Skip to main content
Journal cover image

Factors associated with the diversification of the gut microbial communities within chimpanzees from Gombe National Park.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Degnan, PH; Pusey, AE; Lonsdorf, EV; Goodall, J; Wroblewski, EE; Wilson, ML; Rudicell, RS; Hahn, BH; Ochman, H
Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
August 2012

The gastrointestinal tract harbors large and diverse populations of bacteria that vary among individuals and within individuals over time. Numerous internal and external factors can influence the contents of these microbial communities, including diet, geography, physiology, and the extent of contact among hosts. To investigate the contributions of such factors to the variation and changes in gut microbial communities, we analyzed the distal gut microbiota of individual chimpanzees from two communities in Gombe National Park, Tanzania. These samples, which were derived from 35 chimpanzees, many of whom have been monitored for multiple years, provide an unusually comprehensive longitudinal depth for individuals of known genetic relationships. Although the composition of the great-ape microbiota has been shown to codiversify with host species, indicating that host genetics and phylogeny have played a major role in its differentiation over evolutionary timescales, the geneaological relationships of individual chimpanzees did not coincide with the similarity in their gut microbial communities. However, the inhabitants from adjacent chimpanzee communities could be distinguished based on the contents of their gut microbiota. Despite the broad similarity of community members, as would be expected from shared diet or interactions, long-term immigrants to a community often harbored the most distinctive gut microbiota, suggesting that individuals retain hallmarks of their previous gut microbial communities for extended periods. This pattern was reinforced in several chimpanzees sampled over long temporal scales, in which the major constituents of the gut microbiota were maintained for nearly a decade.

Duke Scholars

Altmetric Attention Stats
Dimensions Citation Stats

Published In

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI

EISSN

1091-6490

ISSN

0027-8424

Publication Date

August 2012

Volume

109

Issue

32

Start / End Page

13034 / 13039

Related Subject Headings

  • Tanzania
  • Statistics, Nonparametric
  • Species Specificity
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
  • Pedigree
  • Pan troglodytes
  • Genetic Variation
  • Gastrointestinal Tract
  • Feces
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Degnan, P. H., Pusey, A. E., Lonsdorf, E. V., Goodall, J., Wroblewski, E. E., Wilson, M. L., … Ochman, H. (2012). Factors associated with the diversification of the gut microbial communities within chimpanzees from Gombe National Park. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109(32), 13034–13039. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1110994109
Degnan, Patrick H., Anne E. Pusey, Elizabeth V. Lonsdorf, Jane Goodall, Emily E. Wroblewski, Michael L. Wilson, Rebecca S. Rudicell, Beatrice H. Hahn, and Howard Ochman. “Factors associated with the diversification of the gut microbial communities within chimpanzees from Gombe National Park.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 109, no. 32 (August 2012): 13034–39. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1110994109.
Degnan PH, Pusey AE, Lonsdorf EV, Goodall J, Wroblewski EE, Wilson ML, et al. Factors associated with the diversification of the gut microbial communities within chimpanzees from Gombe National Park. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2012 Aug;109(32):13034–9.
Degnan, Patrick H., et al. “Factors associated with the diversification of the gut microbial communities within chimpanzees from Gombe National Park.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 109, no. 32, Aug. 2012, pp. 13034–39. Epmc, doi:10.1073/pnas.1110994109.
Degnan PH, Pusey AE, Lonsdorf EV, Goodall J, Wroblewski EE, Wilson ML, Rudicell RS, Hahn BH, Ochman H. Factors associated with the diversification of the gut microbial communities within chimpanzees from Gombe National Park. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2012 Aug;109(32):13034–13039.
Journal cover image

Published In

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI

EISSN

1091-6490

ISSN

0027-8424

Publication Date

August 2012

Volume

109

Issue

32

Start / End Page

13034 / 13039

Related Subject Headings

  • Tanzania
  • Statistics, Nonparametric
  • Species Specificity
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
  • Pedigree
  • Pan troglodytes
  • Genetic Variation
  • Gastrointestinal Tract
  • Feces