Objective This experiment was conducted to characterize the diversity of fecal microbiota in tumbler pigeons with different flight-performance levels, and to clarify the differences in fecal microbiota among tumbler pigeons of varied flight capacities, so as to provide a basic reference for studies on gut microbiota of tumbler pigeons with different competitive performances.
Methods Under identical feeding management, dietary nutrition and flight-training conditions, 20 tumbler pigeons with an average body weight of (280.35±5.68)g were selected in this study. According to competition records provided by the Fanfan Pigeon Association of Yanqi Hui Autonomous County, the pigeons were divided into the high-performance group (n=10) and the low-performance group (n=10). Fresh fecal samples were collected from tumbler pigeons before feeding and preserved in liquid-nitrogen freezing. The 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing technology was adopted to detect the diversity of fecal microbiota.
Results The Chao1 and ACE indices of fecal microbiota in high-performance tumbler pigeons were significantly higher than those in the low-performance group (P<0.05). At the microbiota-abundance level, Firmicutes was the predominant phylum in fecal samples, followed by Actinobacteriota, Proteobacteria and Bacteroidota. The relative abundance of Firmicutes was numerically 10.69 % higher in the low-performance group than in the high-performance group, with no significant difference between groups (P>0.05). The relative abundances of Actinobacteriota and Bacteroidota were higher in the high-performance group (P>0.05). LEfSe analysis identified a total of seven differential taxonomic groups between the two groups, among which five differential taxonomic groups were found in high-performance tumbler pigeons and two in low-performance tumbler pigeons. Tax4Fun functional prediction indicated that fecal microbiota of high-performance tumbler pigeons were mainly involved in membrane transport and energy metabolism, whereas microbiota of low-performance tumbler pigeons were primarily responsible for terpenoid- and polyketide-metabolism as well as fatty-acid metabolism.
Conclusion Exercise can shape the structure and diversity of gut microbiota. Compared with low-performance tumbler pigeons, high-performance tumbler pigeons possess higher fecal-microbiota diversity, with higher relative abundances of Bacteroidota and Bifidobacterium. Their microbial functions tend to be oriented toward membrane transport and energy metabolism.
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