Social networks predict gut microbiome composition in wild baboons

Social relationships have profound effects on health in humans and other primates, but the mechanisms that explain this relationship are not well understood. Using shotgun metagenomic data from wild baboons, we found that social group membership and social network relationships predicted both the taxonomic structure of the gut microbiome and the structure of genes encoded by gut microbial species. Rates of interaction directly explained variation in the gut microbiome, even after controlling for diet, kinship, and shared environments. They therefore strongly implicate direct physical contact among social partners in the transmission of gut microbial species. We identified 51 socially structured taxa, which…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Awards: DEB 0919200, IOS 1053461
• NC
  National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation
• NC
  National Commission for Science and Technology
• NI
  National Institute on Aging

  Awards: R01 AG034513, P01 AG031719