Comparative study of gut microbiota reveals the adaptive strategies of gibbons living in suboptimal habitats

From BugSigDB
Needs review
Citation
PMID PubMed identifier for scientific articles.
DOI Digital object identifier for electronic documents.
URI
Authors
Lan LY, Liu TC, Gao SM, Li Q, Yang L, Fei HL, Zhong XK, Wang YX, Zhu CY, Abel C, Kappeler PM, Huang LN, Fan PF
Journal
NPJ biofilms and microbiomes
Year
2025
Wild animals face numerous challenges in less ideal habitats, including the lack of food as well as changes in diet. Understanding how the gut microbiomes of wild animals adapt to changes in food resources within suboptimal habitats is critical for their survival. Therefore, we conducted a longitudinal sampling of three gibbon species living in high-quality (Nomascus hainanus) and suboptimal (Nomascus concolor and Hoolock tianxing) habitats to address the dynamics of gut microbiome assembly over one year. The three gibbon species exhibited significantly different gut microbial diversity and composition. N. hainanus showed the lowest alpha diversity and highest nestedness, suggesting a more specialized and potentially stable microbial community in terms of composition, while H. tianxing displayed high species turnover and low nestedness, reflecting a more dynamic microbial ecosystem, which may indicate greater sensitivity to environmental changes or a flexible response to habitat variability. The gut microbial community of N. concolor was influenced by homogeneous selection in the deterministic process, primarily driven by Prevotellaceae. In contrast, the gut microbial communities of H. tianxing and N. hainanus were influenced by dispersal limitation in the stochastic process, driven by Acholeplasmataceae and Fibrobacterota, respectively. Further, the microbial response patterns to leaf feeding in N. hainanus differed from those of the other two gibbon species. In conclusion, this first cross-species comparative study provides initial insights into the different ecological adaptive strategies of gut microbiomes from a point of community assembly, which could contribute to the long-term conservation of wild primates. In this study, we conducted longitudinal sampling of three gibbon species living in high-quality (Nomascus hainanus) and suboptimal (Nomascus concolor and Hoolock tianxing) habitats to address the dynamics of gut microbiome (composition, alpha diversity, beta diversity and assembly process) over one year.

Experiment 1


Needs review

Curated date: 2025/03/03

Curator: KateRasheed

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Subjects

Location of subjects
China
Host species Species from which microbiome was sampled. Contact us to have more species added.
Nomascus hainanus
Body site Anatomical site where microbial samples were extracted from according to the Uber Anatomy Ontology
Feces Cow dung,Cow pat,Droppings,Dung,Excrement,Excreta,Faeces,Fecal material,Fecal matter,Fewmet,Frass,Guano,Matières fécales@fr,Merde@fr,Ordure,Partie de la merde@fr,Piece of shit,Porción de mierda@es,Portion of dung,Portion of excrement,Portion of faeces,Portion of fecal material,Portion of fecal matter,Portion of feces,Portion of guano,Portion of scat,Portionem cacas,Scat,Spoor,Spraint,Stool,Teil der fäkalien@de,Feces,feces
Condition The experimental condition / phenotype studied according to the Experimental Factor Ontology
Diet measurement Diet measurement,diet measurement
Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies
Low + Middle feeding group - Nomascus hainanus
Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies
High feeding group - Nomascus hainanus
Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group
These refers to gibbon species living in high-quality (Nomascus hainanus) habitats with stable fruit production; who consumed high proportion of leaf per month.

