Beijing Key Laboratory of Captive Wildlife Technologies, Beijing Zoo, Beijing, 100044, China.
Conservation and Research Department, Memphis Zoo, Memphis, Tennessee, 38112, USA.
Sci Rep. 2018 Feb 16;8(1):3214. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-21117-2.
Nutrition and health of northern white-cheeked gibbons (Nomascus leucogenys) are considered to be primarily influenced by the diversity of their gastrointestinal tract (GIT) microbiota. However, the precise composition, structure, and role of the gibbon GIT microbiota remain unclear. Microbial communities from the GITs of gibbons from Nanning (NN, n = 36) and Beijing (BJ, n = 20) Zoos were examined through 16S rRNA sequencing. Gibbon's GITs microbiomes contained bacteria from 30 phyla, dominated by human-associated microbial signatures: Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria. Microbial species richness was markedly different between adult gibbons (>8 years) under distinct captive conditions. The relative abundance of 14 phyla varied significantly in samples of adults in BJ versus NN. Among the age groups examined in NN, microbiota of adult gibbons had greater species variation and richer community diversity than microbiota of nursing young (<6 months) and juveniles (2-5 years). Age-dependent increases in the relative abundances of Firmicutes and Fibrobacteres were detected, along with simultaneous increases in dietary fiber intake. A few differences were detected between sex cohorts in NN, suggesting a very weak correlation between sex and GIT microbiota. This study is the first to taxonomically identify gibbon's GITs microbiota confirming that microbiota composition varies with age and captive condition.
北方白颊长臂猿（Nomascus leucogenys）的营养和健康主要被认为受其胃肠道（GIT）微生物群多样性的影响。然而，长臂猿 GIT 微生物群的确切组成、结构和功能仍不清楚。通过 16S rRNA 测序，研究了来自南宁（NN，n=36）和北京（BJ，n=20）动物园的长臂猿 GIT 中的微生物群落。长臂猿的 GIT 微生物群包含来自 30 个门的细菌，主要是与人类相关的微生物特征：厚壁菌门、拟杆菌门和变形菌门。在不同的圈养条件下，成年长臂猿（>8 岁）的微生物物种丰富度明显不同。BJ 与 NN 中成年个体样本的 14 个门的相对丰度存在显著差异。在 NN 中检查的年龄组中，成年长臂猿的微生物群比哺乳期幼仔（<6 个月）和青少年（2-5 岁）的微生物群具有更大的物种变化和更丰富的群落多样性。检测到厚壁菌门和纤维杆菌门的相对丰度随年龄的增加而增加，同时膳食纤维的摄入量也随之增加。在 NN 中的性别队列中检测到一些差异，表明性别与 GIT 微生物群之间存在非常弱的相关性。本研究首次对长臂猿的 GIT 微生物群进行了分类学鉴定，证实了微生物群组成随年龄和圈养条件而变化。
