Cloacal and Ocular Microbiota of the Endangered Australian Northern Quoll

Catherine Burke; Delaney Burnard; Adam Polkinghorne; Jonathan Webb; Wilhelmina M Huston

doi:10.3390/microorganisms6030068

Back

Cloacal and Ocular Microbiota of the Endangered Australian Northern Quoll

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Cloacal and Ocular Microbiota of the Endangered Australian Northern Quoll

Catherine Burke, Delaney Burnard, Adam Polkinghorne, Jonathan Webb and Wilhelmina M Huston

Microorganisms, Vol.6(3), 68

2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms6030068

Files and links (2)

pdf

PDF - Published Version (Open Access)1.08 MBDownload View

Published VersionPDF - Published Version (Open Access)CC BY V4.0, Open Access

url

https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms6030068View

Published Version

Abstract

Zoology

northern quoll

microbiota

cloaca

marsupial

16S rRNA gene sequencing

The Australian northern quoll is an important predatory marsupial carnivore that is currently endangered due to inappropriate fire regimes, predation, and the spread of invasive cane toads. The microbiota of Australian marsupials has not been extensively studied, but is thought to play a role in their health. This study provides an initial characterization of the cloacal microbiota of the northern quoll, as well as other marsupials including possums and kangaroos which were opportunistically sampled. The northern quoll cloaca microbiota was dominated by Enterococcus and Lactobacillus and had a relatively high proportion of members of the Proteobacteria phylum, which has been observed in other carnivorous marsupials. The diversity and structure of the microbiota was not influenced by presence of Chlamydiales which are intracellular bacteria and potential pathogens. The microbiota of the other marsupials was quite varied, which may be related to their health status. Characterization of the northern quoll microbiota will help to better understand the biology of this endangered animal.

Details

Title: Cloacal and Ocular Microbiota of the Endangered Australian Northern Quoll
Authors: Catherine Burke (Author) - University of Technology Sydney
Delaney Burnard (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
Adam Polkinghorne (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
Jonathan Webb (Author) - University of Technology Sydney
Wilhelmina M Huston (Author) - University of Technology Sydney
Publication details: Microorganisms, Vol.6(3), 68; 12
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date published: 2018
DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms6030068
ISSN: 2076-2607
Copyright note: Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (CC BY 4.0).
Organisation Unit: School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; Information Technology; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Sustainability Research Cluster
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99451463502621
Output Type: Journal article

Metrics

61 File views/ downloads

551 Record Views

9 Times Cited - Web of Science

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Microbiology

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

Source: InCites