title: Variable responses of human and non-human primate gut microbiomes to a Western diet.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The human gut microbiota interacts closely with human diet and physiology. To better understand the mechanisms behind this relationship, gut microbiome research relies on complementing human studies with manipulations of animal models, including non-human primates. However, due to unique aspects of human diet and physiology, it is likely that host-gut microbe interactions operate differently in humans and non-human primates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Here, we show that the human microbiome reacts differently to a high-protein, high-fat Western diet than that of a model primate, the African green monkey, or vervet (Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus). Specifically, humans exhibit increased relative abundance of Firmicutes and reduced relative abundance of Prevotella on a Western diet while vervets show the opposite pattern. Predictive metagenomics demonstrate an increased relative abundance of genes associated with carbohydrate metabolism in the microbiome of only humans consuming a Western diet.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that the human gut microbiota has unique properties that are a result of changes in human diet and physiology across evolution or that may have contributed to the evolution of human physiology. Therefore, the role of animal models for understanding the relationship between the human gut microbiota and host metabolism must be re-focused.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, USA. katherine.amato@northwestern.edu.|Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, USA. katherine.amato@northwestern.edu.|BioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, USA. katherine.amato@northwestern.edu.
authors.forename: Katherine R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Amato
authors.affiliation: Department of Range Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, USA. carl.yeoman@montana.edu.
authors.forename: Carl J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Yeoman
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois, Urbana, USA. gcerda1188@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Gabriela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cerda
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Boston University, Boston, USA. caschmit@bu.edu.|Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. caschmit@bu.edu.
authors.forename: Christopher A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Schmitt
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Women's Studies, American Military University and American Public University, Charles Town, USA. jennifer.cramer@mycampus.apus.edu.
authors.forename: Jennifer Danzy
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Cramer
authors.affiliation: The Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA. meberg@illinois.edu.
authors.forename: Margret E Berg
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: The Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA. gomeza@umn.edu.|Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA. gomeza@umn.edu.
authors.forename: Andres
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gomez
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA. trudy@uwm.edu.|Department of Genetics, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. trudy@uwm.edu.
authors.forename: Trudy R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.affiliation: The Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA. bawilson@life.illinois.edu.|Department of Microbiology, University of Illinois, Urbana, USA. bawilson@life.illinois.edu.
authors.forename: Brenda A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois, Urbana, USA. rstumpf@illinois.edu.|The Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA. rstumpf@illinois.edu.
authors.forename: Rebecca M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Stumpf
authors.affiliation: The J. Craig Venter Institute, Rockville, USA. knelson@jcvi.org.
authors.forename: Karen E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.affiliation: The Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA. bwhite44@illinois.edu.|Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, USA. bwhite44@illinois.edu.
authors.forename: Bryan A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: White
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, USA. robknight@ucsd.edu.
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Knight
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, USA. steven.leigh@colorado.edu.|The Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA. steven.leigh@colorado.edu.
authors.forename: Steven R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Leigh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D059305:Diet, High-Fat; D066273:Diet, Western; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000068536:Bacillota / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome; D006801:Humans; D056186:Metagenomics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D064307:Microbiota; D023421:Models, Animal; D018720:Prevotella / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D004044:Dietary Proteins