Exploring the avian gut microbiota: current trends and future directions

Waite, David W.; Taylor, Michael W.

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2015.00673

Cited by 238 publications

(227 citation statements)

References 132 publications

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“…The phylum-level results of our characterization of junco microbiota were consistent with studies of avian microbiota in general: they were typified by Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes (Hird et al, 2014;Waite and Taylor, 2015). More specifically, our genus-level data agreed with a recent cultivation-based survey of junco ventral feather bacteria, which included Proteobacteria (Brevundimonas, Methylobacterium, Pseudomonas, Rhizobium, and Sphingomonas) and Firmicutes (Staphylococcus) that were widespread and abundant in our dataset (Supplemental Data 1) (Dille et al, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

“…The results of this study add to a growing body of literature indicating that environments, including social environments, can have pronounced effects on avian cloacal and uropygial gland microbiota (Waite and Taylor, 2015). For example, in free-living barn swallows mated pairs share similarities in their cloacal microbiota (Kreisinger et al, 2015), and experiments with wild kittiwakes, Rissa tridactyla, and captive zebra finches have demonstrated that symbiotic bacteria are readily transmitted between the cloacae of mated pairs (Kulkarni and Heeb, 2007).…”

Section: Effects Of Social Environment and Genetic Relatednesssupporting

confidence: 53%

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Social Environment Has a Primary Influence on the Microbial and Odor Profiles of a Chemically Signaling Songbird

et al. 2016

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Chemical signaling is an underappreciated means of communication among birds, as may be the potential contributions of symbiotic microbes to animal chemical communication in general. The dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis) produces and detects volatile compounds that may be important in reproductive behavior. These compounds are found in preen oil secreted by the uropygial gland, and this gland supports diverse bacterial communities including genera known to produce some of these volatile compounds. We investigated the relative contributions of shared environments and genetic relatedness in shaping juncos' symbiotic bacterial communities, and investigated whether these bacterial communities underlie juncos' chemical signaling behavior. We sampled parents and nestlings at 9 junco nests during one breeding season at Mountain Lake Biological Station in Virginia, USA. From each individual, we collected swabs of the uropygial gland and the cloaca, preen oil, and a small blood sample for paternity testing. We characterized junco bacterial communities through 16S rRNA gene surveys and preen oil volatile compounds via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Nest membership and age class had the strongest influence on the structure of bacterial and volatile profiles. We compared father-offspring similarity based on paternity, and nestling similarity in nests containing full siblings and half siblings, and found that relatedness did not noticeably affect bacterial or volatile profiles. While we cannot rule out an influence of genetic relatedness on these profiles, it is clear that shared environments are more influential in shaping bacterial and volatile profiles among juncos. We did not find significant covariation between individual bacterial and volatile profiles. Possible explanations for this result include: (1) bacteria do not underlie volatile production; (2) ample redundancy in volatile production among bacterial types obscures covariation; or (3) the relationship is confounded by the fact that, unlike glands exclusively dedicated to chemical communication, uropygial glands have multiple functions, and symbiotic Whittaker et al.Junco Microbial and Odor Profiles bacteria are hypothesized to contribute to each of these. Therefore, different bacteria may contribute to different phenotypes of the avian holobiont. Future work will include cultivation, metabolomic, genomic, and behavioral assay approaches to tease these scenarios apart.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Effects Of Social Environment and Genetic Relatednesssupporting

confidence: 53%

Social Environment Has a Primary Influence on the Microbial and Odor Profiles of a Chemically Signaling Songbird

et al. 2016

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“…Proteobacteria and Firmicutes are common in the gastrointestinal trait of birds (Godoy-Vitorino et al 2012;Waite et al 2012;Waite & Taylor 2015). A more detailed description of the bacterial community at a lower taxonomic level showed that the most abundant genera differed from those observed in previous studies: the genera Ralstonia, Pseudomonas, Aeribacillus, and Arenimonas were abundant in our samples, while they were not found in the two previous studies in the Czech Republic (Kreisinger et al 2015(Kreisinger et al , 2017.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 86%

“…The observed low overlapping of barn swallow CMs is consistent with the hypothesis that environmental features of the areas where individuals live are the main drivers of avian microbiota diversification and that CMs may therefore largely differ among geographical populations of the same species (Lucas & Heeb 2005;Waite & Taylor 2015). This confirms the importance of studies describing the microbiota of different and distant geographical populations of the same species.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Cloacal microbiota of barn swallows from Northern Italy

Musitelli

Ambrosini

Rubolini

et al. 2017

Ethology Ecology & Evolution

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“…, and that the bacterial load in the GI tract is higher than airways 27,28 , avian strains may be adapted to the high concentrations of LPS that they encounter inside the host and in feces.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacterial lipopolysaccharide reduces the stability of avian and human influenza viruses

Bandoro

Runstadler

2017

Preprint

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Subtype and host-origin of the viruses were shown to affect the extent to which IAV was susceptible to LPS. Furthermore, using a receptor-binding assay and transmission electron microscopy, we observed that LPS binds to and affects the morphology of influenza virions.Influenza A virus (IAV) is a global threat, infecting 5-10% of adults and 20-30% of children globally every year 5, and infections in humans and highly-pathogenic IAV outbreaks in livestock substantially burden the economy 6,7 . .Commensal bacteria and their products can indirectly protect against IAV infection by interacting with the host's immune system (Fig. 1A). In the absence of commensal bacteria, mice produced impaired type I/II interferon responses, CD4/CD8 T cell responses, and antibody production to All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.was not peer-reviewed) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.The copyright holder for this preprint (which . http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/146266 doi: bioRxiv preprint first posted online Jun. 5, 2017; 3 IAV infection 3,4 . Moreover, mice pretreated with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a product present on the exterior surface and shed by all Gram-negative bacteria, triggered a TLR4 mediated antiviral response to protect the hosts from lethal infection with IAV 12,13 . In contrast, LPS binds directly to the capsid protein of poliovirus, increasing cell attachment and the ability of the virions to remain infectious at increased temperatures 14 , and LPS binding to mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) enables increased immune evasion and successful transmission of the virus 15,16 . In the case of influenza, it is unclear whether commensal bacteria and LPS are interacting directly with IAV in addition to their indirect effects on the immune system.We first tested whether GI tract-derived bacteria can affect the stability of IAV. A panel of thirteen heat-killed bacteria derived from the GI microbiome (Table S1), standardized by protein content, and a water control were incubated individually with a human WSN H1N1-GFP virus for 1h at 48 °C. Stability was assessed by measuring the percentage of infected cells (those expressing GFP) by flow cytometry after an overnight infection. Eleven of the thirteen bacterial strains significantly decreased the stability of the virus after incubation compared to the water control (Fig. 1B). Our results indicate the reduction in infectivity was not due to the diluted bacterial products being cytotoxic ( Fig. S1A), nor was the decrease in infectivity due to the presence of bacteria or their products limiting the susceptibility of host-cells to infection (Fig. S1B). This suggests that the observed reduction in thermal stability may be due to the virus interacting directly with the bacterial cells and/or their products.Because there was a wide range in the extent to which bacterial strains reduced viral stability, the specific composition of a host's microbiome could influence its susceptibility to infectio...

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Exploring the avian gut microbiota: current trends and future directions

Cited by 238 publications

References 132 publications

Social Environment Has a Primary Influence on the Microbial and Odor Profiles of a Chemically Signaling Songbird

Social Environment Has a Primary Influence on the Microbial and Odor Profiles of a Chemically Signaling Songbird

Cloacal microbiota of barn swallows from Northern Italy

Bacterial lipopolysaccharide reduces the stability of avian and human influenza viruses

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