Characterisation of the gut microbial community of rhesus macaques in high-altitude environments

Abstract

Background: The mammal intestinal microbiota is involved in various physiological processes and plays a key role in host environment adaption. However, for non-human primates (NHPs), little is known about their gut microbial community in high-altitude environments and even less about their adaption to such habitats. We characterised the gut microbial community of rhesus macaques from multiple high-altitude environments and compared it to those of low-altitude populations. Results: We collected faecal samples of rhesus macaques from four high-altitude populations (above 3,000 m) and three low-altitude populations (below 500 m). By calculating the alpha diversity index, we found that high-altitude populations exhibited a higher diversity. Statistical analysis of beta diversity indicated significant differences between high-and low-altitude populations. Significant differences were also detected at the phylum and family levels. At the phylum level, the high-altitude gut microbial community was dominated by Firmicutes (63.42%), while at low altitudes, it was dominated by Bacteroidetes (47.4%). At the family level, the high-altitude population was dominated by Ruminococcaceae (36.2%), while the low-altitude one was dominated by Prevotellaceae (39.6%).Some families, such as Christensenellaceae and Rikenellaceae, were consistently higher abundant in all high-altitude populations. We analysed the overlap of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in highaltitude populations and determined their core OTUs (shared by all four high-altitude populations).However, when compared with the low-altitude core OTUs, only 65% were shared, suggesting a divergence in core OTUs. Function prediction indicated a significant difference in gene copy number of 35 level-2 pathways between high-and low-altitude populations; 29 of them were higher in high altitudes, especially in membrane transport and carbohydrate metabolism. Conclusions: The gut microbial community of high-altitude rhesus macaques was significantly distinct from that of lowaltitude populations in terms of diversity, composition and function. High-altitude populations were dominated by Firmicutes and Ruminococcace, while in low-altitude populations, Bacteroidetes and Prevotellaceae were dominant. The difference in gut microbiota between these two populations may be caused by differences in host diet, environmental temperature and oxygen pressure. These differentiated gut microbial microorganisms may play a critical role in the adaptive evolution of 4 rhesus macaques to high-altitude environments. BackgroundThe gastrointestinal tract of animals is habited by a complex microbial community, known collectively as the gut or intestinal microbiota. There is increasing evidence that the gut microbial community of animals is involved in a wide range of processes in the host, including health, grow and development as well as behaviour; it can even affect the nervous system by secreting metabolites [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. These microbes can also assist in energy uptake and meta...

Hypoxia: The “Invisible Pusher” of Gut Microbiota

“…in cattle, thus helping them adapt to high altitudes (Zhang et al, 2016). Other animals, such as black-necked cranes (Grus nigricollis) (Wang et al, 2020), lizards (Phrynocephalus vlangalii) (Zhang W. et al, 2018), Chinese Rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) (Zhao et al, 2018;Wu et al, 2020b), Bufo gargarizans (Xu et al, 2020), Tibetan chickens (Zhou et al, 2016) and Tibetan pigs (Zeng et al, 2020), also have high abundances of Ruminococcus in their guts (Table 1). These data indicate the importance of Ruminococcus in plateau adaptation and hypoxiatolerant animals.…”