Differences in rectal fecal microbes among Hu sheep, Tibetan sheep, and their hybrid breeds and their relationship with growth traits

ABSTRACT Variety and diversity serve as the foundation for animal husbandry development. Nowadays, heterosis is often used to improve animal performance and increase economic benefits. The intestine is an important organ for nutrient absorption and is also the largest immune organ in the body. Intes...

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Main Authors: Dan Xu, Jiangbo Cheng, Yukun Zhang, Deyin Zhang, Kai Huang, Xiaolong Li, Yuan Zhao, Liming Zhao, Xiaobin Yang, Panpan Cui, Zongwu Ma, Huibin Tian, Xiuxiu Weng, Xiaoxue Zhang, Weimin Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Society for Microbiology 2025-07-01
Series:Microbiology Spectrum
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Online Access:https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/spectrum.01792-24
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author Dan Xu
Jiangbo Cheng
Yukun Zhang
Deyin Zhang
Kai Huang
Xiaolong Li
Yuan Zhao
Liming Zhao
Xiaobin Yang
Panpan Cui
Zongwu Ma
Huibin Tian
Xiuxiu Weng
Xiaoxue Zhang
Weimin Wang
author_facet Dan Xu
Jiangbo Cheng
Yukun Zhang
Deyin Zhang
Kai Huang
Xiaolong Li
Yuan Zhao
Liming Zhao
Xiaobin Yang
Panpan Cui
Zongwu Ma
Huibin Tian
Xiuxiu Weng
Xiaoxue Zhang
Weimin Wang
author_sort Dan Xu
collection DOAJ
description ABSTRACT Variety and diversity serve as the foundation for animal husbandry development. Nowadays, heterosis is often used to improve animal performance and increase economic benefits. The intestine is an important organ for nutrient absorption and is also the largest immune organ in the body. Intestinal microorganisms can be influenced by various factors such as animal growth and development stages, gender, health status, feed nutrition level, and host genetic background, among others. In this study, three strains of male sheep, with no significant differences in initial weight at 6 months old, were raised under the same conditions until they reached 9 months of age. We collected the rectal feces of these 9-month-old sheep and compared the differences in rectal fecal microorganisms among the three strains using 16S rDNA sequencing technology. The permutational multivariate analysis of variance test revealed significant differences in microorganisms among different strains. Additionally, we identified six biomarkers in Tibetan sheep and Hu sheep, respectively. Functional enrichment analysis showed that microorganisms may affect the growth traits of sheep through lipid metabolism, and the functional differences among different strains were obvious. Therefore, we believe that crossbreeding can result in the offspring obtaining intestinal microorganisms from their parents to varying degrees, and host heredity is the primary cause of the intestinal microorganism differences.IMPORTANCEIn this study, we identified parental biomarkers by exploring the relationship between parental and hybrid offspring and concluded that these biomarkers may affect related growth traits through fat deposition or lipid metabolism pathways. We also found that hybrid sheep inherited rectal fecal microbes from their parents to varying degrees.
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spelling doaj-art-6468c9919d0a4e30b69172e950c722662025-08-20T03:31:20ZengAmerican Society for MicrobiologyMicrobiology Spectrum2165-04972025-07-0113710.1128/spectrum.01792-24Differences in rectal fecal microbes among Hu sheep, Tibetan sheep, and their hybrid breeds and their relationship with growth traitsDan Xu0Jiangbo Cheng1Yukun Zhang2Deyin Zhang3Kai Huang4Xiaolong Li5Yuan Zhao6Liming Zhao7Xiaobin Yang8Panpan Cui9Zongwu Ma10Huibin Tian11Xiuxiu Weng12Xiaoxue Zhang13Weimin Wang14The State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, People's Republic of ChinaThe State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, People's Republic of ChinaThe State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, People's Republic of ChinaThe State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, People's Republic of ChinaThe State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, People's Republic of ChinaThe State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, People's Republic of ChinaThe State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, People's Republic of ChinaThe State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, People's Republic of ChinaThe State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, People's Republic of ChinaCollege of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, Gansu, People's Republic of ChinaThe State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, People's Republic of ChinaThe State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, People's Republic of ChinaThe State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, People's Republic of ChinaCollege of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, Gansu, People's Republic of ChinaThe State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, People's Republic of ChinaABSTRACT Variety and diversity serve as the foundation for animal husbandry development. Nowadays, heterosis is often used to improve animal performance and increase economic benefits. The intestine is an important organ for nutrient absorption and is also the largest immune organ in the body. Intestinal microorganisms can be influenced by various factors such as animal growth and development stages, gender, health status, feed nutrition level, and host genetic background, among others. In this study, three strains of male sheep, with no significant differences in initial weight at 6 months old, were raised under the same conditions until they reached 9 months of age. We collected the rectal feces of these 9-month-old sheep and compared the differences in rectal fecal microorganisms among the three strains using 16S rDNA sequencing technology. The permutational multivariate analysis of variance test revealed significant differences in microorganisms among different strains. Additionally, we identified six biomarkers in Tibetan sheep and Hu sheep, respectively. Functional enrichment analysis showed that microorganisms may affect the growth traits of sheep through lipid metabolism, and the functional differences among different strains were obvious. Therefore, we believe that crossbreeding can result in the offspring obtaining intestinal microorganisms from their parents to varying degrees, and host heredity is the primary cause of the intestinal microorganism differences.IMPORTANCEIn this study, we identified parental biomarkers by exploring the relationship between parental and hybrid offspring and concluded that these biomarkers may affect related growth traits through fat deposition or lipid metabolism pathways. We also found that hybrid sheep inherited rectal fecal microbes from their parents to varying degrees.https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/spectrum.01792-24hybridizationgrowth traitrectal fecal microorganism16S rDNA sequencinghost inheritance
spellingShingle Dan Xu
Jiangbo Cheng
Yukun Zhang
Deyin Zhang
Kai Huang
Xiaolong Li
Yuan Zhao
Liming Zhao
Xiaobin Yang
Panpan Cui
Zongwu Ma
Huibin Tian
Xiuxiu Weng
Xiaoxue Zhang
Weimin Wang
Differences in rectal fecal microbes among Hu sheep, Tibetan sheep, and their hybrid breeds and their relationship with growth traits
Microbiology Spectrum
hybridization
growth trait
rectal fecal microorganism
16S rDNA sequencing
host inheritance
title Differences in rectal fecal microbes among Hu sheep, Tibetan sheep, and their hybrid breeds and their relationship with growth traits
title_full Differences in rectal fecal microbes among Hu sheep, Tibetan sheep, and their hybrid breeds and their relationship with growth traits
title_fullStr Differences in rectal fecal microbes among Hu sheep, Tibetan sheep, and their hybrid breeds and their relationship with growth traits
title_full_unstemmed Differences in rectal fecal microbes among Hu sheep, Tibetan sheep, and their hybrid breeds and their relationship with growth traits
title_short Differences in rectal fecal microbes among Hu sheep, Tibetan sheep, and their hybrid breeds and their relationship with growth traits
title_sort differences in rectal fecal microbes among hu sheep tibetan sheep and their hybrid breeds and their relationship with growth traits
topic hybridization
growth trait
rectal fecal microorganism
16S rDNA sequencing
host inheritance
url https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/spectrum.01792-24
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