Chemical regulation of body feather microbiota in a wild bird

The microbiota has a broad range of impacts on host physiology and behaviour, pointing out the need to improve our comprehension of the drivers of host microbiota composition. Of particular interest is whether the microbiota is acquired passively, or whether and to what extent hosts themselves shape the acquisition and maintenance of their microbiota. In birds, the uropygial gland produces oily secretions used to coat feathers that have been suggested to act as an antimicrobial defence mechanism regulating body feather microbiota. However, our comprehension of this process is still limited. In this study, we for the first time coupled high-throughput sequencing of the microbiota of both body feathers and the direct environment (i.e. the nest) in great tits with chemical analyses of the composition of uropygial gland secretions to examine whether host chemicals have either specific effects on some bacteria or non-specific broad-spectrum effects on the body feather microbiota. Using a net...