Improvement of Intestinal Environments to Facilitate Reintroduction of Japanese Rock Ptarmigans
Principal Investigator: Makoto MATSUBAYASHI
Institution:

1-58 Rinku Ourai Kita, Izumisano City, Osaka, JAPAN

Tel: 072-463-5713 / Fax: 072-463-5093
E-mail: matsubayashi@omu.ac.jp
Cooperated by: Chubu University and Toho University[Abstract]
Key Words: Alpine plant, Eimeria, Rock ptarmigan, Feed, Intestinal environment, Intestinal flora
Japanese rock ptarmigans exclusively inhabit the timberline region of the Japanese alpine zone.
Recently, the ptarmigan population has been declining and the species is currently listed asvulnerable in the Japanese Red Data Book. The Ministry of the Environment has promoted various
conservation strategies, including in situ cage protections and artificial propagation in zoos.
However, for the production of birds than can be successfully returned to their habitats, it isessential to create wild intestinal flora in chicks to enable digestion of indigestible plants
and their toxic compounds. Furthermore, it has been reported that the protozoan parasite Eimeria
spp. highly infect Japanese rock ptarmigans and thus, it is thought that tolerance against Eimeria
parasites is needed in artificially propagated birds. First, the pathogenicity of Eimeria spp.
infecting ptarmigans, E. uekii and E. raichoi, was clarified, namely diarrhea, depression, growth
reduction and death. Based on our analyses, low dose inoculation in chicks could be effective toraise the immunity against Eimeria spp. infection. Chicken embryos were found to be capable ofbeing utilized to produce the parasites for vaccination. Second, we successfully developed afiltration technology to remove Eimeria parasites from feces of wild rock ptarmigans in order toreduce the risk of parasite infection by safely transplanting the wild intestinal flora into
artificially propagated birds. Furthermore, some useful bacteria, including newly identified
species that could be effective for digestion of Alpine plants and resolution of toxic compounds,
were isolated and successfully cultured. At least, one species of bacteria was found to be capableof reducing the pathogenicity of Eimeria spp. in the birds. Finally, primary and secondary
metabolites in the Alpine plants were analyzed to produce appropriate artificial feeds for therock ptarmigans. Based on the analysis, including the amount of daily intake, we were able tosuggest breeding improvements for the birds and propose suitable feeding formulations. Thesefindings can contribute to the generation of artificially propagated chicks that can be released
into the wild for conservation strategies. The new strategy described herein, including
understanding intestinal environments of wild animals and their composition, can improveconservation of endangered species worldwide.
[References]1) M. MATSUBAYASHI, A. KOBAYASHI, M. KANEKO, M. KINOSHITA, S. TSUCHIDA, T. SHIBAHARA, M. HASEGAWA,H. NAKAMURA, K. SASAI, and K. USHIDA: Int. J. Parasitol. Parasites Wildl. 15, 225-230 (2021)(IF:2.7) Distribution of Eimeria uekii and Eimeria raichoi in cage protection environments forthe conservation of Japanese rock ptarmigans (Lagopus muta japonica) in the Japanese Alps.
2) M. MATSUBAYASHI, M. KINOSHITA, A. KOBAYASHI, S. TSUCHIDA, T. SHIBAHARA, M. HASEGAWA, H. NAKAMURA,K. SASAI, K. USHIDA: Int. J. Parasitol. Parasites Wildl. 12, 19-24 (2020) (IF:2.7) Parasitic
development in intestines and oocyst shedding patterns for infection by Eimeria uekii andEimeria raichoi in Japanese rock ptarmigans, Lagopus muta japonica, protected by cages in theSouthern Japanese Alps.
3) S. OKA, R. KUNIBA, N. TSUBOI, S. TSUCHIDA, K. USHIDA, S. TOMOSHIGE, and K. KURAMOCHI: Biosci.
Biotechnol. Biochem. 84 (1), 31-36 (2020) (IF:2.0) Isolation, synthesis, and biologicalactivities of a bibenzyl from Empetrum nigrum var. japonicum.
4) A. KOBAYASHI, S. TSUCHIDA, A. UEDA, T. YAMADA, K. MURATA, H. NAKAMURA, and K. USHIDA: J. Vet.
Med. Sci. 81 (9), 1389-1399 (2019) (IF:1.3) Role of coprophagy in the cecal microbiome
development of an herbivorous bird Japanese rock ptarmigan.