The role of social connectivity in gut microbial transmission and consequences for pathogen defense

A study of Grant’s gazelle (Nanger granti) behavior and infection in Kenya, using 130 captured, tagged and tracked individuals over 4 years,to determine how social connectivity has a role in gut microbial transmission. Grant’s gazelle is an African bovid species primarily found in the semiarid region of East Africa. They are a gregarious-territorial species where males compete amongst each other for territories and indirectly control access to females that typically live in groups of 2-20 individuals. Females are free to move between male territories and group membership is variable, making them an ideal study species to examine variation in social connectivity and gut microbial transmission.