Table_4_Seasonal variations in the gut microbiota of white-headed black langur (Trachypithecus leucocephalus) in a limestone forest in Southwest Guangxi, China.xlsx

Investigating gut microbiota is important for understanding the physiological adaptation of animals to food availability changes in fragmented habitats and consequently providing new ideas for the conservation of endangered wild animals. In this study, we explored the gut microbiota of the endangered white-headed black langur (Trachypithecus leucocephalus), which is endemic to the limestone forests of Southwest Guangxi, China, to understand its adaptation strategies to seasonal changes in habitat using 16S rRNA sequencing. Our results revealed significant seasonal variations in the gut microbiota of white-headed black langurs. In particular, the alpha diversity was higher in the rainy season than in the dry season, and the beta diversity was significantly different between the two seasons. At the phylum level, the relative abundance of Firmicutes, Actinobacteriota, and Proteobacteria was higher in the dry season than that in the rainy season, whereas that of Bacteroidetes, Spirochaetota, and Cyanobacteria was significantly higher in the rainy season than that in the dry season. At the family level, Oscillospiraceae and Eggerthellaceae were more abundant in the dry season than in the rainy season, whereas Lachnospiraceae, Ruminococcaceae, and Monoglobaceae were more abundant in the rainy season than in the dry season. These results could have been obtained due to seasonal changes in the diet of langurs in response to food plant phenology. In addition, the neutral community model revealed that the gut microbiota assembly of these langurs was dominated by deterministic processes and was more significantly affected by ecological factors in the dry season than in the rainy season, which could be linked to the higher dependence of these langurs on mature leaves in the dry season. We concluded that the seasonal variations in the gut microbiota of white-headed black langurs occurred in response to food plant phenology in their habitat, highlighting the importance of microbiota in responding to fluctuating ecological factors and adapting to seasonal dietary changes.

探究肠道微生物群对于理解动物适应破碎生境中食物可获取性变化的生理适应性具有重要意义，进而为濒危野生动物的保育提供新的思路。在本研究中，我们探讨了濒危的白头叶猴（Trachypithecus leucocephalus）的肠道微生物群，该物种为中国西南石灰岩森林的特有物种，通过16S rRNA测序技术，旨在理解其适应栖息地季节性变化的策略。我们的研究结果表明，白头叶猴的肠道微生物群在季节上存在显著差异。具体而言，α多样性在雨季高于旱季，而β多样性在两个季节间存在显著差异。在门水平上，厚壁菌门（Firmicutes）、放线菌门（Actinobacteriota）和变形菌门（Proteobacteria）的相对丰度在旱季高于雨季，而拟杆菌门（Bacteroidetes）、螺旋体门（Spirochaetota）和蓝藻门（Cyanobacteria）的相对丰度在雨季显著高于旱季。在科水平上，梭杆菌科（Oscillospiraceae）和埃格特氏科（Eggerthellaceae）在旱季比雨季更为丰富，而毛螺菌科（Lachnospiraceae）、瘤胃球菌科（Ruminococcaceae）和单胞菌科（Monoglobaceae）在雨季比旱季更为丰富。这些结果可能是由叶猴对食物植物物候变化的饮食适应性变化所导致。此外，中性群落模型揭示，这些叶猴的肠道微生物群组装主要由确定性过程主导，且在旱季比雨季受到生态因素的影响更为显著，这可能与这些叶猴在旱季对成熟叶片的更高依赖有关。我们得出结论，白头叶猴肠道微生物群的季节性变化是对其栖息地中食物植物物候变化的响应，突显了微生物群在应对波动生态因素和适应季节性饮食变化中的重要性。