Characteristics of cross transmission of gut fungal pathogens between wintering Hooded Cranes and sympatric Domestic Geese

Migratory birds travel long distance and link various pathogens. Due to habitat degradation, wintering waterfowls forage together with poultry, increasing the risk of pathogen transmission between hosts. We investigated the fungal communities between wintering Hooded Cranes and Domestic Geese by high-throughput sequencing, and inferred the potential gut pathogens for both hosts at different wintering stages. The fungal community compositions were significantly different between seasons and between the hosts. The negative correlation was found between fungal diversity and pathogenic diversity, with higher fungal diversity and less pathogenic diversity in early stage and less fungal diversity and higher pathogenic diversity in late stage for both hosts. The dissimilarity of pathogenic community compositions decreased from early to late stage, with the quantity of overlapping potential pathogenic OTUs increasing along wintering periods between the two hosts, demonstrating the existence of pathogen cross transmission between the two hosts. Furthermore, the transmission pathway of avian pathogens was mainly from Hooded Cranes to Domestic Geese while the transmission direction of human pathogens was primarily from Domestic Geese to wild cranes. Based on above results, we argued that pathogen cross transmission and underlying outbreak risk of disease should be closely monitored in migratory birds and domestic poultry.