Doctoral Dissertation Research: Impacts of Anthropogenic Disturbance on Primate Microbiota

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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.