A role for gut microbiota in host niche differentiation

Area of Science:

• Microbial Ecology
• Evolutionary Biology
• Primate Ecology

Background:

• Gut microbes can influence host behavior and evolution.
• Dietary specialization in folivorous lemurs may be linked to gut microbiome adaptations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if gut microbiota drive niche differentiation in sympatric lemur species with different dietary specializations.
• To compare the gut microbiome structure, function, and metabolome across lemur species with varying folivorous diets.

Main Methods:

• Fecal sample collection from four lemur species (Indriidae and Lepilemuridae) between 2013-2017.
• Utilized amplicon and metagenomic sequencing to analyze gut microbiome composition and function.
• Employed nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to analyze the colonic metabolome.

Main Results:

• Lemur species exhibited distinct, species-specific gut microbiomes, metagenomes, and metabolomes tailored to their diets.
• Frugo-folivores showed higher microbial and metagenomic diversity with generalist taxa.
• Mature-leaf folivores displayed greater individual microbiome variation and taxa/metabolites associated with cellulolysis.

Conclusions:

• Specialized gut microbiota and associated gastrointestinal adaptations enable lemurs to cope with dietary challenges and resource fluctuations.
• These adaptations likely facilitate host species diversity and the evolution of specialized feeding ecologies in lemurs.