Synchronized shift of oral, faecal and urinary microbiotas in bats and natural infection dynamics during seasonal reproduction

Dietrich, Muriel; Kearney, Teresa; Seamark, Ernest C. J.; Paweska, Janusz T.; Markotter, Wanda

We observed a strong variation of microbiota composition over the reproductive season, in the three body habitats (PERMANOVA: all p = 0.001, figure 4) . In saliva and faeces of M. natalensis, microbiota composition was also strongly dependent on the sex (PERMANOVAs: both p = 0.001). Indeed, LEfSe analysis revealed that most phylotypes were enriched in males, although a few were significantly more abundant in females, both in saliva and faeces, such as members of Pasteurellaceae, Gemella and Haemophilus. This could be explained by endocrine/steroid differences, as already suggested for humans [48] , but also potential differences in feeding behaviours between males and females [49] .