Abstracts | EQUINE
Early colonisation and temporal dynamics of
the gut microbial ecosystem in Standardbred
foals
S. Quercia F. Freccero C. Castagnetti M. Soverini S. Turroni E. Biagi S. Rampelli A. Lanci J. Mariella
E. Chinellato P. Brigidi M. Candela
First published: 21 June 2018
Background
Even if horses strictly depend on the gut microbiota
for energy homeostasis, only a few molecular studies
have focused on its characterisation and none on the
perinatal gut microbial colonisation process.
Objectives
To explore the perinatal colonisation process of
the foal gut microbial ecosystem and the temporal
dynamics of the ecosystem assembly during the first
days of life.
Study design
Longitudinal study.
Methods
Thirteen Standardbred mare‐foal pairs were included
in the study. For each pair, at delivery we collected
the mare amniotic fluid, faeces and colostrum, and
the foal meconium. Milk samples and faeces of
both mare and foal were also taken longitudinally,
until day 10 post‐partum. Samples were analysed
by means of next‐generation sequencing of the 16S
rRNA gene on Illumina MiSeq.
Results
Our findings suggest that microbial components
derived from the mare symbiont communities
establishes in the foal gut since fetal life. After
birth, an external transmission route of mare
microorganisms takes place. This involves a rapid and
dynamic process of assembling the mature foal gut
microbiome, in which the founder microbial species
are derived from both the milk and the gut microbial
ecosystems of the mare.
Main limitations
The inability to discriminate between live and dead
cells, the possible presence of contaminating bacteria
in low biomass samples (e.g. meconium and amniotic
fluid), the limits of the phylogenetic assignment down
to species level, and the presence of unassigned
operational taxonomic units.
Conclusions
Our data highlight the importance of mare
microbiomes as a key factor for the establishment of
the gut microbial ecosystem of the foal.
https://doi.org/10.1111/evj.12983
• Volume 20 Issue 3 | October 2018 •
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