https://phys.org/news/2018-07-chernobyl-exposure-gut-bacteria-wild.html

Anton Lavrinienko and co-workers collected droppings from small rodents (the bank vole Myodes glareolus) living in areas surrounding the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant and from areas unaffected by radioactive fallout. Next, they obtained millions of sequences of DNA to identify and count the types of bacteria that were living within the guts of these bank voles. Bank vole guts contain hundreds of different species of bacteria. However, the abundance of two general categories of gut bacteria (the Firmicutes and the Bacteroidetes phyla) is altered in voles exposed to radioactive material, with fewer Bacteroidetes and more Firmicutes in animals caught from the contaminated places.

This research raises several questions. For example, are the changes in the types of gut bacteria a consequence of radiation exposure or because areas affected by radioactive material have different environments? Could the increase in Firmicutes improve the health of bank voles living in a radioactive environment, or is the altered microbiome an indicator of poor wildlife health? More research is required to know whether the wildlife affected by Chernobyl fallout could benefit from probiotic supplements.