Characterization of Bacterial Microbial Diversity in Wild Yak and Domestic Yak in Qiangtang Region of Tibet

After several years of domestication, domestic yak is inferior to wild yak in many aspects. Gut microbes play an important role in the digestion, absorption and health of animals. Studying the intestinal flora of yak has significance to improving its productivity and immunity. In this study, we analysed the bacterial diversity in fresh faeces of wild yak and domestic yak. Results showed that the structure of the bacterial flora in wild yak and domestic yak was significantly different. Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes and TM7 were the dominant phyla, and Micrococcaceae, Ruminococcaceae, Planococcaceae, Peptostreptococcaceae, Clostridiaceae, Lachnospiraceae, Christensenellaceae, Coriobacteriaceae and Bacillaceae were the dominant families. Comparing the relative abundance of different levels of bacteria, a total of 78 bacteria significantly differed between wild yak and domestic yak. Amongst these bacteria, Chloroflexi, Clostridiaceae, Microbispora, Blautia, Carnobacterium and Salinibacterium were obviously higher in wild yak than in domestic yak. Proteobacteria, Epulopiscium, Amycolatopsis, Brucellaceae, Sediminibacterium and Rhodococcus were significantly higher in domestic yak than in wild yak. The present study reported the microbial diversity of bacteria between wild yak and domestic yak. The findings can help improve the production performance and disease resistance of domestic yak.