Composition and Potential Function of Fecal Bacterial Microbiota from Six Bird Species

Gut microbial communities play a fundamental role in health and disease, but little is known about the gut microbiota of pet bird species. This important to better understand impact microbes on birds’ may also be relevant context zoonoses. Total genomic DNA samples from pooled fecal 30 flocks (4–7 birds per flock) representing over 150 six different species (two Passeriformes: Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia guttata), four Psittaciformes: Lovebird (Agapornis, species), Cockatiel (Nymphicus hollandicus), Red-rumped Parrot (Psephotus haematonotus), Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri) were used for 16S rRNA gene analysis. Several taxa found among (e.g., lowest median Lactobacillus: 2.2% Cockatiels; highest 79.4% Lovebirds). Despite marked differences individual samples, each harbored unique bacterial composition, based analysis UniFrac distances. A predictive approach metagenomic function organism-level microbiome phenotypes revealed several higher proportion proteobacteria with potential form biofilms Mockingbirds). The results provide useful catalog encourage more research this unexplored topic.