Lab analysis

Sequencing type
16S
16S variable region One or more hypervariable region(s) of the bacterial 16S gene
V4
Sequencing platform Manufacturer and experimental platform used for quantifying microbial abundance
Illumina

Statistical Analysis

Data transformation Data transformation applied to microbial abundance measurements prior to differential abundance testing (if any).
relative abundances
Statistical test
LEfSe
Significance threshold p-value or FDR threshold used for differential abundance testing (if any)
0.05
MHT correction Have statistical tests be corrected for multiple hypothesis testing (MHT)?
Yes
LDA Score above Threshold for the linear discriminant analysis (LDA) score for studies using the popular LEfSe tool
2


Signature 1

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/03/03

Curator: KateRasheed

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Source: Fig. 5, Supplementary Table 6

Description: Linear Discriminant Analysis Effect Size (LEfSe) analyses revealed significant contributions to the differences in abundance across various bacteria taxonomic levels, from phylum to genus, among different gibbon species with varying proportions of leaf consumption.

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in High feeding group - Nomascus hainanus

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Fibrobacter
Fibrobacter intestinalis
Fibrobacteraceae
Fibrobacterales
Fibrobacteria
Fibrobacterota
Spirochaetaceae
Spirochaetales
Spirochaetia
Spirochaetota
Treponema
Treponema ruminis
unclassified Bacteroidia
Acidaminococcaceae
Acidaminococcales
Phascolarctobacterium
unclassified Phascolarctobacterium
unclassified Bacteroidales
Lachnospiraceae_NK3A20_groupLachnospiraceae_NK3A20_group
Sutterella
Muribaculaceae
uncultured bacterium
Lachnospiraceae UCG-004Lachnospiraceae UCG-004
Ruminococcus

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Experiment 2


Needs review

Curated date: 2025/03/03

Curator: KateRasheed

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Host species Species from which microbiome was sampled. Contact us to have more species added.
Nomascus concolor


Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies
High + Middle feeding group - Nomascus concolor
Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies
Low feeding group - Nomascus concolor
Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group
These refers to gibbon species living in suboptimal habitats with lower and more variable fruit availability, relying more on leaves. They consumed low proportion of leaf per month.

Lab analysis

Statistical Analysis

Signature 1

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/03/03

Curator: KateRasheed

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Source: Fig. 5, Supplementary Table 6

Description: Linear Discriminant Analysis Effect Size (LEfSe) analyses revealed significant contributions to the differences in abundance across various bacteria taxonomic levels, from phylum to genus, among different gibbon species with varying proportions of leaf consumption.

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Low feeding group - Nomascus concolor

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Acholeplasmataceae
Acholeplasmatales
Anaeroplasma
Bacilli
Bacillota
uncultured bacterium
Prevotellaceae NK3B31_groupPrevotellaceae NK3B31_group
Bacteroides
unclassified Bacteroides
Bacteroidaceae
Prevotellaceae UCG-001Prevotellaceae UCG-001
Marseilla massiliensis

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Experiment 3


Needs review

Curated date: 2025/03/03

Curator: KateRasheed

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Host species Species from which microbiome was sampled. Contact us to have more species added.
Hoolock tianxing


Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies
Low + Middle feeding group - Hoolock tianxing
Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies
High feeding group - Hoolock tianxing
Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group
These refers to gibbon species living in suboptimal habitats with lower and more variable fruit availability, relying more on leaves. They had the lowest monthly fruit intake. This group consumed high proportion of leaf per month.

Lab analysis

Statistical Analysis

Signature 1

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/03/03

Curator: KateRasheed

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Source: Fig. 5, Supplementary Table 6

Description: Linear Discriminant Analysis Effect Size (LEfSe) analyses revealed significant contributions to the differences in abundance across various bacteria taxonomic levels, from phylum to genus, among different gibbon species with varying proportions of leaf consumption.

