Hirudo nipponia Metagenome

Hirudo nipponia, a Chinese species that have commonly been known as traditional Chinese anticoagulant medicines for thousands of years. It has extremely strong anticoagulant activity and anti-platelet aggregation. However, with the rapid development of socio-economics and the deterioration of the environment, the yield of wild Hirudo nipponica has dwindled over the years. The pharmacology, physiology and breeding of Hirudo nipponia have been studied extensively for decades, but information on the gut microbiota of hirudo nipponica has not been reported. In the present research, we utilize 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing to further explore the microbial composition of the leech digestive tract.