Alterations in the Gut Microbial Composition and Diversity of Tibetan Sheep Infected With .

Hydatidosis/cystic echinococcosis (CE) caused by is a parasitic zoonotic disease worldwide, threatening animal health and production and public health safety. However, it is still unclear that whether infection can result in the alteration of gut microbiota in Tibetan sheep. Therefore, a study was designed to investigate the influences of infection on gut microbiota of Tibetan sheep. A total of 10 ovine small intestinal contents (five from healthy and five from infected) were obtained and subjected to high-throughput sequencing by MiSeq platform. A total of 2,395,641 sequences and 585 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were identified. and were the most dominant phyla in all samples. Moreover, the proportions of and in the infected Tibetan sheep were significantly decreased, whereas , and had significantly increased. At the genus level, the R-7_group and NK4A214_group were the predominant bacterial genera in all the samples. Furthermore, the healthy Tibetan sheep exhibited higher abundances of group, , and , whereas , and levels were lower. In conclusion, our results conveyed an information that infection may cause an increase in pathogenic bacteria and a decrease in beneficial bacteria. Additionally, a significant dynamical change in gut microbiota could be associated with infection.