Czirják Gábor Arpád, Pap Péter László, Vágási Csongor István, Giraudeau Mathieu, Mureşan Cosmin, Mirleau Pascal, Heeb Philipp
Laboratoire Évolution et Diversité Biologique, UMR 5174 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique-Ecole Nationale de Formation Agronomique-Université Paul Sabatier, 118 Route de Narbonne, 31062, Toulouse, France.
Naturwissenschaften. 2013 Feb;100(2):145-51. doi: 10.1007/s00114-012-1005-2. Epub 2013 Jan 4.
The preen gland is a holocrine sebaceous gland of the avian integument which produces an oily secretion that is spread on the plumage during preening. It has been suggested that birds may defend themselves against feather-degrading bacteria (FDB) and other potential pathogens using preen gland secretions. However, besides some in vitro studies, the in vivo bacterial inhibitory effects of the preen oil on the abundance of feather-associated bacterial species has not yet been studied in passerines. Here we tested the effect of gland removal on the abundance of FDB and other-cultivable bacterial loads (OCB) of male house sparrows (Passer domesticus). Our results did not support earlier results on in vitro antibacterial activity of preen oil against FDB since the absence of the preen gland did not significantly affect their loads related to the control birds. In contrast, we found that preen gland removal led to higher loads of OCB. This result suggests that the antimicrobial spectrum of the preen oil is broader than previously thought and that, by reducing the overall feather bacterial loads, the preen gland could help birds to protect themselves against a variety of potentially harmful bacteria.
尾脂腺是鸟类体表的一种全泌皮脂腺，能产生油性分泌物，在梳理羽毛时涂抹在羽毛上。有人提出，鸟类可能利用尾脂腺分泌物抵御降解羽毛的细菌（FDB）和其他潜在病原体。然而，除了一些体外研究外，尾脂腺油对雀形目鸟类羽毛相关细菌种类丰度的体内细菌抑制作用尚未得到研究。在此，我们测试了摘除腺体对雄性家麻雀（Passer domesticus）FDB丰度和其他可培养细菌载量（OCB）的影响。我们的结果不支持先前关于尾脂腺油对FDB体外抗菌活性的研究结果，因为没有尾脂腺对其与对照鸟类相关的载量没有显著影响。相反，我们发现摘除尾脂腺会导致OCB载量增加。这一结果表明，尾脂腺油的抗菌谱比以前认为的更广，并且通过降低羽毛整体细菌载量，尾脂腺可以帮助鸟类抵御各种潜在有害细菌。
