Seasonal variations in gut microbiota of semiprovisioned rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) living in a limestone forest of Guangxi, China

Abstract

Assessment of gut microbiota, used to explore ecological adaptation strategies and evolutionary potential of species, provides a new viewpoint to the conservation and management of endangered animals. In this research, the gut microbiota of a group of semiprovisioned rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) living in a limestone forest exhibiting seasonal changes in plant items were studied to investigate the adaptation strategies of these macaques to this specific habitat. The findings revealed significant seasonal changes in the diversity and composition of the rhesus macaques’ gut microbiota, which were higher in the rainy season than in the dry season. In the rainy season, Bacteroidetes (31.83 ± 16.14% vs. 19.91 ± 18.20%) were significantly increased and Prevotella (23.70 ± 15.33% vs. 15.40 ± 16.10%), UCG-002 (4.48 ± 3.16% vs. 2.18 ± 2.01%), and UCG-005 (4.22 ± 2.90% vs. 2.03 ± 1.82%) were more enriched at the genus level. In the dry season, Firmicutes significantly increased (71.84 ± 19.28% vs. 60.91 ± 16.77%), and Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1 (8.45 ± 9.72% vs. 4.76 ± 6.64%), Enterococcus (10.17 ± 13.47% vs. 0.69 ± 2.36%), and Sarcina (4.72 ± 7.66% vs. 2.45 ± 4.71%) were more enriched at the genus level. These differences in gut microbiota may be due to seasonal variations in plant items in these habitats alongside changes in the provisioned foods from tourists. Additionally, deterministic processes predominate the assembly of the macaque’s gut microbiota community. This indicates that the animal’s high reliance on natural plants and provisioned foods increased the impact of deterministic processes. This study concludes that a balance between provisioned foods and natural plants might be vital in shaping the gut microbiota in the macaques. Furthermore, the dynamic adjustment in gut microbiota might be a physiological mechanism for the macaques in response to the seasonal variations in the ecological factors and food provision.

Seasonal variations in the gut microbiota of white-headed black langur (Trachypithecus leucocephalus) in a limestone forest in Southwest Guangxi, China

“…These plants are eaten by the langurs exclusively in the rainy season, resulting in greater dietary and gut microbiota diversities (Zhou et al, 2013). Similar findings have been reported for rhesus macaques (Liu et al, 2022). Beta diversity analysis indicated significant differences in the gut microbiota of white-headed black langurs across seasons.…”

“…Proteobacteria, although reportedly potentially pathogenic, include Succinivibrio, which consumes cellulose and hemicellulose to produce SCFAs (Baniel et al, 2021). These dominant phyla perform major digestive and metabolic functions in the gut, and the taxa with a low proportion maintain the ecological balance of the community and high functional redundancy (Cho and Blaser, 2012;Liu et al, 2022). The F/B (Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes) ratio has been considered an appropriate proxy for energy balance (Turnbaugh et al, 2006;Springer et al, 2017).…”

“…Prevotellaceae can encode carbohydrate-active enzymes that degrade xylan and pectin (Filippo et al, 2010;Flint et al, 2012). In primate guts, Prevotellaceae is usually considered to respond positively to increased intake of fruits and young leaves (Sun et al, 2016;Springer et al, 2017;Orkin et al, 2019;Liu et al, 2022). Tibetan macaques, for example, have an increased abundance of Prevotellaceae during the transition from the food-lean winter to the fruit-rich spring (Sun et al, 2016).…”

Gut feeling: host and habitat as drivers of the microbiome in blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra)

“…We find that precipitation explains a fraction of the total variation in gut microbiome between individuals. Precipitation influences gut microbiome across various animal hosts (Orkin et al, 2018; Li et al, 2020; Baniel et al, 2021; Liu et al, 2022; Murillo, Schneider, Fichtel, et al, 2022). The putative pathways with which precipitation can influence gut microbiome are 1.…”

Gut microbiota of white-headed black langurs (Trachypithecus leucocephalus) in responses to habitat fragmentation

“…However, this assembly in subtropical rivers is shaped by stochastic processes because the water is more complex and changeable ( Chen et al, 2019 ). In contrast, a study on rhesus macaques with different foods in altered seasons confirmed the dominant role of deterministic processes in microbiota assembly owing to environmental filtering ( Liu et al, 2022 ). The variations in the importance of deterministic and stochastic processes in the microbiota are likely habitat-dependent; therefore, investigating the assembly process in biological communities is important to explain the formation and maintenance mechanisms of biodiversity in the microbiota ( Zhou and Ning, 2017 ; Heys et al, 2020 ).…”