Microbiome and Antimicrobial Resistance Genes in Microbiota of Cloacal Samples from European Herring Gulls ().

INTRODUCTION

The aim of the study was to determine microbiota in the cloacal samples of European herring gulls () and to compare a variety of genes encoding antimicrobial resistance in cultivable and non-cultivable bacteria.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Cloacal samples from European herring gulls were collected from a Kaunas city dump. Cultivable microbiota were isolated, their microbial susceptibility was tested, and genes encoding antimicrobial resistance were detected. Additionally, a metagenomic study was performed using Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS).

RESULTS

In total, 697 different operational taxonomic units at genus level were detected; however, only 63 taxonomic units were detected at the amount of ≥0.1% of the total number of DNA copies. was found to have the highest prevalence. The bacterial amount of other genera was up to 5% with the most highly prevalent being (4.7%), (4.5%), unclassified Enterococcaceae (3.2%), (2.9%), and (2.6%).

CONCLUSIONS

are predominant microbiota in the cloacal samples of . This species of gulls is a reservoir of bacteria carrying a wide-spectrum of genes encoding antimicrobial resistance. The same genes were detected in both cultivable microbiota and in the total DNA of the samples.