Interactions between social groups of colobus monkeys (Colobus vellerosus) explain similarities in their gut microbiomes

Wikberg, Eva C.; Christie, Diana; Sicotte, Pascale; Ting, Nelson

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.02.011

Cited by 38 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 91 publications

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“…This result is consistent with social microbiome theory (Grieneisen et al, 2017;Sarkar et al, 2020) and gray wolf social ecology (Mech & Boitani, 2003;Stahler et al, 2020), as pack members cooperatively share territory, prey, social contacts, and microbes. Similar patterns have been observed in cohabitating humans (Dill-McFarland et al, 2019;Song et al, 2013) and nonhuman mammals (Goodfellow et al, 2019;Leclaire et al, 2014;Wikberg et al, 2020) with varying degrees of relatedness.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Social environment and genetics underlie body site‐specific microbiomes of Yellowstone National Park gray wolves (Canis lupus)

DeCandia

Cassidy

Stahler

et al. 2021

Ecology and Evolution

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Social environment and genetics underlie body site‐specific microbiomes of Yellowstone National Park gray wolves (Canis lupus)

DeCandia

Cassidy

Stahler

et al. 2021

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Recent studies have shown that the social environment can strongly affect gut microbiota composition in group-living species, such as primates living in large groups [ 26 , 29 ] or smaller family units [ 27 , 28 , 30 ]. Here, we provide the first evidence for similar effects in a non-group-living species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In highly social group-living mammals, the host social environment seems to have important effects on the gut microbiota. Social group membership has been shown to predict gut microbiota composition in several species of primates [26][27][28][29][30][31] and other group-living mammals [32][33][34]. Social group effects also occur in humans, as unrelated individuals living in the same household were found to have a more similar microbiota than relatives living in different households [35].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some evidence also suggests social interactions affect microbiota similarity at a dyadic level, within groups or populations. Several primate studies have shown the intensity of social interaction between group members to predict similarity in their microbiota [26][27][28]30]. Baboons that groomed each other more were found to share more gut microbes, and these shared bacteria were enriched in anaerobic and non-spore-forming taxa [26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Social networks strongly predict the gut microbiota of wild mice

et al. 2021

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The mammalian gut teems with microbes, yet how hosts acquire these symbionts remains poorly understood. Research in primates suggests that microbes can be picked up via social contact, but the role of social interactions in non-group-living species remains underexplored. Here, we use a passive tracking system to collect high resolution spatiotemporal activity data from wild mice (Apodemus sylvaticus). Social network analysis revealed social association strength to be the strongest predictor of microbiota similarity among individuals, controlling for factors including spatial proximity and kinship, which had far smaller or nonsignificant effects. This social effect was limited to interactions involving males (male-male and male-female), implicating sex-dependent behaviours as driving processes. Social network position also predicted microbiota richness, with well-connected individuals having the most diverse microbiotas. Overall, these findings suggest social contact provides a key transmission pathway for gut symbionts even in relatively asocial mammals, that strongly shapes the adult gut microbiota. This work underlines the potential for individuals to pick up beneficial symbionts as well as pathogens from social interactions.

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“…The emergence of high-throughput sequencing technologies, in combination with the development of effective, non-invasive sampling techniques, has resulted in a recent proliferation of studies investigating the GM of wild animals. Several studies have demonstrated interspecific differences in GM characteristics [17][18][19], and also variation between groups [20][21][22] or individuals [23][24][25] within the same natural population. Most of these studies have focussed on investigating the drivers of intraspecific variation in the bacterial component of the GM, identifying a suite of environmental factors that can influence this, including habitat quality and dietary differences [24][25][26], as well as host-related traits, such as age, sex, and host genotype [23,27,28].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gut microbiome composition, not alpha diversity, is associated with survival in a natural vertebrate population

Worsley

Davies

Mannarelli

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Background: The vertebrate gut microbiome (GM) can vary substantially across individuals within the same natural population. Although there is evidence linking the GM to health in captive animals, very little is known about the consequences of GM variation for host fitness in the wild. Here, we explore the relationship between faecal microbiome diversity, body condition and survival using data from the long-term study of a discrete natural population of the Seychelles warbler ( Acrocephalus sechellensis ) on Cousin Island. To our knowledge, this is the first time that GM differences associated with survival have been fully characterised for a natural vertebrate species, across multiple age groups and breeding seasons. Results: We identified substantial variation in GM community structure among sampled individuals, which was partially explained by breeding season (7% of the variance), and host age class (up to 1% of the variance). We also identified significant differences in GM community membership between individuals that survived, versus those that had died by the following breeding season. Individuals that died carried reduced abundances of beneficial taxa in the bacterial order Clostridiales , but increased abundances of taxa that are known to be opportunistic pathogens (e.g. members of the Chloroflexi and Propionibacteriales ). However, there was no association between GM alpha diversity (the diversity of bacterial taxa within a sample) and survival to the next breeding season, or with individual body condition. Additionally, we found no association between GM community membership and individual body condition. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that components of the vertebrate GM can be associated with host fitness in the wild, although whether changes in bacterial abundance contribute to, or are only correlated with, the differential survival observed remains unclear. Importantly, it suggests that components of the GM may be under selection, and, thus, could have the potential to influence the evolution of host species living in natural populations.

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Interactions between social groups of colobus monkeys (Colobus vellerosus) explain similarities in their gut microbiomes

Abstract: Interactions between social groups of colobus monkeys (Colobus vellerosus) explain similarities in their gut microbiomes

Cited by 38 publications

References 91 publications

Social environment and genetics underlie body site‐specific microbiomes of Yellowstone National Park gray wolves (Canis lupus)

Social environment and genetics underlie body site‐specific microbiomes of Yellowstone National Park gray wolves (Canis lupus)

Social networks strongly predict the gut microbiota of wild mice

Gut microbiome composition, not alpha diversity, is associated with survival in a natural vertebrate population

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