Age-related differences in the cloacal microbiota of a wild bird species
Background: Gastrointestinal bacteria play a central role in the health of animals. The bacteria that individuals acquire as they age may therefore have profound consequences for their future fitness. However, changes in microbial community structure with host age remain poorly understood. We charac...
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ftdeakinunifig:oai:figshare.com:article/22028879 2023-05-15T18:07:11+02:00 Age-related differences in the cloacal microbiota of a wild bird species Wouter Van Dongen J White HB Brandl Y Moodley T Merkling S Leclaire P Blanchard E Danchin SA Hatch RH Wagner 2013-03-25T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10779/DRO/DU:22028879.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Age-related_differences_in_the_cloacal_microbiota_of_a_wild_bird_species/22028879 unknown http://hdl.handle.net/10779/DRO/DU:22028879.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Age-related_differences_in_the_cloacal_microbiota_of_a_wild_bird_species/22028879 All Rights Reserved Evolutionary Biology Ecology Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Environmental Sciences & Ecology Age-differences Automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis Bacteria Black-legged kittiwakes Cloaca Gastrointestinal tract BACTERIAL COMMUNITY STRUCTURE INTESTINAL FLORA ANIMAL BEHAVIOR EVOLUTION ACQUISITION PREVALENCE DIVERSITY PATHOGENS PATTERNS Age Factors Animals Wild Charadriiformes Female Male Microbiota Molecular Sequence Data Phylogeny Infectious Diseases 2.2 Factors relating to the physical environment 2 Aetiology Infection Text Journal contribution 2013 ftdeakinunifig 2023-02-28T14:58:09Z Background: Gastrointestinal bacteria play a central role in the health of animals. The bacteria that individuals acquire as they age may therefore have profound consequences for their future fitness. However, changes in microbial community structure with host age remain poorly understood. We characterised the cloacal bacteria assemblages of chicks and adults in a natural population of black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla), using molecular methods.Results: We show that the kittiwake cloaca hosts a diverse assemblage of bacteria. A greater number of total bacterial OTUs (operational taxonomic units) were identified in chicks than adults, and chicks appeared to host a greater number of OTUs that were only isolated from single individuals. In contrast, the number of bacteria identified per individual was higher in adults than chicks, while older chicks hosted more OTUs than younger chicks. Finally, chicks and adults shared only seven OTUs, resulting in pronounced differences in microbial assemblages. This result is surprising given that adults regurgitate food to chicks and share the same nesting environment.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that chick gastrointestinal tracts are colonised by many transient species and that bacterial assemblages gradually transition to a more stable adult state. Phenotypic differences between chicks and adults may lead to these strong differences in bacterial communities. These data provide the framework for future studies targeting the causes and consequences of variation in bacterial assemblages in wild birds. © 2013 van Dongen et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. Other Non-Article Part of Journal/Newspaper rissa tridactyla DRO - Deakin Research Online |
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Open Polar |
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DRO - Deakin Research Online |
op_collection_id |
ftdeakinunifig |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Evolutionary Biology Ecology Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Environmental Sciences & Ecology Age-differences Automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis Bacteria Black-legged kittiwakes Cloaca Gastrointestinal tract BACTERIAL COMMUNITY STRUCTURE INTESTINAL FLORA ANIMAL BEHAVIOR EVOLUTION ACQUISITION PREVALENCE DIVERSITY PATHOGENS PATTERNS Age Factors Animals Wild Charadriiformes Female Male Microbiota Molecular Sequence Data Phylogeny Infectious Diseases 2.2 Factors relating to the physical environment 2 Aetiology Infection |
spellingShingle |
Evolutionary Biology Ecology Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Environmental Sciences & Ecology Age-differences Automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis Bacteria Black-legged kittiwakes Cloaca Gastrointestinal tract BACTERIAL COMMUNITY STRUCTURE INTESTINAL FLORA ANIMAL BEHAVIOR EVOLUTION ACQUISITION PREVALENCE DIVERSITY PATHOGENS PATTERNS Age Factors Animals Wild Charadriiformes Female Male Microbiota Molecular Sequence Data Phylogeny Infectious Diseases 2.2 Factors relating to the physical environment 2 Aetiology Infection Wouter Van Dongen J White HB Brandl Y Moodley T Merkling S Leclaire P Blanchard E Danchin SA Hatch RH Wagner Age-related differences in the cloacal microbiota of a wild bird species |
topic_facet |
Evolutionary Biology Ecology Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Environmental Sciences & Ecology Age-differences Automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis Bacteria Black-legged kittiwakes Cloaca Gastrointestinal tract BACTERIAL COMMUNITY STRUCTURE INTESTINAL FLORA ANIMAL BEHAVIOR EVOLUTION ACQUISITION PREVALENCE DIVERSITY PATHOGENS PATTERNS Age Factors Animals Wild Charadriiformes Female Male Microbiota Molecular Sequence Data Phylogeny Infectious Diseases 2.2 Factors relating to the physical environment 2 Aetiology Infection |
description |
Background: Gastrointestinal bacteria play a central role in the health of animals. The bacteria that individuals acquire as they age may therefore have profound consequences for their future fitness. However, changes in microbial community structure with host age remain poorly understood. We characterised the cloacal bacteria assemblages of chicks and adults in a natural population of black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla), using molecular methods.Results: We show that the kittiwake cloaca hosts a diverse assemblage of bacteria. A greater number of total bacterial OTUs (operational taxonomic units) were identified in chicks than adults, and chicks appeared to host a greater number of OTUs that were only isolated from single individuals. In contrast, the number of bacteria identified per individual was higher in adults than chicks, while older chicks hosted more OTUs than younger chicks. Finally, chicks and adults shared only seven OTUs, resulting in pronounced differences in microbial assemblages. This result is surprising given that adults regurgitate food to chicks and share the same nesting environment.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that chick gastrointestinal tracts are colonised by many transient species and that bacterial assemblages gradually transition to a more stable adult state. Phenotypic differences between chicks and adults may lead to these strong differences in bacterial communities. These data provide the framework for future studies targeting the causes and consequences of variation in bacterial assemblages in wild birds. © 2013 van Dongen et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. |
format |
Other Non-Article Part of Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Wouter Van Dongen J White HB Brandl Y Moodley T Merkling S Leclaire P Blanchard E Danchin SA Hatch RH Wagner |
author_facet |
Wouter Van Dongen J White HB Brandl Y Moodley T Merkling S Leclaire P Blanchard E Danchin SA Hatch RH Wagner |
author_sort |
Wouter Van Dongen |
title |
Age-related differences in the cloacal microbiota of a wild bird species |
title_short |
Age-related differences in the cloacal microbiota of a wild bird species |
title_full |
Age-related differences in the cloacal microbiota of a wild bird species |
title_fullStr |
Age-related differences in the cloacal microbiota of a wild bird species |
title_full_unstemmed |
Age-related differences in the cloacal microbiota of a wild bird species |
title_sort |
age-related differences in the cloacal microbiota of a wild bird species |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10779/DRO/DU:22028879.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Age-related_differences_in_the_cloacal_microbiota_of_a_wild_bird_species/22028879 |
genre |
rissa tridactyla |
genre_facet |
rissa tridactyla |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/10779/DRO/DU:22028879.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Age-related_differences_in_the_cloacal_microbiota_of_a_wild_bird_species/22028879 |
op_rights |
All Rights Reserved |
_version_ |
1766179154900811776 |