Ford Tamara, McAdams Zachary L, Townsend Kile S, Martin Lynn M, Johnson Philip J, Ericsson Aaron C
College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM), University of Missouri (MU), Columbia, MO 65211, USA.
Molecular Pathogenesis and Therapeutics (MPT) Program, University of Missouri (MU), Columbia, MO 65201, USA.
Biology (Basel). 2023 Sep 19;12(9):1254. doi: 10.3390/biology12091254.
The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of the partial replacement of dietary hay with sugar beet pulp (SBP) on the composition and predicted function of the fecal microbiota of healthy adult horses. Fecal samples were collected daily for 12 days from six adult horses after removal from pasture, including a five-day acclimation period, and a seven-day period following the introduction of SBP into their diet, and compared to six untreated horses over a comparable period. Fecal DNA was subjected to 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and a longitudinal analysis was performed comparing the composition and predicted function. While no significant treatment-associated changes in the richness, alpha diversity, or beta diversity were detected, random forest regression identified several high-importance taxonomic features associated with change over time in horses receiving SBP. A similar analysis of the predicted functional pathways identified several high-importance pathways, including those involved in the production of L-methionine and butyrate. These data suggest that feeding SBP to healthy adult horses acutely increases the relative abundance of several Gram-positive taxa, including sp., sp., and sp., and mitigates the predicted functional changes associated with removal from pasture. Large-scale studies are needed to assess the protective effect of SBP on the incidence of the gastrointestinal conditions of horses.
本研究的目的是确定用甜菜粕（SBP）部分替代日粮干草对健康成年马粪便微生物群的组成和预测功能的影响。从六匹成年马从牧场转移后开始，每天采集粪便样本，为期12天，包括五天的适应期，以及在其日粮中引入SBP后的七天，并与同期六匹未处理的马进行比较。对粪便DNA进行16S rRNA扩增子测序，并进行纵向分析以比较组成和预测功能。虽然未检测到与处理相关的丰富度、α多样性或β多样性的显著变化，但随机森林回归确定了几个与接受SBP的马随时间变化相关的高度重要的分类特征。对预测功能途径的类似分析确定了几个高度重要的途径，包括那些参与L-蛋氨酸和丁酸盐产生的途径。这些数据表明，向健康成年马喂食SBP会急性增加几种革兰氏阳性分类群的相对丰度，包括 属、 属和 属，并减轻与从牧场转移相关的预测功能变化。需要进行大规模研究来评估SBP对马胃肠道疾病发病率的保护作用。
