Shifts in bacterial communities of eggshells and antimicrobial activities in eggs during incubation in a ground-nesting passerine.

ABSTRACT: Microbial invasion of egg contents is a cause of embryonic death. To counter infection risks, the embryo is protected physically by the eggshell and chemically by antimicrobial proteins. If microbial pressure drives embryo mortality, then females may have evolved, through natural selection, to adapt their immune investment into eggs. Although frequently hypothesized, this match between immune allocation and microorganisms has not been explored yet. To examine if correlations between microbes on eggs and immunity in eggs exist, we collected eggs from red-capped larks (Calandrella cinerea) and simultaneously examined their bacterial communities and antimicrobial components--pH, lysozyme and ovotransferrin--during natural incubation. Using molecular techniques, we find that bacterial communit

SUBMITTER: Grizard S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4400097 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature