Keratinophilic fungi on feathers of common clinically healthy birds in Bahrain

Abstract

The occurrence of keratinophilic fungi associated with feather samples from 10 bird species was investigated using Mycobiotic Agar(®) following the incubation at 25 ± 2°C for 4 weeks. A total of 225 feather samples were cultured, of which 157 (69.77%) were found to be positive. Altogether 184 fungal isolates represented by 11 species and grouped into five genera were recovered viz. Chrysosporium, Trichophyton, Arthroderma, Scopulariopsis and Sepedonium. Based on relative density values to rank species prevalence, the most common genus was Chrysosporium. Chrysosporium keratinophilum was the predominant species (54.34%) on most of the bird species, followed by Chrysosporium tropicum (17.93%). Relative densities of less than 10% were noticed with Chrysosporium merdarium (8.69%), followed by Scopulariosis spp. (7.06%). The lowest density of occurrence was depicted by Arthroderma tuberculatum (0.54%) and Sepedonium spp. (0.54%). Alexandrian parrots and chickens yielded the widest keratinophilic species diversity (6), followed by quail, duck and pigeons (5), while lovebirds showed the narrowest species diversity (1). The average number of species spectra and isolates per bird is 3.7 and 18.4, respectively. The study further showed that apparently healthy bird feathers can harbour a variety of fungi that may be considered as a source for transmitting potential pathogens of clinical importance.

Dynamics of bacterial and fungal communities associated with eggshells during incubation

“…The presence of new OTUs after incubation could be explained by other sources as fungi have been for instance found in feathers of pigeons (Deshmukh ) and other avian species (Mandeel et al. ) and often mentioned in avian ecological studies (i.e., Bisson et al. ; Brilhante et al.…”

Phylogeny of chrysosporia infecting reptiles: proposal of the new family <I>Nannizziopsiaceae</I> and five new species

“…The genus Chrysosporium comprises a large number of ubiquitous anamorphic species, which are predominantly found in soil, marine and freshwater sediments, decaying wood, feathers, skin and hair of mammals, reptiles and birds (Rees 1967a, b, c, de Hoog et al 2000, Hubalek 2000, Mandeel et al 2009). Chrysosporium is usually characterised by whitish to pale colonies and conidia sessile or arising on short stalks from the fertile hyphae.…”

Mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos) as a potential link in the epidemiological chain mycoses originating from water reservoirs

“…Mycological data are significantly scantier and refer mainly to infected or dead birds originating from widely-understood cultures, from which single fungal species had been isolated (2,10,33). In turn, information on fungi isolated from wild fowl pertains mainly to microfungi colonising skin, feathers, and nails (22), as well as nests (17) and faeces (4,13,21). Mycological analyses of biological specimens collected from organ ontocenoses of live wild birds are sparse (11,13).…”