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ELife Jun 2023Ecological associations among gut bacteria are largely consistent across hosts in a population of wild baboons.
Ecological associations among gut bacteria are largely consistent across hosts in a population of wild baboons.
Topics: Animals; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Papio; Bacteria
PubMed: 37358559
DOI: 10.7554/eLife.89468 -
Current Biology : CB Jun 2022Before visiting your local supermarket, do you write your food shopping list in the order you expect to encounter the items as you walk around, aisle by aisle? This way,...
Before visiting your local supermarket, do you write your food shopping list in the order you expect to encounter the items as you walk around, aisle by aisle? This way, you minimise your travel distance, saving time and effort. Many other animals do the same. Baboons (Papio ursinus) plan their foraging journeys to out-of-sight resources, moving in an efficient, goal-directed way, and nectar-collecting bumble bees (Bombus impatiens) use efficient travel routes when foraging on familiar resources.
Topics: Animals; Bees; Feeding Behavior; Plant Nectar
PubMed: 35728553
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.04.072 -
Xenotransplantation Sep 2020Xenotransplantation may be an alternative source of organs for patients with end-stage organ failure, but problems remain to be overcome. Five factors that are... (Review)
Review
Xenotransplantation may be an alternative source of organs for patients with end-stage organ failure, but problems remain to be overcome. Five factors that are problematic are (a) a sustained systemic inflammatory response in the xenograft recipient, (b) thrombotic microangiopathy and disseminated intravascular coagulation, (c) ischemia-reperfusion injury, (d) complement activation, and (e) vascular endothelial cell injury. In xenotransplantation, histones, which are positively charged proteins, are released into the extracellular space from damaged and activated cells, cause cell and tissue damage, and act as danger/damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) that mediate inflammation, coagulation disorders, an immune response, and cytotoxicity. We have previously demonstrated that serum histones increase after pig-to-baboon organ transplantation and infection. Treatment of the recipient with tocilizumab (interleukin-6 receptor blockade) reduces the level of serum histones and C-reactive protein. In this review, the potential role of extracellular histones in xenotransplantation is discussed, and we briefly summarize the relationship between extracellular histones and the inflammatory response, coagulation dysfunction, ischemia-reperfusion injury, the complement system, and vascular endothelial cell injury.
Topics: Animals; Blood Coagulation; Blood Coagulation Disorders; Complement System Proteins; Heterografts; Histones; Humans; Inflammation; Papio; Reperfusion Injury; Swine; Transplantation, Heterologous
PubMed: 32940936
DOI: 10.1111/xen.12618 -
Zygote (Cambridge, England) Oct 2021Sperm morphometric and morphologic data have been shown to represent useful tools for monitoring fertility, improving assisted reproduction techniques and conservation...
Sperm morphometric and morphologic data have been shown to represent useful tools for monitoring fertility, improving assisted reproduction techniques and conservation of genetic material as well as detecting inbreeding of endangered primates. We provide here for the first time sperm morphologic and morphometric data from Cercopithecus neglectus, Cercopithecus cephus, Papio papio and critically endangered Cercopithecus roloway, as well as comparative data from other Cercopithecinae species, i.e. Allochrocebus lhoesti, Mandrillus sphinx and Papio anubis. Following collection from the epididymis, spermatozoa were measured for each species for the following parameters: head length, head width, head perimeter, head area, midpiece length and total flagellum length, and the head volume, ellipticity, elongation, roughness and regularity were then calculated. Our data are consistent with both the general morphology and the morphometric proportions of Cercopithecinae sperm. Some specificities were observed, with C. cephus displaying a narrow head (width = 2.76 ± 0.26 µM) and C. roloway displaying a short midpiece (6.65 ± 0.61 µM). This data set represents an important contribution, especially for Cercopithecus roloway, one of the most endangered monkeys in the world, and further data on additional specimens coupled to data on mating systems and reproductive ecology should allow a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying these morphological differences across primate species.
Topics: Animals; Cercopithecinae; Epididymis; Fertility; Male; Reproduction; Sperm Head; Spermatozoa
PubMed: 33731237
DOI: 10.1017/S0967199421000186 -
Evolutionary Anthropology Sep 2022Natural selection will favor male care when males have limited alternative mating opportunities, can invest in their own offspring, and when care enhances males'... (Review)
Review
Natural selection will favor male care when males have limited alternative mating opportunities, can invest in their own offspring, and when care enhances males' fitness. These conditions are easiest to fulfill in pair-bonded species, but neither male care nor stable "breeding bonds" that facilitate it are limited to pair-bonded species. We review evidence of paternal care and extended breeding bonds in owl monkeys, baboons, Assamese macaques, mountain gorillas, and chimpanzees. The data, which span social/mating systems and ecologies, suggest that there are multiple pathways by which conditions conducive to male care can arise. This diversity highlights the difficulty of making inferences about the emergence of male care in early hominins based on single traits visible in the fossil record. We discuss what types of data are most needed and the questions yet to be answered about the evolution of male care and extended breeding bonds in the primate order.
Topics: Animals; Male; Sexual Behavior, Animal; Primates; Aotidae; Reproduction; Gorilla gorilla; Papio
PubMed: 35289027
DOI: 10.1002/evan.21942 -
Theory in Biosciences = Theorie in Den... Jun 2020The aim of the paper is to identify psychosomatic evolutionary adaptations of hominids, which direct them at maximizing their reproductive success, and on the basis of...
