Zhu Yiping, Chen Shulei, Yi Ziwen, Holyoak Reed, Wang Tao, Ding Zhaoliang, Li Jing
Equine Clinical Diagnostic Center, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, United States.
Front Vet Sci. 2021 Apr 22;8:645627. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.645627. eCollection 2021.
subsp. equi () is the pathogen causing strangles, a highly infectious disease that can affect equids including donkeys of all ages. It can persistently colonize the upper respiratory tract of animals asymptomatically for years, which serves as a source of infection. Several strangles outbreaks have been reported in the donkey industry in China in the last few years and pose a great threat to health, production, and the welfare of donkeys. Nasopharyngeal swab samples for culture and PCR are used widely in strangles diagnosis. Additionally, microbiomes within and on the body are essential to host homoeostasis and health. Therefore, the microbiome of the equid nasopharynx may provide insights into the health of the upper respiratory tract in animals. There has been no study investigating the nasopharyngeal microbiome in healthy donkeys, nor in donkeys shedding . This study aimed to compare nasopharyngeal microbiomes in healthy and carrier donkeys using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Nasopharyngeal samples were obtained from 16 donkeys recovered from strangles (group S) and 14 healthy donkeys with no history of strangles exposure (group H). Of those sampled, 7 donkeys were determined to be carriers with positive PCR and culture results in group S. In group H, all 14 donkeys were considered free of strangles based on the history of negative exposure, negative results of PCR and culture. Samples from these 21 donkeys were used for microbial analysis. The nasopharyngeal microbiome composition was compared between the two groups. At the phylum level, relative abundance of Proteobacteria was predominantly higher in the carrier donkeys than in healthy donkeys ( < 0.01), while Firmicutes and Actinobacteria were significantly less abundant in the carrier donkeys than in healthy donkeys ( < 0.05). At the genus level, was detected in the upper respiratory tract of donkeys for the first time and dominated in carrier donkeys. It is suspected to suppress other normal flora of URT microbiota including spp., spp., and spp. We concluded that the nasopharyngeal microbiome in carrier donkeys still exhibited microbial dysbiosis, which might predispose them to other airway diseases.
马鼻疽亚种（subsp. equi）是引起马腺疫的病原体，马腺疫是一种高度传染性疾病，可影响所有年龄段的马科动物，包括驴。它可以在动物的上呼吸道无症状地持续定植数年，成为感染源。过去几年中国驴产业中报告了几起马腺疫疫情，对驴的健康、生产和福利构成了巨大威胁。用于培养和PCR的鼻咽拭子样本在马腺疫诊断中被广泛使用。此外，体内和体表的微生物群对宿主的内环境稳定和健康至关重要。因此，马科动物鼻咽部的微生物群可能为了解动物上呼吸道健康提供线索。目前尚无研究调查健康驴或携带马鼻疽亚种的驴的鼻咽微生物群。本研究旨在使用16S rRNA基因测序比较健康驴和携带马鼻疽亚种的驴的鼻咽微生物群。从16匹从马腺疫中康复的驴（S组）和14匹无马腺疫接触史的健康驴（H组）获取鼻咽样本。在采样的驴中，S组有7头驴经PCR和培养结果确定为携带者。在H组中，根据阴性接触史、PCR和培养阴性结果，所有14头驴均被认为没有感染马腺疫。来自这21头驴的样本用于微生物分析。比较了两组之间的鼻咽微生物群组成。在门水平上，携带马鼻疽亚种的驴中变形菌门的相对丰度明显高于健康驴（P<0.01），而厚壁菌门和放线菌门在携带马鼻疽亚种的驴中的丰度明显低于健康驴（P<0.05）。在属水平上，首次在驴的上呼吸道中检测到，并在携带马鼻疽亚种的驴中占主导地位。怀疑它会抑制包括 spp.、 spp.和 spp.在内的上呼吸道微生物群的其他正常菌群。我们得出结论，携带马鼻疽亚种的驴的鼻咽微生物群仍表现出微生物失调，这可能使它们易患其他气道疾病。
