石山地区熊猴和猕猴的肠道菌群与觅食策略

Gut microbiota plays important role in food digestion and secondary compound detoxification of herbivores. The co-evolution of gut microbiota and animals allows them to adapt to various changing habitats. Research on composition and function of gut microbiota can provide insight into the dietary niche determinant and development with species evolution and adaptation. Moreover, data on animal’s feature of gut microbiota in turn facilitates designing effective management strategy for provisioned population. Assamese macaques (Macaca assamensis) and rhesus macaques (M. mulatta) are both listed as special state protected wildlife in China (Class I for Assamese macaques and Class II for rhesus macaques), as well as the Appendix II species in CITES. These macaques are sympatric in the karst forest of Guangxi Province of China, which are characterized by their bamboo-based diets containing highly fiber components and toxic secondary compounds. Many studies focused on their behavioral adaptations to kast habitat, such as general ecological habit, activity budget, ranging pattern, diet, space use, and positional behavior. However, detailed information on gut microbiota has not been previously available. In this study, we are going to describe the characteristics of gut microbiota and their seasonal variations in Assamese and rhesus macaques habiting limestone forest, using 16S ribosome RNA gene sequencing performed by high-throughput sequencing technology. Based on the combinations of feeding ecology and food trophic analysis, we explore the relationship between food-related factors such as dietary composition, trophic characteristics and secondary compounds (tannin and cyanide) of foods and gut microbiota. Also, we examine the effects of phylogenesis and physiology on gut microbiota compositions. Our result will promote the foundation of a newly dimension to understand the primates’ adaptation strategies to karst habitat and offer scientific bases on dietary enrichments for provisioned populations, consequently providing scientific data to population conservation.

肠道菌群对动物的食物消化和次生物质的降解有重要作用。肠道菌群和动物的共同进化使物种能够适应各种不同的食物环境。开展肠道菌群的研究，对了解动物的食物生态位的形成和发展有重要帮助，同时对理解物种进化和适应策略有重要意义。本项目拟对石山地区的熊猴和猕猴的肠道菌群进行研究，解释种类特征（系统发生）和食物部位及其营养成分、次生物质含量对肠道菌群动态的影响。采用高通量测序技术对粪便菌群的16S rRNA基因序列进行测序，研究两个物种的肠道菌群特征及其季节性变化；结合觅食生态学和营养学研究方法，探讨食物组成、营养成分和次生物质含量、性别年龄和生理特征对肠道菌群的影响。本项目将从另一个角度探讨两种猴子对石山生境的食性适应策略，并为其他动物类群的肠道菌群研究提供借鉴。同时，研究熊猴和猕猴的肠道菌群特征，可为人工饲养猴群的食物制备提供依据，对两个物种的保护具有实践意义。

动物体内拥有非常复杂的肠道微生物群落。这些肠道菌群在宿主的食物消化、营养代谢和免疫调剂等方面发挥重要作用。研究野生动物的肠道菌群，有利于我们深入了解动物生态位的形成与分化，对理解动物的进化及其对环境的适应策略有重要帮助。本项目采用16S rRNA高通量测序技术对肠道菌群进行测序，分析不同猴群的肠道菌群特征及其季节性变化规律。结果表明，在门水平上，全部样品共注释到22个已分类菌门；优势菌门为厚壁菌门Firmicutes和拟杆菌门Bacteroidetes。肠道菌群结构呈现出明显的季节行变化，这可能与自然环境中食物的数量和质量分布的周期性波动有关。不同性别年龄组猴子的肠道菌群多样性指数有显著差异，表现为雌性个体的菌群多样性高于雄性个体，成年个体肠道菌群多样性高于未成年个体。本项目发现食物因素是影响动物肠道菌群结构和功能的重要因素，从肠道菌群的角度分析了动物对喀斯特石山森林的适应对策，丰富了我们对喀斯特石山生境中灵长类动物适应性的理解。本项目还对同域分布的黑叶猴的肠道菌群进行了研究，取得了初步的结果，为我们理解同域分布物种的生态位分化机制提供了新的视角。