Journal
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY
Volume 80, Issue 8, Pages -Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/ajp.22896
Keywords
energetics; gut microbiome; reproduction; white-faced capuchins
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Funding
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
- Graduate Research Fellowship Program, National Science Foundation
- Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Northwestern University
- Center for Latin American Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Research, American Philosophical Society
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Changes in reproductive status influence energy and nutrient requirements in female primates. The gut microbiota may buffer changes in energy demands, with shifts in community composition increasing the energy production potential of the gut during pregnancy and lactation. In this study, we examine changes in the gut microbiome of wild, female white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus) across different reproductive states. Fecal samples (n=39) were collected from five adult females over the course of a year. Gut microbial community composition was assessed using 16S rRNA gene sequences, and PICRUSt was used to make metagenomic functional predictions. We found a significant relationship between reproductive state and both the structure and predicted function of the gut microbiome, neither of which were associated with host diet. For example, the relative abundance of Firmicutes was significantly lower in lactating females compared with cycling females; the relative abundance of Actinobacteria was significantly higher in pregnant females compared with lactating females, and there was a trend toward higher relative abundances of Proteobacteria in pregnant females compared with cycling females. The results of this study suggest that, in addition to behavioral and dietary adaptions, the gut microbiota may play a role in allowing female primates to meet their changing energetic needs during reproduction. Further studies of the microbial reproductive ecology of primates will help advance our understanding of gut microbial contributions to primate energetics.
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