Mandrills and microbes II: the gut microbiome of a social primate

The primate gastro-intestinal tract is home to trillions of micro-organisms, which provide their host with essential benefits. In addition to aiding digestion and producing vitamins, gut micro-organisms play a crucial role in the host immune response, protecting the host from infection. Understanding the host-microbe relationship in primates thus has important implications for our understanding of primate health, behaviour, and evolution. With 60% of primates threatened with extinction, improving our understanding of their microbiome also has important implications for primate conservation, due to its importance in the diet and immune system. Moreover, because we are primates, understanding the primate microbiome has implications for our understanding of human evolution.

The project forms part of a long-term study of the behaviour, health, and physiology of a semi-free ranging colony of mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx, a large species of African primate) under naturalistic conditions. It combines microbiology and bioinformatics with the study of life history, behaviour, and immune responses to examine the host-microbe relationship in a social primate.

Mandrills are a particularly intriguing species for this study because of their complex sociality, and reliance on multimodal signalling. They live in unusually large groups, facilitating social transmission of microbiota. These groups are made up of females living in matrilines and males that can be full members of the group, peripheral or solitary. These sex differences in the strength and patterns of social bonds suggest that the factors influencing the composition of the gut microbiome may also differ between the sexes, and between individuals. Mandrills’ brightly coloured facial skin signals dominance in males, and age and fertility in females. Their odour encodes information on sex, rank, relatedness, major histocompatibility genotype, and individual identity. How these signals relate to the bacterial communities in the gut is not yet known.

The project benefits from existing samples and datasets, with which the PhD student can develop and refine their methods and test hypotheses. They will first extract DNA from existing faecal samples and use high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics to characterise the faecal microbiome of mandrills living under naturalistic conditions. They will use these data and our existing datasets to investigate the following hypotheses:

1. The composition of the faecal microbiome differs predictably with host-specific characteristics (age and maturational stage, sex, dominance rank, reproductive status)
2. The composition of the faecal microbiome is transmitted vertically from mother to offspring.
3. A shared environment facilitates the transmission of microbes. Thus, in social animals, group membership shapes the faecal microbiome.
4. Administration of an anti-parasite treatment affects the composition of the faecal microbiome. Such treatments have a strong influence on the faecal microbiome in humans and laboratory animals and can increase susceptibility to disease.
5. The composition of the faecal microbiome is related to the host’s immunological profile and phenotype.

If time allows, the student can then design and implement further sampling to address further questions. For example, they might choose to test the influence of environment on the faecal microbiome.

The project will contribute to our understanding of mammalian health and evolution, the coevolution of hosts and microbes (via collaboration with the Primate Microbiome Project), and the human microbiome (due to our phylogenetic proximity). The project also has the potential to benefit the health and welfare of captive primates and to influence protocols used to release primates into the wild. For example, routine veterinary treatment of captive populations with antiparasite treatments may reduce gut parasites (worms), but if it also reduces gut microbiome biodiversity, it may also alter gut functioning, with potential health implications for both captive populations and those being released into the wild. The knowledge produced by this study could enable release programs to develop protocols for preparing individuals’ gut microbiomes for the challenges of release to maximise their chances of success.

The student will develop the following key skills and expertise during the project: teamwork and collaboration; project management; research ethics and integrity; searching and critically assessing the literature; study design; funding applications; laboratory analysis including sample preparation for sequencing (gDNA extraction and nucleic acid quantification) and PCR/qPCR; data handling and bioinformatic analyses; hypothesis-testing, writing scientific reports; presenting at conferences.

Opportunities to teach and engage with non-academic audiences are available.

Application Deadline: 3rd January 2025 at 12 midday.

If you are an international applicant (non-UK), you will need to contact the primary supervisor of your chosen project by no later than the 9^th December 2024, because only international applicants sponsored by a primary supervisor may apply to Iapetus.

It is essential to contact the prospective supervisor well before this date to develop a competitive proposal. Note that Durham University closes from 20 Dec to 2 January.

Funding notes

Applicants are in competition with other applicants in the IAPETUS DTP.

To address historical imbalances in the higher education sector, Iapetus is committed to recruiting a diverse, representative community of researchers in Environmental Science. We are guided by the UKRI policies on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and have developed our own Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion policy to further this. The Widening Participation Scheme identifies Home applicants from underrepresented groups. The DTP aims to give up to 30% of interview places to those eligible for the Widening Participation Scheme but who would not have been shortlisted initially by the host organisation. Eligibility for the scheme, includes those from a UK minoritized ethnic group or those who lived in a Polar 1 quintile postcode when at secondary school.

To further the DTP’s aim to recruit from a diverse, representative community of researchers, Iapetus is pleased to introduce the Iapetus Diversifying Talent Scholarship Scheme, which runs separately but concurrently with the Studentship Competition. It is a separate scheme with different deadlines and processes. Consequently, if you are keen to apply for both opportunities, you will need to understand the different applicant obligations. For more information about the Scholarship Scheme, please see here.

• IAPETUS2 Studentship Funding Competition: https://iapetus2.ac.uk/how-to-apply/
• https://iapetus2.ac.uk/studentships/mandrills-and-microbes-ii-the-gut-microbiome/
• University Postgraduate application: https://studyatdurham.microsoftcrmportals.com/en-US/