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Abstract
The process of dispersal of the potentially disease-causing, geophilic and keratinolytic fungal strain Aphanoascus keratinophilus (the perfect, sexual stage of Chrysosporium keratinophilum) by the rook Corvus frugilegus was studied. The source of A. keratinophilus strains was pellets of the rook, thus far not considered a carrier of this particular opportunistic pathogen. Pellets collected from breeding colonies of rooks were analysed in terms of the occurrence of keratinolytic fungi with the application of the native keratin bait method. Among the 83 rook pellets analysed, 24 (29%) were infected by keratinophilic fungi. Pure cultures of the fungi were identified to species based on traditional morphological features. Traditional mycological identification was verified by the PCR–RFLP molecular identification method as well as DNA sequencing. The obtained results showed the presence of 90 Aphanoascus keratinophilus strains, 6 Chrysosporium tropicum strains, and 3 Chrysosporium pannicola strains. The PCR melting profile (PCR-MP) method was used to identify intraspecies variations of the 90 analysed A. keratinophilus strains. The dispersal of genotypes and possible pathways of A. keratinophilus dispersal and infection via rook pellets were analysed.
Highlights
Birds are considered an important carrier of pathogenic and potentially pathogenic microorganisms, including fungi[1,2,3,4,5]
Three strains that were identified as A. keratinophilus using traditional methods and three strains designated A. fulvescens after molecular identification were Chrysosporium pannicola and Chrysosporium tropicum, respectively (Table S1)
We demonstrated the application of the PCR melting profile as a simple method that may be used for intraspecies differentiation of analysed strains of A. keratinophilus isolated from pellets of Corvus frugilegus
Summary
Birds are considered an important carrier of pathogenic and potentially pathogenic microorganisms, including fungi[1,2,3,4,5]. Among the mycobiota associated with birds, particular attention should be given to a group of keratinophilic fungi, such as dermatophytes, as well as the Chrysosporium group (conventional term) These organisms have the capacity to breakdown keratin, such as feathers, hairs, nails, horns, and c laws[14,15,16]. The long-term monitoring of rooks in Poland allowed us to estimate their population as 300–350 thousand p airs[32] Both epidemiological and ecological aspects of the propagation of fungal diseases by birds, including rooks, are not fully u nderstood[6]. The first aim of the present study was to provide evidence for rooks as carriers of potentially pathogenic strains of Aphanoascus keratinophilus transferred from individual adult birds. This molecular analysis of A. keratinophilus populations was performed for the first time in this study
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