Gut Microbiome Characterization of 311 Wild Deer Mice Across New Mexico

Andrew M. Skidmore characterized the fecal microbiomes of 311 Peromyscus sonoriensis (western deer mice) collected from across New Mexico, USA. The dataset includes mice of all ages and sexes from multiple ecoregions, with microbiomes analyzed using Shannon entropy, Faith phylodiversity, and weighted UNIFRAC. This data serves as a reference for research on related species and enhances the use of P. sonoriensis as model laboratory animals.

Use Cases

• Modeling disease transmission dynamics based on microbiome variation linked to Sin Nombre hantavirus reservoir status.
• Analyzing environmental effects on microbiome composition based on geographic trapping location data.
• Studying the impact of sample preservation methods (ethanol vs. cryopreservation) on microbial community profiles.
• Investigating the influence of host factors like age and sex on gut microbiome diversity within specific geographic subpopulations.

Strengths

• Includes 311 individual mouse microbiome samples, providing a substantial sample size.
• Samples are geographically diverse, collected from multiple ecoregions across New Mexico.
• Uses a PCR-independent approach to sequence the entire 16S rRNA gene, potentially offering higher resolution.
• Analyzes the impact of sample storage method (95% ethanol vs. cryopreservation), providing methodological insight.

Limitations

• Dataset is very small (14.2 KB), indicating limited scope or summary-level data rather than raw sequences.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale analyses.

Provenance

Source

Andrew M. Skidmore via figshare.

Collection Method

Fecal samples sequenced for the entire 16S rRNA gene using a PCR-independent approach.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-24 05:40:58; freshness should be verified.

Geography

New Mexico, USA, across multiple ecoregions.