ArticlePloS one2019
Gut microbiota and their putative metabolic functions in fragmented Bengal tiger population of Nepal.
Article in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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14 citing papers in PubMed, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative Analysis of Microbial Community Structure and Function in the Gut of South China Tigers Under Different Dietary Treatments.Veterinary sciences · 2026Article
- Metagenome-Based Functional Differentiation of Gut Microbiota and Ecological Adaptation Among Geographically Distinct Populations of Przewalski's Gazelle (Microorganisms · 2025Article
- Individual variation within parasite communities of endangered African lions.Royal Society open science · 2025Article
- Preliminary Insights into the Gut Microbiota of Captive Tigers in Republic of Korea: Influence of Geographic and Individual Variation.Microorganisms · 2025Article
- Exploring fecal microbial activity in zoo felids of varying body mass on a similar diet.BMC microbiology · 2025Article
- Gut microbiota diversity among humans, elephants, livestock and wild herbivores in Chitwan National Park bears implications for conservation medicine.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Alteration of the gut microbial composition of critically endangered Malayan tigers (Panthera tigris jacksoni) in captivity during enrichment phase.Molecular biology reports · 2024Article
- Habitat shapes the gut microbiome diversity of Malayan tigers (Panthera tigris jacksoni) as revealed through metabarcoding 16S rRNA profiling.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2024Article
- Time series cluster analysis reveals individual assignment of microbiota in captive tiger (Ecology and evolution · 2023Article
- Characterizing the Gut Microbiota of Eurasian Otter (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022Article
- Developmental stage variation in the gut microbiome of South China tigers.Frontiers in microbiology · 2022Article
- The effect of environment on intestinal microbial diversity ofFrontiers in microbiology · 2022Article
- Contrasting gut microbiota in captive Eurasian otters (Lutra lutra) by age.Archives of microbiology · 2021Article
- Adaptation of the Gut Microbiota of Amur Tigers to a Special Diet.Current microbiology · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
22 authors at 10 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) serve a pivotal role as an apex predator in forest ecosystems. To increase our knowledge on factors impacting the viability and health of this endangered species, we studied the gut microbiota in 32 individual Bengal tigers from three geographically separated areas (Chitwan National Park (CNP), Bardia National Park (BNP) and Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve (SWR)) in Nepal, using noninvasive genetic sampling methods. Gut microbiota influence the immune system, impact various physiological functions, and modulates metabolic reactions, that ultimately impact the host health, behavior and development. Across the tiger populations in Nepal, we found significant differences in the composition of microbial communities based on their geographic locations. Specifically, we detected significant differences between CNP and the other two protected areas (CNP vs BNP: pseudo t = 1.944, P = 0.006; CNP vs SWR: pseudo t = 1.9942, P = 0.0071), but no differences between BNP and SWR. This mirrors what has been found for tiger gene flow in the same populations, suggesting gut microbiota composition and host gene flow may be linked. Furthermore, predictive metagenome functional content analysis (PICRUSt) revealed a higher functional enrichment and diversity for significant gut microbiota in the Chitwan tiger population and the lowest enrichment and diversity in Suklaphanta. The CNP tiger population contained higher proportions of microbiota that are associated with predicted functions relevant for metabolism of amino acid, lipid, xenobiotics biodegradation, terpenoides and polyketides than the SWR population. We conclude the tiger population structure, gut microbiota profile and associated functional metabolic categories are correlated, with geographically most separated CNP and SWR tiger population having the most distinct and different host genotype and microbiota profiles. Our work dramatically expands the understanding of tiger microbiota in wild populations and provides a valuable case study on how to investigate genetic diversity at different hierarchical levels, including hosts as well as their microbial communities.
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