Occurrence of Halococcus spp. in the nostrils salt glands of the seabird Calonectris diomedea.
The nostrils of the seabird Calonectris diomedea are endowed with a salt-excreting gland that could produce a suitable environment for the colonization of extreme halophilic prokaryotes. We have studied in this organ the presence of extreme halophiles by means of culturing techniques. We could easily cultivate members of haloarchaea, and all cultures studied were identified as members of one of the two species Halococcus morrhuae and Hcc. dombrowskii. In order to reveal the diversity of these colonizers, we undertook a taxonomic study. Altogether, the results indicated that members of the genus Halococcus may constitute a part of the natural epizootic microbiota of C. diomedea, and that they exhibit such an important degree of taxonomic variability that appeals for a pragmatic species definition. This seabird nests in the west Mediterranean coasts, but its migratory habits, reaching locations as distant from the Mediterranean as the South Atlantic, may help in the dispersal mechanisms of haloarchaea through the Earth's surface.
Brito-Echeverría
Jocelyn
J
Marine Microbiology Group, Institut Mediterrani d'Estudis Avançats (CSIC-UIB), 07190, Esporles, Spain. vieajbr4@uib.es
López-López
Arantxa
A
Yarza
Pablo
P
Antón
Josefa
J
Rosselló-Móra
Ramon
R
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001717:Birds / Q000382:microbiology*; D017931:DNA Primers; D019625:Halococcus / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009666:Nose / Q000382:microbiology*; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D010802:Phylogeny; D012491:Salt Gland / Q000382:microbiology*; D013045:Species Specificity
D017931:DNA Primers