Significant differences in intestinal fungal community of hooded cranes along the wintering periods

Abstract

The intestinal microbiota play vital roles for health of wild birds in many ways. Migratory birds with unique life history might increase the risk of pathogenic transmission across the regions. However, few studies have clarified the fungal community structure and inferred the potential pathogens in guts of migratory birds. The high-throughput sequencing method was applied to analyze the fungal community structure and detect the potential fungal pathogens in guts of hooded cranes among different wintering stages. Significant differences were found in gut fungal community composition of hooded cranes among three wintering stages, with the lowest fungal diversity in the late wintering stage. In the late stage, hooded cranes harbored higher relative abundance of plant saprotroph, contributing to food digestion for hosts. Hooded cranes were associated with the lowest diversity and relative abundance of animal pathogens in the late wintering stage. There was an increasing trend of deterministic process for gut fungal community assembly, suggesting that hosts interaction with their fungal communities changed by enhanced gut selection/filtering along wintering periods. Hooded crane was associated with the strongest gut selection/filtering to obtain defined gut fungal community with retaining probiotics (i.e., plant saprotroph) and exclusion of certain pathogens in the late wintering stage. Overall, these results demonstrated that hooded cranes might regulate their gut microbiota to enhance digestion and decrease gut pathogens in preparation for long-term migration.

Comparative analysis of the intestinal microbiota of black−necked cranes (Grus nigricollis) in different wintering areas

“…A higher percentage of these were Lactobacillus , Megamonas , and Enterococcus , which were widely distributed in other birds and were influential in regulating intestinal health, metabolic capacity, and antimicrobial activity ( Gao et al., 2021 ; Zhao et al., 2022 ). Remarkably, we also discovered several genera that are opportunistically pathogenic, including Pseudomonas , Pantoe , Escherichia , Burkholderia , Helicobacter , Fusarium , and Rhodotorula ( Xiang et al., 2019 ; Wang et al., 2020 ; Wu et al., 2022 ). Overall, the data suggested that monitoring the changes in pathogenic species was important for conserving endangered species.…”

“…Therefore, the greater relative abundance of Firmicutes may aid in the ability of black-necked cranes to digest and absorb food nutrients and withstand the harsh environment. According to hooded cranes , Ascomycota and Basidiomycota comprised the most fungal species ( Wu et al., 2022 ). To break down complex polysaccharides and enhance the ability of the host to absorb nutrients, several Ascomycota members secret large cellulase and hemicellulase ( Linton, 2020 ; Sun et al., 2022 ).…”

“…Probiotics such as Enterococcus , Megamonas , Clostridium , and Lactobacillus have been proven in studies to enhance intestinal microenvironment, metabolic capacity, and antimicrobial activity ( Yang et al., 2012 ; Gao et al., 2021 ; Zhao et al., 2022 ). However, Fusarium and Rhodotorula may be harmful to cranes ( Wu et al., 2022 ). It was shown that intestinal micro-ecology modifies environmental changes (such as diet and altitude) by regulating flora abundance, allowing the host to better adapt to the environment.…”

Citric Acid Confers Broad Antibiotic Tolerance through Alteration of Bacterial Metabolism and Oxidative Stress

“…In studying antibiotic tolerance, we often need to distinguish it from bacterial persistence. Persistence is the ability of bacteria to survive as a small subpopulation of bacteria under high concentrations of antibiotic treatment, and after antibiotic pressure subsides, the persistent bacteria resume growth and regain their antibiotic-sensitive state [34,35]. In contrast, tolerant bacteria survive longer than sensitive bacteria under antibiotic pressure, but they are not unable to be killed, and their population density decreases slowly.…”

Gut Fungal Communities Are Influenced by Seasonality in Captive Baikal Teal (Sibirionetta formosa) and Common Teal (Anas crecca)

“…Furthermore, recent investigations have more concentrated on the gut fungal community in wild waterbird species [ 8 , 9 , 10 ]. The intestinal fungal community composition of migratory waterbirds may fluctuate due to shifting diets and seasons [ 9 , 11 ], as well as a variety of habitats and captivity conditions [ 12 ]. Although fungi only make up 0.1% of the GIT microbiota [ 13 ], several medical conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), obesity, and allergy problems, have been associated with modifications in the richness and composition of the gut fungal community [ 14 , 15 , 16 ].…”