Bacterial diversity in the gastrointestinal tracts of Rhinolophus luctus and Murina leucogaster in Henan Province, China

Purpose Previous studies have assessed the diversity of gastrointestinal bacteria in bats and reported that some of the strains are pathogenic to humans; therefore, bats are considered to be potential reservoirs of zoonotic pathogens. However, the bacterial diversity and types of pathogenic bacteria in the gastrointestinal tracts of Rhinolophus luctus and Murina leucogaster have not yet been determined. Humans frequently come into contact with these species; therefore, assessments of their gut microbiota, especially potential pathogens, are essential for public health. In the present study, MiSeq high-throughput sequencing was used to address this research gap, and the results were compared with those reported previously. Methods The V3-V4 regions of the 16S rRNA gene were sequenced using the MiSeq high-throughput sequencing platform to determine the bacterial community of the stomach and the intestines of R. luctus and M. leucogaster. Results The bacteria in the gastrointestinal tracts of R. luctus and M. leucogaster were classified into three and four main bacterial phyla, respectively. In both R. luctus and M. leucogaster, the dominant phylum was Proteobacteria (stomach 86.07% and 95.79%, intestines 91.87% and 88.78%, respectively), followed by Firmicutes (stomach 13.84% and 4.19%, intestines 8.11% and 11.20%, respectively). In total, 18 and 20 bacterial genera occurred in a relative abundance of 0.01% or more in the gastrointestinal tracts of R. luctus and M. leucogaster, respectively. In R. luctus, the dominant genera were Lactococcus (10.11%) and Paeniclostridium (3.41%) in the stomach, and Undibacterium (28.56%) and Paeniclostridium (4.69%) in the intestines. In M. leucogaster, the dominant genera were Undibacterium (54.41%) and Burkholderia (5.28%) in the stomach, and Undibacterium (29.67%) and Enterococcus (7.19%) in the intestines. Among the detected gastrointestinal tract flora of R. luctus and M. leucogaster, 12 bacterial genera were pathogenic or opportunistic pathogens. Conclusion A high number of human pathogens were detected in the gastrointestinal tracts of R. luctus and M. leucogaster, which demonstrates the urgency for increased efforts in the prevention and management of bat-to-human disease transmission from these species.