Intraspecific Variation and Interspecific Differences in the Bacterial and Fungal Assemblages of Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) and Great Tit (Parus major) Nests

Goodenough, Anne E.; Stallwood, Bethan

doi:10.1007/s00248-009-9591-z

Cited by 42 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 54 publications

(73 reference statements)

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“…The avian origins of some nest microbes, and species-specific differences in material used to construct nests, means that it is not surprising that there is considerable interspecific variation in nest microflora. This has been demonstrated in direct comparative studies by Goodenough and Stallwood (2010) and Peralta-Sánchez et al (2012), and is also evident by comparing single-species studies by different authors (e.g. the importance of Pseudomonas for House Wrens Troglodytes aedon (Singleton and Harper 1998) but not Starlings Sturnus vulgaris (Berger et al 2003)).…”

Section: Disclaimermentioning

confidence: 64%

“…Thus high classification accuracy would indicate substantial differences in microbial community between nests, feathers and skin. This approach has been used previously in research of avian microbial communities (Goodenough and Stallwood 2010). Use of principal components in DFA, rather than raw data, is a recognised approach (Shaw 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several studies have shown that the avian nesting environment microbiome is a complex one (Singleton and Harper 1998;Berger et al 2003;Goodenough and Stallwood 2010). Microbes within the nesting environment can come from a variety of sources, including the birds themselves (feathers, skin, cloacal contact, faecal material) and the local environment (nest material including vegetation and mammal hair, cavity walls for cavity-nesting birds, and nest-dwelling ectoparasites) (Peralta-Sanchez et al 2010;Ruiz-de-Castañeda et al 2011a).…”

Section: Vergangene Untersuchungen Waren Konzentriert Auf Unterschiedmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Breast feathers were parted carefully by hand with the bird handler wearing single-use, sterile, disposable gloves and the swab was then passed over the skin under the breast feathers, down each side of the chest and belly. Air swabs were taken by exposing an unused swab to the air for 10 s (the same time as for swabbing) and processing and plating as data swabs as per Lomardo et al (1996), Stewart and Rambo (2000), Goodenough and Stallwood (2010) to highlight any contamination problems. Post swabbing, all swabs were refrigerated at 4°C for a maximum of 7 days before processing as per Saag et al (2011).…”

Section: Collecting Swabsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given the very high intraspecific diversity in nest microbial communities found previously for blue and great tits (Goodenough and Stallwood 2010), we hypothesised that there would be considerable variation in the microbial communities of adult Pied Flycathers and their nests. This indeed proved to be the case with 113 OTUs (n = 50 bacterial and 63 fungal) being found; many of which were seemingly isolated from birds for the first time.…”

Section: Microbial Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Like mother like nest: similarity in microbial communities of adult female Pied Flycatchers and their nests

et al. 2016

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DisclaimerThe University of Gloucestershire has obtained warranties from all depositors as to their title in the material deposited and as to their right to deposit such material.The University of Gloucestershire makes no representation or warranties of commercial utility, title, or fitness for a particular purpose or any other warranty, express or implied in respect of any material deposited.The University of Gloucestershire makes no representation that the use of the materials will not infringe any patent, copyright, trademark or other property or proprietary rights.The University of Gloucestershire accepts no liability for any infringement of intellectual property rights in any material deposited but will remove such material from public view pending investigation in the event of an allegation of any such infringement. PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR TEXT. Microbial relationships between birds and nesting environments are complex and remain poorly understood. Past studies have focused on between-nest variation in egg/chick bacterial profiles with little attention given to the microbial relationships between adult birds and their nests. Moreover, very little microbial research has included mycology despite fungi being prevalent in nesting environments and important correlates of fitness in chicks. In this study, we identified microbes associated with feathers, skin and nests of Pied Flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca, an internationally-declining migrant songbird. From 75 samples, we isolated 50 bacterial OTUs (Operational Taxonomic Units; dominated by Enterococcus, Sanguibacter, Pseduomonas) and 63 fungal OTUs (dominated by Penicillium, Aspergillus), many of which had not previously been isolated from birds. Although females had significantly higher non-haemolytic bacterial OTU richness and males significantly higher fungal OTU richness, there was considerable diversity in actual OTUs isolated and thus there was no "typical" female, male, or nest microbial profile. Interestingly though, we show for the first time that the microflora of individual females is significantly more similar the microflora of her own nest than the site-level average of all nests. This suggests microbes are shared within female-nest pairs such that microbial communities start to converge. This is probably a two-way interaction as gut/skin microbes were isolated from nests and plant/soil microbes were isolated from females. Convergence was not seen for males, which probably reflects the role of the female as sole nest builder and egg incubator in this species. We discuss these findings in relation to microbial transfer pathways and avian nesting behaviour. The avian origins of some nest microbes, and species-specific differences in material used to construct nests, means that it is not surprising that there is considerable interspecific variation in nest microflora. This has been demonstrated in direct comparative studies by Goodenough and Stallwood (2010) and Peralta-Sánchez et al (2012), and is also evident by comparing single-species studies by...

