{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/31828"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/31828","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Determining fecal bacterial profiles of a human-habituated wild chimpanzee population in Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania","abstract":"Intestinal flora of wild chimpanzee has not been studied. Fecal flora analyses currently give insight to this environment. We collected feces from twelve human-habituated wild chimpanzees in each of three age groups: four juveniles, four sub-adults, and four adults. We analyzed fecal samples using Terminal-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (T-RFLP) of amplified 16S rRNA genes to determine bacterial diversity present. Between 1 and 14 terminal-restriction fragments (T-RFs) were observed in each sample. A total of 26 unique T-RFs were produced from the samples and ranged in size from 92 to 837 base pairs (bps). Twenty-four of these T-RFs corresponded to five bacterial phyla: Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Mollicutes, and Proteobacteria, as well as uncultured and unidentified bacterial species. The remaining T-RFs corresponded solely to uncultured or unidentified bacteria. Firmicutes was the most common phylum, observed in 11 of the samples. Bacteroidetes was the second-most common phylum, detected in 8 of the samples. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) revealed a discrete clustering of 10 samples when looking at components one and two, and a clustering of 11 samples when looking at component three. These three components accounted for 72.5% of the variation within the data. Morisita indices were computed to compare T-RF profiles of two samples at a time, and were between 0 and 0.886. Results indicated that some fecal bacterial profiles were similar in the study group, but ultimately varied between samples when compared two at a time. Specific diet, physiology, and environmental reservoir exposure may play large roles in shaping such profiles.","abstract_html":"Intestinal flora of wild chimpanzee has not been studied. Fecal flora analyses currently give insight to this environment. We collected feces from twelve human-habituated wild chimpanzees in each of three age groups: four juveniles, four sub-adults, and four adults. We analyzed fecal samples using Terminal-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (T-RFLP) of amplified 16S rRNA genes to determine bacterial diversity present. Between 1 and 14 terminal-restriction fragments (T-RFs) were observed in each sample. A total of 26 unique T-RFs were produced from the samples and ranged in size from 92 to 837 base pairs (bps). Twenty-four of these T-RFs corresponded to five bacterial phyla: Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Mollicutes, and Proteobacteria, as well as uncultured and unidentified bacterial species. The remaining T-RFs corresponded solely to uncultured or unidentified bacteria. Firmicutes was the most common phylum, observed in 11 of the samples. Bacteroidetes was the second-most common phylum, detected in 8 of the samples. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) revealed a discrete clustering of 10 samples when looking at components one and two, and a clustering of 11 samples when looking at component three. These three components accounted for 72.5% of the variation within the data. Morisita indices were computed to compare T-RF profiles of two samples at a time, and were between 0 and 0.886. Results indicated that some fecal bacterial profiles were similar in the study group, but ultimately varied between samples when compared two at a time. Specific diet, physiology, and environmental reservoir exposure may play large roles in shaping such profiles.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Szekely, Brian"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences","degree_department":"Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Kaur, Taranjit"],"committee_members":["Hagedorn, Charles III","Huckle, William R.","Singh, Jatinder"],"year":2009,"date_issued":"2009-05-04","date_published":"2009-05-04","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:44Z","subjects":["T-RFLP","Gut flora","chimpanzee","endangered species","fecal flora"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-04222009-114403"],"render_values":[{"text":"etd-04222009-114403","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/31828","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Kaur, Taranjit"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Hagedorn, Charles III","Huckle, William R.","Singh, Jatinder"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Szekely, Brian"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-03-14T20:34:02Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-03-14T20:34:02Z","2012-06-22"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2009-05-04"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["T-RFLP","Gut flora","chimpanzee","endangered species","fecal flora"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-04222009-114403"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/31828"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Intestinal flora of wild chimpanzee has not been studied. Fecal flora analyses currently give insight to this environment. We collected feces from twelve human-habituated wild chimpanzees in each of three age groups: four juveniles, four sub-adults, and four adults. We analyzed fecal samples using Terminal-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (T-RFLP) of amplified 16S rRNA genes to determine bacterial diversity present. Between 1 and 14 terminal-restriction fragments (T-RFs) were observed in each sample. A total of 26 unique T-RFs were produced from the samples and ranged in size from 92 to 837 base pairs (bps). Twenty-four of these T-RFs corresponded to five bacterial phyla: Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Mollicutes, and Proteobacteria, as well as uncultured and unidentified bacterial species. The remaining T-RFs corresponded solely to uncultured or unidentified bacteria. Firmicutes was the most common phylum, observed in 11 of the samples. Bacteroidetes was the second-most common phylum, detected in 8 of the samples. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) revealed a discrete clustering of 10 samples when looking at components one and two, and a clustering of 11 samples when looking at component three. These three components accounted for 72.5% of the variation within the data. Morisita indices were computed to compare T-RF profiles of two samples at a time, and were between 0 and 0.886. Results indicated that some fecal bacterial profiles were similar in the study group, but ultimately varied between samples when compared two at a time. Specific diet, physiology, and environmental reservoir exposure may play large roles in shaping such profiles."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Determining fecal bacterial profiles of a human-habituated wild chimpanzee population in Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Kaur, Taranjit"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Hagedorn, Charles III","Huckle, William R.","Singh, Jatinder"],"dc:contributor.department":["Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences"],"dc:creator":["Szekely, Brian"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-03-14T20:34:02Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-03-14T20:34:02Z","2012-06-22"],"dc:date.issued":["2009-05-04"],"dc:description.abstract":["Intestinal flora of wild chimpanzee has not been studied. Fecal flora analyses currently give insight to this environment. We collected feces from twelve human-habituated wild chimpanzees in each of three age groups: four juveniles, four sub-adults, and four adults. We analyzed fecal samples using Terminal-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (T-RFLP) of amplified 16S rRNA genes to determine bacterial diversity present. Between 1 and 14 terminal-restriction fragments (T-RFs) were observed in each sample. A total of 26 unique T-RFs were produced from the samples and ranged in size from 92 to 837 base pairs (bps). Twenty-four of these T-RFs corresponded to five bacterial phyla: Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Mollicutes, and Proteobacteria, as well as uncultured and unidentified bacterial species. The remaining T-RFs corresponded solely to uncultured or unidentified bacteria. Firmicutes was the most common phylum, observed in 11 of the samples. Bacteroidetes was the second-most common phylum, detected in 8 of the samples. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) revealed a discrete clustering of 10 samples when looking at components one and two, and a clustering of 11 samples when looking at component three. These three components accounted for 72.5% of the variation within the data. Morisita indices were computed to compare T-RF profiles of two samples at a time, and were between 0 and 0.886. Results indicated that some fecal bacterial profiles were similar in the study group, but ultimately varied between samples when compared two at a time. Specific diet, physiology, and environmental reservoir exposure may play large roles in shaping such profiles."],"dc:description.degree":["Master of Science"],"dc:identifier.other":["etd-04222009-114403"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/31828"],"dc:publisher":["Virginia Tech"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:subject":["T-RFLP","Gut flora","chimpanzee","endangered species","fecal flora"],"dc:title":["Determining fecal bacterial profiles of a human-habituated wild chimpanzee population in Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences"],"thesis:degree_level":["masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"],"thesis:institution_name":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:44Z"}