Primate

About: Primate is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1250 publications have been published within this topic receiving 67388 citations. The topic is also known as: the primate order & primates.

Macaque CYP2C76 encodes cytochrome P450 enzyme not orthologous to any human isozymes.

Abstract: Cynomolgus monkey is used in the study of drug metabolism and toxicity due to its evolutionary closeness to human as compared with other non-human primate species. However, it has become certain that drug metabolism in monkeys is different than in humans. Such species differences have not been fully investigated at a molecular level largely due to the scarcity of information on drug-metabolizing enzyme genes. In cynomolgus monkey, we have identified cDNAs for 21 kinds of cytochromes P450 (CYPs), among which CYP2C76 does not correspond to any human CYP isozymes and is partly responsible for the difference in pitavastatin metabolism between cynomolgus monkey and human. In cynomolgus monkey CYP2C76, we identified numerous genetic variants including a null genotype. Heterozygotes for this null genotype are expected to be poor metabolizers in CYP2C76-mediated drug metabolism. To provide new clues to CYP2C76 function, here, we have taken advantage of sequence information that has been recently deposited to public databases to assess the presence of CYP2C76 orthologs in primate species. In this assessment, we found the CYP2C76 cDNA sequence in rhesus monkey, and a gene sequence highly homologous to cynomolgus monkey CYP2C76 in the marmoset and orangutan genomes, raising the possibility that CYP2C76 could also play a role in these primate species. This review paper gives an overview of CYP2C76 from isolation to molecular characterization, and its implication in drug metabolism.

Survey of nonhuman primates for antibodies reactive with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) antigens and susceptibility of their lymphocytes for immortalization with EBV.

Abstract: The susceptibility to transformation with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and the prevalence of antibodies reactive to EBV were examined in 43 primate species. In vitro EBV infection was revealed in lymphocytes from Old World monkeys, including patas monkeys and the colobines, as well as in lymphocytes from the apes. Antibodies reactive to EBV-early antigen/viral capsid antigen (EA/VCA) were detected in all the species of Old World monkeys and apes examined and in two out of seven species of New World monkeys.

Curvature, length, and cross-sectional geometry of the femur and humerus in anthropoid primates.

Abstract: The aims of this study were to describe the curvature of anthropoid limb bones quantitatively, to determine how limb bone curvature scales with body mass, and to discuss how bone curvature influences static measures of bone strength. Femora and humeri in six anthropoid genera of Old World monkeys, New World monkeys, and gibbons were used. Bone length, curvature, and cross-sectional properties were incorporated into the analysis. These variables were obtained by a new method using three-dimensional morphological data reconstructed from consecutive CT images. This method revealed the patterns of curvature of anthropoid limb bones. Log-transformed scaling analyses of the characters revealed that bone length and especially bone curvature strongly reflected taxonomic/locomotor differences. As compared with Old World monkeys, New World monkeys and gibbons in particular have a proportionally long and less curved femur and humerus relative to body mass. It is also revealed that the section modulus relative to body mass varies less between taxonomic/locomotor groups in anthropoids. Calculation of theoretical bending strengths implied that Old World monkeys achieve near-constant bending strength in accordance with the tendency observed in general terrestrial mammals. Relatively shorter bone length and larger A-P curvature of Old World monkeys largely contribute to this uniformity. Bending strengths in New World monkeys and gibbons were, however, a little lower under lateral loading and extremely stronger and more variable under axial loading as compared with Old World monkeys, due to their relative elongated and weakly curved femora and humeri. These results suggest that arboreal locomotion, including quadrupedalism and suspension, requires functional demands quite dissimilar to those required in terrestrial quadrupedalism.

Differential effects of unusual climatic stress on capuchin (Cebus capucinus) and howler monkey (Alouatta palliata) populations on Barro Colorado Island, Panama

Abstract: Though the harmful effects anthropogenic disturbances pose to wild primates are well appreciated, comparatively little is known about the effects of natural disturbances. From December 2010 to January 2011, different mortality patterns were observed for two primate species, capuchins and howler monkeys, on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panama. Unusually high rainfall in 2010 was associated with census and cadaver data indicating the rapid loss of >70% of the capuchin population in late 2010 to early 2011. In contrast, over this same period, no decline was documented for howler monkeys and cadaver data for howlers was unexceptional. The high mortality experienced by the capuchin population was unexpected and its extent was not fully appreciated until the event was largely over. Explanations proposed for it included effects of hypothermia, disease or a shortage of some essential nutrient(s). Of these, the dietary explanation seems most probable. BCI capuchins depend most heavily on arthropod foods in December, when few higher quality ripe fruits are available. The unprecedented high rainfall in December 2010 is hypothesized to have largely eliminated the arthropod peak expected on BCI each December. A lack of protein-rich arthropods, when coupled with the climatic and nutritional stress capuchins generally experience at this time of year, appears to have precipitated the rapid die-off of most of the island's capuchin population. As howler monkeys obtain dietary protein primarily from leaves, a shortage of edible arthropods would not affect howler numbers. Comparison of our 2010 data with similar data on earlier primate/mammalian mortality events reported for BCI and for Corcovado, Costa Rica indicates that our understanding of the effects of natural disturbances on wild primate populations is not profound. We suggest that more research be devoted to this increasingly timely topic, so important to conservation policy. Am. J. Primatol. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Aversion to violation of expectations of food distribution: the role of social tolerance and relative dominance in seven primate species

Abstract: Studies on how animals behave when two partners receive different amounts of food have produced variable results, with individuals responding negatively to specific food distributions in some cases (e.g., when food is distributed unequally between partners), but not in others. In this study, we used a simple experimental approach to (i) assess the strictness of dominance relationships based on the degree of social tolerance and (ii) compare the behavioural responses of seven primate species (chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes; bonobos, Pan paniscus; gorillas, Gorilla gorilla; orangutans, Pongo pygmaeus; brown capuchin monkeys, Cebus apella; spider monkeys, Ateles geoffroyi; long-tailed macaques, Macaca fascicularis), when two partners received different amounts of food and no effort was required. We predicted that negative responses (i.e., refusal to participate in the task or avoidance of proximity to the food source) would be elicited by food distributions that violate the individual expectations based on tolerance levels and subject’s dominance rank relative to the partner. In the ‘tolerance’ task, we found that species with less strict dominance relationships were chimpanzees and bonobos, followed by orangutans, spider monkeys, gorillas, brown capuchin monkeys and long-tailed macaques. In the ‘food distribution’ task, capuchin monkeys and especially macaques showed their aversion by refusing to participate in most conditions, including the ones with equal food distribution. When dominants received more food than the partner, subjects of all species maintained a comparable amount of proximity to the food source, possibly reflecting the general acceptance of such a food distribution across species. When dominants received less than or as much as their partners, dominant capuchin monkeys maintained less proximity than other species, possibly because having different expectations of food distributions (i.e., more/all food to the dominant). Our study highlights the importance of the species’ degree of social tolerance and the relative dominance rank between partners in the study of violation of expectations of different food distributions.