Helminth–bacteria interaction in the gut of domestic pigeon Columba livia domestica

The present paper is an attempt to study the interaction between the helminth parasite and bacteria residing in the gut of domestic pigeon, Columba liviadomestica. Biochemical and molecular characterization of the gut bacterial isolate were done and the isolate was identified as Staphylococcus sp. DB1 (JX442510). The interaction of Staphylococcus sp. with Cotugnia cuneata, an intestinal helminth parasite of domestic pigeon was studied on the basis of the difference between ‘mean worm burden’ of antibiotic treated infected pigeons and infected pigeons without any antibiotic treatment. The ANOVA and Tukey tests of the data obtained showed that antibiotic treatment reduced the mean worm burden significantly. The biochemical properties of Staphylococcus sp. DB1 (JX442510) also showed a mutualistic relationship with the physiology of C. cuneata. © 2014, Indian Society for Parasitology.