Dynamic changes of gut fungal community in horse at different health states

Abstract

Accumulating studies indicated that gut microbial changes played key roles in the progression of multiple diseases, which seriously threaten the host health. Gut microbial dysbiosis is closely associated with the development of diarrhea, but gut microbial composition and variability in diarrheic horses have not been well characterized. Here, we investigated gut fungal compositions and changes in healthy and diarrheic horses using amplicon sequencing. Results indicated that the alpha and beta diversities of gut fungal community in diarrheal horses changed significantly, accompanied by distinct changes in taxonomic compositions. The types of main fungal phyla (Neocallimastigomycota, Ascomycota, and Basidiomycota) in healthy and diarrheal horses were same but different in relative abundances. However, the species and abundances of dominant fungal genera in diarrheal horses changed significantly compared with healthy horses. Results of Metastats analysis indicated that all differential fungal phyla (Blastocladiomycota, Kickxellomycota, Rozellomycota, Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Chytridiomycota, Mortierellomycota, Neocallimastigomycota, Glomeromycota, and Olpidiomycota) showed a decreasing trend during diarrhea. Moreover, a total of 175 differential fungal genera were identified for the gut fungal community between healthy and diarrheal horses, where 4 fungal genera increased significantly, 171 bacterial genera decreased dramatically during diarrhea. Among these decreased bacteria, 74 fungal genera even completely disappeared from the intestine. Moreover, this is the first comparative analysis of equine gut fungal community in different health states, which is beneficial to understand the important role of gut fungal community in equine health.

Diversity and functional prediction of fungal communities in different segments of mongolian horse gastrointestinal tracts

“…Neocallimastigomycota plays an important role in the degradation of structural carbohydrates. These three fungal groups are abundant in the GIT of Mongolian horses, which is consistent with the results of a previously conducted study on equine faecal fungal groups [ 14 ]. This indicates that Mongolian horses are more adapted to consuming plant food resources, and the metabolic effect accounts for the largest proportion during the prediction of microbial function.…”

“…Currently, studies on the structure and composition of fungi in different parts of the Mongolian horse gut are limited to the analysis of clone libraries [ 24 ]. Studies using high-throughput sequencing technology to analyse the whole-gut fungal community and functional prediction in horses have been reported [ 14 ], but no systematic studies have been conducted on the whole-gut fungal community diversity in Mongolian horses.…”

“…Impairment or dysregulation of the equine GIT and its microbiome may lead to pathological responses [ 10 – 12 ]. Studies have revealed that diarrhoea in horses is closely related to changes in the composition and structure of intestinal microbiota [ 13 , 14 ]. In addition, alterations in the gut microbiome may lead to various diseases, such as obesity [ 15 ], laminitis [ 16 ], equine glandular gastric disease (EGGD) [ 17 ], colic [ 18 ], and colitis [ 19 ].…”

“…In contrast, eukaryotic communities (e.g., anaerobic fungi) have been described in the equine hindgut and have been identified to play an important role in digestion [ 11 , 13 ]. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology has been applied to analyse fungal diversity copies in equine gut contents and faecal samples, but relevant research remains far from adequate [ 14 , 24 ]. Indeed, stool reflects microbial changes only in the distal portion of the hindgut and not the entire GI microbiota.…”

Polystyrene Microplastics Causes Diarrhea and Impairs Intestinal Angiogenesis through the ROS/METTL3 Pathway

“…Intestinal fungi, crucial for maintaining gut health and regulating immune responses, can cause complex health issues when dysbiosis. For instance, Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been shown to enhance both the intestinal immune response and the intestinal barrier. , Furthermore, a disrupted intestinal fungal community is strongly associated with diarrhea. , Studies indicate that polystyrene MPs exposure significantly alters the diversity and composition of gut microbiota, leading to dysbiosis . In the present study, polystyrene MPs disturbed the intestinal fungi community, notably increasing Candida and Cutaneotrichosporon abundances, while decreasing Diutina in both jejunum and ileum compared to the CON group.…”