Maternal gut microbes shape the early-life assembly of gut microbiota in passerine chicks via nests.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Knowledge is growing on how gut microbiota are established, but the effects of maternal symbiotic microbes throughout early microbial successions in birds remain elusive. In this study, we examined the contributions and transmission modes of maternal microbes into the neonatal microbiota of a passerine, the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata), based on fostering experiments.

Results

Using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, we found that zebra finch chicks raised by their biological or foster parents (the society finch Lonchura striata domestica) had gut microbial communities converging with those of the parents that reared them. Moreover, source-tracking models revealed high contribution of zebra finches' oral cavity/crop microbiota to their chicks' early gut microbiota,

SUBMITTER: Chen CY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7488855 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature