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1. Components of a Neanderthal gut microbiome recovered from fecal sediments from El Salt

   https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-01689-y  

   Rampelli S, Turroni S (February 2021, Communications biology)

   null (Ed.)

   A comprehensive view of our evolutionary history cannot ignore the ancestral features of our gut microbiota. To provide some glimpse into the past, we searched for human gut microbiome components in ancient DNA from 14 archeological sediments spanning four stratigraphic units of El Salt Middle Paleolithic site (Spain), including layers of unit X, which has yielded well-preserved Neanderthal occupation deposits dating around 50 kya. According to our findings, bacterial genera belonging to families known to be part of the modern human gut microbiome are abundantly represented only across unit X samples, showing that well-known beneficial gut commensals, such as Blautia, Dorea, Roseburia, Ruminococcus, Faecalibacterium and Bifidobacterium already populated the intestinal microbiome of Homo since as far back as the last common ancestor between humans and Neanderthals. 

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2. Diet alters rodent fecal pellet size: implications for paleoecological and demographic studies using fecal dimensions

   https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyab098  

   Maurer, Maya; Peralta Martínez, Karen; Trevelline, Brian K.; Tripoli, Domenique; Dearing, M. Denise; Derting, Terry; Martinez Mota, Rodolfo; Pasch, Bret; Kohl, Kevin D.; Zollner, ed., Patrick (September 2021, Journal of Mammalogy)

   Abstract Measurements of fecal pellet size can provide important information about wild mammals, such as body size and demographic information. Previous studies have not rigorously tested whether diet can confound these measurements. Furthermore, it is unknown whether diet might alter fecal dimensions directly or through changes in animal physiology. Here, we studied three closely related rodent species that differ in natural feeding strategies. Individuals were fed diets that varied in protein and fiber content for 5 weeks. We then measured body size, fecal widths and lengths, and the radius of the large intestine. Diet composition significantly changed fecal widths in all species. High-fiber content significantly increased fecal widths and would cause overestimations of body size if applied to wild feces. Using path analysis, we found that fiber can increase fecal widths both directly and indirectly through increasing the large intestine radius. Protein affected each species differently, suggesting that protein effects vary by species feeding strategy and existing physiology. Overall, diet and large intestine morphology can alter fecal pellet measurements. Studies using fecal measurements therefore must consider these effects in their conclusions. 

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3. Offline Two-Dimensional Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry for Deep Annotation of the Fecal Metabolome Following Fecal Microbiota Transplantation

   https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jproteome.4c00022  

   Anderson, Brady G; Raskind, Alexander; Hissong, Rylan; Dougherty, Michael K; McGill, Sarah K; Gulati, Ajay S; Theriot, Casey M; Kennedy, Robert T; Evans, Charles R (June 2024, Journal of Proteome Research)
4. Fecal Composition and its Relation to Diet

   Gilbert, H; Reitsema, LJ (April 2017, Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities, UGA)
5. The meta-gut: community coalescence of animal gut and environmental microbiomes

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-02349-1  

   Dutton, Christopher L.; Subalusky, Amanda L.; Sanchez, Alvaro; Estrela, Sylvie; Lu, Nanxi; Hamilton, Stephen K.; Njoroge, Laban; Rosi, Emma J.; Post, David M. (November 2021, Scientific Reports)

   Abstract All animals carry specialized microbiomes, and their gut microbiota are continuously released into the environment through excretion of waste. Here we propose themeta-gutas a novel conceptual framework that addresses the ability of the gut microbiome released from an animal to function outside the host and alter biogeochemical processes mediated by microbes. We demonstrate this dynamic in the hippopotamus (hippo) and the pools they inhabit. We used natural field gradients and experimental approaches to examine fecal and pool water microbial communities and aquatic biogeochemistry across a range of hippo inputs. Sequencing using 16S RNA methods revealed community coalescence between hippo gut microbiomes and the active microbial communities in hippo pools that received high inputs of hippo feces. The shared microbiome between the hippo gut and the waters into which they excrete constitutes ameta-gutsystem that could influence the biogeochemistry of recipient ecosystems and provide a reservoir of gut microbiomes that could influence other hosts. We propose thatmeta-gutdynamics may also occur where other animal species congregate in high densities, particularly in aquatic environments. 

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