Gut microbiome profiles of two limestone forest-dwelling langurs show stronger influence of host-associated factors than environment.

Authors

Wen Xie, Shiyi Lu, Zheng Liu, Jingjin Zheng, Fengxiang Mo, Kechu Zhang, Zhonghao Huang

Published in

Frontiers in microbiology. Volume 17. Pages 1953526. Epub Sep 30, 2026.

Abstract

Host-associated factor and the environment play crucial roles in shaping the composition and function of the gut microbiome. Considerable debate exists regarding the relative influence of host-associated and environmental factors on the gut microbiome. To determine the relative importance of host-associated factors and environmental factors in langurs, we employed metagenomic sequencing to examine differences in the gut microbiome of the white-headed langurs (Trachypithecus leucocephalus) and François' langurs (T. francoisi).
The results revealed that the alpha diversity of the gut microbiome significantly differed between white-headed langurs and François' langurs in similar habitats. However, there was no significant variation in the alpha diversity between the wild and captive François' langurs. Similarly, the proportion of Bacillota differed between the langur species, with a higher proportion in the white-headed langurs than the François' langurs. In addition, significant separation in gut microbiome functions also occurred between the two species. The functional genes related to metabolism (e.g., carbohydrate metabolism and amino acid metabolism) and Glycoside Hydrolases in wild François' langurs were more abundant than in the other langurs. The results of PCoA showed that the pathways were significantly separated between white-headed langurs and François' langurs at four levels in the KEGG database, whereas the pathways showed no significant differences between the wild and captive François' langurs except for module level. The proportion of ARGs related to multidrug resistance was higher in wild François' langurs, likely associated with the utilization of poultry manure and antibacterial biocides in the langur's habitat.
Our study demonstrates that the host-associated factors have stronger influence on shaping the gut microbiome of langurs than environmental factors. These findings provide data on the relative contributions of host-associated factors and environmental factors to the gut microbiome of langurs and identify potential driving factors for antibiotic resistance genes. In addition, these findings provide crucial insights into the influence of host-associated factors on the gut microbiome, offering a theoretical basis for future langur conservation strategies.

PMID:
42876851
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 15 Oct 2026.

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