PAST PROJECT

The Gastrointestinal Microbiota Composition and Function of Free Range Wild Western Lowland Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) Mirrors Macro-Ecological Patterns

The gastro-intestinal microbiota of non-human primates plays indispensable roles in energy harvesting mechanisms and health. Thus, determining the factors that impact these micro-ecosystems may be considered essential to understanding primate biology and fitness. Here, we show that distal the microbiota composition of 3 groups of wild western lowland gorillas exhibits group-specific patterns that are impacted by diet and likely, the degree of contact with humans.

16S rRNA 454-pyrosequencing from fecal samples indicated greater abundance of members of the Clostridiales and Bacteroidales in samples from gorillas showing less frugivory. Furthermore, gorillas exposed to persistent human contact displayed unique microbiota compositions, generally characterized by an increased abundance of Gammaproteobacteria and other taxa usually associated with compromised gut health.

Microbiota functional data, in terms of short-chain fatty acid profiles, abundance of hydrogen-consuming microbes, and metagenome prediction analyses, further support the impact of foraging and anthropogenic interactions on the gut microbiota of wild western lowland gorillas. Our results emphasize the effect of overall host ecology in shaping the gut microbiota of wild primates, in the context of conservation and evolution.

Publications

Frontiers in microbiology. 2018-06-15; 9.1202.
Relationships Between Gastrointestinal Parasite Infections and the Fecal Microbiome in Free-Ranging Western Lowland Gorillas
Vlčková K, Pafčo B, Petrželková KJ, Modrý D, Todd A, Yeoman CJ, Torralba M, Wilson BA, Stumpf RM, White BA, Nelson KE, Leigh SR, Gomez A
PMID: 29963018
Microbiology (Reading, England). 2018-01-01; 164.1: 40-44.
Impact of stress on the gut microbiome of free-ranging western lowland gorillas
Vlčková K, Shutt-Phillips K, Heistermann M, Pafčo B, Petrželková KJ, Todd A, Modrý D, Nelson KE, Wilson BA, Stumpf RM, White BA, Leigh SR, Gomez A
PMID: 29205130
Microbial ecology. 2016-11-01; 72.4: 943-954.
Effect of Antibiotic Treatment on the Gastrointestinal Microbiome of Free-Ranging Western Lowland Gorillas (Gorilla g. gorilla)
Vlčková K, Gomez A, Petrželková KJ, Whittier CA, Todd AF, Yeoman CJ, Nelson KE, Wilson BA, Stumpf RM, Modrý D, White BA, Leigh SR
PMID: 26984253
The ISME journal. 2016-02-01; 10.2: 514-26.
Temporal variation selects for diet-microbe co-metabolic traits in the gut of Gorilla spp
Gomez A, Rothman JM, Petrzelkova K, Yeoman CJ, Vlckova K, Umaña JD, Carr M, Modry D, Todd A, Torralba M, Nelson KE, Stumpf RM, Wilson BA, Blekhman R, White BA, Leigh SR
PMID: 26315972
Molecular ecology. 2015-05-01; 24.10: 2551-65.
Gut microbiome composition and metabolomic profiles of wild western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) reflect host ecology
Gomez A, Petrzelkova K, Yeoman CJ, Vlckova K, Mrázek J, Koppova I, Carbonero F, Ulanov A, Modry D, Todd A, Torralba M, Nelson KE, Gaskins HR, Wilson B, Stumpf RM, White BA, Leigh SR
PMID: 25846719

Funding

This project was funded through National Science Foundation (NSF) grant #0935347.

Collaborator

Bryan White
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign

Related Research