The gut microbiota of wild rodents: Challenges and opportunities

2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 252-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Viney
Keyword(s):  
Gut Microbiota ◽  
Wild Animal ◽  
Critical Assessment ◽  
Laboratory Animals ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Wild Rodents ◽  
Major Study ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
The Many

The gut microbiota can have important, wide-ranging effects on its host. To date, laboratory animals, particularly mice, have been the major study system for microbiota research. It is now becoming increasingly clear that laboratory animals often poorly model aspects of the biology of wild animals, and this concern extends to the study of the gut microbiota. Here, the relatively few studies of the microbiota of wild rodents are reviewed, including a critical assessment of how the gut microbiota differs between laboratory and wild rodents. Finally, the many potential advantages and opportunities of wild-animal systems for research into the gut microbiota are considered.

scholarly journals Sex- and age-specific variation of gut microbiota in Brandt’s voles

PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e11434
Author(s):  
Xiaoming Xu ◽  
Zhibin Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Gut Microbiota ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Laboratory Animals ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Rrna Sequencing ◽  
Food Shortages ◽  
Survival And Reproduction ◽  
Specific Variation

Background Gut microbiota plays a key role in the survival and reproduction of wild animals which rely on microbiota to break down plant compounds for nutrients. As compared to laboratory animals, wild animals face much more threat of environmental changes (e.g. food shortages and risk of infection). Therefore, studying the gut microbiota of wild animals can help us better understand the mechanisms animals use to adapt to their environment. Methods We collected the feces of Brandt’s voles in the grassland, of three age groups (juvenile, adult and old), in both sexes. We studied the gut microbiota by 16S rRNA sequencing. Results The main members of gut microbiota in Brandt’s voles were Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria. As voles get older, the proportion of Firmicutes increased gradually, and the proportion of Bacteroides decreased gradually. The diversity of the microbiota of juveniles is lower, seems like there is still a lot of space for colonization, and there are large variations in the composition of the microbiome between individuals. In adulthood, the gut microbiota tends to be stable, and the diversity is highest. In adult, the abundances of Christensenellaceae and Peptococcus of female were significantly higher than male voles. Conclusions The gut microbiota of Brandt’s vole was influenced by sex and age, probably due to growth needs and hormone levels. Gut microbiota of wild animals were much influenced by their life-history reflected by their age and sex. Future studies will be directed to identify functions of these “wild microbiota” in regulating physiological or behavioral processes of wild animals in different life stage or sexes.

scholarly journals Interactions between multiple helminths and the gut microbiota in wild rodents

2015 ◽  
Vol 370 (1675) ◽  
pp. 20140295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakub Kreisinger ◽  
Géraldine Bastien ◽  
Heidi C Hauffe ◽  
Julian Marchesi ◽  
Sarah E Perkins
Keyword(s):  
Gut Microbiota ◽  
Close Association ◽  
Natural Infection ◽  
Helminth Species ◽  
Laboratory Animals ◽  
Rrna Gene ◽  
Wild Rodents ◽  
Wild Mice ◽  
Gut Homeostasis ◽  
Microbiota Diversity

The gut microbiota is vital to host health and, as such, it is important to elucidate the mechanisms altering its composition and diversity. Intestinal helminths are host immunomodulators and have evolved both temporally and spatially in close association with the gut microbiota, resulting in potential mechanistic interplay. Host–helminth and host–microbiota interactions are comparatively well-examined, unlike microbiota–helminth relationships, which typically focus on experimental infection with a single helminth species in laboratory animals. Here, in addition to a review of the literature on helminth–microbiota interactions, we examined empirically the association between microbiota diversity and composition and natural infection of multiple helminth species in wild mice ( Apodemus flavicollis ), using 16S rRNA gene catalogues (metataxonomics). In general, helminth presence is linked with high microbiota diversity, which may confer health benefits to the host. Within our wild rodent system variation in the composition and abundance of gut microbial taxa associated with helminths was specific to each helminth species and occurred both up- and downstream of a given helminth's niche (gut position). The most pronounced helminth–microbiota association was between the presence of tapeworms in the small intestine and increased S24–7 (Bacteroidetes) family in the stomach. Helminths clearly have the potential to alter gut homeostasis. Free-living rodents with a diverse helminth community offer a useful model system that enables both correlative (this study) and manipulative inference to elucidate helminth–microbiota interactions.

