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Yeasts in Feces of Pigeons (Columba livia) in the City of Moscow

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Abstract

The yeast number and species diversity in feces of pigeons (Columba livia) were studied in various locations of the city of Moscow: parks, playgrounds and school grounds. The total number and species composition of yeasts in feces depended on the isolation temperature. The average yeast number at a cultivation temperature of 25 °C was 3.2 × 105 CFU/g, at 37 °C–2.5 × 106 CFU/g. At 37 °C, the number of yeasts was higher due to a more abundant growth of pathogenic and opportunistic yeast species. In total, 13 species of yeasts were isolated from feces: eight ascomycetes and five basidiomycetes. The study revealed high values of relative abundance and frequency of occurrence of pathogenic species Candida albicans and opportunistic yeasts, i.e. Diutina catenulata, Millerozyma farinosa, Pichia kudriavzevii, and Trichosporon asahii. Pigeon feces were found to present a constant source of “infection” of the urban environment with yeast species that are hazardous to human health, especially for immunosuppressive individuals.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during the current study are available from the corresponding author on the request.

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Acknowledgements

The identification of yeast strains in pigeon feces from parks was carried out as a part of the research project funding by the Russian Science Foundation (Grant No. 19-74-10002) to assess the role of pigeons in pathogen contamination of fruit plants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia, 119991

    Anna M. Glushakova & Aleksey V. Kachalkin

  2. Mechnikov Research Institute of Vaccines and Sera, Moscow, Russia, 105064

    Anna M. Glushakova & Evgenia N. Rodionova

  3. Skryabin Institute of Biochemistry and Physiology of Microorganisms, Pushchino, Russia, 142290

    Aleksey V. Kachalkin

Authors
  1. Anna M. Glushakova
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  2. Evgenia N. Rodionova
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  3. Aleksey V. Kachalkin
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Contributions

AMG Conceptualization, Data curation, Investigation, Resources, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing. ENR, Data curation, Investigation, Resources. AVK, Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing.

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Correspondence to Aleksey V. Kachalkin.

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Glushakova, A.M., Rodionova, E.N. & Kachalkin, A.V. Yeasts in Feces of Pigeons (Columba livia) in the City of Moscow. Curr Microbiol 78, 238–243 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-020-02251-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-020-02251-5

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