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in High feeding group - Hoolock tianxing

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Bacillota
Clostridia
Eubacteriales
Lachnospiraceae
Lachnospirales
Erysipelatoclostridiaceae UCG-004Erysipelatoclostridiaceae UCG-004
Oscillospiraceae
Roseburia
Eubacterium coprostanoligenes
Oscillospiraceae UCG-005Oscillospiraceae UCG-005
Oscillospirales UCG-010Oscillospirales UCG-010
unclassified Roseburia
uncultured bacterium
Muribaculaceae
Lachnospiraceae bacterium NK4A136
Subdoligranulum
Roseburia intestinalis
Eubacterium ruminantium
Colidextribacter
uncultured Faecalibacterium sp.
Clostridia vadinBB60 groupClostridia vadinBB60 group
Colidextribacter massiliensis
unclassified Ruminococcus
Lachnospira
Butyricicoccaceae
Lachnospiraceae UCG-003Lachnospiraceae UCG-003
uncultured Clostridium sp.
uncultured Lachnospiraceae bacterium
unclassified Bacteroidales
[Eubacterium] siraeum
bacterium YE64
Oscillospiraceae UCG-003Oscillospiraceae UCG-003
Prevotellaceae UCG-003Prevotellaceae UCG-003
Lachnospiraceae NK3A20_groupLachnospiraceae NK3A20_group
Bacillota bacterium
Catenisphaera
unclassified Catenisphaera
Roseburia hominis
Lachnospira eligens
rumen bacterium NK4A214
uncultured Roseburia sp.
Oscillibacter
unclassified Oscillibacter
unclassified Acholeplasmataceae
uncultured prokaryote
uncultured Acetivibrio sp.
Ruminococcus
Clostridium
Butyrivibrio
unclassified Erysipelotrichaceae
Candidatus Izemoplasmatales
Bacteroidota bacterium
Ruminococcus bicirculans (ex Liu et al. 2021)
unclassified Selenomonadales
Eshraghiella crossota
uncultured Oscillospiraceae bacterium
Anaerobutyricum hallii
Rhodospirillales
uncultured Rhodospirillalesuncultured Rhodospirillales

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Experiment 4


Needs review

Curated date: 2025/03/03

Curator: KateRasheed

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies
Low + High feeding group - Hoolock tianxing
Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies
Middle feeding group - Hoolock tianxing
Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group
These refers to gibbon species living in suboptimal habitats with lower and more variable fruit availability, relying more on leaves. They had the lowest monthly fruit intake. This group consumed middle (not high or low) proportion of leaf per month.

Lab analysis

Statistical Analysis

Signature 1

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/03/03

Curator: KateRasheed

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Source: Fig. 5, Supplementary Table 6

Description: Linear Discriminant Analysis Effect Size (LEfSe) analyses revealed significant contributions to the differences in abundance across various bacteria taxonomic levels, from phylum to genus, among different gibbon species with varying proportions of leaf consumption.

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Middle feeding group - Hoolock tianxing

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Bacteroidales
Bacteroidia
Bacteroidota
Prevotella
Prevotellaceae
Prevotellaceae bacterium
Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_groupRikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group
Coriobacteriales
Coriobacteriia
Coriobacteriaceae
Rikenellaceae
uncultured bacterium
Actinomycetota
Erysipelotrichales
Negativicutes
Veillonellales-SelenomonadalesVeillonellales-Selenomonadales
Erysipelotrichaceae
unclassified Prevotella
Selenomonadaceae
unclassified Selenomonadaceae
unclassified Prevotellaceae
Asteroleplasma
Veillonellaceae
Coprobacillaceae
unclassified Veillonellaceae
Lachnospiraceae bacterium
Eggerthellaceae
Raoultibacter
Raoultibacter sp.
Solobacterium
unclassified Atopobiaceae
uncultured Erysipelotrichaceae bacterium
Pseudomonadota
Gammaproteobacteria
Succinivibrio
Succinivibrionaceae
Aeromonadales
unclassified Succinivibrio
Campylobacter
unclassified Campylobacter
Campylobacteraceae
Campylobacterota
unclassified Coriobacteriales
Campylobacterales
Epsilonproteobacteria
uncultured Eggerthellaceae bacterium
Anaeroplasmataceae
Prevotellaceae NK3B31_groupPrevotellaceae NK3B31_group
Bifidobacterium
Acidimicrobiia
Sutterellaceae bacterium
Bifidobacteriaceae
Bifidobacteriales
unclassified Alloprevotella
uncultured rumen bacterium
unclassified Bifidobacterium

