Journal
MOLECULAR ECOLOGY
Volume 24, Issue 10, Pages 2551-2565Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/mec.13181
Keywords
anthropogenic interactions; foraging ecology; metabolomics; microbiome; western lowland gorillas
Funding
- Grant Agency of the Czech Republic [206/09/0927]
- internal Grant Agency of VFU Brno [47/2013/FVL]
- European Social Fund
- state budget of the Czech Republic
- NSF [0935347]
- Direct For Social, Behav & Economic Scie
- Division Of Behavioral and Cognitive Sci [0935347, GRANTS:14001239] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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The metabolic activities of gut microbes significantly influence host physiology; thus, characterizing the forces that modulate this micro-ecosystem is key to understanding mammalian biology and fitness. To investigate the gut microbiome of wild primates and determine how these microbial communities respond to the host's external environment, we characterized faecal bacterial communities and, for the first time, gut metabolomes of four wild lowland gorilla groups in the Dzanga-Sangha Protected Areas, Central African Republic. Results show that geographical range may be an important modulator of the gut microbiomes and metabolomes of these gorilla groups. Distinctions seemed to relate to feeding behaviour, implying energy harvest through increased fruit consumption or fermentation of highly fibrous foods. These observations were supported by differential abundance of metabolites and bacterial taxa associated with the metabolism of cellulose, phenolics, organic acids, simple sugars, lipids and sterols between gorillas occupying different geographical ranges. Additionally, the gut microbiomes of a gorilla group under increased anthropogenic pressure could always be distinguished from that of all other groups. By characterizing the interplay between environment, behaviour, diet and symbiotic gut microbes, we present an alternative perspective on primate ecology and on the forces that shape the gut microbiomes of wild primates from an evolutionary context.
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