Preening as a Vehicle for Key Bacteria in Hoopoes
@article{MartnezGarca2015PreeningAA, title={Preening as a Vehicle for Key Bacteria in Hoopoes}, author={{\'A}ngela Mart{\'i}nez-Garc{\'i}a and Juan Jos{\'e} Soler and Sonia M. Rodr{\'i}guez-Ruano and Manuel Mart{\'i}nez-Bueno and Antonio Manuel Mart{\'i}n-Platero and Natalia Ju{\'a}rez-Garc{\'i}a and Manuel Mart{\'i}n-Vivaldi}, journal={Microbial Ecology}, year={2015}, volume={70}, pages={1024-1033} }
Oily secretions produced in the uropygial gland of incubating female hoopoes contain antimicrobial-producing bacteria that prevent feathers from degradation and eggs from pathogenic infection. Using the beak, females collect the uropygial gland secretion and smear it directly on the eggshells and brood patch. Thus, some bacterial strains detected in the secretion should also be present on the eggshell, beak, and brood patch. To characterize these bacterial communities, we used Automatic…
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Seasonal and Sexual Differences in the Microbiota of the Hoopoe Uropygial Secretion
- Biology, Environmental ScienceGenes
- 2018
It is hypothesize that bacterial proliferation may be host-regulated in phases of high infection risk (i.e., nesting) and highlighted the importance of specific antimicrobial-producing bacteria present only in dark secretions that may be key in this defensive symbiosis.
The Hoopoe's Uropygial Gland Hosts a Bacterial Community Influenced by the Living Conditions of the Bird
- BiologyPloS one
- 2015
The bacterial assemblage of this community was largely invariable among study individuals, although differences were detected between captive and wild female hoopoes, with some strains showing significantly higher prevalence in wild birds.
Nest Bacterial Environment Affects Microbiome of Hoopoe Eggshells, but Not That of the Uropygial Secretion
- Environmental SciencePloS one
- 2016
First experimental evidence indicating that nest material influences the bacterial community of the eggshells and, therefore, probability of embryo infection is shown, suggesting a role of nest environments of hoopoes as reservoirs of symbiotic bacteria.
Nestedness of hoopoes' bacterial communities: symbionts from the uropygial gland to the eggshell
- Environmental Science
- 2016
The results indicate that bacterial communities of eggshells and body parts of female hoopoes are at least partially conditioned by the symbiotic community in the uropygial gland, which is important for understanding this host–microbial mutualism functioning and evolution.
Acquisition of Uropygial Gland Microbiome by Hoopoe Nestlings
- BiologyMicrobial Ecology
- 2017
The results of this analysis support the idea that the typical composition of the hoopoe gland microbiome is reached by the incorporation of some bacteria during the nestling period, and suggest the existence of a coevolved core microbiome composed by a mix of specialized vertically transmitted strains and facultative symbionts able to coexist with them.
Ectoparasite Activity During Incubation Increases Microbial Growth on Avian Eggs
- BiologyMicrobial Ecology
- 2017
Evidence is found of a link between eggshell bacterial loads and increased embryo mortality, which provides indirect support for a bacterial-mediated negative effect of ectoparasitism on host offspring.
Effects of Chemical and Auditory Cues of Hoopoes (Upupa epops) in Repellence and Attraction of Blood-Feeding Flies
- BiologyFrontiers in Ecology and Evolution
- 2020
It is suggested that uropygial secretion of hoopoes, and symbiotic bacteria living in this secretion, may repel blood-feeding flies from their nests.
Properties, Genetics and Innate Immune Function of the Cuticle in Egg-Laying Species
- Biology, Environmental ScienceFrontiers in Immunology
- 2022
This review provides insight into the physiological and microbiological characteristics of eggshell cuticle in relation to its protective function (innate immunity) in egg-laying birds and reptiles.
Preen oil and bird fitness: a critical review of the evidence
- BiologyBiological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society
- 2017
The uropygial gland appears to have several non‐mutually exclusive functions in birds, and thus is likely to be subject to several selective pressures, and future studies should consider how the inevitable trade‐offs among different functions drive the evolution of uropyGial gland secretions.
Reproductive success related to uropygial gland volume varies with abundance of conspecifics in barn swallows Hirundo rustica
- BiologyBehavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
- 2018
It is found that barn swallows with larger uropygial glands had higher breeding success when living in environments with higher abundance of conspecifics, and the outcomes suggest that benefits of uropgial secretion are host density dependent, thus consistent with this being a heritable trait that has evolved as a consequence of divergent selection imposed by pathogens.
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