernation is an adaptation that helps many animals conserve energy during food shortage in winter. This natural cycle is also accompanied by a remodeling of the intestinal immune system, which is an aspect of host biology that is both influenced by, and can itself influence, the microbiota. In amphibians, the bacteria in the intestinal tract show a drop in bacterial counts. The proportion of pathogenic bacteria is greater in hibernating frogs than that found in nonhibernating frogs. This suggests that some intestinal gut microbes in amphibians can be maintained and may contribute to the functions in this closed ecosystem during hibernation. However, these results were derived from culture-based approaches that only covered a small portion of bacteria in the intestinal tract.



In this study, we use a more comprehensive analysis, including bacterial appearance and functional prediction, to reveal the global changes in gut microbiota during artificial hibernation via high-throughput sequencing technology.



Our results suggest that artificial hibernation in the brown tree frog (Polypedates megacephalus) could reduce microbial diversity, and artificially hibernating frogs tend to harbor core operational taxonomic units that are rarely distributed among nonhibernating frogs. In addition, artificial hibernation increased significantly the relative abundance of the red-leg syndrome-related pathogenic genus Citrobacter. Furthermore, functional predictions via PICRUSt and Tax4Fun suggested that artificial hibernation has effects on metabolism, disease, signal transduction, bacterial infection, and primary immunodeficiency.



We infer that artificial hibernation may impose potential effects on primary immunodeficiency and increase the risk of bacterial infections in the brown tree frog.
Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, 115, Taiwan.|Department of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, 115, Taiwan.|Biodiversity Program, Taiwan International Graduate Program, Academia Sinica, and National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, 115, Taiwan.
Francis Cheng-Hsuan
FC
Weng
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, College of Environmental Studies, National Dong Hwa University, Hualien, 97401, Taiwan.
Yi-Ju
YJ
Yang
Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, 115, Taiwan. dywang@gate.sinica.edu.tw.
Daryi
D
Wang
D000818:Animals; D001001:Anura / Q000502:physiology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D044822:Biodiversity; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome; D006605:Hibernation; D054892:Metagenome; D056186:Metagenomics
Amphibian; Artificial hibernation; Gut microbiota; NGS