ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microorganisms in Vertebrate Digestive Systems
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1642332
This article is part of the Research TopicUnravelling the Wildlife Gut Microbiome: The Crucial Role of Gut Microbiomes in Wildlife Conservation StrategiesView all 12 articles
Comparative Analysis of the Gut Microbiota Composition among three Captive Hornbills
Provisionally accepted
- 1Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, China
- 2Nanning Zoo, Nanning, China
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This study investigated the gut microbiota of three captive hornbill species (Anthracoceros albirostris,Buceros bicornis,Rhyticeros undulatus) at the Nanning Zoo. Fecal samples were aseptically collected from 30 hornbills, and 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing was employed to analyze the composition, diversity, and potential functions of the gut microbiota. The influence of host taxonomic status, sex, and captive environment on the gut microbiota was explored. The results revealed that the dominant phyla in the gut microbiota of all three hornbill species were Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes. Although no significant differences were detected in the gut microbiota composition among different species and sexes, LEfSe analysis indicated significant enrichment of Erysipelotrichaceae and Lactobacillus_hayakitensis_DSM_18933_JCM_14209 in the Oriental Pied Hornbill group, as well as Clostridiales, Paenibacillaceae, and Paenibacillus_xylanilyticus in the Great Hornbill group. PICRUSt analysis indicated that the functional genes of the gut microbiota in all three hornbill species were primarily enriched in metabolic pathways, showing similar relative abundances. This study suggests that the gut microbiota characteristics of hornbills align with those of omnivorous birds. The homogenization of food resources in a captive environment may weaken the impact of host differences on the gut microbiota. The research findings provide a scientific basis for the health management of captive hornbills and the microecological assessment of wild population habitats.
Keywords: Hornbills, Gut Microbiota, diversity, 16s rRNA sequencing technology, Gut microbiota composition
Received: 06 Jun 2025; Accepted: 08 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yang, Wang, Feng, Yang and Duan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Shuang Yang, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, China
Yubao Duan, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, China
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