Year: 2021
Type: preprint
Abstract: ABSTRACT Early-life gut microbial colonization is an important process shaping host physiology, immunity and long-term health outcomes in humans and other animals. However, our understanding of this dynamic process remains poorly investigated in wild animals, where developmental mechanisms can be better understood within ecological and evolutionary relevant contexts. Using 16s rRNA amplicon sequencing on 525 fecal samples from a large cohort of infant and juvenile geladas ( Theropithecus gelada ), we characterized gut microbiome maturation during the first three years of life and assessed the role of maternal effects in shaping offspring microbiome assembly. Microbial diversity increased rapidly in the first months of life, followed by more gradual changes until weaning. As expected, changes in gut microbiome composition and function with increasing age reflected progressive dietary transitions: in early infancy when infants rely heavily on their mother’s milk, microbes that facilitate milk glycans and lactose utilization dominated, while later in development as graminoids are progressively introduced into the diet, microbes that metabolize plant complex polysaccharides became dominant. Furthermore, the microbial community of nursing infants born to first-time (primiparous) mothers was more “milk-oriented” compared to similarly-aged infants born to experienced (multiparous) mothers. Comparisons of matched mother-offspring fecal samples to random dyads did not support vertical transmission as a conduit for these maternal effects, which instead could be explained by slower phenotypic development (and associated slower gut microbiome maturation) in infants born to first-time mothers. Together, our findings highlight the dynamic nature of gut colonization in early life and the role of maternal effects in modulating this trajectory in a wild primate.
Language: English
Topic: Gut microbiota and health
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: G1093708181, G2400620618, G277672510, G3160930114, Functional genomics of high-altitude adaptation in a non-human primate model, G4044506009, LTREB: Social dynamics and fitness in a complex primate society, Collaborative research: Physiological signatures of variable weaning strategies in wild primates, Collaborative research: Physiological signatures of variable weaning strategies in wild primates, LTREB Renewal: Social dynamics and fitness in a complex primate society, Sizing Up Rivals and Mates in Wild Geladas: Visual, Vocal, and Hormonal Signals
OpenAlex ID: W3214012864