Johnson Alexa C B, Biddle Amy S
Department of Animal and Food Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA.
Animals (Basel). 2021 Jul 1;11(7):1975. doi: 10.3390/ani11071975.
Thriftiness in horses has been associated with more efficient nutrient harvesting in digestion, absorption and/or utilization, but the relative contribution of the gut microbiome to host metabolic tendency is not well understood. Recognizing the unreliability of owner reported assignment of keeper status, this research describes a novel tool for calculating whether a horse is an easy (EK) or hard (HK) keeper and then characterizes microbiome differences in these groups. The Equine Keeper Status Scale (EKSS) was developed and validated based on data gathered from 240 horses. Estimates of dietary energy intakes and requirements to achieve the optimal BCS score of 5 were used in EKSS assignments. Sixty percent of owners' characterizations disagreed with EKSS identified keeper assignments. Equine fecal 16S rRNA profiles ( = 73) revealed differences in α and β diversities and taxa abundances based on EKSS assignments. EK communities had more Planctomycetes and fewer Euryarcheaota, Spirochaetes and Proteobacteria than HK indicating functional differences in nutrient harvesting between groups. Differences in the gut microbiomes of horses based on keeper assignment point to host/microbial interactions that may underlie some differences in metabolic tendency. The EKSS enables robust, repeatable determination of keeper status which can be used by researchers and horse owners.
马匹的节俭与消化、吸收和/或利用过程中更高效的营养获取有关，但肠道微生物群对宿主代谢倾向的相对贡献尚不清楚。鉴于主人报告的饲养状态分类不可靠，本研究描述了一种用于计算马匹是易养型（EK）还是难养型（HK）的新工具，然后对这些组中的微生物群差异进行表征。基于从240匹马收集的数据，开发并验证了马饲养状态量表（EKSS）。EKSS分类使用了饮食能量摄入量估计值和达到最佳体况评分5所需的能量。60%的主人的分类与EKSS确定的饲养分类不一致。马粪便16S rRNA图谱（n = 73）显示，基于EKSS分类，α和β多样性以及分类群丰度存在差异。与HK相比，EK群落中的浮霉菌门更多，广古菌门、螺旋体门和变形菌门更少，这表明两组在营养获取方面存在功能差异。基于饲养分类的马肠道微生物群差异表明，宿主/微生物相互作用可能是代谢倾向差异的基础。EKSS能够可靠、可重复地确定饲养状态，可供研究人员和马主使用。
