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Vaginal Microbiota Is Stable throughout the Estrous Cycle in Arabian Mares

Authors :
Marta Barba
Rebeca Martínez-Boví
Juan José Quereda
María Lorena Mocé
María Plaza-Dávila
Estrella Jiménez-Trigos
Ángel Gómez-Martín
Pedro González-Torres
Belén Carbonetto
Empar García-Roselló
Source :
Animals, Vol 10, Iss 11, p 2020 (2020)
Publication Year :
2020
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2020.

Abstract

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) dominate human vaginal microbiota and inhibit pathogen proliferation. In other mammals, LAB do not dominate vaginal microbiota, however shifts of dominant microorganisms occur during ovarian cycle. The study objectives were to characterize equine vaginal microbiota in mares by culture-dependent and independent methods and to describe its variation in estrus and diestrus. Vaginal swabs from 8 healthy adult Arabian mares were obtained in estrus and diestrus. For culture-dependent processing, bacteria were isolated on Columbia blood agar (BA) and Man Rogosa Sharpe (MRS) agar. LAB comprised only 2% of total bacterial isolates and were not related to ovarian phases. For culture-independent processing, V3/V4 variable regions of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene were amplified and sequenced using Illumina Miseq. The diversity and composition of the vaginal microbiota did not change during the estrous cycle. Core equine vaginal microbiome consisted of Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria at the phylum level. At the genus level it was defined by Porphyromonas, Campylobacter, Arcanobacterium, Corynebacterium, Streptococcus, Fusobacterium, uncultured Kiritimatiaellae and Akkermansia. Lactobacillus comprised only 0.18% of the taxonomic composition in estrus and 0.37% in diestrus. No differences in the relative abundance of the most abundant phylum or genera were observed between estrus and diestrus samples.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20762615
Volume :
10
Issue :
11
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Animals
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.65b278d1c8a84de8a1d8d497e6140c20
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10112020