Direct Evidence That Sunbirds' Gut Microbiota Degrades Floral Nectar's Toxic Alkaloids.

ABSTRACT: Orange-tufted sunbirds (Cinnyris osea) feed on the nectar of the tobacco tree (Nicotiana glauca) which contains toxic pyridine alkaloids characterized by high concentrations of anabasine and much lower concentrations of nicotine. We aimed at determining whether the gut microbiota of sunbirds harbors bacterial species that enable the birds to cope with these toxic alkaloids. An in vivo experiment that included 12 birds showed that inducing dysbiosis in sunbirds' guts by the addition of sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim, significantly reduced the birds' ability to degrade anabasine (n = 3) compared to control birds (n = 3) with undisturbed microbiota. Sunbirds whose gut bacterial communities were altered by the antibacterial agents and who were fed with add

SUBMITTER: Gunasekaran M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8018289 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature