Influence of dietary feathers on the fecal microbiota in captive Arctic fox: Do dietary hair or feathers play a role in the evolution of carnivorous mammals?
Abstract Hair and feathers are composed of keratin and are indigestible, inalimental and unpalatable for carnivores. However, carnivores often ingest hair and feathers during feeding or when grooming. We hypothesized that ingestion of hair and feathers changes species diversity and relative abundanc...
Published in: | Integrative Zoology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Wiley
2014
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1749-4877.12069 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2F1749-4877.12069 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1749-4877.12069 |
id |
crwiley:10.1111/1749-4877.12069 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crwiley:10.1111/1749-4877.12069 2024-06-02T07:54:52+00:00 Influence of dietary feathers on the fecal microbiota in captive Arctic fox: Do dietary hair or feathers play a role in the evolution of carnivorous mammals? ZHANG, Liang YANG, Shuhui XU, Yanchun DAHMER, Thomas D. 2014 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1749-4877.12069 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2F1749-4877.12069 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1749-4877.12069 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Integrative Zoology volume 9, issue 5, page 583-589 ISSN 1749-4877 1749-4877 journal-article 2014 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/1749-4877.12069 2024-05-03T10:53:54Z Abstract Hair and feathers are composed of keratin and are indigestible, inalimental and unpalatable for carnivores. However, carnivores often ingest hair and feathers during feeding or when grooming. We hypothesized that ingestion of hair and feathers changes species diversity and relative abundance of bacteria in the gut of carnivores. To test this hypothesis, we added disinfected poultry down feathers to the normal diet of captive Arctic foxes ( Alopex lagopus ). We then used fluorescently labeled terminal restriction fragments (T‐RFs) to examine changes in fecal bacterial diversity and abundance. The results showed that the number of bacterial species increased significantly after feather ingestion, but that total abundance was unchanged. This demonstrated that addition of disinfected feathers to the diet stimulated increased production among less abundant bacteria, resulting in a balancing of relative abundance of different bacterial species, or that some newly‐ingested microbial species would colonize the gut because a suitable microhabitat had become available. This implies that the overall production of bacterial metabolites would be made up of a greater range of substances after feather ingestion. On one hand, the host's immune response would be more diverse, increasing the capacity of the immune system to regulate gut microflora. On the other hand, the animal's physiological performance would also be affected. For wild animals, such altered physiological traits would be subjected to natural selection, and, hence, persistent geographic differences in the character of ingested feathers or fur would drive speciation. Article in Journal/Newspaper Alopex lagopus Arctic Fox Arctic Wiley Online Library Arctic Integrative Zoology 9 5 583 589 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Wiley Online Library |
op_collection_id |
crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Hair and feathers are composed of keratin and are indigestible, inalimental and unpalatable for carnivores. However, carnivores often ingest hair and feathers during feeding or when grooming. We hypothesized that ingestion of hair and feathers changes species diversity and relative abundance of bacteria in the gut of carnivores. To test this hypothesis, we added disinfected poultry down feathers to the normal diet of captive Arctic foxes ( Alopex lagopus ). We then used fluorescently labeled terminal restriction fragments (T‐RFs) to examine changes in fecal bacterial diversity and abundance. The results showed that the number of bacterial species increased significantly after feather ingestion, but that total abundance was unchanged. This demonstrated that addition of disinfected feathers to the diet stimulated increased production among less abundant bacteria, resulting in a balancing of relative abundance of different bacterial species, or that some newly‐ingested microbial species would colonize the gut because a suitable microhabitat had become available. This implies that the overall production of bacterial metabolites would be made up of a greater range of substances after feather ingestion. On one hand, the host's immune response would be more diverse, increasing the capacity of the immune system to regulate gut microflora. On the other hand, the animal's physiological performance would also be affected. For wild animals, such altered physiological traits would be subjected to natural selection, and, hence, persistent geographic differences in the character of ingested feathers or fur would drive speciation. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
ZHANG, Liang YANG, Shuhui XU, Yanchun DAHMER, Thomas D. |
spellingShingle |
ZHANG, Liang YANG, Shuhui XU, Yanchun DAHMER, Thomas D. Influence of dietary feathers on the fecal microbiota in captive Arctic fox: Do dietary hair or feathers play a role in the evolution of carnivorous mammals? |
author_facet |
ZHANG, Liang YANG, Shuhui XU, Yanchun DAHMER, Thomas D. |
author_sort |
ZHANG, Liang |
title |
Influence of dietary feathers on the fecal microbiota in captive Arctic fox: Do dietary hair or feathers play a role in the evolution of carnivorous mammals? |
title_short |
Influence of dietary feathers on the fecal microbiota in captive Arctic fox: Do dietary hair or feathers play a role in the evolution of carnivorous mammals? |
title_full |
Influence of dietary feathers on the fecal microbiota in captive Arctic fox: Do dietary hair or feathers play a role in the evolution of carnivorous mammals? |
title_fullStr |
Influence of dietary feathers on the fecal microbiota in captive Arctic fox: Do dietary hair or feathers play a role in the evolution of carnivorous mammals? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Influence of dietary feathers on the fecal microbiota in captive Arctic fox: Do dietary hair or feathers play a role in the evolution of carnivorous mammals? |
title_sort |
influence of dietary feathers on the fecal microbiota in captive arctic fox: do dietary hair or feathers play a role in the evolution of carnivorous mammals? |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1749-4877.12069 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2F1749-4877.12069 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1749-4877.12069 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Alopex lagopus Arctic Fox Arctic |
genre_facet |
Alopex lagopus Arctic Fox Arctic |
op_source |
Integrative Zoology volume 9, issue 5, page 583-589 ISSN 1749-4877 1749-4877 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/1749-4877.12069 |
container_title |
Integrative Zoology |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
583 |
op_container_end_page |
589 |
_version_ |
1800744078128709632 |