Indirect maternal effects via nest microbiome composition drive gut colonization in altricial chicks

Gut microbial communities are complex and heterogeneous and play critical roles for animal hosts. Early‐life disruptions to microbiome establishment can negatively impact host fitness and development. However, the consequences of such early‐life disruptions remain unknown in wild birds. To help fill...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecular ecology 2023-07, Vol.32 (13), p.3657-3671
Main Authors: Diez‐Méndez, David, Bodawatta, Kasun H., Freiberga, Inga, Klečková, Irena, Jønsson, Knud A., Poulsen, Michael, Sam, Katerina
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Antibiotics
brood feeding
Chickens
Chicks
Colonization
Composition
environmental microbiomes
Foraging behavior
Gastrointestinal Microbiome
Intestinal microflora
Juveniles
Maternal effects
Maternal Inheritance
Microbial activity
Microbiomes
Microbiota
Microenvironments
Microhabitats
Microorganisms
Nests
Passeriformes - microbiology
Probiotics
Recolonization
Songbirds
Vertical transfer
vertical transmission
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Summary:Gut microbial communities are complex and heterogeneous and play critical roles for animal hosts. Early‐life disruptions to microbiome establishment can negatively impact host fitness and development. However, the consequences of such early‐life disruptions remain unknown in wild birds. To help fill this gap, we investigated the effect of continuous early‐life gut microbiome disruptions on the establishment and development of gut communities in wild Great tit (Parus major) and Blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) nestlings by applying antibiotics and probiotics. Treatment neither affected nestling growth nor their gut microbiome composition. Independent of treatment, nestling gut microbiomes of both species grouped by brood, which shared the highest numbers of bacterial taxa with both nest environment and their mother. Although fathers showed different gut communities than their nestlings and nests, they still contributed to structuring chick microbiomes. Lastly, we observed that the distance between nests increased inter‐brood microbiome dissimilarity, but only in Great tits, indicating that species‐specific foraging behaviour and/or microhabitat influence gut microbiomes. Overall, the strong maternal effect, driven by continuous recolonization from the nest environment and vertical transfer of microbes during feeding, appears to provide resilience towards early‐life disruptions in nestling gut microbiomes.
ISSN:0962-1083
1365-294X
DOI:10.1111/mec.16959