Group Living and Male Dispersal Predict the Core Gut Microbiome in Wild Baboons.

ABSTRACT: The mammalian gut microbiome plays a profound role in the physiology, metabolism, and overall health of its host. However, biologists have only a nascent understanding of the forces that drive inter-individual heterogeneity in gut microbial composition, especially the role of host social environment. Here we used 178 samples from 78 wild yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus) living in two social groups to test how host social context, including group living, social interactions within groups, and transfer between social groups (e.g., dispersal) predict inter-individual variation in gut microbial alpha and beta diversity. We also tested whether social effects differed for prevalent "core" gut microbial taxa, which are thought to provide primary functions to hosts, versus rare "non-core" micro

SUBMITTER: Grieneisen LE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5886331 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature