Microbiome Shift, Diversity, and Overabundance of Opportunistic Pathogens in Bovine Digital Dermatitis Revealed by 16S rRNA Amplicon Sequencing

Background: Bovine Digital Dermatitis (BDD) is a prevalent infectious disease, causing painful foot skin lesions and lameness in cattle. The polymicrobial nature of this disease has led to the hypothesis that the foot skin microbiota may be associated with occurrence and progression of lesions. We describe herein the bovine foot skin microbiota using 16S rRNA gene amplicon and shotgun metagenomic sequencing on samples from 259 dairy cows from three UK dairy farms. Results: We show differences in the foot skin microbiome profiles of clinically healthy animals that were associated with subsequent development of BDD. We also present the first co-occurrence analysis of the bovine foot skin microbiome. Taxonomical and functional differences together with alterations in ecological interactions between bacteria in the normal foot skin microbiome may predispose an animal to develop BDD lesions. Using genome-wide association and regional heritability mapping approaches, we provide first evidence for interactions between host genotype and certain members of the foot skin microbiota. We show the existence of genetic variation in the relative abundance of Treponema spp. and Peptoclostridium spp. and identify regions in the bovine genome that explain a significant proportion of this variation.Conclusions: Collectively this work shows the relevance of the bovine foot-skin microbiota to BDD. The description of host genetic control of members of the foot skin microbiota, combined with the association of the latter with BDD lesion development offer new insights into a complex relationship that can be exploited in selective breeding programmes aiming to enhance bovine foot health.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

The bovine foot skin microbiota is associated with host genotype and the development of infectious digital dermatitis lesions

Bay¹,

Gillespie

Ganda

et al. 2022

Preprint

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“…Treponema spp. were present at low levels even in samples from healthy cows which is consistent with previous studies that have shown their abundance increasing in active BDD lesions [1,6,33]. Ruminococcaceae from the Firmicutes phylum were the most abundant family and are also dominant in the bovine faecal microbiome [34].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

The bovine foot skin microbiota is associated with host genotype and the development of infectious digital dermatitis lesions

et al. 2023

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Background Bovine Digital Dermatitis (BDD) is a prevalent infectious disease, causing painful foot skin lesions and lameness in cattle. We describe herein the bovine foot skin microbiota and its associations with BDD using 16S rRNA gene amplicon and shotgun metagenomic sequencing on samples from 259 dairy cows from three UK dairy farms. Results We show evidence of dysbiosis, and differences in taxonomy and functional profiles in the bovine foot skin microbiome of clinically healthy animals that subsequently develop BDD lesions, compared to those that do not. Our results suggest that taxonomical and functional differences together with alterations in ecological interactions between bacteria in the normal foot skin microbiome may predispose an animal to develop BDD lesions. Using genome-wide association and regional heritability mapping approaches, we provide first evidence for interactions between host genotype and certain members of the foot skin microbiota. We show the existence of significant genetic variation in the relative abundance of Treponema spp. and Peptoclostridium spp. and identify regions in the bovine genome that explain a significant proportion of this variation. Conclusions Collectively this work shows early changes in taxonomic and functional profiles of the bovine foot-skin microbiota in clinically healthy animals which are associated with subsequent development of BDD and could be relevant to prevention of disease. The description of host genetic control of members of the foot skin microbiota, combined with the association of the latter with BDD development offer new insights into a complex relationship that can be exploited in selective breeding programmes.

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“…OTU 150 was classified similarly and was more abundant in RB51-vaccinated elk at Postcalve and Necropsy. While M. feliminutum is typically associated with felines, it has been observed previously in bovine skin lesions (124), and other members of the genus Mycoplasma are associated with bovine reproductive disease (89,125). Finally, OTU 316 was classified as Fusobacterium necrophorum by BLAST analysis and was significantly more abundant in vaccinated elk at Precalve.…”

Section: Time and Vaccination Status Affect The Relative Abundance Of...mentioning

confidence: 87%

Fecal and vaginal microbiota of vaccinated and non-vaccinated pregnant elk challenged with Brucella abortus

Tibbs-Cortes,

Rahic-Seggerman,

Schmitz-Esser

et al. 2024

Front. Vet. Sci.

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IntroductionBrucella abortus is the causative agent of brucellosis in cattle and in humans, resulting in economic losses in the agricultural sector and representing a major threat to public health. Elk populations in the American Northwest are reservoirs for this bacterium and transmit the agent to domestic cattle herds. One potential strategy to mitigate the transmission of brucellosis by elk is vaccination of elk populations against B. abortus; however, elk appear to be immunologically distinct from cattle in their responses to current vaccination strategies. The differences in host response to B. abortus between cattle and elk could be attributed to differences between the cattle and elk innate and adaptive immune responses. Because species-specific interactions between the host microbiome and the immune system are also known to affect immunity, we sought to investigate interactions between the elk microbiome and B. abortus infection and vaccination.MethodsWe analyzed the fecal and vaginal microbial communities of B. abortus-vaccinated and unvaccinated elk which were challenged with B. abortus during the periparturient period.ResultsWe observed that the elk fecal and vaginal microbiota are similar to those of other ruminants, and these microbial communities were affected both by time of sampling and by vaccination status. Notably, we observed that taxa representing ruminant reproductive tract pathogens tended to increase in abundance in the elk vaginal microbiome following parturition. Furthermore, many of these taxa differed significantly in abundance depending on vaccination status, indicating that vaccination against B. abortus affects the elk vaginal microbiota with potential implications for animal reproductive health.DiscussionThis study is the first to analyze the vaginal microbiota of any species of the genus Cervus and is also the first to assess the effects of B. abortus vaccination and challenge on the vaginal microbiome.

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Microbiome Shift, Diversity, and Overabundance of Opportunistic Pathogens in Bovine Digital Dermatitis Revealed by 16S rRNA Amplicon Sequencing

Cited by 12 publications

References 33 publications

The bovine foot skin microbiota is associated with host genotype and the development of infectious digital dermatitis lesions

The bovine foot skin microbiota is associated with host genotype and the development of infectious digital dermatitis lesions

The bovine foot skin microbiota is associated with host genotype and the development of infectious digital dermatitis lesions

Fecal and vaginal microbiota of vaccinated and non-vaccinated pregnant elk challenged with Brucella abortus

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