The microbiota of long-living and cancer-free blind mole rat (Nannospalax xanthodon) from the edge of its distribution in northern Anatolia
The mammalian gut is colonized by microorganisms that affect development, the immune system, energy metabolism, and reproduction. Since most studies focused only on laboratory animals in artificial setups, more studies based on wild species are necessary. Anatolian Blind Mole Rat (hereafter AMBR), Nannospalax xanthodon is a subterranean rodent with unique adaptations to subterranean life, getting more attention to its valuable traits such as resistance to extreme hypoxia, resistance to cancer, and longer life span compared to similarly sized rodents. In this study, we characterize the gut microbiota of ABMR from its northernmost distribution and compare our results with other studies on the microbiota of ABMR. 16S rRNA dataset revealed that, as seen in most mammals, approximately 90% of the ABMR gut microbiota comprises Firmicutes and Bacteriodota bacterial phyla. In addition, ABMR gut microbiota has a high abundance of performance- and longevity-linked bacterial families. Overall, our results generally aligned well with the previous studies on blind mole rats.