The variation of gut microbiota in captive Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana) from infancy to adulthood

<i>Rhinopithecus roxellana</i> (<i>R. roxellana</i>) is an endangered primate species, and its infant survival rate in captivity is extremely low. In this study, we conducted a comparative analysis of the gut microbiota from 8 infants (14-18 days old), 12 juveniles/subadults (2-5 years old), and 12 adults of <i>R. roxellana</i> (7-14 years old), which were kept at the Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo in Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, China. Through the 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing, we found the gut microbiota richness and beta diversity in captive infant <i>R. roxellana</i> were significantly lower than those in the non-infant groups. The relative abundance of Firmicutes positively correlated with increasing age, whereas the abundance of <i>Shigella/Escherichia</i> and <i>Akkermansia</i> was significantly higher in the infants and exhibited a decreasing trend with age. Meanwhile, several potential pathogenic bacteria, including <i>Clostridium perfringens</i>, <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>, and <i>Shigella flexneri,</i> among others, were found to be abundant in the infant samples following the cultivable bacteria isolation. This research preliminarily investigated the gut microbiota development of captive <i>R. roxellana</i> and provided a valuable theoretical foundation for improving the healthy breeding of captive infant <i>R. roxellana.</i>