Gut microbes limit growth in house sparrow nestlings (Passer domesticus) but not through limitations in digestive capacity.

ABSTRACT: Recent research often lauds the services and beneficial effects of host-associated microbes on animals. However, hosting these microbes may come at a cost. For example, germ-free and antibiotic-treated birds generally grow faster than their conventional counterparts. In the wild, juvenile body size is correlated with survival, so hosting a microbiota may incur a fitness cost. Avian altricial nestlings represent an interesting study system in which to investigate these interactions, given that they exhibit the fastest growth rates among vertebrates, and growth is limited by their digestive capacity. We investigated whether reduction and restructuring of the microbiota by antibiotic treatment would: (i) increase growth and food conversion efficiency in nestling house sparrows (Passer domesti

SUBMITTER: Kohl KD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5873389 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature