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Gut microbiota are associated with sex and age of host: Evidence from semi‐provisioned rhesus macaques in southwest Guangxi, China
- Source :
- Ecology and Evolution, Ecology and Evolution, Vol 11, Iss 12, Pp 8096-8122 (2021)
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- Wiley, 2021.
-
Abstract
- Host characteristics, such as sex and age, are closely associated with the structure and function of gut microbiota; however, less is known about the effects of age and sex on the gut microbiota of nonhuman primates, and therefore, our knowledge of interindividual variability in host gut microbiota is limited. In this study, 153 fecal samples from rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) were analyzed using high‐throughput 16S rRNA sequencing in order to explore associations between age and sex of the host and their gut microbiota. The results indicated that female macaques had higher alpha diversity and a more unique gut microbiota than did males. The proportion of Proteobacteria, Tenericutes, Cyanobacteria, unclassified bacteria, and Verrucomicrobia was higher in females than that in males. We also found that adults of both sexes had a higher alpha diversity, a higher proportion of norank Ruminococcaceae, Oscillospira, norank Lachnospiraceae, norank Clostridiales, and Succinivibrio, and a lower proportion of Enterococcus than immatures. Functional analyses revealed that the richness of metabolic pathways was higher in females than males and in adults compared with immatures. These results could be attributed to differences in the nutritional requirements and hormone levels of macaques of different sex and age classes. We conclude that variation in the gut microbiota of different sex and age classes of rhesus macaques may be linked to age‐ and sex‐specific differences in nutrient requirements and hormone levels. These results highlight the importance of host age and sex on the structure and function of the gut microbiota and the need to consider physiological traits when conducting studies on the gut microbiota.<br />Sex and age were associated with differences in the diversity and relative abundance of gut microbiota in rhesus macaques. These differences could be linked to age‐ and sex‐specific differences in nutrient requirements and hormone levels, highlighting the effects of age and sex on the structure and function of the gut microbiota, as well as the need to consider physiological traits when conducting gut microbiota studies.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
age difference
sex difference
Zoology
Gut flora
digestive system
010603 evolutionary biology
01 natural sciences
03 medical and health sciences
QH540-549.5
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Feces
Original Research
030304 developmental biology
Nature and Landscape Conservation
0303 health sciences
Tenericutes
gut microbiota
Ecology
biology
Host (biology)
Lachnospiraceae
Verrucomicrobia
biology.organism_classification
Macaca mulatta
Proteobacteria
Ruminococcaceae
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 20457758
- Volume :
- 11
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Ecology and Evolution
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....9dff0109e56ba797501d68a4782f7ad4