Marked variation between winter and spring gut microbiota in free-ranging Tibetan Macaques (Macaca thibetana)

Abstract Comparisons of mammalian gut microbiota across different environmental conditions shed light on the diversity and composition of gut bacteriome and suggest consequences for human and animal health. Gut bacteriome comparisons across different environments diverge in their results, showing no generalizable patterns linking habitat and dietary degradation with bacterial diversity. The challenge in drawing general conclusions from such studies lies in the broad terms describing diverse habitats (“wild”, “captive”, “pristine”). We conducted 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing to characterize intestinal microbiota of free-ranging sympatric chimpanzees and gorillas in southeastern Cameroon and sympatric chimpanzees and gorillas in a European zoo. We conducted participant-observation and semi-structured interviews among people living near these great apes to understand better their feeding habits and habitats. Unexpectedly, bacterial diversity (ASV, Faith PD and Shannon) was higher among zoo gorillas than among those in the Cameroonian forest, but zoo and Cameroonian chimpanzees showed no difference. Phylogeny was a strong driver of species-specific microbial composition. Surprisingly, zoo gorilla microbiota more closely resembled that of zoo chimpanzees than of Cameroonian gorillas. Zoo living conditions and dietary similarities may explain these results. We encourage multidisciplinary approach integrating environmental sampling and anthropological evaluation to characterize better diverse environmental conditions of such investigations.

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Diet contributes to urban-induced alterations in gut microbiota: experimental evidence from a wild passerine

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2019.2182 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 287 (1920) ◽

pp. 20192182 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Aimeric Teyssier ◽

Erik Matthysen ◽

Noraine Salleh Hudin ◽

Liesbeth de Neve ◽

Joël White ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gut Microbiota ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Natural Populations ◽

Taxonomic Composition ◽

House Sparrows ◽

Urbanization Gradient ◽

Β Diversity ◽

Fitness Consequences ◽

Urban Rural ◽

Free Ranging

Urban sprawl increasingly affects the ecology of natural populations, including host–microbiota interactions, with observed differences in the gut microbiota between urban and rural hosts. While different mechanisms could explain this pattern, dietary uptake constitutes a likely candidate. To assess the contribution of diet in explaining urban–rural variation in gut microbiota, we performed an aviary experiment in which urban and rural house sparrows were fed with mimics of urban or rural diets. Before the experiment, rural sparrows hosted more diverse gut communities, with a higher relative abundance of Enterococcaceae and Staphylococcaceae and lower abundance of genes involved in xenobiotic degradation and lipid metabolism than their urban counterparts. The experimental diets significantly altered gut microbiota α- and β-diversity and taxonomic composition, with the strongest shifts occurring in individuals exposed to contrasting diets. Overall, diet-induced shifts resembled initial differences between free-ranging urban and rural hosts. Furthermore, rural diet had a positive impact on urban host body mass but only in hosts with the highest initial gut diversity. Overall, our results indicate that diet constitutes an important factor contributing to differences in gut microbiota along the urbanization gradient and provide new insights on possible fitness consequences of a reduced gut diversity in urban settings.

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Seasonal analysis of the gut microbiota in adult and young captive Asian black bears in northeast China

Animal Biology ◽

10.1163/15707563-20191054 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 70 (1) ◽

pp. 109-119 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Junhong Su ◽

Linghao Li ◽

Yueying Wang ◽

Xiao-xia Ma ◽

Zhongren Ma ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gut Microbiota ◽

Seasonal Changes ◽

Northeast China ◽

Hypervariable Region ◽

Fecal Microbiota ◽

Black Bears ◽

Sequencing Platform ◽

Alpha And Beta Diversity ◽

Seasonal Analysis ◽

Free Ranging

Abstract Seasonal alternation impacts the composition of gut microbiota in wild and free-ranging bears, but little is known concerning captive bears. In this study, we investigated the effects of seasonal changes on gut microbiota in captive Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus). Fecal samples of thirteen adult and young were collected at a bile farm in Northeast China between September 2017 and January 2018. The fecal microbiota community was analyzed by sequencing the bacterial 16S V4 hypervariable region using a next-generation sequencing platform. We found that Firmicutes was the predominant phylum in the feces of captive Asiatic black bears. Microbial alpha and beta diversity in both adult and young captive Asiatic black bears was significantly different between the two time points. At the genus level, the relative abundance of Sarcina was increased in all of the captive Asiatic black bears in January, while Streptococcus was decreased in young but not adults. Overall, the composition of gut microbiota was influenced by seasonal changes, but the effect was more pronounced in young captive Asiatic black bears. These findings may help to better understand the roles of captivity and hibernation on shaping the gut microbiota in bears.

