Convergence of human and Old World monkey gut microbiomes demonstrates the importance of human ecology over phylogeny.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Comparative data from non-human primates provide insight into the processes that shaped the evolution of the human gut microbiome and highlight microbiome traits that differentiate humans from other primates. Here, in an effort to improve our understanding of the human microbiome, we compare gut microbiome composition and functional potential in 14 populations of humans from ten nations and 18 species of wild, non-human primates.

Results

Contrary to expectations from host phylogenetics, we find that human gut microbiome composition and functional potential are more similar to those of cercopithecines, a subfamily of Old World monkey, particularly baboons, than to those of African apes. Additionally, our data reveal more inter-individual variation in gut microbiome

SUBMITTER: Amato KR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6781418 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature