Can fecal samples be used to inform about microbial communities of the equine hindgut?

Reed, Kailee J.; Kunz, I.G.Z.; Scare, J.A.; Nielsen, Martin K.; Metcalf, Jessica L.; Coleman, Robert J.; Coleman, S. J.

doi:10.1016/j.jevs.2017.03.041

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…Fecal samples were collected because they provide a reasonable profile of the microbiota luminal composition of the equine large intestine 60 . Precisely, fecal microbiota are highly similar to the microbiota of the dorsal colon but include many of the microbial taxa present in the ventral colon and cecum 61 , in which the bulk of fiber fermentation takes place. Approximately 10 g of feces were collected from the center of several fecal balls, avoiding collection of fecal material that was touching the veterinarian globes.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gut microbiota resilience in horse athletes following holidays out to pasture

Mach

Lansade

Bars-Cortina

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Elite horse athletes that live in individual boxes and train and compete for hours experience long-term physical and mental stress that compromises animal welfare and alters the gut microbiota. We therefore assessed if a temporary period out to pasture with conspecifics could improve animal welfare and in turn, favorably affect intestinal microbiota composition. A total of 27 athletes were monitored before and after a period of 1.5 months out to pasture, and their fecal microbiota and behavior profiles were compared to those of 18 horses kept in individual boxes. The overall diversity and microbiota composition of pasture and control individuals were temporally similar, suggesting resilience to environmental challenges. However, pasture exposure induced an increase in Ruminococcus and Coprococcus that lasted 1-month after the return to individual boxes, which may have promoted beneficial effects on health and welfare. Associations between the gut microbiota composition and behavior indicating poor welfare were established. Furthermore, withdrawn behavior was associated with the relative abundances of Lachnospiraceae AC2044 group and Clostridiales family XIII. Both accommodate a large part of butyrate-producing bacterial genera. While we cannot infer causality within this study, arguably, these findings suggest that management practices maintained over a longer period of time may moderate the behavior link to the gut ecosystem beyond its resilience potential.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gut microbiota resilience in horse athletes following holidays out to pasture

Mach

Lansade

Bars-Cortina

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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“…Additionally, while commonly used in most host associated microbiome studies, fecal samples may not be truly representative of the GIM of horses because their gastrointestinal tract is made up of several different compartments which each have characteristics that are potentially constraining to microbial life and thus host unique microbial populations [12,13,[18][19][20]. Figure 1 illustrates the variety of bacterial phyla present in differing gastrointestinal compartments in the horse, at both the luminal and mucosal layers [21].…”

Section: The Equine Microbiotamentioning

confidence: 99%

Equine Fecal Microbiota Changes Associated With Anthelmintic Administration

Kunz

Reed

Metcalf

et al. 2019

Journal of Equine Veterinary Science

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“…To test these hypotheses, we characterized fecal microbiomes via 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing of 44 PH and 28 domestic horses. In horses, fecal microbiomes are highly similar to the microbiome of the dorsal colon, but include many of the microbial taxa present in the ventral colon and cecum 21 , in which the bulk of fiber fermentation takes place. Therefore, we conclude that horse feces are an excellent, non-invasive means to assess the microbial fermentation communities in the large intestine of the horse.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the impact of domestication and captivity on the horse gut microbiome

Metcalf

Song

Morton

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

116

114

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The mammal gut microbiome, which includes host microbes and their respective genes, is now recognized as an essential second genome that provides critical functions to the host. In humans, studies have revealed that lifestyle strongly influences the composition and diversity of the gastrointestinal microbiome. We hypothesized that these trends in humans may be paralleled in mammals subjected to anthropogenic forces such as domestication and captivity, in which diets and natural life histories are often greatly modified. We investigated fecal microbiomes of Przewalski’s horse (PH; Equus ferus przewalskii), the only horses alive today not successfully domesticated by humans, and herded, domestic horse (E. f. caballus) living in adjacent natural grasslands. We discovered PH fecal microbiomes hosted a distinct and more diverse community of bacteria compared to domestic horses, which is likely partly explained by different plant diets as revealed by trnL maker data. Within the PH population, four individuals were born in captivity in European zoos and hosted a strikingly low diversity of fecal microbiota compared to individuals born in natural reserves in France and Mongolia. These results suggest that anthropogenic forces can dramatically reshape equid gastrointestinal microbiomes, which has broader implications for the conservation management of endangered mammals.

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Can fecal samples be used to inform about microbial communities of the equine hindgut?

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

Gut microbiota resilience in horse athletes following holidays out to pasture

Gut microbiota resilience in horse athletes following holidays out to pasture

Equine Fecal Microbiota Changes Associated With Anthelmintic Administration

Evaluating the impact of domestication and captivity on the horse gut microbiome

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