First report and molecular characterization of cases of natural Taylorella asinigenitalis infection in three donkey breeds in Spain.

This research paper focuses on the detection and molecular characterization of Taylorella asinigenitalis, a bacteria found in the genital tract of donkeys, in three donkey breeds in Spain. Also, the study explores the impact of variations in breeding management practices on the rate of infection in donkeys.

The Study: Exploring Taylorella asinigenitalis in Spanish Donkeys

The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of Taylorella asinigenitalis in donkeys in Spain, as until the time of the study, no research had been conducted addressing this in either equine or asinine populations in the country. To do this, the researchers conducted tests on 106 healthy donkeys from Andaluza, Majorera, and Zamorano-Leonés breeds in June and July of 2017. The features of the study include:

• Testing all the collected samples for T. asinigenitalis using real-time PCR.
• Classifying the positive results further using Multi Locus Sequence Typing (MLST) to determine both their allelic profile and Sequence Type (ST).
• The discovery of four novel STs, representing unique combinations of alleles across the seven loci used in MLST.
• No clonal complexes, indicating that the population structure of T. asinigenitalis in these samples was not clonal but likely recombinational.

Results: T. asinigenitalis Prevalence and Variations

The testing revealed that T. asinigenitalis was present in about 20.75% of the sampled animals, highlighting a significant infection rate. The results identified:

• A total of 39 out of 221 samples (approximately 17.65%) were positive for T. asinigenitalis.
• The variation in the percentage of positive results was significant between breeds and sex.
• The variation in the STs, or genetic sequence within the T. asinigenitalis bacteria, was also significant between farms.

Implications: Breeding Management and Recommendations

The study suggested that breeding management might have an impact on the frequency of positive T. asinigenitalis cases in a farm. As such, the researchers advised:

• Implementing artificial insemination
• Separating male donkeys (jacks) from female donkeys (jennies) to prevent the spread of T. asinigenitalis.

Finally, this study recommended further research on T. asinigenitalis in both donkey and horse populations in Spain to expand the available epidemiological data.