Shi Yijun, Maga Elizabeth A, Mienaltowski Michael J
Department of Animal Science, University of California Davis, 2251 Meyer Hall, One Shields Ave, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
BMC Res Notes. 2025 Jan 23;18(1):34. doi: 10.1186/s13104-025-07110-9.
Diarrhea is a common disease that could threaten the welfare of newborn foals. While there are several forms of foal diarrhea, the etiologies can be considered known pathogenic or non-pathogenic in nature. Moreover, there are likely differences in the composition of microbial populations in the gastrointestinal tracts of foals depending upon the etiology of diarrhea. Our study aims to examine the microbial population in the feces of foals with both pathogenic and non-pathogenic diarrheas to discern differences in their microbial compositions.
Foal diarrhea samples tested positive or negative for common equine neonatal diarrhea pathogens by diagnostic polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which allowed for samples to be segregated as pathogenic or non-pathogenic. Pathogenic samples tested positive for combinations of Clostridium perfringens and/or Clostridioides difficile toxins. As a result, significantly higher alpha diversity was seen in the non-pathogenic samples than in pathogenic ones. Sequencing of the V4 domains of bacterial 16 S rRNA genes demonstrated that non-pathogenic samples had more alpha diversity. Furthermore, eight microbial families and eleven genera showed significant differences in their abundances between pathogenic and non-pathogenic diarrhea samples.
腹泻是一种常见疾病，可能威胁新生马驹的健康。虽然马驹腹泻有多种形式，但其病因可分为已知的致病性或非致病性。此外，根据腹泻的病因，马驹胃肠道微生物群落的组成可能存在差异。我们的研究旨在检查患有致病性和非致病性腹泻的马驹粪便中的微生物群落，以辨别它们微生物组成的差异。
通过诊断性聚合酶链反应（PCR）检测马驹腹泻样本中常见的马属动物新生儿腹泻病原体呈阳性或阴性，这使得样本能够被分为致病性或非致病性。致病性样本检测出产气荚膜梭菌和/或艰难梭菌毒素呈阳性。结果显示，非致病性样本中的α多样性显著高于致病性样本。对细菌16S rRNA基因V4结构域进行测序表明，非致病性样本具有更多的α多样性。此外，八个微生物科和十一个属在致病性和非致病性腹泻样本中的丰度存在显著差异。
