Dataset Information

Continuous and prolonged breastfeeding in wild Bornean orangutans verified with fecal proteomics

ABSTRACT: Orangutans have a slow life history with one of the longest interbirth intervals and the lowest reported infant mortality rates among primates or even mammals. Breastfeeding is a key factor in their life history because it possibly promotes offspring health and increases maternal interbirth intervals. However, quantifying milk intake is difficult, and existing estimates for their weaning age are contradictory. In this study, we use fecal proteomics to predict the breastfeeding and weaning patterns in wild Bornean orangutans in Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia. Age changes in milk-specific proteins identified from 20 feces of five immature individuals revealed that the orangutans in Danum Valley consistently consumed milk for ≥6.5 years after birth, consistent with the behavioral evidence as having one of the longest breastfeeding periods in mammals. Milk intake was significantly correlated with higher levels of biological defense and probiotic bacterial proteins. Mothers were not pregnant with their next offspring during the breastfeeding period. These results indicate that a continuous and long breastfeeding period is a key component of the slow life history of orangutans and shows that fecal proteomics can be applied to a wide range of wild animal populations, with the potentials to uncover novel aspects of behavior and physiology.

INSTRUMENT(S):

ORGANISM(S): Pongo Pygmaeus Morio

TISSUE(S): Feces

SUBMITTER: Takumi Tsutaya

LAB HEAD: Takumi Tsutaya

PROVIDER: PXD060699 | Pride | 2026-03-19

REPOSITORIES: Pride

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			Action	DRS
	10_DD2018_13_20240403.raw	Raw
	11_Balnk2_20240403.raw	Raw
	12_DD2016_45_20240403.raw	Raw
	13_DD2016_28_20240403.raw	Raw
	14_DD2016_37_20240403.raw	Raw

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Project description:Maintenance of intestinal homeostasis requires a healthy relationship between the commensal gut microbiota and the host immune system. Breast milk supplies the first source of antigen-specific immune protection in the gastrointestinal tract of suckling mammals, in the form of secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA). SIgA is transported across glandular and mucosal epithelial cells into external secretions by the polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (pIgR). Here, a breeding scheme with pIgR-sufficient and -deficient mice was used to study the effects of breast milk-derived SIgA on development of the gut microbiota and host intestinal immunity. Early exposure to maternal SIgA prevented the translocation of aerobic bacteria from the neonatal gut into draining lymph nodes, including the opportunistic pathogen Ochrobactrum anthropi. By the age of weaning, mice that received maternal SIgA in breast milk had a significantly different gut microbiota from mice that did not receive SIgA, and these differences were magnified when the mice reached adulthood. Early exposure to SIgA in breast milk resulted in a pattern of intestinal epithelial cell gene expression in adult mice that differed from that of mice that were not exposed to passive SIgA, including genes associated with intestinal inflammatory diseases in humans. Maternal SIgA was also found to ameliorate colonic damage caused by the epithelial-disrupting agent dextran sulfate sodium. These findings reveal unique mechanisms through which SIgA in breast milk may promote lifelong intestinal homeostasis, and provide additional evidence for the benefits of breastfeeding. We used microarrays to determine the effects of passive and active secretory IgA, in the presence or absence of the epithelial-disrupting agent dextran sulfate sodium, on gene expression in intestinal epithelial cells of mice A breeding scheme was used that involved crosses between mouse dams and sires that were deficient or sufficient for expression of the polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (Pigr), a protein that is required for transport of secretory IgA (SIgA) into external secretions. Offspring of these crosses were genotyped for Pigr alleles, and littermate offspring were distributed into 4 groups based on early exposure to passive SIgA in mother's milk (P-yes and P-no) and ability to carry out Pigr-mediated endogenous transport of active SIgA (A-yes and A-no). Seventy-day-old gender-matched Pigr+/- and Pigr-/- offspring of Pigr+/- and Pigr-/- dams were left untreated or given 2% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) in drinking water for 8 days. Colonic epithelial cells were isolated, and total cellular RNA was purified. RNA was pooled from 3 mice for each of 2 biological replicates for microarray analysis.

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Continuous and prolonged breastfeeding in wild Bornean orangutans verified with fecal proteomics

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