ArticleScientific reports2019
Plumage iridescence is associated with distinct feather microbiota in a tropical passerine.
Article in Scientific reports, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Host traits rather than migration and molting strategies explain feather bacterial load in Palearctic passerines.iScience · 2024Article
- Plumage microorganism communities of tidal marsh sparrows.iScience · 2024Article
- Microbial community diversity and potential functionality in response to dam construction along the Three Gorge Reservoir, China.Frontiers in microbiology · 2023Article
- Article
- Not so black, not so white: differences in microorganism load of contiguous feathers from white stork chicks.Current zoology · 2021Article
- Does solar irradiation drive community assembly of vulture plumage microbiotas?Animal microbiome · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Birds present a stunning diversity of plumage colors that have long fascinated evolutionary ecologists. Although plumage coloration is often linked to sexual selection, it may impact a number of physiological processes, including microbial resistance. At present, the degree to which differences between pigment-based vs. structural plumage coloration may affect the feather microbiota remains unanswered. Using quantitative PCR and DGGE profiling, we investigated feather microbial load, diversity and community structure among two allopatric subspecies of White-shouldered Fairywren, Malurus alboscapulatus that vary in expression of melanin-based vs. structural plumage coloration. We found that microbial load tended to be lower and feather microbial diversity was significantly higher in the plumage of black iridescent males, compared to black matte females and brown individuals. Moreover, black iridescent males had distinct feather microbial communities compared to black matte females and brown individuals. We suggest that distinctive nanostructure properties of iridescent male feathers or different investment in preening influence feather microbiota community composition and load. This study is the first to point to structural plumage coloration as a factor that may significantly regulate feather microbiota. Future work might explore fitness consequences and the role of microorganisms in the evolution of avian sexual dichromatism, with particular reference to iridescence.
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