Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Mar 29:13:847073.
doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.847073. eCollection 2022.

Effect of 6-Methoxybenzoxazolinone on the Cecal Microbiota of Adult Male Brandt's Vole

Xin Dai  1 , Lin Chen  1 , Mengyue Liu  1 , Ying Liu  1 , Siqi Jiang  1 , Tingting Xu  1 , Aiqin Wang  1 , Shengmei Yang  1 , Wanhong Wei  1   2
Affiliations

Effect of 6-Methoxybenzoxazolinone on the Cecal Microbiota of Adult Male Brandt's Vole

Xin Dai et al. Front Microbiol. .

Abstract

The anti-microbial effects of plant secondary metabolite (PSM) 6-methoxybenzoxazolinone (6-MBOA) have been overlooked. This study investigated the effect of 6-MBOA on the cecal microbiota of adult male Brandt's voles (Lasiopodomys brandtii), to evaluate its effect on the physiology of mammalian herbivores. The growth of voles was inhibited by 6-MBOA. A low dose of 6-MBOA enhanced the observed species, as well as the Chao1 and abundance-based coverage estimator (ACE) indices and introduced changes in the structure of cecal microbiota. The abundance of the phylum Tenericutes, classes Mollicutes and Negativicutes, order Selenomonadales, families Ruminococcaceae and Veillonellaceae, genera Quinella, Caproiciproducens, Anaerofilum, Harryflintia, and unidentified Spirochaetaceae in the cecal microbiota was enhanced upon administration of a low dose of 6-MBOA, which also inhibited glucose metabolism and protein digestion and absorption in the cecal microbiota. 6-MBOA treatment also stimulated butyrate production and dose-dependently enhanced the metabolism of xenobiotics in the cecal microbiome. Our findings indicate that 6-MBOA can affect Brandt's voles by inducing changes in the abundance of cecal bacteria, thereby, altering the contents of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and pathway intermediates, ultimately inhibiting the growth of voles. Our research suggests that 6-MBOA could potentially act as a digestion-inhibiting PSM in the interaction between mammalian herbivores and plants.

Keywords: 6-MBOA; Brandt’s vole; KEGG pathway analysis; SCFAs; cecal microbiota.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Relative abundance of operational taxonomic units among control group (0 mg/kg 6-MBOA), low 6-MBOA dose group (1 mg/kg 6-MBOA) and high 6-MBOA dose group (2 mg/kg 6-MBOA) at the phylum level in the cecal microbiota of adult male Brandt’s vole. Others mean the phyla with relative abundance less than 0.01%.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Differences in the cecal microbiome composition among control group (0 mg/kg 6-MBOA), low 6-MBOA dose group (1 mg/kg 6-MBOA) and high 6-MBOA dose group (2 mg/kg 6-MBOA) in adult male Brandt’s vole. (A) chao1; (B) abundance-based coverage estimator (ACE); (C) Observed species (OBSP); (D) Shannon index; (E) Simpson index. Error bars indicate standard errors. Same letters connect bars with no significant differences at P < 0.05 (n = 6).
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Structural separation of that cecal microbiota among control group (0 mg/kg 6-MBOA), low 6-MBOA dose group (1 mg/kg 6-MBOA) and high 6-MBOA dose group (2 mg/kg 6-MBOA) in adult male Brandt’s vole (n = 6). (A) Principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) plot; (B) ANOSIM analysis plot.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Biomarker of taxa with statistically significant differences in abundance identified in the cecal microbiota among control group (0 mg/kg 6-MBOA), low 6-MBOA dose group (1 mg/kg 6-MBOA) and high 6-MBOA dose group (2 mg/kg 6-MBOA) in adult male Brandt’s vole by linear discriminant analysis (LDA) effect size (LEfSe) analysis (n = 6). (A) Histogram showing the taxa with a LDA score significant threshold > 2. (B) Cladogram showing the phylogenetic position of enriched taxa among the three groups, according to the LEfSe analysis.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Differences in taxa abundances of cecal microbiota at different taxonomic levels among control group (0 mg/kg 6-MBOA), low 6-MBOA dose group (1 mg/kg 6-MBOA) and high 6-MBOA dose group (2 mg/kg 6-MBOA) in adult male Brandt’s vole. (A) Phylum level; (B) class level; (C) order level; (D) family level; (E) genus level. Error bars indicate standard errors. Same letters connect bars with no significant differences at P < 0.05 (n = 6).
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Differences in the enrichment of various KEGG pathways among control group (0 mg/kg 6-MBOA), low 6-MBOA dose group (1 mg/kg 6-MBOA) and high 6-MBOA dose group (2 mg/kg 6-MBOA) in adult male Brandt’s vole. Error bars indicate standard errors. Same letters connect bars with no significant differences at P < 0.05 (n = 6).
FIGURE 7
FIGURE 7
Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) content in the cecum of adult male Brandt’s vole intragastrically administered a 6-MBOA dose of 0 mg/kg (control group), 1 mg/kg (low dose group), or 2 mg/kg (high dose group). (A) Butyrate; (B) acetate; (C) propionate; (D) isobutyrate; (E) valerate; (F) caproate. Error bars indicate standard errors. Same letters connect bars with no significant differences at P < 0.05 (n = 8).
FIGURE 8
FIGURE 8
Relative food consumption and growth rate in terms of body weight of adult male Brandt’s vole intragastrically administered a 6-MBOA dose of 0 mg/kg (control group), 1 mg/kg (low dose group), or 2 mg/kg (high dose group). (A) Relative food consumption. (B) Growth rate in terms of body weight. Error bars indicate standard errors. Same letters connect bars with no significant differences at P < 0.05 (n = 8).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Acharya J., Kaspar T. C., Robertson A. E. (2021). Effect of 6-Methoxy-2-Benzoxazolinone (MBOA) on Pythium species and corn seedling growth and disease. Plant Dis. 105 752–757. 10.1094/PDIS-04-20-0824-SC - DOI - PubMed
    1. Alibhai S. K. (1986). Reproductive response of Gerbillus harwoodii to 6-MBOA in Kora National Reserve, Kenya. J. Trop. Ecol. 2 377–379. 10.1017/S0266467400001012 - DOI
    1. Anderson K. D., Nachman R. J., Turek F. W. (1988). Effects of melatonin and 6-methoxybenzoxazolinone on photoperiodic control of testis size in adult male golden hamsters. J. Pineal Res. 5 351–365. 10.1111/j.1600-079x - DOI - PubMed
    1. Argandoña V. H., Niemeyer H. M., Corcuera L. J. (1981). Effect of content and distribution of hydroxamic acids on infestation in the aphid Schizaphis graminum. Phytochemistry 20 673–676. 10.1016/0031-9422(81)85154-0 - DOI
    1. Bengelsdorf F. R., Poehlein A., Daniel R., Dürre P. (2019). Genome sequence of the caproic acid-producing bacterium Caproiciproducens galactitolivorans BS-1T (JCM 30532). Microbiol. Resour. Announc. 8:e346-19. 10.1128/MRA.00346-19 - DOI - PMC - PubMed