Document Type
Article
Keywords
avian microbiome, blood parasites, gut microbiome, Plasmodium, sparrows
Abstract
Recent expansion of microbiome research has uncovered connections between resident microbial communities and blood parasite risk, establishing the potential for microbial disease treatments such as probiotics in the future. However, this field has largely focused on humans and model organisms, leaving much unknown about how microbial communities might directly or indirectly impact parasite infection in wild populations and non-mammals. To contribute to this knowledge base in wild birds, we collected fecal and blood samples from wild Eurasian tree sparrows (Passer montanus) in the United States to test for associations between blood parasite infection and the gut microbiome. We used a widespread molecular approach to test 81 samples from peripheral blood for Plasmodium and Haemoproteus, and we characterized the gut microbiome using fecal samples as a proxy. Neither alpha nor beta diversity significantly varied with detected Plasmodium infection. However, differential abundance analysis highlighted a number of significantly varying bacteria, with the greatest representation within the phyla Proteobacteria and Firmicutes in Plasmodium-infected birds. These differentially abundant taxa offer a starting point for experimental work establishing the relationship between microbial abundance and Plasmodium infection.
Publication Date
1-1-2023
Publication Title
Journal of Avian Biology
ISSN
09088857
E-ISSN
1600048X
Volume
2023
Issue
1-2
Original Article Number
e03027
DOI
10.1111/jav.03027
Funding Number
1945995
Funding Sponsor
National Science Foundation
Recommended Citation
Rohrer, Sage D.; Robertson, Briana Q.; Chubiz, Lon M.; and Parker, Patricia G., "Gut microbiome composition associated with Plasmodium infection in the Eurasian tree sparrow" (2023). Biology Department Faculty Works. 201.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.03027
Available at:
https://irl.umsl.edu/biology-faculty/201
