Comparative Analysis of Fecal Microbiota in Grasscutter (Thryonomys swinderianus) and Other Herbivorous Livestock in Ghana
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Date
2020-02-15
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
microorganisms
Abstract
The grasscutter (also known as the greater cane rat; Thryonomys swinderianus) is a large rodent
native toWest Africa that is currently under domestication process for meat production. However, little
is known about the physiology of this species. In the present study, aiming to provide information
about gut microbiota of the grasscutter and better understand its physiology, we investigated the
intestinal microbiota of grasscutters and compared it with that of other livestock (cattle, goat, rabbit,
and sheep) using 16S rRNA metagenomics analysis. Similar to the other herbivorous animals, bacteria
classified as Bacteroidales, Clostridiales, Ruminococcaceae, and Lachnospiraceae were abundant
in the microbiome of grasscutters. However, Prevotella and Treponema bacteria, which have fiber
fermentation ability, were especially abundant in grasscutters, where the relative abundance of
these genera was higher than that in the other animals. The presence of these genera might confer
grasscutters the ability to easily breakdown dietary fibers. Diets for grasscutters should be made
from ingredients not consumed by humans to avoid competition for resources and the ability to
digest fibers may allow the use of fiber-rich feed materials not used by humans. Our findings
serve as reference and support future studies on changes in the gut microbiota of the grasscutter as
domestication progresses in order to establish appropriate feeding methods and captivity conditions.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
cattle, goat, grasscutter, rabbit, sheep, microbiome, Prevotella, Treponema