Seasonal
Dietary Shifts Alter the Gut Microbiota of a Frugivorous LizardTeratoscincus roborowskii (Squamata, Geckonidae)
Wei-Zhen Gao†, Yi Yang†11†These
authors have contributed equally to this work and share first
authorship, Lei Shi*
College of Life Sciences, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi,
Xinjiang 830052, China
* Correspondence: Lei Shi, Ph.D., College of Life Sciences,
Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi, Xinjiang, 830052, China.
E-mail: leis@xjau.edu.cn
Abstract
Seasonal dietary shifts of animals
are important ecological adaptation strategies. An increasing number of
studies have shown that seasonal dietary shifts can influence or even
determine the composition of gut microbiota. The turpan wonder geckoTeratoscincus roborowskii lives in extreme desert environments,
which have flexible dietary shift to fruit-eating in warm seasons. But
the impact of such shifts on gut microbiota is poorly understood. Here,
16SrRNA sequencing and LC-MS metabolomics we used to examine the changes
of gut microbiota composition and metabolic pattern of T.
roborowskii . The results demonstrated that the gut microbes of T.
roborowskii had significant seasonal changes, the diversity and
abundance of gut microbiota in autumn were higher than those of in
spring. Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria were the core gut
microbes of T. roborowskii . Verrucomicrobia and Proteobacteria
exhibit dynamic pattern of ebb and flow between spring and autumn.The
composition and structure of gut microbes in different seasons perform
specific metabolic functions, and this change may be an important
adaptation for T. roborowskii to cope with dietary shifts and
improve energy acquisition. Our study will provide a theoretical basis
for exploring the adaptive evolution to special frugivorous behavior of
the T. roborowskii , which is an important supplement to the study
of the gut microbes of desert lizards.