Doctoral Dissertation Research: Impacts of Anthropogenic Disturbance on Primate Microbiota

该奖项全部或部分由《2021年美国救援计划法案》（公法117-2）资助。微生物组，即生活在包括人类在内的动物身上和体内的微生物群落，有助于重要的宿主身体功能，并可能受到宿主环境干扰的负面影响。在本论文的研究项目中，研究者研究了人类干扰如何改变生活在同一地区的三种灵长类动物的毛发、口腔和肠道微生物群。这项研究的比较性质促进了对宿主物种特异性因素和身体区域特异性因素在面对外部干扰时如何与微生物组多样性相关的理解。该项目支持学生在STEM和公共科学推广活动方面的培训，并可以为生活在受威胁地区的濒危物种的灵长类动物保护工作提供信息。最近的研究表明，脊椎动物微生物组受到生态条件的改变，微生物组多样性的减少与宿主健康问题有关。然而，尽管宿主健康、环境干扰和微生物组之间存在令人信服的关系，但由于野生灵长类动物取样的挑战，缺乏包括整个宿主微生物群落在内的灵长类动物比较研究。本项目研究了微生物群落多样性与景观干扰、毛发皮质醇浓度、身体区域和宿主物种之间的关系。研究人员收集了同一地区三种野生灵长类动物的毛发、口腔和肠道微生物组样本以及毛发皮质醇样本。细菌基因16S rRNA是一种在大多数细菌和古细菌中发现的高度保守的基因，可用于鉴定微生物群落中存在的分类群，通过测序分析微生物组样本的多样性。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). The microbiome, communities of microbes that live on and within animals including humans, contributes to important host bodily functions and can be negatively impacted by disturbances in a host’s environment. In this dissertation research project, the investigator examines how anthropogenic disturbance alters the hair, oral, and gut microbiomes of three primate species living in the same region. The comparative nature of this research advances understanding about how host species-specific factors and body region-specific factors relate to microbiome diversity in the face of external disturbances. The project supports student training in STEM and public science outreach activities, and can inform primate conservation efforts for endangered species living in threatened areas. Recent studies have shown that the vertebrate microbiome is modified by ecological conditions, and that reduced microbiome diversity is associated with host health issues. However, despite the compelling relationships between host health, environmental disturbance, and the microbiome, comparative primate studies including microbial communities throughout the host body are lacking due to the challenges of sampling wild primates. This project examines the relationship between microbiome diversity and landscape disturbance, hair cortisol concentration, body region, and host species. The researcher collects hair, oral, and gut microbiome samples as well as hair cortisol samples from three wild primate species in the same region. Diversity of microbiome samples is analyzed by sequencing the 16S rRNA bacterial gene, a highly conserved gene found in most bacteria and archaea that can be used to identify the taxa present within the microbial communities.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.