The microbiome of New World vultures

Michael Roggenbuck, Ida Bærholm Schnell, Nikolaj Blom, Jacob Bælum, Mads Frost Bertelsen, Thomas Sicheritz-Pontén, Søren Johannes Sørensen, M. Thomas P. Gilbert, Gary R. Graves () and Lars H Hansen ()
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Michael Roggenbuck: Section of Microbiology, University of Copenhagen
Ida Bærholm Schnell: Center for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen
Nikolaj Blom: Center for Biological Sequence Analysis, Technical University of Denmark
Jacob Bælum: Center for Biological Sequence Analysis, Technical University of Denmark
Mads Frost Bertelsen: Center for Zoo and Wild Animal Health, Copenhagen Zoo
Thomas Sicheritz-Pontén: Center for Biological Sequence Analysis, Technical University of Denmark
Søren Johannes Sørensen: Section of Microbiology, University of Copenhagen
M. Thomas P. Gilbert: Center for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen
Gary R. Graves: National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
Lars H Hansen: Aarhus University

Nature Communications, 2014, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: 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.

Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6498

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