When monkeys are brought into captivity, they lose the bacterial diversity of their native micriobiome. As researchers from the University of Minnesota recently found, the gut bacteria of captive monkeys resemble those of humans.
Scientists sequenced the DNA of bacteria collected from the guts of two monkey species, the highly endangered red-shanked douc and the mantled howler monkey. Researchers analyzed the microbiomes of both wild and captive specimens.
Among both species, captive specimens featured gut bacteria much less diverse and very similar to the microbial communities found in human intestines.
Researchers identified the same pattern in several zoos on three different continents.
The research also showed that microbiomes among individual wild monkeys are more distinct, while those of captive monkeys are more uniform.
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/201...e-human-microbes-in-their-guts/2781472585847/
https://cse.umn.edu/news-release/monkeys-zoos-human-gut-bacteria/
Paper: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2016/08/24/1521835113
Scientists sequenced the DNA of bacteria collected from the guts of two monkey species, the highly endangered red-shanked douc and the mantled howler monkey. Researchers analyzed the microbiomes of both wild and captive specimens.
Among both species, captive specimens featured gut bacteria much less diverse and very similar to the microbial communities found in human intestines.
Researchers identified the same pattern in several zoos on three different continents.
The research also showed that microbiomes among individual wild monkeys are more distinct, while those of captive monkeys are more uniform.
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/201...e-human-microbes-in-their-guts/2781472585847/
https://cse.umn.edu/news-release/monkeys-zoos-human-gut-bacteria/
Paper: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2016/08/24/1521835113