The Gut Microbial Composition Is Species-Specific and Individual-Specific in Two Species of Estrildid Finches, the Bengalese Finch and the Zebra Finch

Abstract

Microbial communities residing in the gastrointestinal tracts of animals have profound impacts on the physiological processes of their hosts. In humans, host-specific and environmental factors likely interact together to shape gut microbial communities, resulting in remarkable inter-individual differences. However, we still lack a full understanding of to what extent microbes are individual-specific and controlled by host-specific factors across different animal taxa. Here, we document the gut microbial characteristics in two estrildid finch species, the Bengalese finch (Lonchura striata domestica) and the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) to investigate between-species and within-species differences. We collected fecal samples from breeding pairs that were housed under strictly controlled environmental and dietary conditions. All individuals were sampled at five different time points over a range of 120 days covering different stages of the reproductive cycle. We found significant species-specific differences in gut microbial assemblages. Over a period of 3 months, individuals exhibited unique, individual-specific microbial profiles. Although we found a strong individual signature in both sexes, within-individual variation in microbial communities was larger in males of both species. Furthermore, breeding pairs had more similar microbial profiles, compared to randomly chosen males and females. Our study conclusively shows that host-specific factors contribute structuring of gut microbiota.

Comparative Analysis of the Gut Microbiota of Three Sympatric Terrestrial Wild Bird Species Overwintering in Farmland Habitats

“…In our study, the gut microbiota of three wild bird species were found to mainly comprise six phyla, including Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Fusobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Campilobacterota, consistent with studies on other birds, such as the Greylag Geese (Anser anser; Wang et al, 2018), Bengalese Finch (Lonchura striata domestica) and Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia guttata; Maraci et al, 2021), Hooded Crane (Grus monacha; Fu et al, 2020), and Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus; Wang et al, 2021). Firmicutes, the most dominant species among the three hosts, generally dominate the gut microbiota in all animals and play an important role in maintaining gut homeostasis and assisting digestion.…”

Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) Larvae Meal Modulates Intestinal Morphology and Microbiota in Xuefeng Black-Bone Chickens

“…At the phylum level of the cecum, the Campilobacterota phyla were greatly improved with 3% HILM supplementation, which was not a usual report with the phylum by poultry studies under natural or captivity conditions. Although some members of this phylum might cause diseases in wild and domestic animals, they were considered to be nonpathogenic and were frequently isolated from healthy birds ( Zhao Y. et al, 2019 ; Chen et al, 2020 ; Maraci et al, 2021 ). It was showed that HILM could affect intestinal microbiota, either directly or indirectly, by modulating jejunal and cecal microbial compositions at the phylum level, especially a diet with 3% HILM supplementation.…”

Changes to the gut microbiota of a wild juvenile passerine in a multidimensional urban mosaic

“…Details of the microbial analysis are described in Maraci et al 61 . In short, microbial DNA was extracted using the QIAamp PowerFecal DNA Kit (Qiagen), as described in the manufacturer’s protocol.…”