Oregon Undergraduate Research Journal: Vol. 21 No. 2 (2023)

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https://hdl.handle.net/1794/28901

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Browsing Oregon Undergraduate Research Journal: Vol. 21 No. 2 (2023) by Author "Freedman, Emma"

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    Sociality and the Microbiome: Gut Microbial Convergence with Infant Presence in the Black-and-White Colobus (Colobus vellerosus)
    (University of Oregon, 2023-09) Freedman, Emma
    While previous studies have demonstrated that social behavior plays an important role in gut microbial variation, there is limited understanding of how changes in social cohesion affect the gut microbiome. This study provides a comprehensive examination of this longitudinal relationship in a population of black-and-white colobus monkey (Colobus vellerosus) at the Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary (BFMS) in Ghana. Adult female C. vellerosus display increases in social interaction after the birth of an infant, indicating a social shift which I utilized to explore the association between changes in social cohesion and the gut microbiome. I used previously collected field data (2018–2020) across four social groups, resulting in 218 total fecal samples and a mean of 17.2 hours of behavioral data per female. These data sets were employed to characterize microbiomes using 16S rRNA sequencing and quantify changes in social cohesion via social network analysis. Infant presence was significantly associated with gut microbial similarity (PERMANOVA: p<0.01), and for three of the social groups, gut microbiomes became more similar after infant birth (GLMM: p<0.036). Social network analysis did not reveal significant changes in social cohesion with infant presence, indicating that other changes in social interactions not included in this analysis may explain this pattern. Future work would aim to evaluate the basis for differences in gut microbial variation between social groups and explore the presence of grooming with an infant present. Investigating the relationship between social interactions and microbial variation ultimately contributes to our understanding of the factors influencing the assembly, composition, and diversity of the gut microbiome.