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The ISME Journal Oct 2020Many small mammals engage in coprophagy, or the behavior of consuming feces, as a means to meet nutritional requirements when feeding on low-quality foods. In addition...
Many small mammals engage in coprophagy, or the behavior of consuming feces, as a means to meet nutritional requirements when feeding on low-quality foods. In addition to nutritional benefits, coprophagy may also help herbivores retain necessary gut microbial diversity and function, which may have downstream physiological effects, such as maintaining energy balance and cognitive function. Here, we used collars to prevent Brandt's vole (Lasiopodomys brandtii) from engaging in coprophagy and monitored changes in microbial community structure, energy metabolism, and cognitive performance. In this research, we found that coprophagy prevention decreased alpha diversity of the gut microbiota, and altered proportions of microbial taxa such as Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Oscillospira. Preventing coprophagy resulted in a reduced body mass, and increased food intake. Importantly, coprophagy prevention decreased vole cognitive behavior and altered levels of neurotransmitters in brain. Daily acetate administration was able to reverse some of the coprophagy prevention-induced changes in microbiota composition, metabolism, neurochemistry, and cognitive behavior. These findings identify the functional importance of coprophagy behavior and interactions between the gut microbiota, energy metabolism, and neurological function. Our results suggest that coprophagy contributes to stabilizing the gut microbiota, promoting microbial metabolism, maintaining host energy balance and, consequently, altering cognitive performance.
Topics: Animals; Cognition; Coprophagia; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Mammals; Neurochemistry
PubMed: 32632263
DOI: 10.1038/s41396-020-0711-6 -
Ecology and Evolution Jan 2023Coprophagy, the eating of feces, has been documented in a wide range of species but appears to be rare or difficult to detect in deer (Cervidae). Here, we report the...
Coprophagy, the eating of feces, has been documented in a wide range of species but appears to be rare or difficult to detect in deer (Cervidae). Here, we report the first observation of coprophagy in moose , which was recorded using camera collars on free-ranging moose in Norway. The footage shows an instance of allocoprophagy by an adult female moose in spring (May). We summarize the current knowledge about coprophagy in deer and briefly discuss potential drivers and possible implications for disease transmission. Further research is needed to determine whether coprophagy occurs frequently in moose and whether this behavior is positive (e.g., increased intake of nutrients) or negative (increased infection by parasites or pathogens).
PubMed: 36699571
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9757 -
The Cornell Veterinarian Oct 1991Coprophagy is performed by rodents and lagomorphs and to a lesser degree by piglets, foals, dogs and nonhuman primates. Due to the construction of the digestive system... (Review)
Review
Coprophagy is performed by rodents and lagomorphs and to a lesser degree by piglets, foals, dogs and nonhuman primates. Due to the construction of the digestive system of rodents and rabbits, coprophagy is necessary to supply many essential nutrients. Bacterial synthesis of nutrients occurs in the lower gastrointestinal tract in these animals where little absorption is realized. The eating of their feces provides a method for obtaining these nutrients.
Topics: Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Animals; Coprophagia; Horses; Lagomorpha; Primates; Rodentia; Swine
PubMed: 1954740
DOI: No ID Found -
Microorganisms Dec 2021Microbiomes are transmitted between generations by a variety of different vertical and/or horizontal modes, including vegetative reproduction (vertical), via female germ... (Review)
Review
Microbiomes are transmitted between generations by a variety of different vertical and/or horizontal modes, including vegetative reproduction (vertical), via female germ cells (vertical), coprophagy and regurgitation (vertical and horizontal), physical contact starting at birth (vertical and horizontal), breast-feeding (vertical), and via the environment (horizontal). Analyses of vertical transmission can result in false negatives (failure to detect rare microbes) and false positives (strain variants). In humans, offspring receive most of their initial gut microbiota vertically from mothers during birth, via breast-feeding and close contact. Horizontal transmission is common in marine organisms and involves selectivity in determining which environmental microbes can colonize the organism's microbiome. The following arguments are put forth concerning accurate microbial transmission: First, the transmission may be of functions, not necessarily of species; second, horizontal transmission may be as accurate as vertical transmission; third, detection techniques may fail to detect rare microbes; lastly, microbiomes develop and reach maturity with their hosts. In spite of the great variation in means of transmission discussed in this paper, microbiomes and their functions are transferred from one generation of holobionts to the next with fidelity. This provides a strong basis for each holobiont to be considered a unique biological entity and a level of selection in evolution, largely maintaining the uniqueness of the entity and conserving the species from one generation to the next.
PubMed: 35056519
DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms10010070 -
Frontiers in Physiology 2022The endotherms, particularly the small mammals living in the polar region and temperate zone, are faced with extreme challenges for maintaining stable core body...
