Xing Jingya, Jia Mingquan, Zhang Guoliang, Li Lanjie, Liu Shuai, Li Guangyu, Liu Guiqin
College of Animal Science and Technology, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, China.
College of Agronomy, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, China.
Front Microbiol. 2025 Jun 25;16:1565360. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1565360. eCollection 2025.
The microorganisms residing in the gastrointestinal tract of monogastric herbivores play a vital role in nutrient absorption and maintaining the host's health. However, the quantitative and functional establishment of these microorganisms in female donkeys across different reproductive cycles has not yet been examined. Knowledge regarding the composition and function of gut microbiota in female donkeys during different reproductive cycles remains limited. By applying high-throughput sequencing technology and functional prediction applied to fecal samples from female donkeys across different reproductive cycles, we characterized their gut microbial composition and predicted their functional profiles. The fecal microbiota diversity in female donkeys showed no significant differences across different reproductive cycles through alpha diversity. However, the relative abundance of was higher during lactation, whereas were significantly higher during pregnancy. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) revealed the gut microbiota composition of pregnant female donkeys differed significantly from that in lactating and non-pregnant female donkeys. and dominated during pregnancy in donkeys, while and unidentified were more prevalent during lactation. For functional prediction, there were significant differences in the relative abundance of pathways in the feces of female donkeys across different reproductive cycles, such as immune system processes, metabolism, glycan biosynthesis and metabolism, environmental adaptation and cell motility ( < 0.05 or < 0.01). By correlating metabolic functions with microbial phyla, we suggest that metabolic and immune functions associated with the gut microbiota in lactating donkeys may be reduced compared to pregnant donkeys. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the functional KEGG Orthologs (KOs) in the fecal microbiota of pregnant donkeys were distinctly separated from the lactation and non-pregnant female donkeys. Microbial community composition and structure exhibit distinct characteristics across different reproductive cycle, which are closely related to the functions of the microbiome. Our findings provide a foundation for understanding the compositional and functional differences in the microbial communities of mares' feces across different reproductive cycles, offering valuable insights for the precise feeding of mares throughout different reproductive cycles.
单胃草食动物胃肠道中的微生物在营养吸收和维持宿主健康方面发挥着至关重要的作用。然而，不同繁殖周期的雌性驴体内这些微生物的定量和功能建立尚未得到研究。关于雌性驴在不同繁殖周期肠道微生物群的组成和功能的知识仍然有限。通过对不同繁殖周期雌性驴的粪便样本应用高通量测序技术和功能预测，我们对其肠道微生物组成进行了表征，并预测了它们的功能概况。通过α多样性分析，雌性驴的粪便微生物群多样性在不同繁殖周期之间没有显著差异。然而，在哺乳期，[具体微生物名称1]的相对丰度较高，而在怀孕期间，[具体微生物名称2]的相对丰度显著较高。主坐标分析（PCoA）显示，怀孕雌性驴的肠道微生物群组成与泌乳期和非怀孕雌性驴的有显著差异。在驴怀孕期，[具体微生物名称3]和[具体微生物名称4]占主导地位，而在泌乳期，[具体微生物名称5]和未鉴定的[微生物类别]更为普遍。在功能预测方面，不同繁殖周期雌性驴粪便中途径的相对丰度存在显著差异，如免疫系统过程、代谢、聚糖生物合成和代谢、环境适应和细胞运动（P < 0.05或P < 0.01）。通过将代谢功能与微生物门类相关联，我们认为与怀孕驴相比，泌乳期驴肠道微生物群相关的代谢和免疫功能可能会降低。主成分分析（PCA）显示，怀孕驴粪便微生物群中的功能KEGG直系同源物（KOs）与泌乳期和非怀孕雌性驴明显分开。微生物群落组成和结构在不同繁殖周期表现出明显特征，这与微生物组的功能密切相关。我们的研究结果为理解不同繁殖周期母马粪便微生物群落的组成和功能差异提供了基础，为母马在不同繁殖周期的精准饲养提供了有价值的见解。
