Diversity and Keratin Degrading Ability of Fungi Isolated from Canadian Arctic Marine Bird Feathers

• Published in: ARCTIC
• Main Authors: Robicheau, Brent M., Adams, Sarah J., Provencher, Jennifer F., Robertson, Gregory J., Mallory, Mark L., Walker, Allison K.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Arctic Institute of North America 2019
• Subjects: Arctic; gull; keratin degradation; Newfoundland; Nunavut; seabird; Arctique; mouette; dégradation de la kératine; Terre-Neuve; oiseau de mer; Canada; Champignons; Fulmar; Arctic birds; Arctique*; Black guillemot; Black-legged Kittiwake; Cepphus grylle; Common Eider; Fulmarus glacialis; Glaucous Gull; Goéland bourgmestre; Guillemot à miroir; King Eider; Larus hyperboreus; Mouette tridactyle; Northern Fulmar; rissa tridactyla; Somateria mollissima; subarctique*; thick-billed murre; Uria lomvia; uria
• Online Access: https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/69301

We present the first records of fungi associated with feathers from seabirds and sea ducks in the Canadian Arcticand sub-Arctic. Birds sampled in Nunavut and Newfoundland (Canada) included the Common Eider (Somateria mollissima), King Eider (S. spectabilis), Black-legged Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla), Northern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis), Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus), Black Guillemot (Cepphus grylle), and Thick-billed Murre (Uria lomvia). In total 19 fungal species were cultured from feathers, identified using ITS rDNA barcoding, and screened for their ability to degrade keratin using a keratin azure assay. Our results indicate that 1) of the 19 isolates, 74% were ascomycetes, while the remaining 26% were basidiomycetes (yeasts); 2) 21% of the ascomycete isolates demonstrated keratinolytic activity (a known pathogenicity factor for fungi that may potentially be harmful to birds); 3) the largest number of fungi were cultured from the sampled Thick-billed Murre; and 4) based on a multiple correspondence analysis, there is some indication that both the King Eider and the Thick-billed Murre collected in the low Arctic had distinct fungal communities that were different from each other and from the other birds sampled. Although our sample sizes were small, initial trends in point (4) do demonstrate that additional study is merited to assess whether the fungal community differences are influenced by variation in the known ecologies of theavian hosts and fungi identified. Nous présentons les premiers enregistrements de champignons se rapportant aux plumes d’oiseaux et de canardsde mer dans l’Arctique et la région subarctique du Canada. Parmi les oiseaux échantillonnés au Nunavut et à Terre-Neuve (Canada), notons l’eider à duvet (Somateria mollissima), l’eider à tête grise (S. spectabilis), la mouette tridactyle (Rissa tridactyla), le fulmar boréal (Fulmarus glacialis), le goéland bourgmestre (Larus hyperboreus), le guillemot à miroir (Cepphus grylle) et le guillemot de Brünnich (Uria lomvia). En tout, 19 espèces ...