Sawada A, Hayakawa T, Kurihara Y, Lee W, Hanya G. Seasonal responses and host uniqueness of gut microbiome of Japanese macaques in lowland Yakushima.
Anim Microbiome 2022;
4:54. [PMID:
36163043 PMCID:
PMC9513907 DOI:
10.1186/s42523-022-00205-9]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2021] [Accepted: 09/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Background
Changes in the gut microbial composition is an important response to cope with the seasonal fluctuations in the environment such as food availability. We examined the bacterial gut microbiome of the wild nonhuman primate, Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) in Yakushima over 13 months by noninvasive continuous sampling from three identified adult females.
Results
Dietary composition varied considerably over the study period and displayed marked shifts with the seasons. Feeding of leaves, fruits, and invertebrates were their main foods for at least one month. Diet had a significant influence on the gut microbiome. We also confirmed significant effect of host uniqueness in the gut microbiome among the three macaques. Leaf-dominated diet shaped unique gut microbiome structures where the macaques had the highest alpha diversity and their gut microbiome was enriched with Spirochaetes and Tenericutes. Diet-related differences in the putative function were detected, such as a differentially abundant urea cycle during the leaf-feeding season.
Conclusion
Both diet and host individuality exerted similar amounts of effect on gut microbe community composition. Major bacterial taxa showed a similar response to monthly fluctuations of fruit and invertebrate feeding, which was largely opposite to that of leaf feeding. The main constituents of fruits and invertebrates are both digestible with the enzyme of the host animals, but that of leaves is not available as an energy source without the aid of the fermentation of the gut microbiome.
Supplementary Information
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s42523-022-00205-9.
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