Influence of Fasting during Moult on the Faecal Microbiota of Penguins

Abstract

Many seabirds including penguins are adapted to long periods of fasting, particularly during parts of the reproductive cycle and during moult. However, the influence of fasting on the gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota has not been investigated in seabirds. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the microbial composition and diversity of the GI microbiota of fasting little (Eudyptula minor) and king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) penguins during early and late moult. The results from this study indicated that there was little change in the abundance of the major phyla during moult, except for a significant increase in the level of Proteobacteria in king penguins. In king penguins the abundance of Fusobacteria increases from 1.73% during early moult to 33.6% by late moult, whilst the abundance of Proteobacteria (35.7% to 17.2%) and Bacteroidetes (19.5% to 11%) decrease from early to late moult. In little penguins, a decrease in the abundances of Firmicutes (44% to 29%) and an increase in the abundance of Bacteroidetes (11% to 20%) were observed from early to late moult respectively. The results from this study indicate that the microbial composition of both king and little penguins alters during fasting. However, it appears that the microbial composition of king penguins is more affected by fasting than little penguins with the length of fast the most probable cause for this difference.

Comparative analysis of the gut microbiota of hornbill and toucan in captivity

“…The relatively high abundance of cyanobacteria was probably due to the chloroplasts extracted from the plant material in the food of great hornbills (Olsson, Gunnarsson, & Elmberg, 2017). Similar to the gut microbiotas of cowbirds (Hird et al, 2014), vultures (Roggenbuck et al, 2014), and penguins (Dewar et al, 2014), great hornbills also contained a relatively high abundance of Fusobacteria. The relatively high abundance of Fusobacteria in great hornbills resulted from the genus Fusobacterium, and it may be related to many physiological functions of gut (Hird, 2017).…”

“…Firmicutes and Proteobacteria were the dominant phyla in the gut microbiotas of the three omnivorous species examined in this study, which corroborated with the previous studies on the gut microbiotas of omnivorous birds (Ding et al, ; Grond, Ryu, Baker, Domingo, & Buehler, ; Hird, Carstens, Cardiff, Dittmann, & Brumfield, ; Risely, Waite, Ujvari, Hoye, & Klaassen, ; Vecherskii et al, ). Furthermore, the Firmicutes and Proteobacteria were also found to be the most abundant bacterial phyla in the gut of other carnivorous birds (such as the Accipitridae vultures (Roggenbuck et al, ) and Spheniscidae penguins (Dewar et al, )) and herbivorous birds (such as Anatidae geese (Wang et al, ) and Psittacidae Parrot (Waite, Eason, & Taylor, )). The Firmicutes and Proteobacteria might be important for some physiological and biochemical functions of the gut of bird species.…”

The avian gut microbiota: community, physiology and function in wild birds

“…Different sections of the GI tract are labeled above the graphs and include: crop (CR), ceca (CE), cloaca (CL) and feces (F). References: [1] Godoy‐Vitorino et al , [2] [1] Godoy‐Vitorino et al , [3] Waite et al , [4] Kohl et al , [5] Wienemann et al , [6] Matsui et al , [7] Bennett et al , [8] van Dongen et al , [9] Dewar et al , b, [10] Santos et al , [11] Kreisinger et al , [12] Dewar et al , b, [13] Banks et al , [14] Lu et al , [15] Grond et al , [16] Ryu et al , [17] Koskey et al , [18] Lu et al , [19] Roggenbuck et al , [20] Waite et al , [21] Dewar et al .…”

“…3). Firmicutes and then Proteobacteria had the highest relative abundance in three Procellariiform seabird species (Dewar et al b), three shorebird species (Santos et al ), and two penguin species (Banks et al , Dewar et al ). In contrast, the insectivorous barn swallow Hirundo rustica showed the opposite pattern, with Proteobacteria outnumbering Firmicutes by a 2:1 ratio (Kreisinger et al ).…”

Non-pathogenic Neisseria: members of an abundant, multi-habitat, diverse genus

“…Unfortunately the resolution of the analysis did not allow genus level identification (Dewar et al, 2013). However, subsequently Neisseriacae was found in both the king and little penguins dependent on the moulting stage, indicating the abundance of Neisseriacae is influenced by host physiology (Dewar et al, 2014).…”