Individual differences in behaviour and gut bacteria are associated in collared peccary (Mammalia, Tayassuidae)

Individual differences in behaviour and gut bacteria are associated in collared peccary (Mammalia, Tayassuidae)

Aims We tested the hypothesis that the behaviour of an individual is associated with the diversity of its gut bacteria, using the collared peccary (Pecari tajacu) as a model. Methods and Results In all, 24 adult male collared peccaries received either low‐ (n = 12) or high‐fibre diet (n = 12) to ind...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied microbiology Vol. 131; no. 6; pp. 2748 - 2762
Main Authors: Cairo, P.L.G., Nogueira, S.S.C., Altino, V.S., Vandenheede, M., Schroyen, M., Taminiau, B., Daube, G., Gross, E., Bindelle, J., Nogueira‐Filho, S.L.G.
Format: Journal Article Web Resource
Language:English
Published: England Oxford University Press 01-12-2021
Wiley
Subjects:
animal domestication
Animal health
Animal husbandry
Animal welfare
Animals
Bacteria
bacterial diversity
behaviour differences
behavioural differences
coping style
Dietary fiber
Digestibility
Diversity indices
Feed efficiency
Fermentation
gut microbiota
gut picrobiota
Life sciences
Microbiologie
Microbiology
Microbiota
Pecari tajacu
Relative abundance
Sciences du vivant
Tayassu
bacterial diversity
animal domestication
coping-style
behavioral differences
gut microbiota
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Summary:Aims We tested the hypothesis that the behaviour of an individual is associated with the diversity of its gut bacteria, using the collared peccary (Pecari tajacu) as a model. Methods and Results In all, 24 adult male collared peccaries received either low‐ (n = 12) or high‐fibre diet (n = 12) to induce contrasting gut fermentation profiles. They were submitted to three short‐term challenges, allowing us to rate the animals in a coping‐style dimension named ‘calmness’. At the end of the experimental period, we collected samples of peccaries’ forestomach contents to characterize bacterial diversity. We found a significant positive association between individual ‘calmness’ z‐scores and the bacterial evenness index in gut bacteria (and a similar trend with the Simpson’s diversity index), suggesting a more homogeneous bacterial community of calmer individuals. We also found a positive association between fibres digestibility and gut bacterial diversity in the peccaries’ forestomach, but no effect of the dietary fibre level. Conclusions Gut bacteria evenness increases with ‘calmness’ z‐scores, suggesting a more homogeneous bacterial community of calmer individuals, compared with the more heterogeneous of the most distressed ones. Our results also suggest associations between the digestibility of ADF with the gut bacterial diversity indices and with the relative abundance of the Actinobacteria phylum. Significance and Impact of the Study Our data showed that the hosts’ individual behavioural differences are potentially aligned with gut bacterial diversity. The behaviour–microbiota link is correlated with host feed efficiency and, ultimately, may have implications for animal health and welfare of farm animals.
Bibliography:Jérôme Bindelle and Sérgio L.G. Nogueira‐Filho contributed equally to the work and should be considered as co‐last authors.
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
scopus-id:2-s2.0-85106291903
ISSN:1364-5072
1365-2672
1365-2672
DOI:10.1111/jam.15133