Reptiles as Reservoirs of Bacterial Infections: Real Threat or Methodological Bias?
| Autor: | Giulia Zancolli, Dieter Mahsberg, Alexander Keller, Wiebke Sickel |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2015 |
| Předmět: |
Salmonella
Food Chain Molecular Sequence Data Soil Science Human pathogen Biology medicine.disease_cause Feces Oral Microbiota Bacterial Proteins Microbial ecology RNA Ribosomal 16S medicine Animals Pathogen Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics Disease Reservoirs Mouth Ecology Zoonosis Reptiles Lizards Snakes Sequence Analysis DNA medicine.disease Turtles Taxon Microbial population biology |
| Zdroj: | Microbial Ecology. 70:579-584 |
| ISSN: | 1432-184X 0095-3628 |
| Popis: | Bacterial infections secondary to snakebites and human pathogens (e.g., Salmonella) have been linked to the oral microbiota of snakes and pet reptiles. Based on culture-dependent studies, it is speculated that snakes' oral microbiota reflects the fecal flora of their ingested preys. However, cultured-based techniques have been shown to be limited as they fail to identify unculturable microorganisms which represent the vast majority of the microbial diversity. Here, we used culture-independent high-throughput sequencing to identify reptile-associated pathogens and to characterize the oral microbial community of five snakes, one gecko, and two terrapins. Few potential human pathogens were detected at extremely low frequencies. Moreover, bacterial taxa represented in the snake's oral cavity bore little resemblance to their preys' fecal microbiota. Overall, we found distinct, highly diverse microbial communities with consistent, species-specific patterns contrary to previous culture-based studies. Our study does not support the widely held assumption that reptiles' oral cavity acts as pathogen reservoir and provides important insights for future research. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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