The endotherms, particularly the small mammals living in the polar region and temperate zone, are faced with extreme challenges for maintaining stable core body temperatures in harsh cold winter. The non-hibernating small mammals increase metabolic rate including obligatory thermogenesis (basal/resting metabolic rate, BMR/RMR) and regulatory thermogenesis (mainly nonshivering thermogenesis, NST, in brown adipose tissue and skeletal muscle) to maintain thermal homeostasis in cold conditions. A substantial amount of evidence indicates that the symbiotic gut microbiota are sensitive to air temperature, and play an important function in cold-induced thermoregulation, via bacterial metabolites and byproducts such as short-chain fatty acids and secondary bile acids. Cold signal is sensed by specific thermosensitive transient receptor potential channels (thermo-TRPs), and then norepinephrine (NE) is released from sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and thyroid hormones also increase to induce NST. Meanwhile, these neurotransmitters and hormones can regulate the diversity and compositions of the gut microbiota. Therefore, cold-induced NST is controlled by both Thermo-TRPs-SNS-gut microbiota axis and thyroid-gut microbiota axis. Besides physiological thermoregulation, small mammals also rely on behavioral regulation, such as huddling and coprophagy, to maintain energy and thermal homeostasis, and the gut microbial community is involved in these processes. The present review summarized the recent progress in the gut microbiota and host physiological and behavioral thermoregulation in small mammals for better understanding the evolution and adaption of holobionts (host and symbiotic microorganism). The coevolution of host-microorganism symbionts promotes individual survival, population maintenance, and species coexistence in the ecosystems with complicated, variable environments.
PubMed: 35480035
DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.888324 -
BMC Microbiology May 2023Coprophagy plays a vital role in maintaining growth and development in many small herbivores. Here, we constructed a coprophagy model by dividing rabbits into three...
BACKGROUND
Coprophagy plays a vital role in maintaining growth and development in many small herbivores. Here, we constructed a coprophagy model by dividing rabbits into three groups, namely, control group (CON), sham-coprophagy prevention group (SCP), and coprophagy prevention group (CP), to explore the effects of coprophagy prevention on growth performance and cecal microecology in rabbits.
RESULTS
Results showed that CP treatment decreased the feed utilization and growth performance of rabbits. Serum total cholesterol and total triglyceride in the CP group were remarkably lower than those in the other two groups. Furthermore, CP treatment destroyed cecum villi and reduced the content of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in cecum contents. Gut microbiota profiling showed significant differences in the phylum and genus composition of cecal microorganisms among the three groups. At the genus level, the abundance of Oscillospira and Ruminococcus decreased significantly in the CP group. Enrichment analysis of metabolic pathways showed a significantly up-regulated differential metabolic pathway (PWY-7315, dTDP-N-acetylthomosamine biosynthesis) in the CP group compared with that in the CON group. Correlation analysis showed that the serum biochemical parameters were positively correlated with the abundance of Oscillospira, Sutterella, and Butyricimonas but negatively correlated with the abundance of Oxalobacte and Desulfovibrio. Meanwhile, the abundance of Butyricimonas and Parabacteroidesde was positively correlated with the concentration of butyric acid in the cecum.
CONCLUSIONS
In summary, coprophagy prevention had negative effects on serum biochemistry and gut microbiota, ultimately decreasing the growth performance of rabbits. The findings provide evidence for further revealing the biological significance of coprophagy in small herbivorous mammals.
Topics: Animals; Rabbits; Coprophagia; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Triglycerides; Lactobacillales; Fatty Acids, Volatile; Bacteroidetes; Mammals
PubMed: 37165350
DOI: 10.1186/s12866-023-02869-y -
Frontiers in Physiology 2022Coprophagy is an instinctive behavior in rabbit with important effects on growth and reproductive performance. The underlying mechanism of this effect in rabbit is...
Coprophagy is an instinctive behavior in rabbit with important effects on growth and reproductive performance. The underlying mechanism of this effect in rabbit is unknown. Here, we used Elizabeth circle as a coprophagy preventing model in female rabbits and assess feed intake, growth, and reproductive performance. We found that preventing coprophagy did not affect feed intake but decreased body weight and weight of several organs and tissues and resulted in complete reproductive failure during the late pregnancy period, accompanied by reduced levels of plasma progesterone. RNA-seq analysis of rabbit ovarian tissues revealed that preventing coprophagy affected significantly 241 genes (DEGs), with the large majority being downregulated. Bioinformatic analyses revealed that those DEGs are mostly involved in apoptosis, immune response, and metabolic pathways. Among DEGs, the lysosomal cysteine protease cathepsin B () was significantly downregulated in the coprophagy prevention group. Further studies using siRNA and adenovirus overexpression systems revealed that CTSB promotes the proliferation of rabbit granulosa cells (GCS) and prevents apoptosis. Measurement of transcripts coding for proteins related to apoptosis revealed a minor transcriptomic effect of CTSB, indicating that its effect is likely post-transcriptional. Overexpression of CTSB increased secretion of progesterone and estradiol, partly upregulation of while inhibition of CTSB decreased progesterone secretion partly downregulation of the StAR gene. In conclusion, our study demonstrated the detrimental effect on reproduction by preventing coprophagy with a main role for this response played by CTSB on the granulosa cells of the ovary.