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Fecal Bacterial Microbiota of Healthy Free-Ranging, Healthy Corralled, and Chronic Diarrheic Corralled Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta)

Comparative Medicine ◽

10.30802/aalas-cm-20-000080 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 71 (2) ◽

pp. 152-165

Author(s):

Nicole R Compo ◽

Luis Mieles-Rodriguez ◽

Diego E Gomez

Keyword(s):

Gut Microbiota ◽

Rhesus Macaques ◽

Current Data ◽

Rrna Gene ◽

Primate Research ◽

Gastrointestinal Microbiota ◽

Healthy Humans ◽

Bacterial Microbiota ◽

Health And Development ◽

Free Ranging

A clinical challenge to nearly every primate facility in North America is chronic idiopathic diarrhea (CID), the pathogenesis of which has yet to be fully elucidated. However, wild macaques appear resistant to CID, a trend that we observed in the free-ranging population of the Caribbean Primate Research Center. The gastrointestinal microbiota has been shown to have a significant role in the pathogenesis of disease and in maintaining normal health and development of the gut. In humans, chronic diarrhea is associated with alteration of the gut microbiota, which has lower bacterial diversity than does the microbiota of healthy humans. The current study was designed to describe and compare the fecal bacterial microbiota of healthy corralled, CID corralled, and healthy, free-ranging macaques. Fresh fecal samples were collected from healthy corralled (HC; n = 30) and CID (n = 27) rhesus macaques and from healthy macaques from our free-ranging colony (HF; n = 43). We excluded macaques that had received antibiotics during the preceding 60 d (90 d for healthy animals). Bacterial DNA was extracted, and the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene was sequenced and compared with known databases. The relative abundance of Proteobacteria was higher in CID animals than HC animals, but otherwise few differences were found between these 2 groups. HF macaques were differentially enriched with Christensenellaceae and Helicobacter, which are highly associated with a 'healthy' gut in humans, as compared to corralled animals, whereas CID animals were enriched with Proteobacteria, which are associated with dysbiosis in other species. These results indicate that environment has a greater influence than health status on the gut microbiota. Furthermore, the current data provided targets for future studies on potential clinical interventions, such as probiotics and fecal transplants.

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Season, age, and sex affect the fecal mycobiota of free-ranging Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana)

American Journal of Primatology ◽

10.1002/ajp.22880 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 80 (7) ◽

pp. e22880 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Binghua Sun ◽

Zhiyuan Gu ◽

Xi Wang ◽

Michael A. Huffman ◽

Paul A. Garber ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Macaca Thibetana ◽

Free Ranging ◽

Age And Sex

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Seasonal dynamics of gut microbiota in a cohort of wild Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana) in western China

Global Ecology and Conservation ◽

10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01409 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 25 ◽

pp. e01409

Author(s):

Tianrui Xia ◽

Yongfang Yao ◽

Cong Wang ◽

Mengmeng Dong ◽

Yuhan Wu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gut Microbiota ◽

Seasonal Dynamics ◽

Western China ◽

Macaca Thibetana

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A Microbial Tale of Farming, Invasion and Conservation: On the Gut Bacteria of European and American Mink in Western Europe

10.21203/rs.3.rs-912230/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Pauline ML Van Leeuwen ◽

Albrecht I Schulte-Hostedde ◽

Christine Fournier-Chambrillon ◽

Pascal Fournier ◽

Lise-Marie Pigneur ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gut Microbiota ◽

Native Species ◽

Captive Breeding ◽

Prey Availability ◽

American Mink ◽

Natural Habitat ◽

Bacterial Composition ◽

European Mink ◽

Free Ranging ◽

The Impact

Abstract One of the threats that the critically endangered European mink (Mustela lutreola) faces throughout its relict range, including the occidental population, is the impact of the American mink (Mustela vison) invasion in its natural habitat. We aimed to explore the differences in microbiota and genetic diversity between European and American mink to test phylosymbiosis theory. We investigated the gut microbiota composition of European and American mink in a controlled environment (captive breeding compounds and fur farms respectively) to account for the impact of the environment on gut bacterial composition. We compared them to the gut microbiota of both mink species in the natural environment across multiple habitats. Our exploratory results showed differences between free-ranging and captive individuals, with more extreme changes in American mink compared to European mink. However, feral American mink from a long-established population exhibited gut bacterial composition closer to the free-ranging native species compared to more recently established feral populations. This result could be explained by dietary shifts in the area sampled based on prey availability through different landscape, but also to a lesser extent due to greater genetic differentiation. This exploratory work contributes to the scarce literature currently available on the dynamics between gut microbiota and mammal invasion.

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Alterations in gut microbiota linked to provenance, sex, and chronic wasting disease in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

10.1101/2021.01.11.426270 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

David Minich ◽

Christopher Madden ◽

Morgan V. Evans ◽

Gregory A. Ballash ◽

Daniel J. Barr ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gut Microbiota ◽

Odocoileus Virginianus ◽

Chronic Wasting Disease ◽

16S Rrna Gene Sequencing ◽

The Body ◽

Rrna Gene ◽

Wasting Disease ◽

Indirect Contact ◽

Rrna Gene Sequencing ◽

Free Ranging

AbstractChronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal, contagious, neurodegenerative prion disease affecting both free-ranging and captive cervid species. CWD is spread via direct or indirect contact or oral ingestion of prions. In the gastrointestinal tract, prions enter the body through microfold cells (M-cells), and the abundance of these cells can be influenced by the gut microbiota. To explore potential links between the gut microbiota and CWD, we collected fecal samples from farmed and free-ranging white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) around the Midwest. Farmed deer orignated from farms that were depopulated due to CWD. Free-ranging deer were sampled during annual deer harvests. All farmed deer were tested for CWD via ELISA and IHC, and we used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to characterize the gut microbiota. We report significant differences in gut microbiota by provenance (Farm 1, Farm 2, Free-ranging), sex, and CWD status. CWD-positive deer from Farm 1 and 2 had increased abundances of Akkermansia, Lachnospireacea UCG-010, and RF39 taxa. Overall, differences by provenance and sex appear to be driven by diet, while differences by CWD status may be linked to CWD pathogenesis.

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