The microbiota of water buffalo milk during mastitis

Abstract

The aim of this study was to define the microbiota of water buffalo milk during sub-clinical and clinical mastitis, as compared to healthy status, by using high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. A total of 137 quarter samples were included in the experimental design: 27 samples derived from healthy, culture negative quarters, with a Somatic Cell Count (SCC) of less than 200,000 cells/ml; 27 samples from quarters with clinical mastitis; 83 samples were collected from quarters with subclinical mastitis, with a SCC number greater of 200,000 cells/ml and/or culture positive for udder pathogens, without clinical signs of mastitis. Bacterial DNA was purified and the 16S rRNA genes were individually amplified and sequenced. Significant differences were found in milk samples from healthy quarters and those with sub-clinical and clinical mastitis. The microbiota diversity of milk from healthy quarters was richer as compared to samples with sub-clinical mastitis, whose microbiota diversity was in turn richer as compared to those from clinical mastitis. The core microbiota of water buffalo milk, defined as the asset of microorganisms shared by all healthy milk samples, includes 15 genera, namely Micrococcus, Propionibacterium, 5-7N15, Solibacillus, Staphylococcus, Aerococcus, Facklamia, Trichococcus, Turicibacter, 02d06, SMB53, Clostridium, Acinetobacter, Psychrobacter and Pseudomonas. Only two genera (Acinetobacter and Pseudomonas) were present in all the samples from sub-clinical mastitis, and no genus was shared across all in clinical mastitis milk samples. The presence of mastitis was found to be related to the change in the relative abundance of genera, such as Psychrobacter, whose relative abundance decreased from 16.26% in the milk samples from healthy quarters to 3.2% in clinical mastitis. Other genera, such as SMB53 and Solibacillus, were decreased as well. Discriminant analysis presents the evidence that the microbial community of healthy and clinical mastitis could be discriminated on the background of their microbiota profiles.

Microbiome Dynamics of Bovine Mastitis Progression and Genomic Determinants

“…In this study, different strains of Acinetobacter were detected as the predominantly abundant CM and RCM-causing pathogen, as also previously reported in human 39 , bovine 6 and bubaline 40 mastitis. The CM and RCM-metagenomes also had a higher abundance of strains of the Pseudomonas which can potentially cause opportunistic infections 6,12 .…”

Milk microbial composition of Brazilian dairy cows entering the dry period and genomic comparison between Staphylococcus aureus strains susceptible to the bacteriophage vB_SauM-UFV_DC4

“…Lastly, the genus Solibacillus is a component of the core microbiota of water buffalo milk and it was previously found that its relative abundance decreased in milk from subclinical mastitis when compared with milk of healthy quarters 70 . This study reveals that Solibacillus is also present in dairy cows with healthy udders and its relative abundance is increased in the milk of animals identified with subclinical mastitis using CMT.…”

Milk Microbiota: What Are We Exactly Talking About?

“…The milk microbiota has been mostly investigated in women (Hunt et al, 2011;Jost et al, 2013;Fitzstevens et al, 2016) and in cows (Oikonomou et al, 2014;Addis et al, 2016;Falentin et al, 2016); some studies were also conducted in other mammals such as goats, sheep, donkeys, buffalo, water deer, reindeer, or mice (Quigley et al, 2013;McInnis et al, 2015;Treven et al, 2015;Catozzi et al, 2017;Li et al, 2017;Soto Del Rio et al, 2017; Supplementary Table S1). Most studies on milk microbiota have investigated milk collected by manual expression, generally following thorough cleaning of nipples or teats (Oikonomou et al, 2012;Jost et al, 2013;Boix-Amoròs et al, 2016) (Figure 1).…”

“…Human milk microbiota diversity has also been supported by culture-dependent approaches, which beyond the dominant genera Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, and Propionibacterium allowed the isolation of members of Bifidobacterium, Rothia, Enterococcus, Lactobacillus, or even obligate anaerobes such as Veillonella (Perez et al, 2007;Jost et al, 2013). Milk microbiota has also been investigated in other animals, including donkey, goat, sheep, water deer, reindeer, and water buffalo, although the number of studies is limited compared to that of studies of human and cow milk ( Supplementary Table S1), showing some overlap with human and cow milk microbiota (Figure 2; Castro et al, 2011;McInnis et al, 2015;Catozzi et al, 2017;Li et al, 2017;Soto Del Rio et al, 2017;Esteban-Blanco et al, 2019). Nevertheless, significant differences have been reported in the milk bacterial communities of different ruminants, such as water deer, reindeer, and goat, suggesting host microbial adaptation, although influence of environment and herd management should not be excluded (Li et al, 2017).…”