phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at o:4854 DOI 10.1038/s42003-025-08243-0 Mucosal immune responses and intestinal microbiome associations in wild spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) Little is known about host-gut microbiome interactions within natural populations at the intestinal mucosa, the primary interface. We investigate associations between the intestinal microbiome and mucosal immune measures while controlling for host, social and ecological factors in 199 samples of 158 wild spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. We profile the microbiome composition using a multi-amplicon approach and measure faecal immunoglobulin A and mucin. Probabilistic models indicate that both immune measures predicted microbiome similarity among individuals in an age-dependent manner. These associations are the strongest within bacteria, intermediate within parasites, and weakest within fungi communities. Machine learning models accurately predicted both immune measures and identify the taxa driving these associations: symbiotic bacteria reported in humans and laboratory mice, unclassified bacteria, parasitic hookworms and fungi. These findings improve our understanding of the gut microbiome, its drivers, and interactions in wild populations under natural selection. eng Ecosystem Ecology Evolutionary Ecology Microbial Ecology Mucosal Immunology 2026-02-03T10:20:59.138Z LOMv1.0 Author BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Veloso Soares;Susana P.; FN:Susana P. Veloso Soares END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Karl;Stephan; FN:Stephan Karl END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Czirják;Gábor Á.; FN:Gábor Á. Czirják X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9488-0069 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Weyrich;Alexandra; FN:Alexandra Weyrich X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6944-1854 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Metzger;Sonja; FN:Sonja Metzger END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:East;Marion L.; FN:Marion L. East END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Hofer;Heribert; FN:Heribert Hofer X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2813-7442 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Heitlinger;Emanuel; FN:Emanuel Heitlinger END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Benhaiem;Sarah; FN:Sarah Benhaiem X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9121-5298 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Ferreira;Susana C. M.; FN:Susana C. M. Ferreira X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0265-0210 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Jarquín-Díaz;Victor H.; FN:Victor H. Jarquín-Díaz X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3758-1091 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Veiga;Miguel M.; FN:Miguel M. Veiga END:VCARD https://w3id.org/kim/hcrt/scheme https://w3id.org/kim/hcrt/text Textdokument Text LOMv1.0 yes https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 application/pdf 2256735 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:4854 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/api/object/o:4854/thumbnail LOMv1.0 discipline