Rumen and fecal microbiota profiles associated with immunity of young and adult goats

Abstract

Low immunity at birth increases risk of disease of young livestock, such as goat kids. Microbiomes change as animals mature, and a healthy microbiome is related to decreased risk of disease. The relationship between microbiota profiles and immunity at different developmental stages remains unclear. Young (female, n = 12, 30 d) and adult (female, n = 12, 2 yrs. old) Saanen dairy goats were used to investigate changes in rumen microbiomes, fecal microbiomes, and their correlations to circulating immune factors. Serum IgG (P = 0.02) and IgM (P < 0.01) were higher at 2 years than 30 d of age, but there were no differences in IgA (P = 0.34), IL-2 (P = 0.05), IL-4 (P = 0.37) and IL-6 (P = 0.73) between ages. Amplicon sequencing analysis revealed young goats had a higher diversity of bacterial communities in rumen and lower diversity in feces compared with adult goats. Ten genera in rumen and 14 genera in feces were positively correlated with serum IgM concentration across both ages. Olsenella, Methanosphaera, Quinella, Candidatus_Saccharimonas, and Methanobrevibacter in rumen and Ruminobacter, Treponema, Rikenelaceae_ RC9_ gut_ Group in feces were positively correlated with the concentration of IgG. The correlation analysis using weighted gene co-expression network analysis showed the MEblue module was positively associated with the IgG and IgM. These data provide novel insight into the association between rumen-feces microbiota and immune response. Further experiments are needed to investigate whether inoculating young livestock with immune-related bacteria identified can improve the immune status. Our data suggest a possible strategy to improve the immunity of the kids by alterative microbiota profiles.

Rumen fermentation and microbiota in Shami goats fed on condensed tannins or herbal mixture

“…The improvements in the rumen fermentation parameters were consistent with variations in the composition of microbial communities due to the supplementation, which agrees with previous studies [ 44 , 52 ]. A large proportion of the bacterial community was affiliated with the members of phylum Bacteroidota and Firmicutes, which agrees with previous studies on rumen bacteria of goats [ 45 , 53 , 54 ]. The supplementation increased the members of Bacteroidota and Proteobacteria and declined the members of Firmicutes and Actinobacteriota (Table 5 ).…”

Ruminal microbiota-host crosstalks promote ruminal epithelial development in neonatal lambs with alfalfa hay introduction

“…These findings align with the results of Yang et al’s research ( 64 ), where alfalfa forage was introduced into lamb diets. The variations observed in genes associated with inflammation and immunity may also be interconnected with shifts in the microbiota adhering to the rumen epithelium ( 65 ), thereby providing additional support for the previously mentioned reduction in the attachment of potentially harmful bacteria.…”

Multi-Omics Reveals the Impact of Exogenous Short-Chain Fatty Acid Infusion on Rumen Homeostasis: Insights into Crosstalk between the Microbiome and the Epithelium in a Goat Model

“…Another study revealed that the rumen microbiota-mediated gut-liver axis is crucial for liver inflammation and health, with Ruminococcus , Solobacterium , and Syntrophococcus in the rumen being potential microbial markers of liver disorders ( 29 ). Furthermore, ruminal Olsenella , Methanosphaera , Quinella , “ Candidatus Saccharimonas,” and Methanobrevibacter have been reported to enhance immune status by increasing the concentration of serum IgG in goats ( 30 ). Moreover, significant shifts in the ruminal microbiome and metabolites associated with inflammation responses have been observed during disease conditions such as mastitis, indicating that rumen microorganisms have a significant impact not only on rumen epithelial inflammation but also on other peripheral tissues or organs ( 31 ).…”