XINING, March 13 (Xinhua) — A new study has uncovered the substantial impact of altitude on the gut microbiota of the plateau pika, a small mammal, on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the west of China, helping to reveal the microbial adaptation mechanism of plateau animals.
The study, conducted by researchers from the Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology (NWIPB) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was published in the journal Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part D: Genomics and Proteomics.
The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with its low oxygen, low temperature and scarcity of food, poses severe challenges to the physiological adaptation of animals — in which gut microbiota plays a crucial role.
An in-depth exploration of how altitude changes affect the gut microbiota of plateau animals is crucial for…