Characterization and identification of microbial communities in pigeon droppings using Culture-Independent techniques

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dc.contributor.advisor Pillay, M.
dc.contributor.advisor Feto, Naser Aliye
dc.contributor.author Leareng, Samuel Keeng
dc.date.accessioned 2017-05-24T23:58:26Z
dc.date.available 2017-05-24T23:58:26Z
dc.date.issued 2015-08
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10352/349
dc.description M. Tech. (Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Applied and Computer Science), Vaal University of Technology| en_US
dc.description.abstract Pigeon droppings, found in abundance in most cities and towns where pigeons are found, are a source of potential yeast and molds into the environment. Invasive fungal infections are a cause of morbidity and often mortality in immunocompromised individuals. The objective of this study was to the identification of bacterial and mold agents from pigeon droppings. Pigeon droppings samples were collected from three locations during the winter and summer months and studied for the occurrence of bacteria, yeast and molds by utilising culture-independent techniques. Amplification of the 16S rDNA gene and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, cloning and ARDRA and DGGE were used for the characterisation of the microbial populations followed by sequencing. Several mold and yeasts, as well as bacteria were found to be present in pigeon droppings, which can spread into the environment and be transmitted to immunocompromised individuals and children. DGGE analysis of the bacterial communities revealed banding patterns that clustered all but one winter samples and all summer samples, showing a high similarity among the microbial members in both seasons and sample locations. Fungal DGGE analysis revealed clusters that grouped summer and winter samples from Johannesburg and Pretoria while VUT samples were clustered on their own. From the identification of fungal and bacterial DNA, Cryptococcus species was the majority of fungi isolated from the dropping samples. Geotrichum, Kazachstania and Fusarium species were isolated from phylotypes obtained from ITS amplicons analysed by ARDRA. Lactobacillus and Enteroccoccus species, organisms usually found in the gastrointestinal tract were the common bacterial members identified. The results showed no difference in microbial communities across all sample locations, while seasonal changes also had no impact in microbial community patterns. en_US
dc.format.extent xii, 76 leaves: illustrations en_US
dc.language.iso en en_US
dc.subject Pigeon droppings en_US
dc.subject Yeast en_US
dc.subject Mold en_US
dc.subject Invasive fu;ngal infections en_US
dc.subject Culture-independent techniques en_US
dc.subject Immunocompormised individuals en_US
dc.subject Cryptococcus species en_US
dc.subject Lactobacillus en_US
dc.subject Enterococcus species en_US
dc.subject.ddc 571.9927 en_US
dc.subject.lcsh Mycoses en_US
dc.subject.lcsh Pigeons en_US
dc.subject.lcsh Molds (Fungi) en_US
dc.subject.lcsh Bird droppings en_US
dc.title Characterization and identification of microbial communities in pigeon droppings using Culture-Independent techniques en_US
dc.type Thesis en_US


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