First Descriptive Analysis of the Faecal Microbiota of Wild and Anthropized Barbary Macaques (Macaca sylvanus) in the Region of Bejaia, Northeast Algeria

Abstract

Previous research has revealed the gut microbiota profile of several primate species, as well as the impact of a variety of anthropogenic factors, such as tourist food supply, on these bacterial communities. However, there is no information on the gut microbiota of the endangered wild Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus). The present study is the first to characterize the faecal microbiota of this species, as well as to investigate the impact of tourist food provisioning on it. A total of 12 faecal samples were collected in two groups of M. sylvanus in the region of Bejaia in Algeria. The first group—a tourist-provisioned one—was located in the tourist area of the Gouraya National Park and the second group—a wild-feeding one—was located in the proximity of the village of Mezouara in the forest of Akfadou. After DNA extraction, the faecal microbiota composition was analysed using 16S rDNA sequencing. Statistical tests were performed to compare alpha diversity and beta diversity between the two groups. Non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis (NMDS) was applied to visualize biodiversity between groups. Behaviour monitoring was also conducted to assess the time allocated to the consumption of anthropogenic food by the tourist-provisioned group. Our results revealed the presence of 209 bacterial genera from 17 phyla in the faecal microbiota of Barbary macaques. Firmicutes was the most abundant bacterial phylum, followed by Bacteroidetes and Verrucomicrobia. On the other hand, the comparison between the faecal microbiota of the two study groups showed that tourism activity was associated with a significant change on the faecal microbiota of M.sylvanus, probably due to diet alteration (with 60% of feeding time allocated to the consumption of anthropogenic food). The potentially low-fibre diet at the tourist site adversely influenced the proliferation of bacterial genera found in abundance in the wild group such as Ruminococcaceae. Such an alteration of the faecal microbiota can have negative impacts on the health status of these animals by increasing the risk of obesity and illness and calls for special management measures to reduce the provisioning rate in tourist areas.

Bacterial Contamination of the Surgical Site at the Time of Elective Caesarean Section in Belgian Blue Cows—Part 2: Identified by 16Sr DNA Amplicon Sequencing

“…Our study could be better designed if a negative control group was considered, especially to assess the absence of bacterial DNA of the used sampling material, even though it is supposed to be sterile [ 23 , 24 ]. However, several studies have not confirmed the sterility of the used material [ 40 , 56 , 61 , 62 ] without it interfering with the interpretation of their results. Moreover, if several samples had been taken at different sites before the uterus incision [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ], such as the veterinary gloves, skin of cows, muscular wound and foetal fluids, this might have aided to the assessment of the origin of the bacteria found in the surgical site.…”