scholarly journals Applied Research, Diffractive Methodology, and the Research-Assemblage: Challenges and Opportunities

2021 ◽  
pp. 136078042110299
Author(s):  
Nick J Fox ◽  
Pam Alldred
Keyword(s):  
Analytical Approach ◽  
Applied Research ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Critical Assessment ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Or Practice ◽  
Representational Approach ◽  
Oriented Research

This article offers a critical assessment of the challenges for policy- and practice-oriented social research of ‘diffractive methodology’ (DM): a post-representational approach to data analysis gaining interest among social researchers. Diffractive analyses read data from empirical research alongside other materials – including researchers’ perspectives, memories, experiences, and emotions – to provide novel insights on events. While this analytical approach acknowledges the situatedness of all research data, it raises issues concerning the applicability of findings for policy or practice. In addition, it does not elucidate in what ways and to what extent the diffractions employed during analysis have influenced the findings. To explore these questions, we diffract DM itself, by reading it alongside a DeleuzoGuattarian analysis of research-as-assemblage. This supplies a richer understanding of the entanglements between research and its subject-matter, and suggests how diffractive analysis may be used in conjunction with other methods in practice- and policy-oriented research.

Recent Changes in German Refugee Law: A Critical Assessment

1994 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 361-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Blay ◽  
Andreas Zimmermann
Keyword(s):  
Critical Assessment ◽  
Southeastern Europe ◽  
Berlin Wall ◽  
Economic Instability ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
Significant Events ◽  
The Many

Two of the most significant events of the 1980s were the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent reunification of Germany. Since the beginning of the 1990s, however, the euphoria that greeted these events has given way to concern as Germany adopts measures to deal with the realities of reunification against a background of general political and economic instability in the former Communist states of Eastern and southeastern Europe. Of the many post-reunification problems, the influx of refugees into Germany has predominated.

scholarly journals China's Legal Response to Trafficking in Wild Animals: The Relationship between International Treaties and Chinese Law

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 408-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiwen Chang
Keyword(s):  
Raw Materials ◽  
Wild Animal ◽  
Food Culture ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
Ecological Civilization ◽  
Animal Products ◽  
Wild Fauna ◽  
The Government ◽  
Bear Bile

In China, the wild animals and animal products that are sold through illegal trafficking are mainly those that can be made into medicines; are raw materials in the form of ivory, rhinoceros horns, and turtle shells; and are edible or have ornamental value, such as birds, monkeys, turtles, and lizards. Due to its rapid economic development over the past decade, China has become one of the world's largest wildlife markets. The main reasons for trafficking are a lack of viable substitutes for raw materials used in traditional Chinese medicines (e.g., bear bile, bear bile powder, pangolin, and other products); a preference in traditional food culture for delicacies made from wildlife; and of the private consumption by some rich and corrupt government officials of tiger's meat, bear's paw, pangolin and other wild animal products—bear's paw and pangolin being the most popular. This type of wild animal trafficking endangers the safety of animal species protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and damages the international image of the government and people of China. Since 2013, under the frame of construction of ecological civilization, China has taken stricter measures on legislation, administrative enforcement, judicial adjudication, and international cooperation on prevention and punishment of illegal trafficking.

scholarly journals Using chemical biology to assess and modulate mitochondria: progress and challenges

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 20160151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Logan ◽  
Michael P. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Function ◽  
Chemical Biology ◽  
Biomedical Sciences ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approaches ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
The Many ◽  
Opening Up

