Title: A case for comparative research: What our primate cousins have to teach us about the human gut microbiome.

Abstract: Understanding how gut microbes interact with human biology and health is an active area of investigation. However, the effects of lifestyle, culture, and technology on human biology complicate the interpretation of many studies. Data from non-human primates can provide an important complementary perspective. Wild non-human primates are an ideal system for understanding how host-gut microbiome interactions can affect host health, ecology, and evolution in selective environments. Additionally, the marked diversity in habitats, diets, physiology, and social structures exhibited by non-human primate species worldwide also facilitates our ability to isolate specific factors of interest in host-microbe interactions. Nevertheless, non-human primates are grossly understudied with regard to the gut microbiome. Here I describe how wild, non-human primates can be used to better understand host-gut microbe interactions. In addition to using non-human primates as models for humans, targeting differences between humans and non-human primates may help us pinpoint microbial mechanisms that drive variation in host phenotypes. When combined with traditional animal model approaches, these data will ultimately provide a more complete understanding of human-gut microbe interactions.