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 gecko Teratoscincus 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 microbiology of desert
lizards.