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. 2021 Jul;82(1):215-223.
doi: 10.1007/s00248-020-01677-5. Epub 2021 Jan 20.

I Like the Way You Eat It: Lemur (Indri indri) Gut Mycobiome and Geophagy

Luigimaria Borruso  1 , Alice Checcucci  2 , Valeria Torti  3 , Federico Correa  2 , Camillo Sandri  2   4 , Daine Luise  2 , Luciano Cavani  2 , Monica Modesto  2 , Caterina Spiezio  4 , Tanja Mimmo  5 , Stefano Cesco  5 , Maura Di Vito  6 , Francesca Bugli  6   7 , Rose M Randrianarison  8   9 , Marco Gamba  3 , Nianja J Rarojoson  10 , Cesare Avesani Zaborra  4 , Paola Mattarelli  11 , Paolo Trevisi  2 , Cristina Giacoma  3
Affiliations

I Like the Way You Eat It: Lemur (Indri indri) Gut Mycobiome and Geophagy

Luigimaria Borruso et al. Microb Ecol. 2021 Jul.

Abstract

Here, we investigated the possible linkages among geophagy, soil characteristics, and gut mycobiome of indri (Indri indri), an endangered lemur species able to survive only in wild conditions. The soil eaten by indri resulted in enriched secondary oxide-hydroxides and clays, together with a high concentration of specific essential micronutrients. This could partially explain the role of the soil in detoxification and as a nutrient supply. Besides, we found that soil subject to geophagy and indris' faeces shared about 8.9% of the fungal OTUs. Also, several genera (e.g. Fusarium, Aspergillus and Penicillium) commonly associated with soil and plant material were found in both geophagic soil and indri samples. On the contrary, some taxa with pathogenic potentials, such as Cryptococcus, were only found in indri samples. Further, many saprotrophs and plant-associated fungal taxa were detected in the indri faeces. These fungal species may be involved in the digestion processes of leaves and could have a beneficial role in their health. In conclusion, we found an intimate connection between gut mycobiome and soil, highlighting, once again, the potential consequent impacts on the wider habitat.

Keywords: Conservation; Gut; Indri indri; Mycobiome; Non-human primates; Soil quality.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
a Localisation of the study site, the Maromizaha Forest, in north-eastern Madagascar; (b) indri eating a mature, speckled leaf; (c) indri eating young leaves; (d) indri eating soil from a fallen tree site
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Venn diagram showing the number and percentage of shared fungal OTUs between geophagic soils and indri. OTUs were defined by 97% sequence similarity
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Bubble plot representing the relative abundance of the most abundant Genera. The asterisk (*) indicates the significative difference between soil and indri samples (p value < 0.05 and LDA score > 2.0)
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Bar plots representing the relative abundance of predicted fungal functions/guilds. The asterisks (*), indicate the significative difference between soil and indri samples (p value < 0.05 and LDA score > 2.0) LDA score and p value of the most abundant genera are shown in Supplemental information (Tab. S1 and S2)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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