The aim of the paper is to identify psychosomatic evolutionary adaptations of hominids, which direct them at maximizing their reproductive success, and on the basis of which their various social structures are built. Selected features of the hominid last common ancestor were extracted; by reducing the influence of the social structure, they were defined as the hominid "sexual nature"; these considerations were supported by the analysis of sexual jealousy as a function of socio-environmental conditions. The "sexuality core" of a hominid female was defined as "selective polyandry"-the female selects the best males among those available; and of a hominid male as "tolerant promiscuity"-the male strives for multi-male and multi-female copulations with sexually attractive females. The extracted "sexuality cores" condemn hominids to a patriarchal social structure and thus to sexual coercion and jealousy. The source of male sexual jealousy is limited access to females. Hominid female jealousy of the male results mainly from the need for protection and support. Hominids' social structures are determined by females' sexual selectivity or opportunism and by their continuous or periodic proceptivity and estrus signaling. Evolutionary functions developed by women: out-estrus sexuality, copulation calls, multiple orgasms, allow them to obtain the best possible spermatozoid. The institution of marriage blocks the influence of sexual selection in the species Homo sapiens.
Topics: Animals; Biological Evolution; Copulation; Female; Hominidae; Humans; Hylobates; Jealousy; Macaca; Male; Models, Biological; Models, Theoretical; Pan troglodytes; Papio; Reproduction; Sexual Behavior; Sexual Behavior, Animal; Sexuality
PubMed: 32170558
DOI: 10.1007/s12064-020-00312-8 -
Aging Nov 2021
Topics: Animals; Cell Proliferation; Cells, Cultured; Cellular Senescence; Female; Fibroblasts; Homeostasis; Male; Models, Biological; Oxidative Stress; Papio; Stress, Physiological
PubMed: 34845113
DOI: 10.18632/aging.203728 -
Genes Feb 2023Baboons (genus ) are an intriguing study system to investigate complex evolutionary processes and the evolution of social systems. An increasing number of studies over... (Review)
Review
Baboons (genus ) are an intriguing study system to investigate complex evolutionary processes and the evolution of social systems. An increasing number of studies over the last 20 years has shown that considerable incongruences exist between phylogenies based on morphology, mitochondrial, and nuclear sequence data of modern baboons, and hybridization and introgression have been suggested as the main drivers of these patterns. Baboons, therefore, present an excellent opportunity to study these phenomena and their impact on speciation. Advances both in geographic and genomic coverage provide increasing details on the complexity of the phylogeography of baboons. Here, we compile the georeferenced genetic data of baboons and review the current knowledge on baboon phylogeny, discuss the evolutionary processes that may have shaped the patterns that we observe today, and propose future avenues for research.
Topics: Animals; Papio; Phylogeny; Phylogeography; Hybridization, Genetic; Genomics
PubMed: 36980887
DOI: 10.3390/genes14030614 -
Viruses Aug 2022The practice of xenotransplantation using pig islet cells or organs is under development to alleviate the shortage of human donor islet cells or organs for the treatment... (Review)
Review
The practice of xenotransplantation using pig islet cells or organs is under development to alleviate the shortage of human donor islet cells or organs for the treatment of diabetes or organ failure. Multiple genetically modified pigs were generated to prevent rejection. Xenotransplantation may be associated with the transmission of potentially zoonotic porcine viruses. In order to prevent this, we developed highly sensitive PCR-based, immunologicals and other methods for the detection of numerous xenotransplantation-relevant viruses. These methods were used for the screening of donor pigs and xenotransplant recipients. Of special interest are the porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) that are integrated in the genome of all pigs, which are able to infect human cells, and that cannot be eliminated by methods that other viruses can. We showed, using droplet digital PCR, that the number of PERV proviruses is different in different pigs (usually around 60). Furthermore, the copy number is different in different organs of a single pig, indicating that PERVs are active in the living animals. We showed that in the first clinical trials treating diabetic patients with pig islet cells, no porcine viruses were transmitted. However, in preclinical trials transplanting pig hearts orthotopically into baboons, porcine cytomegalovirus (PCMV), a porcine roseolovirus (PCMV/PRV), and porcine circovirus 3 (PCV3), but no PERVs, were transmitted. PCMV/PRV transmission resulted in a significant reduction of the survival time of the xenotransplant. PCMV/PRV was also transmitted in the first pig heart transplantation to a human patient and possibly contributed to the death of the patient. Transmission means that the virus was detected in the recipient, however it remains unclear whether it can infect primate cells, including human cells. We showed previously that PCMV/PRV can be eliminated from donor pigs by early weaning. PERVs were also not transmitted by inoculation of human cell-adapted PERV into small animals, rhesus monkey, baboons and cynomolgus monkeys, even when pharmaceutical immunosuppression was applied. Since PERVs were not transmitted in clinical, preclinical, or infection experiments, it remains unclear whether they should be inactivated in the pig genome by CRISPR/Cas. In summary, by using our sensitive methods, the safety of xenotransplantation can be ensured.
Topics: Animals; Endogenous Retroviruses; Heterografts; Humans; Macaca fascicularis; Papio; Pharmaceutical Preparations; Primates; Transplantation, Heterologous
PubMed: 36146732
DOI: 10.3390/v14091926 -
Science Advances Oct 2023Humans are strategic cooperators; we make decisions on the basis of costs and benefits to maintain high levels of cooperation, and this is thought to have played a key...
Humans are strategic cooperators; we make decisions on the basis of costs and benefits to maintain high levels of cooperation, and this is thought to have played a key role in human evolution. In comparison, monkeys and apes might lack the cognitive capacities necessary to develop flexible forms of cooperation. We show that Guinea baboons () can use direct reciprocity and partner choice to develop and maintain high levels of cooperation in a prosocial choice task. Our findings demonstrate that monkeys have the cognitive capacities to adjust their level of cooperation strategically using a combination of partner choice and partner control strategies. Such capacities were likely present in our common ancestor and would have provided the foundations for the evolution of typically human forms of cooperation.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Papio papio; Hominidae; Cooperative Behavior
PubMed: 37889969
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adi5282