Department of Evolutionary Studies of Biosystems, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, Hayama, Japan.
Biogeochemistry Research Center, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Yokosuka, Japan.
Mol Ecol Resour. 2021 Aug;21(6):1808-1819. doi: 10.1111/1755-0998.13380. Epub 2021 Apr 8.
Mammalian faeces can be collected noninvasively during field research and provide valuable information on the ecology and evolution of the source individuals. Undigested food remains, genome/metagenome, steroid hormones, and stable isotopes obtained from faecal samples provide evidence on diet, host/symbiont genetics, and physiological status of the individuals. However, proteins in mammalian faeces have hardly been studied, which hinders the molecular investigations into the behaviour and physiology of the source individuals. Here, we apply mass spectrometry-based proteomics to faecal samples (n = 10), collected from infant, juvenile, and adult captive Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata), to describe the proteomes of the source individual, of the food it consumed, and its intestinal microbes. The results show that faecal proteomics is a useful method to: (i) investigate dietary changes along with breastfeeding and weaning, (ii) reveal the taxonomic and histological origin of the food items consumed, and (iii) estimate physiological status inside intestinal tracts. These types of insights are difficult or impossible to obtain through other molecular approaches. Most mammalian species are facing extinction risk and there is an urgent need to obtain knowledge on their ecology and evolution for better conservation strategy. The faecal proteomics framework we present here is easily applicable to wild settings and other mammalian species, and provides direct evidence of their behaviour and physiology.
哺乳动物粪便可以在野外研究中进行非侵入性收集，为个体的生态学和进化提供有价值的信息。粪便样本中未消化的食物残渣、基因组/元基因组、类固醇激素和稳定同位素可以提供有关饮食、宿主/共生体遗传和个体生理状况的证据。然而，哺乳动物粪便中的蛋白质几乎没有被研究过，这阻碍了对来源个体的行为和生理的分子研究。在这里，我们应用基于质谱的蛋白质组学对来自婴儿、幼体和成体圈养日本猕猴（Macaca fuscata）的粪便样本（n = 10）进行了研究，以描述个体来源、所消耗食物的蛋白质组和其肠道微生物的蛋白质组。结果表明，粪便蛋白质组学是一种有用的方法，可以：（i）研究随着母乳喂养和断奶而发生的饮食变化，（ii）揭示所消耗食物的分类和组织学来源，以及（iii）估计肠道内部的生理状况。这些类型的见解很难或不可能通过其他分子方法获得。大多数哺乳动物物种面临灭绝风险，迫切需要了解它们的生态学和进化，以制定更好的保护策略。我们在这里提出的粪便蛋白质组学框架很容易适用于野外环境和其他哺乳动物物种，并提供了它们行为和生理的直接证据。
