| Title: | Experimental evidence that symbiotic bacteria produce chemical cues in a songbird |
| Author(s): | Whittaker DJ; Slowinski SP; Greenberg JM; Alian O; Winters AD; Ahmad MM; Burrell MJE; Soini HA; Novotny MV; Ketterson ED; Theis KR; |
| Address: | "BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA djwhitta@msu.edu. Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-3200, USA. Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI 48201, USA. BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-4320, USA. Department of Chemistry, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405-7102, USA. Institute for Pheromone Research, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405-7102, USA. Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1477-9145 (Electronic) 0022-0949 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Symbiotic microbes that inhabit animal scent glands can produce volatile compounds used as chemical signals by the host animal. Though several studies have demonstrated correlations between scent gland bacterial community structure and host animal odour profiles, none have systematically demonstrated a causal relationship. In birds, volatile compounds in preen oil secreted by the uropygial gland serve as chemical cues and signals. Here, we tested whether manipulating the uropygial gland microbial community affects chemical profiles in the dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis). We found an effect of antibiotic treatment targeting the uropygial gland on both bacterial and volatile profiles. In a second experiment, we cultured bacteria from junco preen oil, and found that all of the cultivars produced at least one volatile compound common in junco preen oil, and that most cultivars produced multiple preen oil volatiles. In both experiments, we identified experimentally generated patterns in specific volatile compounds previously shown to predict junco reproductive success. Together, our data provide experimental support for the hypothesis that symbiotic bacteria produce behaviourally relevant volatile compounds within avian chemical cues and signals" |
| Keywords: | "Animals Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology Bacteria/drug effects/*metabolism Biodiversity *Cues Female Male Models, Biological Oils/chemistry Principal Component Analysis Songbirds/*microbiology Symbiosis/*physiology Volatile Organic Compounds/analysis An;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineWhittaker, Danielle J Slowinski, Samuel P Greenberg, Jonathan M Alian, Osama Winters, Andrew D Ahmad, Madison M Burrell, Mikayla J E Soini, Helena A Novotny, Milos V Ketterson, Ellen D Theis, Kevin R eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2019/09/21 J Exp Biol. 2019 Oct 16; 222(Pt 20):jeb202978. doi: 10.1242/jeb.202978" |
