Mucosal immune responses and intestinal microbiome associations in wild spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta)

Title (eng)
Mucosal immune responses and intestinal microbiome associations in wild spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta)
Author
Susana P. Veloso Soares
Author
Stephan Karl
Author
Gábor Á. Czirják
Author
Alexandra Weyrich
Author
Sonja Metzger
Author
Marion L. East
Author
Heribert Hofer
Author
Emanuel Heitlinger
Author
Sarah Benhaiem
Author
Susana C. M. Ferreira
Author
Victor H. Jarquín-Díaz
Author
Miguel M. Veiga
Description (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.
Keywords (eng)
Ecosystem EcologyEvolutionary EcologyMicrobial EcologyMucosal Immunology
Type (eng)
journal article
Language
[eng]
Persistent identifier
https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:4854
DOI
10.1038/s42003-025-08243-0
Is in series
Title (eng)
Communications Biology
Volume
8
Issue
1
ISSN
2399-3642
Issued
2025
Number of pages
13
Publication
Springer
Version type (eng)
version of record (published version)
Date issued
2025
Access rights (eng)
open access
License
CC BY 4.0 International
Rights statement (eng)
Copyright © 2025, The Author(s)