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Microbial Genomics logo Microbial Genomics

Volume 10, Issue 12

The primate gut microbiota contributes to interspecific differences in host metabolism Open Access

Abstract

Because large brains are energetically expensive, they are associated with metabolic traits that facilitate energy availability across vertebrates. However, the biological underpinnings driving these traits are not known. Given its role in regulating host metabolism in disease studies, we hypothesized that the gut microbiome contributes to variation in normal cross-vertebrate species differences in metabolism, including those associated with the brain’s energetic requirements. By inoculating germ-free mice with the gut microbiota (GM) of three primate species – two with relatively larger brains and one with a smaller brain – we demonstrated that the GM of larger-brained primates shifts host metabolism towards energy use and production, while that of smaller-brained primates stimulates energy storage in adipose tissues. Our findings establish a causal role of the GM in normal cross-host species differences in metabolism associated with relative brain size and suggest that the GM may have been an important facilitator of metabolic changes during human evolution that supported encephalization.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
Keyword(s): encephalization , gluconeogenesis , life history , physiology and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs)
© 2024 The Authors
  • This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. This article was made open access via a Publish and Read agreement between the Microbiology Society and the corresponding author’s institution.
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2024-12-02
2025-04-20
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The primate gut microbiota contributes to interspecific differences in host metabolism
M Gen 10, 001322 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.001322
/content/journal/mgen/10.1099/mgen.0.001322
/content/journal/mgen/10.1099/mgen.0.001322
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