Abstract: ObjectiveThe present study was conducted to construct intestinal microbial ERIC-PCR fingerprint of healthy rabbits and diarrheal rabbits and analyze structural difference between their intestinal microbial communities,in order to lay a foundation for optimizing rabbit feeding and disease control.Method Intestinal microbes were isolated from fecal samples which was collected from 1-8 week-old healthy rabbits and diarrheal rabbits,and their genomic DNA was extracted.Then 16S rDNA and ERIC were amplified by PCR technique.ERIC-PCR fingerprint was further constructed to analyze structure of intestinal microbial community in different week-old healthy rabbits and diarrheal rabbits.Result Intestinal microbes colonized quickly in 1 week-old rabbits,and total quantity of intestinal microbes reached the highest level,thereafter total quantity of intestinal microbes began to reduce,and became stable after 5 weeks old.And there were some significant differences in total quantity of intestinal microbes between 1 week-old rabbits and more than 5 week-old (after weaning) rabbits (P<0.05).Characteristic ERIC bands changed obviously with increase of week age,different characteristic ERIC bands were found in different week-old rabbits.Compared with age-matched healthy rabbits,number of ERIC bands in diarrheal rabbits was reduced markedly,and characteristics of ERIC bands were also markedly different,and diversity of intestinal microbial communities in healthy rabbits were lower than that in diarrheal rabbits.Conclusion With increase of week age,structure and diversity of intestinal flora in healthy rabbits change obviously.Compared with age-matched healthy rabbits,structure of intestinal microbial communities of healthy rabbit changes obviously,and diversity is also reduced,but dominant bacterial communities which do not appear in healthy rabbits are found in diarrheal rabbits.It is suggested that structure of intestinal microbial communities is significantly correlated with development and diarrhea of rabbits.