Reptiles as Reservoirs of Bacterial Infections: Real Threat or Methodological Bias?
Bacterial infections secondary to snakebites and human pathogens (e.g., Salmonella) have been linked to the oral microbiota of snakes and pet reptiles. Based on culture-dependent studies, it is speculated that snakes' oral microbiota reflects the fecal flora of their ingested preys. However, cultured-based techniques have been shown to be limited as they fail to identify unculturable microorganisms which represent the vast majority of the microbial diversity. Here, we used culture-independent high-throughput sequencing to identify reptile-associated pathogens and to characterize the oral microbial community of five snakes, one gecko, and two terrapins. Few potential human pathogens were detected at extremely low frequencies. Moreover, bacterial taxa represented in the snake's oral cavity bore little resemblance to their preys' fecal microbiota. Overall, we found distinct, highly diverse microbial communities with consistent, species-specific patterns contrary to previous culture-based studies. Our study does not support the widely held assumption that reptiles' oral cavity acts as pathogen reservoir and provides important insights for future research.
Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocentre, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany. giulia.zancolli@gmail.com.|School of Biological Sciences, Environment Centre Wales, Bangor University, Bangor, LL57 2UW, UK. giulia.zancolli@gmail.com.
Giulia
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3060-2507
G
Zancolli
Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocentre, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
Dieter
D
Mahsberg
Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocentre, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.|DNA Analytics Core Facility, Biocentre, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
Wiebke
W
Sickel
Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocentre, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.|DNA Analytics Core Facility, Biocentre, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
Alexander
A
Keller
D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D020387:Food Chain; D008116:Lizards / Q000382:microbiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009055:Mouth / Q000382:microbiology*; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012104:Reptiles / Q000382:microbiology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000662:veterinary; D012911:Snakes / Q000382:microbiology; D014426:Turtles / Q000382:microbiology
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
16S rDNA; Oral microbiota; Snakebite; Wound infection; Zoonosis