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Faecal transplants could help preserve vulnerable species

New gut bacteria can expand the diet of animals like koalas and rhinoceroses.
  1. Sara Reardon
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Koalas are among the world’s fussiest eaters, consuming only the leaves of eucalyptus trees — and just a few varieties of eucalyptus at that. Research now suggests that the animals’ discriminating diet is determined in part by the bacteria that live in their guts, which seem to restrict an individual koala’s ability to digest certain species of eucalyptus.

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Nature 558, 173-174 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-05352-1

References

  1. Miller, A. W., Dale, C. & Dearing, M. D. mSystems 2, e00088-17 (2017).

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  2. Tubbs, C., Hartig, P., Cardon, M., Varga, N. & Milnes, M. Endocrinology 153, 1444–1452 (2012).

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