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Experiment 5


Needs review

Curated date: 2025/03/03

Curator: KateRasheed

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies
High + Middle feeding group - Hoolock tianxing
Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies
Low feeding group - Hoolock tianxing
Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group
These refers to gibbon species living in suboptimal habitats with lower and more variable fruit availability, relying more on leaves. They had the lowest monthly fruit intake. This group consumed low proportion of leaf per month.

Lab analysis

Statistical Analysis

MHT correction Have statistical tests be corrected for multiple hypothesis testing (MHT)?
No


Signature 1

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/03/03

Curator: KateRasheed

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Source: Fig. 5, Supplementary Table 6

Description: Linear Discriminant Analysis Effect Size (LEfSe) analyses revealed significant contributions to the differences in abundance across various bacteria taxonomic levels, from phylum to genus, among different gibbon species with varying proportions of leaf consumption.

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Low feeding group - Hoolock tianxing

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Acholeplasma
Acholeplasmataceae
Acholeplasmatales
Alloprevotella
Atopobiaceae
Atopobium
Bacilli
Bacteroidaceae
Bacteroides
Candidatus Gastranaerophilales
Clostridiaceae
Coprococcus
Coprococcus eutactus
Cyanobacteriota
Eubacteriales
Sarcina
Vampirovibrio
unclassified Bacteroides
unclassified Clostridia
unclassified Sutterella
uncultured Bacteroidales bacterium
uncultured bacterium
uncultured rumen bacterium
Vampirovibriophyceae
Lachnospiraceae NK3A20_groupLachnospiraceae NK3A20_group
Erysipelatoclostridiaceae UCG-004Erysipelatoclostridiaceae UCG-004
Clostridia UCG-014Clostridia UCG-014
Prevotellaceae UCG-001Prevotellaceae UCG-001
unclassified Sarcina

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Experiment 6


Needs review

Curated date: 2025/03/04

Curator: KateRasheed

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Host species Species from which microbiome was sampled. Contact us to have more species added.
Nomascus hainanus


Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies
High + Middle feeding group - Nomascus hainanus
Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies
Low feeding group - Nomascus hainanus
Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group
These refers to gibbon species living in high-quality (Nomascus hainanus) habitats with stable fruit production; who consumed low proportion of leaf per month.

Lab analysis

Statistical Analysis

MHT correction Have statistical tests be corrected for multiple hypothesis testing (MHT)?
Yes


Signature 1

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/03/04

Curator: KateRasheed

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Source: Fig. 5, Supplementary Table 6

Description: Linear Discriminant Analysis Effect Size (LEfSe) analyses revealed significant contributions to the differences in abundance across various bacteria taxonomic levels, from phylum to genus, among different gibbon species with varying proportions of leaf consumption.

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Low feeding group - Nomascus hainanus

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Prevotellaceae
Bacteroidales
unclassified Prevotellaceae
Actinomycetota
Prevotellaceae UCG-001Prevotellaceae UCG-001
Alloprevotella
Prevotellaceae NK3B31_groupPrevotellaceae NK3B31_group
Coriobacteriales
Coriobacteriaceae
Coriobacteriia
uncultured bacterium
uncultured organism
Collinsella
unclassified Collinsella
Subdoligranulum
unclassified Subdoligranulum
Oscillospiraceae
Prevotella
Erysipelatoclostridiaceae UCG-004Erysipelatoclostridiaceae UCG-004
Bacteroidaceae
Bacteroides
unclassified Bacteroides
Eubacterium coprostanoligenes
Lachnospiraceae
uncultured Lachnospira sp.

