Abstract
Research on the gut microbiome may help with increasing our understanding of primate health with species’ ecology, evolution, and behavior. In particular, microbiome-related information has the potential to clarify ecology issues, providing knowledge in support of wild primates conservation and their associated habitats. Indri (Indri indri) is the largest extant living lemur of Madagascar. This species is classified as “critically endangered” by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, representing one of the world’s 25 most endangered primates. Indris diet is mainly folivorous, but these primates frequently and voluntarily engage in geophagy. Indris have never been successfully bred under human care, suggesting that some behavioral and/or ecological factors are still not considered from the ex situ conservation protocols. Here, we explored gut microbiome composition of 18 indris belonging to 5 different family groups. The most represented phyla were Proteobacteria 40.1 ± 9.5%, Bacteroidetes 28.7 ± 2.8%, Synergistetes 16.7 ± 4.5%, and Firmicutes 11.1 ± 1.9%. Further, our results revealed that bacterial alpha and beta diversity were influenced by indri family group and sex. In addition, we investigated the chemical composition of geophagic soil to explore the possible ecological value of soil as a nutrient supply. The quite acidic pH and high levels of secondary oxide-hydroxides of the soils could play a role in the folivorous diet’s gut detoxification activity. In addition, the high contents of iron and manganese found the soils could act as micronutrients in the indris’ diet. Nevertheless, the concentration of a few elements (i.e., calcium, sulfur, boron, nickel, sodium, and chromium) was higher in non-geophagic than in geophagic soils. In conclusion, the data presented herein provide a baseline for outlining some possible drivers responsible for the gut microbiome diversity in indris, thus laying the foundations for developing further strategies involved in indris’ conservation.
Highlights
Studies on human and animal microbiome have provided compelling evidence that gut microbial diversity is fundamental in shaping metabolic and regulatory networks involved in the maintenance of host healthy status, as well as in a spectrum of disease states (Shreiner et al, 2015; Sandri et al, 2020)
Geophagic and non-geophagic soil samples were characterized by an acidic pH
The relative abundance of Proteobacteria found in our study was almost five times higher than that found in other lemurs species, such as Lemur catta (Umanets et al, 2018), Eulemur rufifrons, and E. rubriventer (Bennett et al, 2016; Table 2)
Summary
Studies on human and animal microbiome have provided compelling evidence that gut microbial diversity is fundamental in shaping metabolic and regulatory networks involved in the maintenance of host healthy status, as well as in a spectrum of disease states (Shreiner et al, 2015; Sandri et al, 2020). Vertical transmission from parent to offspring is the first driver for gut microbiome development, but horizontal transmission from the environment provides a crucial microbial colonization route. Even if microbial transmission due to sociality has traditionally been viewed as a risk for pathogen exposure, it may be essential to host health. It can avoid bottleneck-induced extinctions that could occur when the transmission of microorganisms is strict from parent to offspring. It can allow the acquisition of beneficial microbes, those that might not be gained through vertical transmission (Lombardo, 2008; Amaral et al, 2017). It can allow the acquisition of beneficial microbes, those that might not be gained through vertical transmission (Lombardo, 2008; Amaral et al, 2017). Moeller et al (2013) underlined that gut microbial populations’ social inheritance might be fundamental for preserving microbial diversity over evolutionary time scales
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
