The differences of intestinal development and microorganism between male and female ducks

Abstract Background There are great differences in physiological and biological functions between animals of different genders. However, whether there would be a consensus in duck intestinal development and microorganisms is still unknown. Methods Male and female ducks were weighed at 2, 5 and 10 weeks, respectively, then the duodenum, jejunum, ileum and cecum were sampled and measured, and the content were analyzed by 16S RNA. Results The results showed that male duck hold shorter intestinal length with higher density and jejunum VH/CD, and the similarity, evenness and diversity of the total intestinal microorganism of male duck were higher, with 99.66% OTUs shared by both gender, while Rikenellae , Prevotella and Nocardia were only in male duck. Proeobacteria hold higher abundance than Bacteroidetes in female intestine, while the value of Firmicutes/Bacteroides was lower than male duck. Whats more, the different functional pathway of microorganisms was only showed in jejunum, among which the metabolic and disease pathways of male ducks were higher, while gene pathways was lower. Conclusions The intestines of male ducks have higher development, nutrient absorption, fat deposition and metabolic capacity while their disease resistance was relatively weak, providing a basic reference for intestinal development and microorganism symbiosis of duck in different genders.