背景:圈养和人工食物供应是濒危金丝猴(Rhinopithecusroxellana)的常见保护策略。据报道,人为活动通过改变其肠道微生物群来影响R.roxellana的适应性,动物健康的重要指标。然而,不同的人为干扰(AD)R.roxellana和它们在野外的对应物之间的肠道微生物群差异程度尚未阐明。这里,我们对横跨中国的9个R.xellana种群的肠道微生物群进行了比较分析,其中包括七个圈养人口,一个野生种群,和另一个受人工食物供应的野生种群。
结果:圈养和食物供应均显着改变了肠道菌群。AD群体表现出共同的变异,例如增加的拟杆菌和减少的厚壁菌(例如,Ruminococus),放线菌(例如,Parvibacter),Verrucomicrobia(例如,Akkermansia),和Tenericutes。此外,Firmicutes/拟杆菌比率降低表明圈养个体对复杂碳水化合物降解的能力降低。微生物功能预测结果表明,AD种群显示出与维生素和氨基酸代谢相关的微生物基因增强,与抗生素生物合成相关的基因减少(例如,青霉素,头孢菌素,大环内酯类,和克拉维酸)和次生代谢产物降解(例如,萘和阿特拉津)。这些微生物改变暗示了AD和野生个体之间健康状况的潜在差异。与野生组相比,AD种群表现出不同程度的微生物变化,这意味着这些变化的程度可能是评估AD人群健康状况的指标。此外,利用被俘个人的个人信息,我们确定了R.roxellana肠道微生物群的变化与宿主年龄之间的关联,以及血统书。老年人表现出更高的微生物多样性,而更紧密的遗传相关性反映了更相似的肠道微生物群。
结论:我们的目的是评估人为活动和宿主因素如何影响R.roxellana的肠道微生物群。人为活动导致肠道微生物多样性和功能的一致变化,而宿主年龄和遗传相关性导致肠道微生物群的个体差异。这些发现可能有助于建立圈养R.roxellana种群的健康评估标准和优化繁殖条件。
BACKGROUND: Captivity and artificial food provision are common conservation strategies for the endangered golden snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana). Anthropogenic activities have been reported to impact the fitness of R. roxellana by altering their gut microbiota, a crucial indicator of animal health. Nevertheless, the degree of divergence in gut microbiota between different anthropogenically-disturbed (AD) R. roxellana and their counterparts in the wild has yet to be elucidated. Here, we conducted a comparative analysis of the gut microbiota across nine populations of R. roxellana spanning China, which included seven captive populations, one wild population, and another wild population subject to artificial food provision.
RESULTS: Both captivity and food provision significantly altered the gut microbiota. AD populations exhibited common variations, such as increased Bacteroidetes and decreased Firmicutes (e.g., Ruminococcus), Actinobacteria (e.g., Parvibacter), Verrucomicrobia (e.g., Akkermansia), and Tenericutes. Additionally, a reduced Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratiosuggested diminished capacity for complex carbohydrate degradation in captive individuals. The results of microbial functional prediction suggested that AD populations displayed heightened microbial genes linked to vitamin and amino acid metabolism, alongside decreased genes associated antibiotics biosynthesis (e.g., penicillin, cephalosporin, macrolides, and clavulanic acid) and secondary metabolite degradation (e.g., naphthalene and atrazine). These microbial alterations implied potential disparities in the health status between AD and wild individuals. AD populations exhibited varying degrees of microbial changes compared to the wild group, implying that the extent of these variations might serve as a metric for assessing the health status of AD populations. Furthermore, utilizing the individual information of captive individuals, we identified associations between variations in the gut microbiota of R. roxellana and host age, as well as pedigree. Older individuals exhibited higher microbial diversity, while a closer genetic relatedness reflected a more similar gut microbiota.
CONCLUSIONS: Our aim was to assess how anthropogenic activities and host factors influence the gut microbiota of R. roxellana. Anthropogenic activities led to consistent changes in gut microbial diversity and function, while host age and genetic relatedness contributed to interindividual variations in the gut microbiota. These findings may contribute to the establishment of health assessment standards and the optimization of breeding conditions for captive R. roxellana populations.