Doctoral Dissertation Research: Shared food sources and microbial transmission in primates and bats

了解影响非人灵长类动物（NHP）生物学和健康的因素对人类全球健康工作至关重要，因为NHP是人类进化的模型，在全球生态系统中发挥关键作用，并可以将疾病传播给人类。肠道中的共生微生物在免疫中起着重要作用，参与宿主防御的微生物和微生物基因都可以从环境中获得。在携带人畜共患病（可传播给人类的疾病）的宿主中定居的微生物可能会进化出针对这些病原体的防御机制，这些病原体可以传播给同一生态系统中的其他宿主。本博士论文研究项目调查了已知在人畜共患病传播中起作用的三组生物之间的肠道微生物（及其基因）的传播：蝙蝠，狒狒和水果。这项研究的结果可能对灵长类动物的健康和保护，对病原体传播和免疫的生态学和进化的科学理解，以及人类和动物的全球健康工作具有重要意义。该项目支持K-12科学推广和本科生培训以及STEM指导机会。Kinda狒狒的生态学，一个经常作为理解人类进化的模型系统的物种，为研究微生物传播提供了一个自然实验。一个习惯性的Kinda狒狒部队的家庭范围与沼泽森林重叠，其中5-10百万稻草色果蝠（Eidolon helvum）在10月下旬至12月的季节性迁徙期间栖息。在此期间，Eidolon和Kinda狒狒都以当地的沼泽无花果和水莓为食。由于Eidolon在栖息和飞行期间的空中位置，粪便，唾液和尿液会掉落到地面，从而为Kindas直接或间接通过食用受污染的水果（可能作为媒介）接触这些体液创造了机会。研究人员分析了Eidolon迁移到达之前，期间和之后Kinda狒狒和果肉微生物的肠道微生物组，并评估Eidolon在其栖息期间的肠道微生物组，以解决三个具体问题：Q1：Eidolon迁移到达KNP是否会改变Kinda狒狒肠道和果肉微生物组？问题2：Eidolon从KNP迁移离开（1月至2月初）是否会改变狒狒肠道和果肉微生物组？宿主进化关系或环境是否能更好地解释Eidolon栖息期间的Kinda狒狒肠道微生物组结构？包括每种宿主的微生物组的微生物种类以及微生物利用的微生物基因的功能都被评估。研究小组随后测试了微生物组分类和功能多样性的差异-以及微生物组结构的差异-跨时间，跨宿主物种，以及跨与Eidolon不同接近程度的Kinda狒狒部队。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Understanding the factors that influence nonhuman primate (NHP) biology and health is essential for human global health efforts because NHPs are models for human evolution, play key roles in global ecosystems, and can transmit diseases to humans. Commensal microbes in the gut play an important role in immunity, and both microbes and microbial genes involved in host defense can be acquired from the environment. Microbes that colonize hosts carrying zoonoses (diseases which can be transmitted to humans) may evolve defenses against these pathogens that can be transmitted to other hosts in the same ecosystem. This doctoral dissertation research project investigates the transmission of commensal microbes (and their genes) between three groups of organisms known to play roles in zoonotic transmission: bats, baboons, and fruits. The results of this study can have important implications for primate health and conservation, scientific understanding of the ecology and evolution of pathogen transmission and immunity, and global health efforts for humans and animals. The project supports K-12 science outreach and undergraduate training and mentoring opportunities in STEM.The ecology of Kinda baboons, a species that often serves as a model system for understanding human evolution, provides a natural experiment for examining microbial transmission. The home range of one habituated Kinda baboon troop overlaps with swamp forest within which 5-10 million straw-colored fruit bats (Eidolon helvum) roost during their seasonal migration between late October and December. During this roosting period, both Eidolon and Kinda baboons feed on local swamp figs and waterberries. Due to Eidolon’s aerial position during roosting and flight, feces, saliva, and urine are dropped to the ground creating opportunity for exposure to these bodily fluids by Kindas either directly or indirectly via the consumption of contaminated fruits (which may act as vectors). The researchers analyze the gut microbiomes of Kinda baboons and fruit flesh microbiomes before, during, and after the migratory arrival of Eidolon, and assess Eidolon gut microbiomes during their roosting period, to address three specific questions: Q1: Does the migratory arrival of Eidolon into KNP alter Kinda baboon gut and fruit flesh microbiomes? Q2: Does the migratory departure of Eidolon from KNP (January-early February) alter Kinda baboon gut and fruit flesh microbiomes? Q3: Do host evolutionary relationships or the environment better explain Kinda baboon gut microbiome structure during the Eidolon roosting period? Both the variety of microorganisms that comprise the microbiomes of each host as well as the functions of microbial genes utilized by the microbes are assessed. The research team then tests for differences in microbiome taxonomic and functional diversity––as well as differences in microbiome structure––across time, across host species, and across Kinda baboon troops with different proximity to Eidolon.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.