Effect of preen oil on plumage bacteria: An experimental test with the mallard
| Autor: | Philipp Heeb, C. Gutierrez, Gábor Á. Czirják, Vincent Bretagnolle, Nadine Guillon, Camille Duval, Mathieu Giraudeau |
|---|---|
| Přispěvatelé: | Evolution et Diversité Biologique (EDB), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Centre d'études biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de microbiologie et génétique moléculaires (LMGM), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) |
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2013 |
| Předmět: |
Male
0106 biological sciences Anas animal structures Anas platyrhynchos Zoology Microbial load Bacterial growth 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Sebaceous Glands 03 medical and health sciences Behavioral Neuroscience biology.animal Animals Feather-degrading bacteria Preen oil 030304 developmental biology 0303 health sciences biology Ecology General Medicine Feathers Thermoregulation biology.organism_classification Grooming Bacterial Load Passerine Anti-Bacterial Agents Sebum Ducks Plumage Feather visual_art [SDE]Environmental Sciences visual_art.visual_art_medium Uropygial gland Female Animal Science and Zoology Bacteria |
| Zdroj: | Behavioural Processes Behavioural Processes, Elsevier, 2013, 92, pp.1-5. ⟨10.1016/j.beproc.2012.08.001⟩ |
| ISSN: | 0376-6357 1872-8308 |
| Popis: | International audience; Feathers are essential for avian thermoregulation, communication or flight and a reduction of plumage condition may alter these functions and reduce individual fitness. Recently, descriptive studies provided evidence that birds carry feather-degrading bacteria on their plumage that have the ability to degrade feathers rapidly under laboratory conditions. If such bacteria reduce avian fitness, natural selection should favour the evolution of anti-bacterial defences to limit the effects of these detrimental microorganisms. Preening behaviour and associated preen gland secretions have been proposed as the main factor used by birds to limit feather-degrading bacterial growth and some recent in vitro studies provided evidence that uropygial oil inhibited the growth of some keratinolytic strains in passerines. However, preen oil antimicrobial properties remained to be experimentally tested in vivo. We conducted an experiment with mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) onto which we fixed a removable mechanism that blocked access to the uropygial gland in a first group of mallards, whilst birds in a second group had the same removable mechanism but access to their gland and a third group of birds had normal access to their gland. We found no significant effect of our treatment on total and feather-degrading bacterial loads. Three hypotheses may explain the discrepancy between our results and previous in vitro studies. First, in vitro studies may have over-estimated the bactericidal properties of the preen oil. Second, preen gland deprivation may have affected only a small portion of the feather-degrading bacterial community. Third, ducks and passerine oils might have different bactericidal properties. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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