PubMed: 35923240
DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.926795 -
Current Research in Parasitology &... 2023Due to the close bond between humans and companion animals, a thorough understanding of the diversity of species and assemblages in cats and dogs is essential to... (Review)
Review
Due to the close bond between humans and companion animals, a thorough understanding of the diversity of species and assemblages in cats and dogs is essential to determine the potential zoonotic risks. Analysis of molecular studies shows that and are the main species infecting cats and dogs, respectively. These species are largely host-specific, as despite intense association with humans, prevalence of and in humans is low and predominantly in immunocompromised individuals and low-income countries. There have been reports of in cats and dogs and two reports of in dogs. In most studies conducted to date, however, the prevalence of zoonotic species was low and may be associated with coprophagy and or/spillback, but this remains to be determined. Results of subtyping studies suggest that for and , some zoonotic transmission may occur but host-adapted subtypes also exist. assemblages C and D are commonly reported in dogs, with assemblages F and A most common in cats. Assemblages C, D and F are largely host-specific as there are only a handful of reports of them in humans. Reports of assemblage A and B in cats and dogs may be due to coprophagy or spillback from owners. Despite the extent of pet ownership and the close contact between humans and companion animals worldwide, the overall risk of zoonotic transmission from cats and dogs to humans is uncertain but thought to be low due to , and assemblages C, D and F being predominantly host-specific, the relatively low prevalence of (and ) in cats and dogs (which may be due to mechanical carriage), and low oo/cyst shedding. Carefully designed epidemiological studies of cats and dogs and their owners using subtyping tools are essential to better quantify the extent of spillover and spillback of and between pets and their owners.
PubMed: 38089689
DOI: 10.1016/j.crpvbd.2023.100158 -
Frontiers in Immunology 2021The efficacy of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is limited by the occurrence of acute and chronic graft--host disease (GVHD). We have...
The efficacy of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is limited by the occurrence of acute and chronic graft--host disease (GVHD). We have recently demonstrated that obesity results in exacerbated acute gastrointestinal GVHD in both mouse models and clinical outcomes due to increased pro-inflammatory cytokine responses and microbiota alterations. We therefore wanted to delineate the role of the various parameters in obesity, adiposity, effects of high-fat (HF) diet, and the role of microbiome on GVHD pathogenesis, by taking advantage of a mouse strain resistant to diet-induced obesity (DIO). Female BALB/c mice are resistant to DIO phenotype with approximately 50% becoming DIO under HF diets. The DIO-susceptible recipients rapidly succumb to acute gut GVHD, whereas the DIO-resistant recipient littermates, which do not become obese, are partially protected from GVHD, indicating that being on HF diet alone contributes to but is not the primary driver of GVHD. Microbiome assessment revealed restricted diversity in both cohorts of mice, but coprophagy normalizes the microbiota in mice housed together. We then individually housed DIO-resistant, DIO-susceptible, and lean control mice. Notably, each of the individually housed groups demonstrates marked restricted diversity that has been shown to occur from the stress of single housing. Despite the restricted microbiome diversity, the GVHD pathogenesis profile remains consistent in the group-housed mice, with the lean control single-housed mice exhibiting no acute GVHD and DIO-resistant recipients showing again partial protection. These results demonstrate that the deleterious effects of obesity on acute gut GVHD are critically dependent on adiposity with the HF diet also playing a lesser role, and the microbiome alterations with obesity instead appear to fuel ongoing acute GVHD processes.
Topics: Adiposity; Animals; Diet, High-Fat; Female; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Graft vs Host Disease; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Obesity
PubMed: 34707616
DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.752484 -
PeerJ 2019Microbial assemblages residing within and on animal gastric tissues contribute to various host beneficial processes that include diet accessibility and nutrient...
Microbial assemblages residing within and on animal gastric tissues contribute to various host beneficial processes that include diet accessibility and nutrient provisioning, and we sought to examine the degree to which intergenerational and community-acquired gut bacteria impact development in a tractable germ-free (GF) invertebrate model system. Coprophagy is a common behavior in cockroaches and termites that provides access to both nutrients and the primary means by which juveniles are inoculated with beneficial gut bacteria. This hypothesis was tested in the American cockroach () by interfering with this means of acquiring gut bacteria, which resulted in GF insects that exhibited prolonged growth rates and gut tissue dysmorphias relative to wild-type (WT) . Conventionalization of GF via consumption of frass (feces) from conspecifics and siblings reared under non-sterile conditions resulted in colonization of gut tissues by a diverse microbial community and a significant ( < 0.05) recovery of WT level growth and hindgut tissue development phenotypes. These data suggest that coprophagy is essential for normal gut tissue and organismal development by introducing beneficial gut bacteria to , and that the GF model system is a useful system for examining how gut bacteria impact host outcomes.
PubMed: 31139506
DOI: 10.7717/peerj.6914