Identification of Gastrointestinal Microbiota in Hawaiian GreenTurtles (Chelonia mydas)

摘要

Green turtles ( ) have a hindgut fermentationdigestive tract, which uses cellulolytic microbes to break down plant matter inthe cecum and proximal colon. Previous studies on bacterial communities of greenturtles have not identified hindgut microbiota, andnever before in Hawaiian green turtles, which comprise an isolatedmetapopulation. Fresh samples using sterile swabs were taken from five locationsalong the gastrointestinal tracts of eight green turtles that had requiredeuthanization. Bacteria were cultured, aerobically and anaerobically, onnutrient agar and four differential and selective media. Samples at threesections along the gastrointestinal tracts of two green turtles were analyzedusing 16S metagenomics on an Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine. More than halfof the 4 532 104 sequences belonged to the phylum Firmicutes, followed byBacteroidetes and Proteobacteria, which are characteristic of herbivore gutmicrobiota. Some microbiota variation existed between turtles and amonggastrointestinal sections. The 16S sequence analysis provided a betterrepresentation of the total gastrointestinal bacterial community, much of whichcannot be cultured using traditional microbial techniques. These metagenomicanalyses serve as a foundation for a better understanding of the microbiome ofgreen turtles in the Hawaiian Islands and elsewhere.