Date: 11/18/24 11:11 am From: Robert Day <rhday52...> Subject: Re: New AAST supported paper
Also congratulations to him for being named a Fellow of the American Ornithological Society!
Bob Day
SW Bentonville
Sent from my iPad
> On Nov 18, 2024, at 10:42 AM, Ragupathy Kannan <0000013b0ad14faf-dmarc-request...> wrote:
>
>
> Congratulations to Dr. Than Boves and his student Alix Mathews on this new paper. The project was supported by the Arkansas Audubon Society Trust.
>
> Matthews, A. E., Trevelline, B. K., Wijeratne, A. J., & Boves, T. J. (2024). Picky eaters: Selective microbial diet of avian ectosymbionts. Journal of Animal
> Ecology, 00, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.14215 >
>
> Abstract
> 1. Individual organisms can function as ecosystems inhabited by symbionts.
> Symbionts may interact with each other in ways that subsequently influence their
> hosts positively or negatively, although the details of how these interactions op-
> erate collectively are usually not well understood.
>
> 2. Vane-dwelling feather mites are common ectosymbionts of birds and are pro-
> posed to confer benefits to hosts by consuming feather-degrading microbes.
>
> However, it is unknown whether these mites exhibit generalist or selective diets,
> or how their dietary selection could potentially impact their symbiotic functional
> nature.
>
> 3. In this study, we conducted 16S rDNA and ITS1 amplicon sequencing to examine
> the microbial diet of feather mites. We characterized and compared the diversity
> and composition of bacteria and fungi in the bodies of mites living on feathers of
> the Prothonotary Warbler, Protonotaria citrea, to microbial assemblages present
> on the same feathers.
>
> 4. We found less diverse, more compositionally similar microbial assemblages within
> mites than on feathers. We also found that mites were resource-selective. Based
> on the identity and known functions of microbes found within and presumably
> preferred by mites, our results suggest that these mites selectively consume
> feather-degrading microbes. Therefore, our results support the proposition that
> mites confer benefits to their hosts.
>
> 5. This study provides insight into symbioses operating at multiple biological levels,
> highlights the ecological and evolutionary importance of the synergistic interac-
> tions between species, and greatly expands our understanding of feather mite
> biology.
>
>
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