Antibiotic perturbation of gut bacteria does not significantly alter host responses to ocular disease in a songbird species.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial communities in and on wild hosts are increasingly appreciated for their importance in host health. Through both direct and indirect interactions, bacteria lining vertebrate gut mucosa provide hosts protection against infectious pathogens, sometimes even in distal body regions through immune regulation. In house finches (Haemorhous mexicanus), the bacterial pathogen Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) causes conjunctivitis, with ocular inflammation mediated by pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and infection triggering MG-specific antibodies. Here, we tested the role of gut bacteria in host responses to MG by using oral antibiotics to perturb bacteria in the gut of captive house finches prior to experimental inoculation with MG. We found no clear support for an impact of

SUBMITTER: Weitzman CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9190666 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature