Abrupt dietary changes between grass and hay alter faecal microbiota of ponies

Garber, A.; Hastie, P.M.; McGuinness, David; Malarange, Pauline; Murray, Jo-Anne

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0237869

Cited by 16 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 42 publications

(55 reference statements)

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“…Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes dominated the faecal bacterial profiles of healthy horses in the present study, as previously reported in our work [ 15 , 33 ] and several other equine microbiota studies [ 12 , 16 , 21 , 52 , 53 ]. Members of the phyla Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes are anaerobic cellulolytic bacteria associated with fibre digestion, and many of the bacterial genera within these phyla thrive on fermentable carbohydrates [ 54 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Under these management systems, horses may undergo abrupt dietary changes, with the incorporation of grains or concentrate feeds to the diet to meet performance needs, or sudden changes in the type of forage fed in response to a lack of fresh or conserved forage [ 9 ]. Abrupt changes in dietary management are a risk factor for gastrointestinal (GI) disturbances, potentially due to the negative effects observed on the population of GI microbiota [ 10 , 11 , 12 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Resilience of Faecal Microbiota in Stabled Thoroughbred Horses Following Abrupt Dietary Transition between Freshly Cut Pasture and Three Forage-Based Diets

Fernandes

Rogers

Gee

et al. 2021

Animals

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The management of competition horses in New Zealand often involves rotations of short periods of stall confinement and concentrate feeding, with periods of time at pasture. Under these systems, horses may undergo abrupt dietary changes, with the incorporation of grains or concentrate feeds to the diet to meet performance needs, or sudden changes in the type of forage fed in response to a lack of fresh or conserved forage. Abrupt changes in dietary management are a risk factor for gastrointestinal (GI) disturbances, potentially due to the negative effects observed on the population of GI microbiota. In the present study, the faecal microbiota of horses was investigated to determine how quickly the bacterial communities; (1) responded to dietary change, and (2) stabilised following abrupt dietary transition. Six Thoroughbred mares were stabled for six weeks, consuming freshly cut pasture (weeks 1, 3 and 5), before being abruptly transitioned to conserved forage-based diets, both offered ad libitum. Intestinal markers were administered to measure digesta transit time immediately before each diet change. The conserved forage-based diets were fed according to a 3 × 3 Latin square design (weeks 2, 4 and 6), and comprised a chopped ensiled forage fed exclusively (Diet FE) or with whole oats (Diet FE + O), and perennial ryegrass hay fed with whole oats (Diet H + O). Faecal samples were collected at regular intervals from each horse following the diet changes. High throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing was used to evaluate the faecal microbiota. There were significant differences in alpha diversity across diets (p < 0.001), and a significant effect of diet on the beta diversity (ANOSIM, p = 0.001), with clustering of samples observed by diet group. There were differences in the bacterial phyla across diets (p < 0.003), with the highest relative abundances observed for Firmicutes (62–64%) in the two diets containing chopped ensiled forage, Bacteroidetes (32–38%) in the pasture diets, and Spirochaetes (17%) in the diet containing hay. Major changes in relative abundances of faecal bacteria appeared to correspond with the cumulative percentage of intestinal markers retrieved in the faeces as the increasing amounts of digesta from each new diet transited the animals. A stable faecal microbiota profile was observed in the samples from 96 h after abrupt transition to the treatment diets containing ensiled chopped forage. The present study confirmed that the diversity and community structure of the faecal bacteria in horses is diet-specific and resilient following dietary transition and emphasised the need to have modern horse feeding management that reflects the ecological niche, particularly by incorporating large proportions of forage into equine diets.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resilience of Faecal Microbiota in Stabled Thoroughbred Horses Following Abrupt Dietary Transition between Freshly Cut Pasture and Three Forage-Based Diets

Fernandes

Rogers

Gee

et al. 2021

Animals

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“…Differences in Sarcina across the W–C transition in CRS were also reflected in the genus-level analysis in addition to fluctuation in Bacillus for the W–C in BRS. Garber et al [ 34 ] also found Sarcina enriched in horses transitioning to cool-season grass from a hay diet. These results indicate that taxa represented by these ASV, and the Sarcina and Bacillus genera more broadly, may be more sensitive to subtle changes in pasture forage type and nutrient composition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fecal microbiome of horses transitioning between warm-season and cool-season grass pasture within integrated rotational grazing systems

2022

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Background Diet is a key driver of equine hindgut microbial community structure and composition. The aim of this study was to characterize shifts in the fecal microbiota of grazing horses during transitions between forage types within integrated warm- (WSG) and cool-season grass (CSG) rotational grazing systems (IRS). Eight mares were randomly assigned to two IRS containing mixed cool-season grass and one of two warm-season grasses: bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] or crabgrass [Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Scop.]. Fecal samples were collected during transitions from CSG to WSG pasture sections (C–W) and WSG to CSG (W–C) on days 0, 2, 4, and 6 following pasture rotation and compared using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Results Regardless of IRS or transition (C–W vs. W–C), species richness was greater on day 4 and 6 in comparison to day 0 (P < 0.05). Evenness, however, did not differ by day. Weighted UniFrac also did not differ by day, and the most influential factor impacting β-diversity was the individual horse (R2 ≥ 0.24; P = 0.0001). Random forest modeling was unable to accurately predict days within C–W and W–C, but could predict the individual horse based on microbial composition (accuracy: 0.92 ± 0.05). Only three differentially abundant bacterial co-abundance groups (BCG) were identified across days within all C–W and W–C for both IRS (W ≥ 126). The BCG differing by day for all transitions included amplicon sequence variants (ASV) assigned to bacterial groups with known fibrolytic and butyrate-producing functions including members of Lachnospiraceae, Clostridium sensu stricto 1, Anaerovorax the NK4A214 group of Oscillospiraceae, and Sarcina maxima. In comparison, 38 BCG were identified as differentially abundant by horse (W ≥ 704). The ASV in these groups were most commonly assigned to genera associated with degradation of structural carbohydrates included Rikenellaceae RC9 gut group, Treponema, Christensenellaceae R-7 group, and the NK4A214 group of Oscillospiraceae. Fecal pH also did not differ by day. Conclusions Overall, these results demonstrated a strong influence of individual horse on the fecal microbial community, particularly on the specific composition of fiber-degraders. The equine fecal microbiota were largely stable across transitions between forages within IRS suggesting that the equine gut microbiota adjusted at the individual level to the subtle dietary changes imposed by these transitions. This adaptive capacity indicates that horses can be managed in IRS without inducing gastrointestinal dysfunction.

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“…In a study performed in New Zealand, specific taxa were identified to be more abundant in horses abruptly transitioned to pasture: an unclassified genus within the order of Clostridiales, an unclassified genus within the order of Lachnospiraceae, CF231 and BF311 [9]. Another recent study reported an increase in Lactobacillaceae in horses that were abruptly changed from a hay-only diet to a grass diet [54]. The horses included in our study did not undergo abrupt dietary changes and had the same level of pasture access over a prolonged period prior to sampling, which might explain the differences observed when the results of our study are compared to that of previous reports.…”

Section: Pasture Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Equine Faecal Microbiota of Healthy Horses and Ponies in The Netherlands: Impact of Host and Environmental Factors

Theelen

Luiken

Wagenaar

et al. 2021

Animals

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Several studies have described the faecal microbiota of horses and the factors that influence its composition, but the variation in results is substantial. This study aimed to investigate the microbiota composition in healthy equids in The Netherlands under standard housing and management conditions and to evaluate the effect of age, gender, horse type, diet, pasture access, the season of sampling and location on it. Spontaneously produced faecal samples were collected from the stall floor of 79 healthy horses and ponies at two farms. The validity of this sampling technique was evaluated in a small pilot study including five ponies showing that the microbiota composition of faecal samples collected up to 6 h after spontaneous defaecation was similar to that of the samples collected rectally. After DNA extraction, Illumina Miseq 16S rRNA sequencing was performed to determine microbiota composition. The effect of host and environmental factors on microbiota composition were determined using several techniques (NMDS, PERMANOVA, DESeq2). Bacteroidetes was the largest phylum found in the faecal microbiota (50.1%), followed by Firmicutes (28.4%). Alpha-diversity and richness decreased significantly with increasing age. Location, age, season, horse type and pasture access had a significant effect on beta-diversity. The current study provides important baseline information on variation in faecal microbiota in healthy horses and ponies under standard housing and management conditions. These results indicate that faecal microbiota composition is affected by several horse-related and environment-related factors, and these factors should be considered in future studies of the equine faecal microbiota.

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Abrupt dietary changes between grass and hay alter faecal microbiota of ponies

Cited by 16 publications

References 42 publications

Resilience of Faecal Microbiota in Stabled Thoroughbred Horses Following Abrupt Dietary Transition between Freshly Cut Pasture and Three Forage-Based Diets

Resilience of Faecal Microbiota in Stabled Thoroughbred Horses Following Abrupt Dietary Transition between Freshly Cut Pasture and Three Forage-Based Diets

Fecal microbiome of horses transitioning between warm-season and cool-season grass pasture within integrated rotational grazing systems

The Equine Faecal Microbiota of Healthy Horses and Ponies in The Netherlands: Impact of Host and Environmental Factors

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