Metabolomic data suggest regulation of black howler monkey (Alouatta pigra) diet composition at the molecular level.

ABSTRACT: In addition to macronutrients, foods consist of a complex set of chemical compounds that can influence dietary selectivity and consumer physiology. Metabolomics allow us to describe this complexity by quantifying all small molecules, or metabolites, in a food item. In this study we use GC-MS based metabolomics to describe the metabolite profiles of foods consumed by one population of Mexican black howler monkeys (Alouatta pigra) over a 10-month period. Our data indicate that each food exhibited a distinct metabolite profile, and the average weekly intake of metabolites such as neochlorogenic acid and serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) was correlated with the consumption of certain plant parts. We speculate that these patterns result in temporal changes in howler monkey physiology such as food

SUBMITTER: Amato KR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10373101 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature