Nutritional Aspects of the Diet of Wild Gorillas

Rothman, Jessica M.; Pell, Alice N.; Nkurunungi, John Bosco; Dierenfeld, Ellen S.

doi:10.1007/978-0-387-33505-6_9

Cited by 13 publications

(16 citation statements)

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“…Moreover, despite convergence of microbiome traits during seasons of low availability of ripe fruit, lowland gorillas in Central Africa include more species and plant parts in their foraging and have more dietary choices compared with mountain gorillas at Bwindi, even during seasons of fruit scarcity (Rothman et al, 2006;Rogers et al, 2004). This may be supported by the fact that lowland gorillas exhibit higher microbiome diversity at genus level, which may also reflect more diverse dietary substrates.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal variation selects for diet–microbe co-metabolic traits in the gut of Gorilla spp

et al. 2015

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Although the critical role that our gastrointestinal microbes play in host physiology is now well established, we know little about the factors that influenced the evolution of primate gut microbiomes. To further understand current gut microbiome configurations and diet-microbe co-metabolic fingerprints in primates, from an evolutionary perspective, we characterized fecal bacterial communities and metabolomic profiles in 228 fecal samples of lowland and mountain gorillas (G. g. gorilla and G. b. beringei, respectively), our closest evolutionary relatives after chimpanzees. Our results demonstrate that the gut microbiomes and metabolomes of these two species exhibit significantly different patterns. This is supported by increased abundance of metabolites and bacterial taxa associated with fiber metabolism in mountain gorillas, and enrichment of markers associated with simple sugar, lipid and sterol turnover in the lowland species. However, longitudinal sampling shows that both species' microbiomes and metabolomes converge when hosts face similar dietary constraints, associated with low fruit availability in their habitats. By showing differences and convergence of diet-microbe co-metabolic fingerprints in two geographically isolated primate species, under specific dietary stimuli, we suggest that dietary constraints triggered during their adaptive radiation were potential factors behind the species-specific microbiome patterns observed in primates today.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal variation selects for diet–microbe co-metabolic traits in the gut of Gorilla spp

et al. 2015

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“…For example, field studies indicate that the western gorilla diet comprises as many as 230 plant parts from 180 plant species (Rothman et al 2006). While consuming extremely diverse and large quantities of terrestrial vegetation throughout the year, western gorillas will also regularly eat fruit when it is available (Rogers et al 2004;Doran-Sheehy et al 2009).…”

Section: Open Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inference of Gorilla demographic and selective history from whole genome sequence data

McManus

Kelley

Song

et al. 2014

Preprint

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Although population-level genomic sequence data have been gathered extensively for humans, similar data from our closest living relatives are just beginning to emerge. Examination of genomic variation within great apes offers many opportunities to increase our understanding of the forces that have differentially shaped the evolutionary history of hominid taxa. Here, we expand upon the work of the Great Ape Genome Project by analyzing medium to high coverage whole-genome sequences from 14 western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), 2 eastern lowland gorillas (G. beringei graueri), and a single Cross River individual (G. gorilla diehli). We infer that the ancestors of western and eastern lowland gorillas diverged from a common ancestor approximately 261 ka, and that the ancestors of the Cross River population diverged from the western lowland gorilla lineage approximately 68 ka. Using a diffusion approximation approach to model the genome-wide site frequency spectrum, we infer a history of western lowland gorillas that includes an ancestral population expansion of 1.4-fold around 970 ka and a recent 5.6-fold contraction in population size 23 ka. The latter may correspond to a major reduction in African equatorial forests around the Last Glacial Maximum. We also analyze patterns of variation among western lowland gorillas to identify several genomic regions with strong signatures of recent selective sweeps. We find that processes related to taste, pancreatic and saliva secretion, sodium ion transmembrane transport, and cardiac muscle function are overrepresented in genomic regions predicted to have experienced recent positive selection.

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“…16S rRNAs from the Verrucomicrobia are commonly found in soils (2). Although Bwindi gorillas may accidentally or intentionally eat soil (22), it is unlikely that ingested Verrucomicrobia bacteria just passing through the gastrointestinal tract would be detected in large numbers in our analyses. Therefore, members of the Verrucomicrobia phylum are likely part of the normal intestinal microbiota of gorillas.…”

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confidence: 91%

“…The Bwindi gorillas consume a diet high in fiber (21,22), and although a clone closely affiliated with the cellulolytic bacterium R. flavefaciens was recovered, sequences related to the Fibrobacteria phylum were not. However, by use of speciesspecific Fibrobacter succinogenes primers (26), an F. succinogenes 16S rRNA gene fragment was amplified from fecal genomic DNA, suggesting that gorillas harbor a variety of cellulolytic bacteria.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…However, by use of speciesspecific Fibrobacter succinogenes primers (26), an F. succinogenes 16S rRNA gene fragment was amplified from fecal genomic DNA, suggesting that gorillas harbor a variety of cellulolytic bacteria. Approximately 35% of foods eaten by Bwindi gorillas contain condensed tannins (21,22). Therefore, the presence of rRNA gene sequences similar to the 16S rRNA of Eubacterium oxidoreducens, a bacterium known to anaerobically decarboxylate gallate, a phenolic compound found in plant flavonoids, tannins, and lignin (14,15), suggests that intestinal bacteria play a role in tannin tolerance by gorillas.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Fecal Bacterial Diversity in a Wild Gorilla

Frey

Rothman²,

Pell³

et al. 2006

Appl Environ Microbiol

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We describe the bacterial diversity in fecal samples of a wild gorilla by use of a 16S rRNA gene clone library and terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP). Clones were classified as Firmicutes, Verrucomicrobia, Actinobacteria, Lentisphaerae, Bacteroidetes, Spirochetes, and Planctomycetes. Our data suggest that fecal populations did not change temporally, as determined by T-RFLP.

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Nutritional Aspects of the Diet of Wild Gorillas

Cited by 13 publications

References 0 publications

Temporal variation selects for diet–microbe co-metabolic traits in the gut of Gorilla spp

Temporal variation selects for diet–microbe co-metabolic traits in the gut of Gorilla spp

Inference of Gorilla demographic and selective history from whole genome sequence data

Fecal Bacterial Diversity in a Wild Gorilla

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