Characterisation of the faecal bacterial community in adult and elderly horses fed a high fibre, high oil or high starch diet using 454 pyrosequencing.
Abstract: Faecal samples were collected from seventeen animals, each fed three different diets (high fibre, high fibre with a starch rich supplement and high fibre with an oil rich supplement). DNA was extracted and the V1-V2 regions of 16SrDNA were 454-pyrosequenced to investigate the faecal microbiome of the horse. The effect of age was also considered by comparing mature (8 horses aged 5-12) versus elderly horses (9 horses aged 19-28). A reduction in diversity was found in the elderly horse group. Significant differences between diets were found at an OTU level (52 OTUs at corrected Q<0.1). The majority of differences found were related to the Firmucutes phylum (37) with some changes in Bacteroidetes (6), Proteobacteria (3), Actinobacteria (2) and Spirochaetes (1). For the forage only diet,with no added starch or oil, we found 30/2934 OTUs (accounting for 15.9% of sequences) present in all horses. However the core (i.e. present in all horses) associated with the oil rich supplemented diet was somewhat smaller (25/3029 OTUs, 10.3% ) and the core associated with the starch rich supplemented diet was even smaller (15/2884 OTUs, 5.4% ). The core associated with samples across all three diets was extremely small (6/5689 OTUs accounting for only 2.3% of sequences) and dominated by the order Clostridiales, with the most abundant family being Lachnospiraceae. In conclusion, forage based diets plus starch or oil rich complementary feeds were associated with differences in the faecal bacterial community compared with the forage alone. Further, as observed in people, ageing is associated with a reduction in bacterial diversity. However there was no change in the bacterial community structure in these healthy animals associated with age.
Publication Date: 2014-02-04 PubMed ID: 24504261PubMed Central: PMC3913607DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0087424Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary
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This research article explores the composition of the faecal bacterial community in horses, with particular attention paid to the effects of diet and age on the diversity of the microbiome. The findings highlight significant differences in bacterial species represented in the gut microbiome due to different diets and also show a reduction in diversity with aging.
Research Methodology
- The researchers conducted their study on a sample size of seventeen horses, divided into two primary age groups: mature (5-12 years) and elderly (19-28 years).
- The animals were fed three types of diet: a high fibre diet, a high fibre diet with a starch-rich supplement, and a high fibre diet with an oil-rich supplement.
- Faecal samples were collected from the horses to extract DNA, with the focus on the V1-V2 regions of 16SrDNA. This particular region is crucial for the identification and classification of bacterial species and is often used in microbiota research.
Study Findings
- The study revealed a decrease in bacterial diversity in the elderly group of horses, mirroring similar observations made in human studies.
- A total of 52 operational taxonomic units (OTUs), which are used to categorise bacteria based on DNA sequence similarity, displayed significant differences across the three diets. The majority of these differences were associated with the Firmucutes phylum.
- The number of OTUs that were present in all horses (termed the ‘core’) varied between diet groups. While 30 distinct OTUs were observed across all horses on the forage-only diet, the count dropped to 25 and 15 OTUs for the oil and starch-supplemented diets, respectively.
- Across all three diets, only six OTUs were consistently present, making up a minor portion (2.3%) of sequences. These were predominantly from the order Clostridiales, with the family Lachnospiraceae being the most abundant.
Conclusions
- The study concludes that the addition of oil-rich or starch-rich supplements to high fibre diets can significantly alter the faecal bacterial community in horses.
- This finding supports the theory that diet plays an important role in shaping the gut microbiome. However, the specific impact of such dietary changes on the horse’s health was not addressed in this study and would require further research.
- Ageing was found to be related to a decrease in bacterial diversity, which aligns with previous studies on humans and other animals. This does not, however, indicate a significant change in the bacterial community structure with age in healthy horses.
Cite This Article
APA
Dougal K, de la Fuente G, Harris PA, Girdwood SE, Pinloche E, Geor RJ, Nielsen BD, Schott HC, Elzinga S, Newbold CJ.
(2014).
Characterisation of the faecal bacterial community in adult and elderly horses fed a high fibre, high oil or high starch diet using 454 pyrosequencing.
PLoS One, 9(2), e87424.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0087424 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Institute of Biological Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, United Kingdom.
- Institute of Biological Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, United Kingdom.
- Equine Studies Group, WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, United Kingdom.
- Institute of Biological Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, United Kingdom.
- Institute of Biological Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, United Kingdom.
- Michigan State University, Department of Animal Science, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America.
- Michigan State University, Department of Animal Science, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America.
- Michigan State University, Department of Animal Science, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America.
- Michigan State University, Department of Animal Science, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America.
- Institute of Biological Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, United Kingdom.
MeSH Terms
- Aging / physiology
- Animals
- Bacteria / drug effects
- Biodiversity
- Dietary Fats, Unsaturated / pharmacology
- Dietary Fiber / pharmacology
- Feces / microbiology
- Feeding Behavior / drug effects
- Horses
- Phylogeny
- Sequence Analysis, DNA / methods
- Starch / pharmacology
Conflict of Interest Statement
Patricia A. Harris is employed by one of the funders of this research (WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. LE14 4RT). The authors confirm that this does not alter their adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.
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