ANIMAL PERSONALITY AND GUT MICROBIOME

ANIMAL PERSONALITIES, OR CONSISTENT AMONG-INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN BEHAVIOR, ARE UBIQUITOUS ACROSS TAXA, YET THE MECHANISMS OF ITS ESTABLISHMENT ARE POORLY UNDERSTOOD. UNDERSTANDING THE MECHANISMS OF ANIMAL PERSONALITY FORMATION WOULD THEREFORE SHED LIGHT ON MANY POORLY UNDERSTOOD PROCESSES OF ECOSYSTEMS FUNCTIONING. HERE, WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT GUT MICROBIOME COMPOSITION AND ITS ACTIVITY CAN PREDICT INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN ANIMAL BEHAVIOR. WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT THE HOST BEHAVIOR - GUT MICROBIOTA CONNECTION IS MECHANISTICALLY EXPLAINED BY THE COMBINATION OF THE MICROBIAL SPECIES COMPOSITION AND THEIR SPECIFIC METABOLIC ACTIVITY. PROKARYOTES RELEASE METABOLITES IN THE GUT LUMEN THAT COULD INFLUENCE ANIMAL PERSONALITY. TO TEST OUR HYPOTHESIS, WE WILL COMBINE THE STANDARDIZED LABORATORY ASSAYS TO TEST ANIMAL PERSONALITY WITH THE MICROBIAL CULTURE-INDEPENDENT APPROACHES TO CHARACTERIZE THE STRUCTURE (METAGENOMICS), FUNCTION (METAPROTEOMICS) AND METABOLITE PRODUCTION (METABOLOMICS) OF MICROBIAL GUT COMMUNITIES. THE MODEL ANIMAL CONSIDERED TO TEST OUR HYPOTHESIS WILL BE A TELEOST FISH SPECIES, TAKING THE ADVANTAGES OF THE NATURAL GENETIC VARIATIONS FOUND IN FISH POPULATIONS AND THE EXISTENCE OF HIGHLY STANDARDIZED PERSONALITY TESTS FOR THESE ANIMALS. WE WILL CONSIDER TWO TYPES OF POPULATIONS; WILD-CAUGHT AND LABORATORY-REARED INDIVIDUALS. IF OUR WORKING HYPOTHESIS RECEIVES EMPIRICAL SUPPORT, OUR WORK WILL OPEN A NEW FRONTIER TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE ORIGINS OF ANIMAL BEHAVIOR AND ITS IMPLICATIONS IN MANY ECOLOGICAL AND EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES, WHICH ULTIMATELY MAY DEPEND ON THE ANIMAL PERSONALITIES. IN ADDITION, OUR WORK WILL NOT ONLY PRODUCE FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE THAT COULD SUPPLEMENT THE UNDERSTANDING IN HOW GUT MICROBIOMES COULD IMPACT A VARIETY OF STRESS-RELATED BEHAVIORS LIKE ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION IN HUMAN, BUT ALSO ON SOME PRACTICAL ASPECTS IN AQUACULTURE RELATED TO FEED FORMULATION AND BEHAVIORAL RESPONSES