Publications

Gut microbiome composition of wild western lowland gorillas is associated with individual age and sex factors

Pafčo B, Sharma AK, Petrželková KJ, Vlčková K, Todd A, Yeoman CJ, Wilson BA, Stumpf R, White BA, Nelson KE, Leigh S, Gomez A

PMID: 31025322

Abstract

Environmental and ecological factors, such as geographic range, anthropogenic pressure, group identity, and feeding behavior are known to influence the gastrointestinal microbiomes of great apes. However, the influence of individual host traits such as age and sex, given specific dietary and social constraints, has been less studied. The objective of this investigation was to determine the associations between an individual's age and sex on the diversity and composition of the gut microbiome in wild western lowland gorillas.