Vicugna pacos V4 16S rRNA gene survey

Our efforts focused on the microbiota of the alpaca digestive tract under a variety of diets and how these microbes might influence alpaca body condition. Our goals were to 1) define the microbiota of the entire alpaca digestive tract (C1, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, cecum, and large intestine), which, to our knowledge, has not yet been done; 2) to identify operational taxonomic units (OTUs) associated with different diets that correlated with increased volatile fatty acid production; and 3) to determine whether the C1 microbiomes of low body condition and good body condition alpacas differ. We hoped to use this information to further study how to correct chronic low body condition in alpacas, which has been noted in individual herd members despite all animals being treated equally.本研究聚焦于不同日粮条件下羊驼消化道菌群，以及此类菌群对羊驼体况的潜在影响。本研究的目标如下：1）明确羊驼全消化道（C1、十二指肠、空肠、回肠、盲肠及大肠）的菌群组成，据我们所知，目前尚未有相关研究完成此项工作；2）筛选与不同日粮相关、且与挥发性脂肪酸（volatile fatty acid）产量提升呈正相关的操作分类单元（operational taxonomic units, OTUs）；3）探明体况不佳与体况优良的羊驼其C1菌群组成是否存在差异。本研究期望依托上述研究结果，进一步探索改善羊驼慢性体况低下的可行方案——尽管所有受试个体均接受同等饲养管理，但部分羊驼仍出现了该症状。