The association between fecal microbiota, age and endoparasitism in adult alpacas

Abstract

Endoparasitism is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in alpacas (Lama pacos), with growing emergence of anthelmintic resistance. The purpose of the study was to correlate nematode worm burden and selected host phenotypic characteristics, such as age and weight, with the composition of the intestinal microbiota of adult alpacas. Fecal samples were collected per rectum from 102 healthy adult (2.1–11.2 years) alpacas at 3 separate timepoints (pre- and post-treatment with 8.8 mg/kg oral Levamisole HCL, and 4.6 months later) at a single farm. The profile of the fecal bacterial microbiota was characterized using 16S amplicon sequencing. Serial clinical exams and fecal egg counts were compared using related-samples analyses. The fecal microbiota of identically managed, healthy alpacas was characterized by a high level of temporal stability, as both α and β-diversity significantly correlated between sampling timepoints. Pairwise β-diversity between samples collected at each timepoint was low, ranging from 0.16–0.21 UniFrac distance units. The intensity of strongylid nematode infection (including Haemonchus, Ostertagia, Trichostrongylus) was only significantly correlated with microbiota composition in samples collected 14 days after treatment with levamisole. Analysis of similarity revealed no clustering of microbiota from anthelmintic responders or non-responders. Alpaca age explained the largest proportion of fecal microbiota variation and was the only consistently significant predictor of fecal microbiota taxonomic composition, by impacting the ratio of relative Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes abundance. Firmicutes, mostly Clostridiales, was the most abundant taxon across all collections.

Nemabiome metabarcoding shows a high prevalence of Haemonchus contortus and predominance of Camelostrongylus mentulatus in alpaca herds in the northern UK

“…This might be partially attributed to the distinct alpaca behaviour of establishing Since alpacas do not normally graze around these latrines when sufficient grazing is available, they may avoid acquiring a high level of infection. It is important to note that this is not always the case and that alpacas have been found to have higher FECs (> 300 epg) in some studies (Bedenice et al 2022); which might be attributed to the differences in the location of these latrines. It is not the scope of this study, but it will be interesting to investigate how this behaviour Fig.…”

Nemabiome metabarcoding shows a high prevalence of Haemonchus contortus and predominance of Camelostrongylus mentulatus in alpaca herds in the northern UK

“…Since alpacas do not normally graze around these latrines when su cient grazing is available, they may avoid acquiring a high level of infection. It is important to note that this is not always the case and alpacas have been found to have 300 + FECs in some studies (Bedenice et al, 2022), which can potentially be attributed to the differences in the location of these latrines. It is not the scope of this study, but it will be interesting to investigate how this behaviour changes the overall composition of GINs in alpacas as it might favour certain GIN species over others.…”

α-L-Fucosidases from an Alpaca Faeces Metagenome: Characterisation of Hydrolytic and Transfucosylation Potential

“…The Blastp search tool revealed that the proteins Fuc25A, Fuc25C, Fuc25D, and Fuc25E are homologous to α-L-fucosidases. The majority of Fuc25A, Fuc25C, and Fuc25D homologs belong to bacteria from the class Clostridia, phylum Firmicutes, which is most abundant in alpaca faeces [26] Fuc25E is homologous to Clostridia or Lentisphaeria bacteria proteins. Analysis of the protein sequences (using the Uniprot peptide search tool) showed that none of the proteins had a secretory signal peptide.…”