Doctoral Dissertation Research: Impacts of Anthropogenic Disturbance on Primate Microbiota

该奖项的全部或部分资金来自《2021年美国救援计划法案》(公法117-2)。微生物群是生活在包括人类在内的动物身上和体内的微生物群落，对宿主的重要身体功能做出贡献，并可能受到宿主环境干扰的负面影响。在这篇论文的研究项目中，研究人员研究了人为干扰如何改变生活在同一地区的三个灵长类物种的毛发、口腔和肠道微生物群。这项研究的比较性质促进了对寄主物种特定因素和身体区域特定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。该项目支持学生在STEM方面的培训和公共科学推广活动，并可以为生活在受威胁地区的濒危物种的灵长类保护工作提供信息。最近的研究表明，脊椎动物的微生物群受到生态条件的影响，微生物群多样性的减少与宿主的健康问题有关。然而，尽管寄主健康、环境干扰和微生物群落之间存在着令人信服的关系，但由于采样野生灵长类动物的挑战，包括整个寄主体内的微生物群落在内的灵长类比较研究仍然缺乏。该项目研究了微生物多样性与景观干扰、毛发皮质醇浓度、身体部位和寄主物种之间的关系。研究人员收集了同一地区三种野生灵长类动物的头发、口腔和肠道微生物组样本以及头发皮质醇样本。微生物样本的多样性是通过对16S rRNA细菌基因进行测序来分析的，16S rRNA细菌基因是一种在大多数细菌和古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。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.