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Section: Disclaimermentioning

confidence: 64%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Vergangene Untersuchungen Waren Konzentriert Auf Unterschiedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Collecting Swabsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Microbial Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Like mother like nest: similarity in microbial communities of adult female Pied Flycatchers and their nests

et al. 2016

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Dynamics of bacterial and fungal communities associated with eggshells during incubation

Grizard

Dini‐Andreote

Tieleman

et al. 2014

Ecology and Evolution

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Microorganisms are closely associated with eggs and may play a determinant role in embryo survival. Yet, the majority of studies focusing on this association relied on culture-based methodology, eventually leading to a skewed assessment of microbial communities. By targeting the 16S rRNA gene and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, we, respectively, described bacterial and fungal communities on eggshells of the homing pigeon Columba livia. We explored their structure, abundance, and composition. Firstly, we showed that sampling technique affected the outcome of the results. While broadly used, the egg swabbing procedure led to a lower DNA extraction efficiency and provided different profiles of bacterial communities than those based on crushed eggshell pieces. Secondly, we observed shifts in bacterial and fungal communities during incubation. At late incubation, bacterial communities showed a reduction in diversity, while their abundance increased, possibly due to the competitive advantage of some species. When compared to their bacterial counterparts, fungal communities also decreased in diversity at late incubation. In that case, however, the decline was associated with a diminution of their overall abundance. Conclusively, our results showed that although incubation might inhibit microbial growth when compared to unincubated eggs, we observed the selective growth of specific bacterial species during incubation. Moreover, we showed that fungi are a substantial component of the microbial communities associated with eggshells and require further investigations in avian ecology. Identifying the functional roles of these microorganisms is likely to provide news insights into the evolutionary strategies that control embryo survival.We aimed to describe the dynamics of bacterial and fungal communities on homing pigeon eggshell surfaces. We investigated these communities at early and late incubation stages.

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Life history correlates of fecal bacterial species richness in a wild population of the blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus

Benskin

Rhodes

Pickup

et al. 2015

Ecology and Evolution

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Very little is known about the normal gastrointestinal flora of wild birds, or how it might affect or reflect the host's life-history traits. The aim of this study was to survey the species richness of bacteria in the feces of a wild population of blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus and to explore the relationships between bacterial species richness and various life-history traits, such as age, sex, and reproductive success. Using PCR-TGGE, 55 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were identified in blue tit feces. DNA sequencing revealed that the 16S rRNA gene was amplified from a diverse range of bacteria, including those that shared closest homology with Bacillus licheniformis, Campylobacter lari, Pseudomonas spp., and Salmonella spp. For adults, there was a significant negative relationship between bacterial species richness and the likelihood of being detected alive the following breeding season; bacterial richness was consistent across years but declined through the breeding season; and breeding pairs had significantly more similar bacterial richness than expected by chance alone. Reduced adult survival was correlated with the presence of an OTU most closely resembling C. lari; enhanced adult survival was associated with an OTU most similar to Arthrobacter spp. For nestlings, there was no significant change in bacterial species richness between the first and second week after hatching, and nestlings sharing the same nest had significantly more similar bacterial richness. Collectively, these results provide compelling evidence that bacterial species richness was associated with several aspects of the life history of their hosts.

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Intraspecific Variation and Interspecific Differences in the Bacterial and Fungal Assemblages of Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) and Great Tit (Parus major) Nests

Cited by 42 publications

References 54 publications

Like mother like nest: similarity in microbial communities of adult female Pied Flycatchers and their nests

Like mother like nest: similarity in microbial communities of adult female Pied Flycatchers and their nests

Dynamics of bacterial and fungal communities associated with eggshells during incubation

Life history correlates of fecal bacterial species richness in a wild population of the blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus

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