Shift of maternal gut microbiome of Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii) during the perinatal period

Abstract

The maternal gut microbiome can influence and be affected by the substantial physiological changes taking place during the perinatal period. However, little information is known about the changes in the maternal gut microbiome during this period. Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii) provide a unique system to address this issue because their summer migration cycle is synchronized with the perinatal period. We used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to generate gut microbiome profiles using fecal samples collected from female migratory Tibetan antelope. We then correlated microbiome diversity with fecal hormone metabolite concentrations of glucocorticoids (GCs) and triiodothyronine (T3) extracted from the same fecal samples. The maternal gut microbiome of Tibetan antelope was dominated by Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. There was a clear separation in gut microbial composition by female reproductive states based on both hierarchical clustering and PCoA analyses. The shift in the maternal gut microbiome likely reflects the metabolic and immune system dynamics during the perinatal period. Overall, the microbiome diversity was higher in the late pregnancy compared to the postpartum period. The negative association between T3 and microbiome diversity may be moderated by the shift of reproductive states since the correlations disappeared when considering each reproductive state separately. Integrating the microbiome dimension, migration pattern and reproduction may have direct conservation implications as by establishing a baseline of the physiological changes during the migration/perinatal period, we can have a better understanding of the impacts of increasing human activities on the Tibetan Plateau on the reproductive health of Tibetan antelope.