Probiotic interventions for understanding gut microbiome-mediated behaviour in wildlife

肠道微生物组通过微生物组-肠-脑轴（MGBA）影响动物的行为和与环境的相互作用。由于认知和行为促进了对全球环境变化的快速反应，因此迫切需要了解野生动物的MGBA是如何运作的。与传统的实验室啮齿动物系统相比，野生动物拥有更复杂的微生物群，因此，应用于野生种群的综合干预方法对于推进这一领域的知识至关重要。该项目将探讨自然微生物组的变化如何影响行为表型，并克服在非模式物种中操纵微生物组的挑战。大山雀（Parus major）是一种重要的，被广泛研究的野生鸟类模型，其肠道微生物群与宿主行为相关。尽管市面上有大量的益生菌，包括用于促进家禽生长的乳酸菌和双歧杆菌，但对于野生鸟类肠道微生物群的有效和生态有效的实验操作来说，定制的益生菌是必要的。以下目标将被优先考虑和发展：1)描述和比较从不同栖息地梯度的野生鸟类粪便中培养和测序的肠道微生物的遗传功能。2)测试来自宿主的益生菌（即来自鸟类的微生物分离物）的功效，这些益生菌在摄入后会定植，对健康有益。3)通过干预方法确定肠道微生物组在调节行为中的作用。

The gut microbiome influences how animals behave and interact with their environment through the microbiome-gut-brain-axis (MGBA). There is urgent need to understand how the MGBA operates in wild animals because cognition and behaviour facilitate rapid responses to global environmental change. Wild animals harbour more complex microbiomes compared to traditional laboratory rodent systems, therefore, integrative and intervention methods applied to wild populations are vital to advance knowledge in this field. This project will ask how natural microbiome variation affects behavioural phenotypes and overcome the challenge of manipulating the microbiome in non-model species.Great tits (Parus major) are an important, intensively studied wild avian model with highly variable gut microbiota associated with host behaviour. Despite the vast range of commercially available probiotics, including Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium spp. for growth promotion in poultry, tailor-made probiotics will be necessary for effective and ecologically valid experimental manipulations of the gut microbiome in wild birds.The following objectives will be prioritised and developed:1) Describe and compare the genetic function of gut microbes cultured and sequenced from wild bird faeces across habitat gradients.2) Test the efficacy of host-origin probiotics, i.e. microbial isolates derived from birds, that colonise when ingested and have health benefits.3) Determine the gut microbiome's role in mediating behaviour through intervention methods.