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Experiment 7


Needs review

Curated date: 2025/03/04

Curator: KateRasheed

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Host species Species from which microbiome was sampled. Contact us to have more species added.
Nomascus concolor


Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies
Low + Middle feeding group - Nomascus concolor
Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies
High feeding group - Nomascus concolor
Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group
These refers to gibbon species living in suboptimal habitats with lower and more variable fruit availability, relying more on leaves. They consumed high proportion of leaf per month.

Lab analysis

Statistical Analysis

Signature 1

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/03/05

Curator: KateRasheed

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Source: Fig. 5, Supplementary Table 6

Description: Linear Discriminant Analysis Effect Size (LEfSe) analyses revealed significant contributions to the differences in abundance across various bacteria taxonomic levels, from phylum to genus, among different gibbon species with varying proportions of leaf consumption.

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in High feeding group - Nomascus concolor

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Cyanobacteriota
unclassified Cyanobacteriota
Clostridia
Cyanophyceae
Erysipelotrichaceae
Erysipelotrichales
Eubacteriales
Asteroleplasma
Lachnospiraceae NK3A20_groupLachnospiraceae NK3A20_group
Coprobacillaceae
Subdoligranulum
unclassified Subdoligranulum
Oscillospiraceae
unclassified Oscillospiraceae
uncultured bacterium
Coriobacteriales
Coriobacteriia
Actinomycetota
Bacteria
uncultured Eggerthellaceae bacterium
Lachnospiraceae
uncultured Lachnospira sp.
Solobacterium
uncultured Erysipelotrichaceae bacterium
Eggerthellaceae
Butyricicoccaceae UCG-008Butyricicoccaceae UCG-008
Butyricicoccaceae
Candidatus Gastranaerophilales
Candidatus Gastranaerophilales bacterium
Vampirovibriophyceae

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Experiment 8


Needs review

Curated date: 2025/03/04

Curator: KateRasheed

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies
Low + High feeding group - Nomascus concolor
Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies
Middle feeding group - Nomascus concolor
Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group
These refers to gibbon species living in suboptimal habitats with lower and more variable fruit availability, relying more on leaves. They consumed middle (not high or low) proportion of leaf per month.

Lab analysis

Statistical Analysis

Signature 1

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/03/05

Curator: KateRasheed

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Source: Fig. 5, Supplementary Table 6

Description: Linear Discriminant Analysis Effect Size (LEfSe) analyses revealed significant contributions to the differences in abundance across various bacteria taxonomic levels, from phylum to genus, among different gibbon species with varying proportions of leaf consumption.

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Middle feeding group - Nomascus concolor

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
uncultured Anaeroplasmataceaeuncultured Anaeroplasmataceae

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Experiment 9


Needs review

Curated date: 2025/03/04

Curator: KateRasheed

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Host species Species from which microbiome was sampled. Contact us to have more species added.
Nomascus hainanus


Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies
High + Low feeding group - Nomascus hainanus
Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies
Middle feeding group - Nomascus hainanus
Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group
These refers to gibbon species living in high-quality (Nomascus hainanus) habitats with stable fruit production; who consumed middle (not high or low) proportion of leaf per month.

Lab analysis

Statistical Analysis

Signature 1

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/03/05

Curator: KateRasheed

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed

Source: Fig. 5, Supplementary Table 6

Description: Linear Discriminant Analysis Effect Size (LEfSe) analyses revealed significant contributions to the differences in abundance across various bacteria taxonomic levels, from phylum to genus, among different gibbon species with varying proportions of leaf consumption.

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Middle feeding group - Nomascus hainanus

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Butyricicoccaceae UCG-008Butyricicoccaceae UCG-008
Tyzzerella
Lachnospiraceae NK3A20_groupLachnospiraceae NK3A20_group
Butyricicoccaceae
uncultured bacterium
Anaerobutyricum hallii
uncultured rumen bacterium

Revision editor(s): KateRasheed