Survey of Keratinophilic Fungi from Feathers of Birds in Tuscany

Abstract

Although keratinophilic fungi on avian feathers have been widely described, data from European literature are quite lacking regarding Mediterranean countries. The aim of the present study was therefore to evaluate the occurrence of fungal species on feathers of different avian species in Italy. A total of 378 feather samples from both aquatic (n = 254) and terrestrial birds (n = 124), for a total of 30 bird species, were cultured for keratinophilic fungi. Fungal isolates were recognized by their macro- and micro-scopical morphology, and results were corroborated by PCR and sequencing. Keratinophilic fungi belonging to 11 different species (Scopulariopsis brevicaulis, Chrysosporium keratinophilum, Trichophyton terrestre, Microsporum gypseum, Sepedonium sp., Chrysosporium pannorum, Myriodontium sp., Chrysosporium tropicum, Chrysosporium pruinosum, Chrysosporium luteum and Aphanoascus fulvescens) were isolated from 71 animals (18.8%). The frequency of isolation of keratinophilic species from terrestrial birds was significantly higher in waterfowl. Migratory birds in Italy have been proven to carry pathogenic fungi such as dermatophytes, (A. platyrhyncos, A. crecca, E. rubecula), besides saprophytic species.

Plumage microorganism communities of tidal marsh sparrows

“…Much of the metabarcoding work conducted on integumentary fungal microbial communities in natural systems has focused on reptiles and amphibians impacted by fungal pathogens. 33 , 34 Previous studies of fungal communities associated with avian plumage have focused on the subset of fungal taxa that are culturable 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 or have analyzed abundance (and not taxonomy) of fungal microorganisms. 39 The most common phyla detected in our study, Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, were also abundant in studies on the integument of birds, reptiles, amphibians, and healthy humans.…”

Fungi isolated from wild birds in the Marambaia Island, Rio de Janeiro State, southeastern Brazil

“…Five to 10mg of feces were streaked on Sabouraud agar (Difco) plus chloramphenicol and each sample was incubated directly in a Petri dish (90 x 15cm) at 28°C for up to seven days (Simi et al 2019). Whole and clipped feathers were streaked on Mycosel ® Agar (Difco) and each sample was incubated in a Petri dish at 28°C for up to seven days (Nardoni & Mancianti 2021). For the identification of the fungi grown on the plates and manes, the following was observed: growth characteristics of the colonies, such as color and appearance (macromorphology), and characteristics of mycelium, presence, shape, size and septation of macroconidia; abundance and roughness of microconidia; presence or absence of chlamydoconium; presence or absence of forms of sexual reproduction; hyphal septation (Samson et al 2000, Sidrim & Rocha 2004, De Hoog et al 2020.…”