Drivers of gut microbiome variation within and between groups of a wild Malagasy primate.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Various aspects of sociality can benefit individuals' health. The host social environment and its relative contributions to the host-microbiome relationship have emerged as key topics in microbial research. Yet, understanding the mechanisms that lead to structural variation in the social microbiome, the collective microbial metacommunity of an animal's social network, remains difficult since multiple processes operate simultaneously within and among animal social networks. Here, we examined the potential drivers of the convergence of the gut microbiome on multiple scales among and within seven neighbouring groups of wild Verreaux's sifakas (Propithecus verreauxi) - a folivorous primate of Madagascar.

Results

Over four field seasons, we collected 519 faecal samples

SUBMITTER: Rudolph K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8827170 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature