The effect of low- and high-fiber diets on the population of entodiniomorphid ciliates Troglodytella abrassarti in captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

0377757 - ÚBO 2013 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Petrželková, Klára Judita - Schovancová, Kateřina - Profousová, Ilona - Kišidayová, S. - Váradyová, Z. - Pekár, S. - Kamler, Jiří - Modrý, David
The effect of low- and high-fiber diets on the population of entodiniomorphid ciliates Troglodytella abrassarti in captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).
American Journal of Primatology. Roč. 74, č. 7 (2012), s. 669-675. ISSN 0275-2565. E-ISSN 1098-2345
R&D Projects: GA ČR GA524/06/0264; GA ČR GA206/09/0927
Institutional support: RVO:68081766 ; RVO:60077344
Keywords : entodiniomorphid ciliate * chimpanzee * fiber * starch
Subject RIV: EG - Zoology
Impact factor: 2.459, year: 2012

Troglodytella abrassarti is an intestinal entodiniomorphid ciliate commonly diagnosed in the feces of wild and captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Entodiniomorphids could be considered to have a mutualistic relationship with the great apes, in that the ciliates benefit from the intestinal ecosystem of the host, while also contributing to the fiber fermentation process. We examined the effect of diet on the infection intensities of T. abrassarti in two captive chimpanzees in the Liberec Zoo, Czech Republic. The chimpanzees were fed a low-fiber diet (LFD) with 14% neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and a high-fiber diet (HFD; 26% NDF) for 10 days with one transition, and two 10-day adaptation periods. Fecal samples were examined coproscopically with themerthiolate-iodine-formaldehyde concentration (MIFC) technique, in order to quantify the number of ciliates per gram of feces. A significant trend of increasing T. abrassarti numbers was observed when the animals were fed the LFD, compared to when they were fed the HFD. Our results suggest, however, that infection intensities of T. abrassarti in captive chimpanzees are not influenced primarily by the amount of fiber in the diet, but rather by the dietary starch concentration (HFD: 1%; LFD: 8%).
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0209835