https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:4854 Mucosal immune responses and intestinal microbiome associations in wild spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) Veloso Soares, Susana P. Susana P. Veloso Soares Karl, Stephan Stephan Karl Czirják, Gábor Á. Gábor Á. Czirják 0000-0001-9488-0069 Weyrich, Alexandra Alexandra Weyrich 0000-0002-6944-1854 Metzger, Sonja Sonja Metzger East, Marion L. Marion L. East Hofer, Heribert Heribert Hofer 0000-0002-2813-7442 Heitlinger, Emanuel Emanuel Heitlinger Benhaiem, Sarah Sarah Benhaiem 0000-0002-9121-5298 Ferreira, Susana C. M. Susana C. M. Ferreira 0000-0003-0265-0210 University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna Jarquín-Díaz, Victor H. Victor H. Jarquín-Díaz 0000-0003-3758-1091 Veiga, Miguel M. Miguel M. Veiga Springer journal article open access eng 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. Ecosystem Ecology Evolutionary Ecology Microbial Ecology Mucosal Immunology http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/api/object/o:4854/download 10.1038/s42003-025-08243-0 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:605 application/pdf Communications Biology issn:2399-3642 VoR Communications Biology 8 1 2.15 MB 2025