BioProject

Gastrointestinal microbiome research can be beneficial for understanding primate health, evolution, behavior, and conservation. More...

Gastrointestinal microbiome research can be beneficial for understanding primate health, evolution, behavior, and conservation. In particular, the microbiome-related information could be helpful in understanding issues of ecology to aid in the conservation of wild primates and their associated habitats. Indri (Indri indri) is one of the largest extant lemur living in Madagascar. Indri has a mainly folivorous diet and performs geophagy, which is voluntary and frequent eating of soil. This species is classified as 'critically endangered' by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, representing one of the world's 25 most endangered primates. This species has not yet been bred under human care, suggesting that some behavioral and/or ecological factors are still not considered from the ex-situ conservation protocols. Here, we explored the microbiota of 18 indris belonging to 5 different family groups. Besides, 10 soil samples subjected or not to geophagy have been analyzed. Samples were investigated via NGS targeting the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. The results showed that social groups and sex are important factors influencing the fecal microbiota. Specifically, females had higher diversity compared to males. On the other hand, the age of the individuals seemed not to affect the microbial composition. The phylum most represented in indri fecal microbiota are Proteobacteria (42 ±10%), Bacteroidetes (27 ±2%), Synergistetes (16 ±4%) and Firmicutes (11 ±2%). Proteobacteria are also prevalent in the soil; furthermore, geophagy soil had a higher abundance of species affiliated to the Amycolatopsis genus than non-geophagic soil. This genus is known for the production of antimicrobials compounds as rifamycin and vancomycin. However, both soil types (subjected or not to geophagy) do not differ significantly in their chemical composition. The soils are rich in iron and manganese, which are important micronutrients. In addition, the oxyhydroxide and clay colloids could have a possible role in the gut detoxification activity due to the main folivorous diet. However, the reason why indri seems to prefer one soil instead of the other remains to be fully understood. In conclusion, the data presented herein are baseline describing some of the possible drivers affecting the gut microbiome diversity of indris. These pieces of information could be used to develop further strategies involved in indris conservation. Less...