However, the relative abundance of core taxa defining enterotypes can change, at least within some individual humans and animals, leading to enterotype switching. Bacteroides enterotypes in humans are associated with animal-based diets, while Prevotella enterotypes are associated with plant-based, carbohydrate-rich diets 8, and these enterotypes are functionally distinguished based on their saccharolytic, proteolytic, and lipolytic profiles 11, 12. These enterotypes, or stratified clusters within a population defined by microbiota composition, are linked to long-term dietary patterns 8. Human studies from various populations have suggested that the relative abundance of core bacterial taxa in intestinal microbiomes of individuals varies widely and that individuals cluster within two to three stratified variants or “enterotypes” defined by Bacteroides, Prevotella, or Ruminococcus 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Dramatic seasonal shifts in WLG diets present a unique opportunity to examine short-term effects of recurrent dietary fluctuations on the composition of the microbiome. Geographical range of WLGs may also influence microbiome composition and metabolomic profiles 5, but extreme seasonal variation in WLG frugivory were not addressed.
#CHIMPANZEE DIET FULL#
However, more complete sampling across months and seasons is needed in order to draw conclusions about the full spectrum of seasonal variation in microbiomes of wild gorillas. WLG and mountain gorilla microbiomes converge during periods of fruit scarcity 3, suggesting that seasonal resource availability may have dramatic impacts on gorilla microbiomes. Ripe fruit availability is reduced, though still regulated seasonally, in environments inhabited by mountain gorillas ( G.
During periods of high-fruit availability, up to 70% of WLG feeding time is devoted to succulent fruit, while, during periods of fruit scarcity, feeding time is almost exclusively devoted to leaves, bark, herbs, and fibrous fruits 2. Unlike chimpanzees, which are ripe fruit specialists, seeking out ripe fruit throughout the year, western lowland gorillas (WLGs, Gorilla gorilla gorilla) are seasonal frugivores, selectively shifting their dietary habits throughout each year to accommodate seasonal resource availability 2. However, such seasonal fluctuations in other primate microbiomes remain under-characterized. A recent study has demonstrated seasonal reconfiguration of the microbiome in response to dietary fluctuation in the Hadza hunter-gatherers of Tanzania 1. Evidence is accumulating in humans and animals to suggest that microbiota composition is not a static state defining an individual but fluctuates in response to changes in environmental and lifestyle factors. The gastrointestinal microbiome impacts states of health and disease through various mechanisms relating to metabolism, immunity, and development. These data indicate that great ape microbiomes are malleable in response to dietary shifts, suggesting a role for microbiome plasticity in driving dietary flexibility, which may provide fundamental insights into the mechanisms by which diet has driven the evolution of human gut microbiomes. Metagenomic sequencing of gorilla microbiomes demonstrates distinctions in functional metabolic pathways, archaea, and dietary plants among enterotypes, suggesting that dietary seasonality dictates shifts in the microbiome and its capacity for microbial plant fiber digestion versus growth on mucus glycans. We show that gorilla and chimpanzee microbiomes fluctuate with seasonal rainfall patterns and frugivory. Here we use 16S rRNA sequencing to characterize the microbiota of wild western lowland gorillas and sympatric central chimpanzees and demonstrate compositional divergence between the microbiotas of gorillas, chimpanzees, Old World monkeys, and modern humans. The microbiome is essential for extraction of energy and nutrition from plant-based diets and may have facilitated primate adaptation to new dietary niches in response to rapid environmental shifts.
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