title: Gorilla gorilla gorilla gut: a potential reservoir of pathogenic bacteria as revealed using culturomics and molecular tools.
abstract: Wild apes are considered to be the most serious reservoir and source of zoonoses. However, little data are available about the gut microbiota and pathogenic bacteria in gorillas. For this propose, a total of 48 fecal samples obtained from 21 Gorilla gorilla gorilla individuals (as revealed via microsatellite analysis) were screened for human bacterial pathogens using culturomics and molecular techniques. By applying culturomics to one index gorilla and using specific media supplemented by plants, we tested 12,800 colonies and identified 147 different bacterial species, including 5 new species. Many opportunistic pathogens were isolated, including 8 frequently associated with human diseases; Mycobacterium bolletii, Proteus mirabilis, Acinetobacter baumannii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Serratia marcescens, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium botulinum. The genus Treponema accounted for 27.4% of the total reads identified at the genus level via 454 pyrosequencing. Using specific real-time PCR on 48 gorilla fecal samples, in addition to classical human pathogens, we also observed the fastidious bacteria Bartonella spp. Borrelia spp., Coxiella burnetii and Tropheryma whipplei in the gorilla population. We estimated that the prevalence of these pathogens vary between 4.76% and 85.7%. Therefore, gorillas share many bacterial pathogens with humans suggesting that they could be a reservoir for their emergence.
authors.affiliation: Aix Marseille Université, URMITE, UM63, CNRS 7278, IRD 198, Inserm 1095, 13005 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Fadi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bittar
authors.affiliation: Aix Marseille Université, URMITE, UM63, CNRS 7278, IRD 198, Inserm 1095, 13005 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Mamadou B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Keita
authors.affiliation: Aix Marseille Université, URMITE, UM63, CNRS 7278, IRD 198, Inserm 1095, 13005 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Christophe
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Lagier
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, University Montpellier 1, UMI 233, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Martine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peeters
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, University Montpellier 1, UMI 233, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Delaporte
authors.affiliation: Aix Marseille Université, URMITE, UM63, CNRS 7278, IRD 198, Inserm 1095, 13005 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Didier
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Raoult
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018420:Ape Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D006071:Gorilla gorilla / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology*; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial