| Summary: | Wild waterfowl (ducks and geese) naturally carry influenza viruses in their intestines. While they rarely experience disease symptoms, ducks serve as vectors to spread avian influenza viruses (AIV) to susceptible human and poultry populations. Through surveillance and screening of the local wild waterfowl population for AIV, the Cline lab identified northern shovelers (Spatula clypeata) as a duck species with a significantly higher prevalence of AIV infection compared to other species that were sampled. Because AIV infects the gut in waterfowl and because gut microbiome diversity and composition are associated with immune function, I hypothesized that the gut microbiome of northern shovelers is less diverse than other waterfowl species. I compared bacterial DNA sequence data from cloacal samples of northern shoveler to that of American wigeon (Mareca americana), a species with moderate prevalence of AIV infection. I found that the richness and phylogenic diversity of the northern shoveler cloacal microbiome was significantly less than that found in American wigeon. I also identified bacterial species that were differentially abundant between northern shoveler and American wigeon and are compelling targets for future research. These results further implicate microbiome diversity and composition in affecting susceptibility to AIV.
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