13 December 2021

New study links fear to gut microbes

Research

New study published in Advanced Genetics has found a correlation between specific microbes in the gut of Red Junglefowl to increased and decreased fear towards humans. The findings may have implications for the early domestication process.

Hens and a chicken in the coop

A new study into the gut microbiota of Red Junglefowl - the ancestors of chickens - has gone some way to explain why some fowl exhibit more fearful behaviour towards humans than others. The answer may lie in composition of the gut, the study suggests, having found that the behaviour is profoundly affected by the composition of the millions of microbes inhabiting it.

The findings have just been published in Advanced Genetics and are part of Lara Puetz’ PhD research at the Center for Evolutionary Hologenomics. Lara’s research has revealed a pattern of increased presence of Lactobacillus bacteria in fowl showing fearful behaviour towards humans, while a prevalence of Clostridiales and Bacteroidales have been found in the animals that show less fear towards humans. 

Mirrors responses in other animals

Significantly, the results replicate patterns that have been found in other animals such as dogs and rats, also showing increased presence of Lactobacillus in fear prone animals, while abundances of Clostridiales have been found in animals less fearful of humans. These findings have implications for the adaptive capacity of the animals.

The domestication process of wild animals can lead to rapid changes within relatively short time periods in the animals, which the study provides insights into. The study suggests that phenotypic changes may first appear in the composition of the host animal’s gut, and therefore understanding the interactions between specific bacteria and the host animal’s behaviour can provide useful knowledge on the animal early in the domestication process. 

Read the full article in Advanced Genetics here