title: First insight into the faecal microbiota of the high Arctic muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus).
abstract: The faecal microbiota of muskoxen (n=3) pasturing on Ryøya (69° 33' N 18° 43' E), Norway, in late September was characterized using high-throughput sequencing of partial 16S rRNA gene regions. A total of 16 209 high-quality sequence reads from bacterial domains and 19 462 from archaea were generated. Preliminary taxonomic classifications of 806 bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) resulted in 53.7-59.3 % of the total sequences being without designations beyond the family level.Firmicutes(70.7-81.1 % of the total sequences) andBacteroidetes(16.8-25.3 %) constituted the two major bacterial phyla, with uncharacterized members within the familyRuminococcaceae(28.9-40.9 %) as the major phylotype. Multiple-library comparisons between muskoxen and other ruminants indicated a higher similarity for muskoxen faeces and reindeer caecum (P>0.05) and some samples from cattle faeces. The archaeal sequences clustered into 37 OTUs, with dominating phylotypes affiliated to the methane-producing genusMethanobrevibacter(80-92 % of the total sequences). UniFrac analysis demonstrated heterogeneity between muskoxen archaeal libraries and those from reindeer and roe deer (P=1.0e-02, Bonferroni corrected), but not with foregut fermenters. The high proportion of cellulose-degradingRuminococcus-affiliated bacteria agrees with the ingestion of a highly fibrous diet. Further experiments are required to elucidate the role played by these novel bacteria in the digestion of this fibrous Artic diet eaten by muskoxen.
authors.affiliation: 1​University of Tromsø, Tromso 9019, Norway.
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Salgado-Flores
authors.affiliation: 2​Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, UiT - The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bockwoldt
authors.affiliation: 3​Department of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway.
authors.forename: Live H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Hagen
authors.affiliation: 3​Department of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway.
authors.forename: Phillip B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Pope
authors.affiliation: 2​Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, UiT - The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Monica A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Sundset
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001105:Archaea / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D001110:Arctic Regions; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D004032:Diet; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology*; D064307:Microbiota / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D009664:Norway; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012418:Ruminants / Q000382:microbiology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
keywords: 16S rRNA; Archaea; Bacteria; methanogens; pyrosequencing; ruminant faeces