Composition and function of the Galapagos penguin gut microbiome vary with age, location, and a putative bacterial pathogen.

ABSTRACT: Microbial colonization plays a direct role in host health. Understanding the ecology of the resident microbial community for a given host species is thus an important step for detecting population vulnerabilities like disease. However, the idea of integrating microbiome research into conservation is still relatively new, and wild birds have received less attention in this field than mammals or domesticated animals. Here we examine the composition and function of the gut microbiome of the endangered Galapagos penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus) with the goals of characterizing the normal microbial community and resistome, identifying likely pathogens, and testing hypotheses of structuring forces for this community based on demographics, location, and infection status. We collected fecal samples

SUBMITTER: Rohrer SD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10067942 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature