Diarrhea is common in wintering migratory waterbirds and is increasingly linked to alterations in gut microbiota and the metabolome. This study compared the gut microbial communities and metabolic profiles of diarrheic and healthy bean geese (Anser fabalis) wintering at Caizi Lake, China, using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Diarrheic samples exhibited significantly elevated water content and distinct gut microbial community structure, with clear separation between healthy and diarrheic groups demonstrated by principal coordinate analysis and phylogenetic tree analyses. Alpha diversity differed between groups, and Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) analysis identified marked shifts in specific microbial genera. Sixteen potential pathogens were detected across all samples, predominantly Streptococcus and Clostridium. Metabolomic profiling revealed 1951 differentially abundant metabolites (1045 upregulated, 906 downregulated in diarrheic geese), with lipids, lipid-like molecules, organoheterocyclic compounds, and organic acids representing the dominant metabolite classes. These findings indicate that diarrhea in wild bean geese is accompanied by significant dysbiosis of both gut microbiota and metabolite profiles, providing baseline data for understanding enteric disease in migratory waterbirds.
Hou et al. (Sat,) studied this question.