Abstract: Gut microbiome is an important integral for maintaining body health. Clarifying the diversity of animal gut microbiome is helpful to understanding the ecological adaptation of animals. It has been reported that gut microbiomes of desert gerbils contribute to their adaptation to the desert environment. However, the structure, diversity, and function of gut microbial community of jerboas, which are widely distributed in the desert environment, are still unclear. In this study, we used 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing technology to compare the gut microbiome composition and function of Northern three-toed jerboa (Dipus sagitta), Siberian jerboa (Orientallactage sibirica), long-eared jerboa (Euchoreutes naso), and Kozlov’s pygmy jerboa (Salpingotus kozlovi), which represent the four subfamilies in Dipodidae living in desert areas of Xinjiang. A total of 1557065 valid sequences were obtained, and 2708 ASV were identified, belonging to 20 phyla, 50 classes, 71 orders, 142 families, and 336 genera. Among the alpha diversity indices, ACE index, and Chao1 index of Dipus sagitta and Salpingotus kozlovi were significantly lower than those of the other two species, while Shannon index and Simpson index were similar in four species. The results of principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) showed that the gut microbiome structure of the four jerboa species was significantly different. LEfSe analysis showed that there were 10 significantly different bacterial genera in the gut microbiome of the four jerboa species, most of which belonged to Bacteroides. Results of PICRUSt analysis showed that the gut microbiomes of four jerboa species had similar functions and mainly participated in the metabolic process of the host. Our results uncovered the gut microbiome characteristics of four species of jerboa in desert areas, providing basic data for further study on the formation of gut microbiome structure and physiological and ecological adaptation of desert jerboas.

Key words: desert jerboa, gut microbiome, 16S rRNA, bacterial diversity, Xinjiang