Host Identity and Geographic Location Significantly Affect Gastrointestinal Microbial Richness and Diversity in Western Lowland Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) under Human Care

Authors

Katrina Eschweiler, Denver Zoo; NC State University
Jonathan B. Clayton, University of Nebraska at Omaha and University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Anneke Moresco, Denver Zoo; NC State University
Erin A. McKenney, NC State University
Larry J. Minter, NC State University; North Carolina Zoo
Mallory J. Suhr Van Haute, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
William Gasper, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Shivdeep Singh Hayer, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Lifeng Zhu, Nanjing Normal UniversityFollow
Kathryn Cooper, Nanjing Normal UniversityFollow
Kimberly Ange-van Heugten, NC State UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2021

Citation

Eschweiler, K.; Clayton, J.B.; Moresco, A.; McKenney, E.A.; Minter, L.J.; Suhr Van Haute, M.J.; Gasper, W.; Hayer, S.S.; Zhu, L.; Cooper, K.; et al. Host Identity and Geographic Location Significantly Affect Gastrointestinal Microbial Richness and Diversity in Western Lowland Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) under Human Care. Animals 2021, 11, 3399. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/ani11123399

Comments

Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

Abstract

The last few decades have seen an outpouring of gastrointestinal (GI) microbiome studies across diverse host species. Studies have ranged from assessments of GI microbial richness and diversity to classification of novel microbial lineages. Assessments of the “normal” state of the GI microbiome composition across multiple host species has gained increasing importance for distinguishing healthy versus diseased states. This study aimed to determine baselines and trends over time to establish “typical” patterns of GI microbial richness and diversity, as well as interindividual variation, in three populations of western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) under human care at three zoological institutions in North America. Fecal samples were collected from 19 western lowland gorillas every two weeks for seven months (n = 248). Host identity and host institution significantly affected GI microbiome community composition (p < 0.05), although host identity had the most consistent and significant effect on richness (p = 0.03) and Shannon diversity (p = 0.004) across institutions. Significant changes in microbial abundance over time were observed only at Denver Zoo (p< 0.05). Our results suggest that individuality contributes to most of the observed GI microbiome variation in the study populations. Our results also showed no significant

changes in any individual’s microbial richness or Shannon diversity during the 7-month study period. While some microbial taxa (Prevotella, Prevotellaceae and Ruminococcaceae) were detected in all gorillas at varying levels, determining individual baselines for microbial composition comparisons may be the most useful diagnostic tool for optimizing non-human primate health under human care.