Doctoral Dissertation Research: Impacts of Anthropogenic Disturbance on Primate Microbiota

博士论文研究：人为干扰对灵长类微生物群的影响

• 批准号: 2120509
• 负责人: Jason Kamilar
• 金额: $ 1.89万
• 依托单位: University of Massachusetts Amherst
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-09-01 至 2023-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2120509&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Impacts; Anthropogenic

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.

该奖项全部或部分根据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。在本论文研究项目中，研究人员研究了人为干扰如何改变生活在同一地区的三种灵长类动物的毛发，口腔和肠道微生物组。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如何在面对外部干扰时与微生物组多样性相关的理解。该项目支持STEM和公共科学外展活动的学生培训，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，脊椎动物的微生物组受到生态条件的影响，微生物组多样性的减少与宿主的健康问题有关。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采样的挑战，缺乏包括整个宿主体内微生物群落在内的灵长类动物比较研究。该项目研究了微生物组多样性与景观干扰，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。微生物组样本的多样性是通过对16 S rRNA细菌基因进行测序来分析的，这是一种在大多数细菌和古细菌中发现的高度保守的基因，可用于识别微生物群落中存在的类群。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得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来支持。