Geographical Relationships between Long-Tailed Goral (Naemorhedus caudatus) Populations Based on Gut Microbiome Analysis

The long-tailed goral (Naemorhedus caudatus) is an endangered species found in the mountains of eastern and northern Asia. Its populations have declined for various reasons, and this species has been designated as legally protected in South Korea. Although various ecological studies have been conduc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microorganisms (Basel) 2021-09, Vol.9 (9), p.2002
Main Authors: Park, Chang Eon, Cho, Bum-Joon, Kim, Min-Ji, Park, Hee Cheon, Shin, Jae-Ho
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
16s rRNA sequencing
Biodiversity
Composition
Cultural heritage
Discriminant analysis
Dispersal
Ecological studies
Ecology
Endangered species
Feces
Field study
Gene amplification
geographical relationship
gut microbiome
Intestinal microflora
Laboratories
long-tailed goral
Microbiomes
Microbiota
Mitochondrial DNA
Mountains
Naemorhedus caudatus
Naemorhedus goral
National parks
Network analysis
Population
Populations
Regions
Research methodology
Software
Wildlife conservation
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Summary:The long-tailed goral (Naemorhedus caudatus) is an endangered species found in the mountains of eastern and northern Asia. Its populations have declined for various reasons, and this species has been designated as legally protected in South Korea. Although various ecological studies have been conducted on long-tailed gorals, none have investigated the gut microbiome until now. In the present study, we compared the diversity and composition of the gut microbiome of seven populations of Korean long-tailed gorals. By analyzing the gut microbiome composition for each regional population, it was found that four phyla—Firmicutes, Actinobacteriota, Bacteroidota, and Proteobacteria—were the most dominant in all regions on average. The alpha diversity of the gut microbiome of the goral population in the northern regions was high, while that in the southern regions was low. Through the analysis of beta diversity, the seven long-tailed goral populations have been divided into three groups: the Seoraksan population, the Samcheock population, and the Wangpicheon population. It was possible to confirm the regional migration of the animals using the gut microbiome based on the site-relational network analysis. It was found that the most stable population of long-tailed gorals in Korea was the Seoraksan population, and the closely related groups were the Samcheok and Wangpicheon populations, respectively. Wangpicheon appeared to be a major point of dispersal in the migration route of Korean long-tailed gorals.
ISSN:2076-2607
2076-2607
DOI:10.3390/microorganisms9092002