Our understanding of the role of mitochondria in biomedical sciences has expanded considerably over the past decade. In addition to their well-known metabolic roles, mitochondrial are also central to signalling for various processes through the generation of signals such as ROS and metabolites that affect cellular homeostasis, as well as other processes such as cell death and inflammation. Thus, mitochondrial function and dysfunction are central to the health and fate of the cell. Consequently, there is considerable interest in better understanding and assessing the many roles of mitochondria. Furthermore, there is also a growing realization that mitochondrial are a promising drug target in a wide range of pathologies. The application of interdisciplinary approaches at the interface between chemistry and biology are opening up new opportunities to understand mitochondrial function and in assessing the role of the organelle in biology. This work and the experience thus gained are leading to the development of new classes of therapies. Here, we overview the progress that has been made to date on exploring the chemical biology of the organelle and then focus on future challenges and opportunities that face this rapidly developing field.

scholarly journals A voice for wild animals: Collaborative governance and human–wildlife conflict

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 257-262
Author(s):  
Katie Woolaston
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Natural Resource Management ◽  
Regulatory Mechanism ◽  
Collaborative Governance ◽  
Wild Animal ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
New Governance ◽  
Collaborative Processes ◽  
The World ◽  
Human Wildlife Conflict

Animal lawyers in Australia and around the world often struggle to find room in law to participate in decision-making and give animals a voice. Collaborative governance is a regulatory mechanism that has the potential to overcome this struggle. This ‘new governance’ is of growing importance in environmental and natural resource management, premised on decentralised decision-making and removal of permanent hierarchies. This article will utilise two case studies to outline the benefits of legally integrated collaborative processes for wild animal welfare, including the allocation of a permanent voice in regulation for animal advocates and the ability to promote internalisation of animal-friendly norms.

scholarly journals The Impact of ‘Selfie’ Tourism on the Behaviour and Welfare of Brown-Throated Three-Toed Sloths

Animals ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gemma Carder ◽  
Tinka Plese ◽  
Fernando Machado ◽  
Suzanne Paterson ◽  
Neil Matthews ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Future Study ◽  
Average Duration ◽  
Wild Animal ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Bradypus Variegatus ◽  
Focal Observation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Physical Manipulation

The use of wild animals as photo props is prevalent across the globe and is widely recognised to represent a potential animal welfare concern. However, detailed information regarding the specific impacts of such activity on wild animal behaviour is currently lacking. Herein, we investigated how brown-throated three-toed sloths (Bradypus variegatus) were handled by tourists, and how sloths behaved during wildlife ‘selfies’ taken in Manaus, Brazil and Puerto Alegria and Iquitos in Peru. In total, we observed 17 sloths (during 70 focal observations) that were provided for use in wildlife selfies on 34 different tours. We found that an average number of 5 people held each sloth during each focal observation. For 48.6% of the time the sloths were handled in a way which involved physical manipulation of the sloths’ head and/or limbs and/or being held by the claws. From the eight different types of sloth behaviour observed, we found that the two types performed for the longest average duration of time were surveillance (55.3%) and limb stretching (12.6%). Our findings show that when being handled sloths were frequently held in ways that may compromise their welfare. Although to date the behaviour of sloths while being handled has not been reported in any published literature, in this study we document certain behaviours which may act as indicators of compromised welfare. We suggest that our data provides a potential baseline for future study into the behaviour and welfare of sloths.

Conclusion: Detroit and the future of the city

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Doucet
Keyword(s):  
Power Relations ◽  
Critical Assessment ◽  
One Dimensional ◽  
Marginal Groups ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Many ◽  
The City

In this concluding chapter, the main strands of through within the book are brought together. The main narrative of Detroit as a symbol of urban failure is briefly discussed before shifting to a critical assessment of the city’s emerging narrative: that of comeback and renaissance. Both these one-dimensional narratives are treated as problematic and critiqued by using relevant chapters from the book. Two main policy and political insights are highlighted. The first is that much of Detroit’s decline has been a factor produced outside its boundaries so its solutions need to be thought of at these geographic scales. The second relates to working towards including different voices and perspectives about the future of the city and rethinking how power relations can give marginal groups real input into the systems which shape their lives. The many interviews and perspectives in this book provide pathways towards inclusive, fair and just cities.

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