Primate gut microbiomes in relationship to behavioral traits

University Of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst MA

Investigators

Abstract

The gut microbiome is comprised of the microorganisms that inhabit digestive tracts, including bacteria, viruses, and others. How the gut microbiome is established early in life, what causes it to change throughout life, and how it influences biology, health and behavior are topics of great interest across many realms of research. Studies on humans and animals support the influence of these microorganisms on behavior, but we have little knowledge of this relationship in wild nonhuman primates. By understanding links between products of the gut microbiome and behaviors, and how these vary across individuals in highly social species, this research provides insight and comparative context for investigating these links in humans. The project provides training and research opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students, and a postdoctoral researcher, engages school-aged children with educational opportunities, and integrates local researchers into the project’s activities. Variation in gut microbial diversity has been connected to poor memory and depression, and the relative amounts of specific microbes, such as Lactobacillus, has been associated with mood and behavioral variation. This previous work has shown that gut microbes that can biosynthesize and/or metabolize neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, are associated with the behavior of the host who harbors those microbes. While this evidence has been generated from human and lab animal studies, we have little knowledge of these relationships in wild animal populations in their natural habitats. This study addresses several questions in a wild and social nonhuman primate, including: 1) Is gut microbiome diversity associated with behavioral traits? 2) Are certain microbial functional genes associated with behavioral traits? 3) What is the association between gut microbiome diversity and individual dominance rank? and 4) Are social networks associated with inter-individual variation in gut microbiome diversity? The research team analyzes behavioral and fecal samples to address these questions. Behavioral data are used to quantify the behavioral traits of individuals as well as the emergent social network of the groups, and gut microbiomes are quantified through genomic sequencing of fecal samples using the 16S rRNA gene to quantify the taxonomic diversity of microbes. Functional genes of the microbes are quantified via shotgun metagenomic sequencing. A comprehensive set of bioinformatic and statistical methods are used to examine the potential relationships among these datasets, and to inform future studies in other species including humans. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.