Wildlife-microbiome interactions and disease: exploring opportunities for disease mitigation across ecological scales

Abstract

Captive wildlife are a unique set of animals, whose diverse host–microbe symbioses are underexplored. Compared to their wild counterparts they are particularly susceptible to a variety of diseases, many of which have explicit or purported links to the microbiome. In this perspective, we will examine how the microbiome influences gastrointestinal disorders, metabolic dysregulation, reproduction, and disease susceptibility in captive wildlife. Investigation of wildlife, and specifically captive wildlife, affords a unique opportunity to gain understanding of the broad diversity of the associated microbiota and learn from nature’s molecular and microbial responses to disease. Studies like these could lead to the discovery of new interventions, ranging from dietary changes to the use of microbes or their natural products as treatment. Intervention strategies can lead to the discovery of medically relevant small molecules and the development of a novel platform for N-of-1 targeted medical investigations.