Global associations between birds and vane‐dwelling feather mites

Doña, Jorge; Proctor, H. C.; Mironov, Sergey V.; Serrano, David; Jovani, Roger

doi:10.1002/ecy.1528

Cited by 33 publications

(70 citation statements)

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“…In particular, for this mite species, we only retrieved reads (16,746) in another sample from the same plate (i.e., among the 384 samples multiplexed in the same sequencing run). However, in that sample, this mite species was expected (i.e., these mites were collected from a Cyanistes caeruleus individual, a typical host for that mite species; Doña et al, ). On the other hand, these samples were distant wells (D1 vs. H12), suggesting that this not be a case of contamination due to pipetting.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Unexpected bird–feather mite associations revealed by DNA metabarcoding uncovers a dynamic ecoevolutionary scenario

et al. 2019

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The high relevance of host‐switching for the diversification of highly host‐specific symbionts (i.e., those commonly inhabiting a single host species) demands a better understanding of host‐switching dynamics at an ecological scale. Here, we used DNA metabarcoding to study feather mites on passerine birds in Spain, sequencing mtDNA (COI) for 25,540 individual mites (representing 64 species) from 1,130 birds (representing 71 species). Surprisingly, 1,228 (4.8%) mites from 84 (7.4%) birds were found on host species that were not the expected to be a host according to a recent bird–feather mite associations catalog. Unexpected associations were widespread across studied mite (40.6%) and bird (43.7%) species and showed smaller average infrapopulation sizes than typical associations. Unexpected mite species colonized hosts being distantly related to the set of their usual hosts, but with similar body size. The network of bird–mite associations was modular (i.e., some groups of bird and mite species tended to be more associated with each other than with the others), with 75.9% of the unexpected associations appearing within the module of the typical hosts of the mite species. Lastly, 68.4% of mite species found on unexpected hosts showed signatures of genetic differentiation, and we found evidence for reproduction or the potential for it in many of the unexpected associations. Results show host colonization as a common phenomenon even for these putatively highly host‐specific symbionts. Thus, host‐switching by feather mites, rather than a rare phenomenon, appears as a relatively frequent phenomenon shaped by ecological filters such as host morphology and is revealed as a fundamental component for a dynamic coevolutionary and codiversification scenario.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Unexpected bird–feather mite associations revealed by DNA metabarcoding uncovers a dynamic ecoevolutionary scenario

et al. 2019

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“…These mites are the most abundant and diverse ectosymbionts of birds. Almost all bird species harbour species‐ or genus‐specific feather mites (Doña, Proctor, Mironov, Serrano, & Jovani, ; Gaud & Atyeo, ; Proctor, ). Feather mites are highly specialized symbionts due to their (i) life cycle (i.e., they are permanent ectosymbionts, Dabert & Mironov, ; Proctor, ); (ii) high host specificity (Doña, Proctor, Mironov, Serrano, & Jovani, ); (iii) specific distribution on particular feathers and microsites on feathers (Fernández‐González, Pérez‐Rodríguez, de la Hera, Proctor, & Pérez‐Tris, ; Jovani & Serrano, , ; Stefan et al., ); and (iv) mainly vertical mode of transmission (Doña, Potti, et al., ; Jovani, Tella, Sol, & Ventura, ; Mironov & Malyshev, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feather mites play a role in cleaning host feathers: New insights fromDNAmetabarcoding and microscopy

et al. 2018

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Parasites and other symbionts are crucial components of ecosystems, regulating host populations and supporting food webs. However, most symbiont systems, especially those involving commensals and mutualists, are relatively poorly understood. In this study, we have investigated the nature of the symbiotic relationship between birds and their most abundant and diverse ectosymbionts: the vane-dwelling feather mites. For this purpose, we studied the diet of feather mites using two complementary methods. First, we used light microscopy to examine the gut contents of 1,300 individual feather mites representing 100 mite genera (18 families) from 190 bird species belonging to 72 families and 19 orders. Second, we used high-throughput sequencing (HTS) and DNA metabarcoding to determine gut contents from 1,833 individual mites of 18 species inhabiting 18 bird species. Results showed fungi and potentially bacteria as the main food resources for feather mites (apart from potential bird uropygial gland oil). Diatoms and plant matter appeared as rare food resources for feather mites. Importantly, we did not find any evidence of feather mites feeding upon bird resources (e.g., blood, skin) other than potentially uropygial gland oil. In addition, we found a high prevalence of both keratinophilic and pathogenic fungal taxa in the feather mite species examined. Altogether, our results shed light on the long-standing question of the nature of the relationship between birds and their vane-dwelling feather mites, supporting previous evidence for a commensalistic-mutualistic role of feather mites, which are revealed as likely fungivore-microbivore-detritivore symbionts of bird feathers.

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“…Feather mites (Acari: Astigmata: Analgoidea and Pterolichoidea) are among the most abundant ectosymbionts of birds (Proctor, 2003;Doña et al, 2016). Current evidence indicates that they transmit from parents to offspring at the nest through body-body contact during chick rearing (Mironov & Malyshev, 2002) or among birds in close contact outside the nest (Blanco et al, 1997), and only anecdotally by phoresis Proctor, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vertical transmission in feather mites: insights into its adaptive value

Doña

Potti

Hera

et al. 2017

Ecological Entomology

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1. The consequences of symbiont transmission strategies are better understood than their adaptive causes. 2. Feather mites are permanent ectosymbionts of birds assumed to be transmitted mainly vertically from parents to offspring. The transmission of Proctophyllodes doleophyes Gaud (Astigmata, Proctophyllodidae) was studied in two European populations of pied flycatchers, Ficedula hypoleuca Pallas (Passeriformes, Muscicapidae). 3. The vertical transmission of this mite species is demonstrated here with an acaricide experiment. This study also compared (for two distant populations during 4 years) patterns in reductions in mite intensity in adult birds, from egg incubation to chick‐rearing periods, with the predictions of three hypotheses on how host survival prospects and mite intraspecific competition might drive feather mites' transmission strategy. 4. The results are in agreement with previous studies and show that feather mites transmit massively from parents to chicks. 5. The magnitude of the transmission was closer to that predicted by the hypothesis based on intraspecific competition, while a bet‐hedging strategy is also partially supported.

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Global associations between birds and vane‐dwelling feather mites

Cited by 33 publications

References 1 publication

Unexpected bird–feather mite associations revealed by DNA metabarcoding uncovers a dynamic ecoevolutionary scenario

Unexpected bird–feather mite associations revealed by DNA metabarcoding uncovers a dynamic ecoevolutionary scenario

Feather mites play a role in cleaning host feathers: New insights fromDNAmetabarcoding and microscopy

Vertical transmission in feather mites: insights into its adaptive value

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