Doctoral Dissertation Research: Gut microbiomes in primates: Effects of environment and population history

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The 'gut microbiome' is the complex community of microorganisms that inhabits animal gastrointestinal tracts and performs functions vital to host survival. Most research on the gut microbiome has focused on human and rodent models. This doctoral dissertation project takes a broader, comparative perspective by examining gut microbiome characteristics in non-human primates, to better understand microbiome variation across species, diets, and habitats. Beyond providing new, relevant animal models for understanding human health, this multi-species research will provide fundamental knowledge about primate-microbiome relationships relative to host ecology and evolution, and will inform husbandry practices for improving the management of endangered species. The results of this study will be shared with the scientific community via publication in peer-reviewed journals, specific conservation organizations, such as the IUCN Primate Specialist Group, and the Duke Lemur Center, and with the general public via commitment to educational science outreach. The project will also provide training for undergraduate students in field and laboratory methods, bioinformatics and statistical analysis, and data dissemination. For leaf-eating primates, one critical role of the gut microbiome is to convert ingested plant fiber into essential nutrients. Indeed, upwards of 57% of daily energy demands in folivorous primates are met by microbially-synthesized compounds. Yet, our understanding of the influence of host ecology and evolution on the primate gut microbiome remains limited, as there is a paucity of available comparative data. To boost comparative power, the co-PI's dissertation research is focused on the structure and function of the gut microbiome in multiple lemur species that vary in relatedness, the proportion of foliage in their diets, the type of forest they inhabit, and their endangerment. The investigators will explore gut microbiomes in two wild populations of Coquerel's sifakas living in northwest Madagascar, and the captive population housed at the Duke Lemur Center in NC. Combining two methods of powerful genetic sequencing, that respectively determine microbial membership and metabolic function, this project address three specific aims: (1) a phylogenetic comparison across several wild primate species, (2) determination of normative gut microbiome variation across populations of a host species, and (3) investigation of the effects of captivity on sifaka gut microbiome. Ultimately, this study will improve understanding of the fragility of the folivore gut microbiome and offer insight into primate nutrition, with potential applications to primate husbandry and human healthcare.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.