title: The microbiome of New World vultures.
abstract: Vultures are scavengers that fill a key ecosystem niche, in which they have evolved a remarkable tolerance to bacterial toxins in decaying meat. Here we report the first deep metagenomic analysis of the vulture microbiome. Through face and gut comparisons of 50 vultures representing two species, we demonstrate a remarkably conserved low diversity of gut microbial flora. The gut samples contained an average of 76 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) per specimen, compared with 528 OTUs on the facial skin. Clostridia and Fusobacteria, widely pathogenic to other vertebrates, dominate the vulture's gut microbiota. We reveal a likely faecal-oral-gut route for their origin. DNA of prey species detectable on facial swabs was completely degraded in the gut samples from most vultures, suggesting that the gastrointestinal tracts of vultures are extremely selective. Our findings show a strong adaption of vultures and their bacteria to their food source, exemplifying a specialized host-microbial alliance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Section of Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Roggenbuck
authors.affiliation: 1] Center for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark [2] Center for Zoo and Wild Animal Health, Copenhagen Zoo, 2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Ida
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bærholm Schnell
authors.affiliation: 1] Center for Biological Sequence Analysis, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark [2] Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, 2970 Hørsholm, Denmark.
authors.forename: Nikolaj
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Blom
authors.affiliation: Center for Biological Sequence Analysis, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bælum
authors.affiliation: Center for Zoo and Wild Animal Health, Copenhagen Zoo, 2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Mads Frost
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Bertelsen
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sicheritz-Pontén
authors.affiliation: Center for Biological Sequence Analysis, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark.
authors.forename: Thomas Sicheritz
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Pontén
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Section of Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Søren Johannes
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Sørensen
authors.affiliation: Center for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: M Thomas P
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Gilbert
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA [2] Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Gary R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Graves
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark.
authors.forename: Lars H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Hansen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001717:Birds / Q000382:microbiology*; D017753:Ecosystem; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000382:microbiology; D056186:Metagenomics; D064307:Microbiota; D010802:Phylogeny; D012867:Skin / Q000382:microbiology