Microbial rewilding in the gut microbiomes of captive ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) in Madagascar.

ABSTRACT: Microbial rewilding, whereby exposure to naturalistic environments can modulate or augment gut microbiomes and improve host-microbe symbiosis, is being harnessed as an innovative approach to human health, one that may also have significant value to animal care and conservation. To test for microbial rewilding in animal microbiomes, we used a unique population of wild-born ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) that were initially held as illegal pets in unnatural settings and, subsequently, relocated to a rescue center in Madagascar where they live in naturalistic environments. Using amplicon and shotgun metagenomic sequencing of lemur and environmental microbiomes, we found multiple lines of evidence for microbial rewilding in lemurs that were transitioned from unnatural to naturalistic environ

SUBMITTER: Bornbusch SL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9794702 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature