FREE SHIPPING over $40
OVER 9000 FIVE-STAR REVIEWS
5% OFF ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS
100% HAPPINESS GUARANTEE
Analyze Diet
0
Home / Equine Research Bank / J Vet Res / Remodelling of the healthy foal’s conjunctival microbi...
Journal of veterinary research2025; 69(1); 131-140; doi: 10.2478/jvetres-2025-0001

Remodelling of the healthy foal’s conjunctival microbiome in the first two months of life.

Abstract: The aim of the study was to explore and characterise healthy foals' eye microbiomes in the first two months of life. Unassigned: Conjunctival swabs were collected three times, not later than 12 h after delivery and again at the end of the first and the second months of life from six clinically healthy foals of the Polish Konik breed. The average interval between the first and second samplings was 33.3 days and between the second and third was 35.6 days. Next-generation sequencing performed on a MiSeq sequencer in paired-end technology was used to analyse the composition of the conjunctival microbiota. Unassigned: Paired one-sided t-tests revealed that conjunctival microbiota diversity was the lowest in the first 24 h of life and significantly increased between birth and the first month. The most prevalent family throughout the study was Micrococcaceae and the most prevalent genus was Corynebacterium. Sequences of potentially pathogenic bacteria such as Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter and Streptococcus spp. that may be involved in inflammatory processes were identified. Ocular commensals such as Corynebacterium and Lactobacillaceae that were found in the ocular surface microbiome of the foals are believed to be capable of restoring the ocular microbiome and maintaining balance. Unassigned: A healthy ocular surface microbiota in the early period of a foal's life develops dynamically and changes its composition.
© 2025 Katarzyna Płoneczka-Janeczko et al., published by Sciendo.
Get Full Text
Publication Date: 2025-01-31 PubMed ID: 40144056PubMed Central: PMC11936096DOI: 10.2478/jvetres-2025-0001Google Scholar: Lookup
The Equine Research Bank provides access to a large database of publicly available scientific literature. Inclusion in the Research Bank does not imply endorsement of study methods or findings by Mad Barn.
LinkedInCopy
  • Journal Article

Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

The research explores the evolution and characteristics of the microorganisms found in the eyes of healthy young horses over the first two months of their lives.

Study Design and Methods

  • In this study, the researchers’ key aim was to examine the health and development of the eye microbiomes in young horses during their first two months of life. Particularly, the study focused on clinically healthy foals from the Polish Konik breed.
  • The researchers collected conjunctival swabs, which are used for sampling the eye’s surface, three times: not later than 12 hours after the foals were born, and then at the end of the first and second months of life.
  • The average interval between the first and second samplings was approximately 33.3 days, and between the second and third was roughly 35.6 days.
  • The MiSeq sequencer, a next-generation sequencing technology, was used to comprehensively examine the eye’s microbial composition.

Results and Analysis

  • Through their analysis, the researchers observed that the diversity of microorganisms in the eye was lowest during the first 24 hours of life. However, there was a significant increase in diversity between birth and the first and second months.
  • The researchers also found that certain families and genera of bacteria were more prevalent throughout the study, although specific names were not mentioned in the abstract.
  • Potentially harmful bacteria that could potentially trigger inflammation were also identified among the mix of microorganisms in the eye.
  • On the other hand, commensal microbes (microbes that live harmoniously on and within us) were also discovered on the ocular surface. These microbes are believed to help rejuvenate the eye’s microbiome and ensure its balance.

Implications and Conclusion

  • The findings of this study show that the diversity and composition of a foal’s ocular microbiome shifts dynamically in the early stages of life.
  • This research suggests the importance of early interactions between the horse’s immune system, its microbiome, and the environment. Understanding these dynamics can be of clinical significance in developing therapeutic strategies for eye infections or microbial imbalances in foals.
  • Further research is needed to sufficiently understand the role of specific pathogenic and commensal bacteria identified.

Cite This Article

APA
Płoneczka-Janeczko K, Armstrong E, Siemieniuch-Tartanus M, Magdziarz M. (2025). Remodelling of the healthy foal’s conjunctival microbiome in the first two months of life. J Vet Res, 69(1), 131-140. https://doi.org/10.2478/jvetres-2025-0001

Publication

Journal of veterinary research
ISSN: 2450-7393
NlmUniqueID: 101696630
Country: Poland
Language: English
Volume: 69
Issue: 1
Pages: 131-140

Researcher Affiliations

Płoneczka-Janeczko, Katarzyna
  • Department of Epizootiology with Clinic of Birds and Exotic Animals, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 50-366 Wrocław, Poland.
Armstrong, Eve
  • Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Wroclaw University of Life Science, 50-375 Wrocław, Poland.
Siemieniuch-Tartanus, Marta
  • Department of Large Animal Diseases and Clinic, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, 02-797 Warsaw, Poland.
Magdziarz, Marcin
  • Hugo Steinhaus Center, Faculty of Pure and Applied Mathematics, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, 50-376 Wrocław, Poland.

Conflict of Interest Statement

Conflict of Interests Statement: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this article.

References

This article includes 36 references
  1. Bolyen E, Rideout JR, Dillon MR, Bokulich NA, Abnet CC, Al-Ghalith GA, Alexander H, Alm EJ, Arumugam M, Asnicar F, Bai Y, Bisanz JE, Bittinger K, Brejnrod A, Brislawn CJ, Brown CT, Callahan BJ, Caraballo-Rodriguez AM, Chase J, Cope EK, Da Silva R, Diener C, Dorrestein PC, Douglas GM, Durall DM, Duvallet C, Edwardson CF, Ernst M, Estaki M, Fouquier J, Gauglitz JM, Gibbons SM, Gibson DL, Gonzalez A, Gorlick K, Guo J, Hillmann B, Holmes S, Holste H, Huttenhower C, Huttley GA, Janssen S, Jarmusch AK, Jiang L, Kaehler BD, Kang KB, Keefe CR, Keim P, Kelley ST, Knights D, Koester I, Kościółek T, Kreps J, Langille MGI, Lee J, Ley R, Liu YX, Loftfield E, Lozupone C, Maher M, Marotz C, Martin BD, McDonald D, McIver LJ, Melnik AV, Metcalf JL, Morgan SC, Morton JT, Naimey AT, Navas-Molina JA, Nothias LF, Orchanian SB, Pearson T, Peoples SL, Petras D, Preuss ML, Pruesse E, Rasmussen LB, Rivers A, Robeson MS, Rosenthal P, Segata N, Shaffer M, Shiffer A, Sinha R, Song SJ, Spear JR, Swafford AD, Thompson LR, Torres PJ, Trinh P, Tripathi A, Turnbaugh PJ, Ul-Hasan S, van der Hooft JJJ, Vargas F, Vázquez-Baeza Y, Vogtmann E, von Hippel M, Walters W, Wan Y, Wang M, Warren J, Weber KC, Williamson CHD, Willis AD, Xu ZZ, Zaneveld JR, Zhang Y, Zhu Q, Knight R, Caporaso JG. Reproducible, interactive, scalable and extensible microbiome data science using QIIME 2. Nat Biotechnol 2019;37:852.
    doi: 10.1038/s41587-019-0209-9pmc: PMC7015180pubmed: 31341288google scholar: lookup
  2. Chaucheyras-Durand F, Sacy A, Karges K, Apper E. Gastro-Intestinal Microbiota in Equines and Its Role in Health and Disease: The Black Box Opens. Microorganisms 2022;10:2517.
    doi: 10.3390/microorganisms10122517pmc: PMC9783266pubmed: 36557769google scholar: lookup
  3. Chen Z, Xiang Z, Cui L, Quin X, Chen S, Jin H, Zou H. Significantly different results in the ocular surface microbiome detected by tear paper and conjunctival swab. BMC Microbiol 2023;23:31.
    doi: 10.1186/s12866-023-02775-3pmc: PMC9883858pubmed: 36707800google scholar: lookup
  4. Dong Q, Brulc JM, Iovieno A, Bates B, Garoutte A, Miller D, Revanna KV, Gao X, Antonopoulos DA, Slepak VZ, Shestopalov VI. Diversity of bacteria at healthy human conjunctiva. Investig Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2011;52:5408.
    doi: 10.1167/iovs.10-6939pmc: PMC3176057pubmed: 21571682google scholar: lookup
  5. Ferris MJ, Muyzer G, Ward DM. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis profiles of 16S rRNA-defined populations inhabiting a hot spring microbial mat community. Appl Environ Microbiol 1996;62:340.
    doi: 10.1128/aem.62.2.340-346.1996pmc: PMC167804pubmed: 8593039google scholar: lookup
  6. Gelatt KN. Congenital and acquired ophthalmic diseases in the foal. Anim Eye Res 1993;12:15.
    doi: 10.11254/jscvo.12.1-2_15google scholar: lookup
  7. Gemensky-Metzler AJ, Wilkie DA, Kowalski JJ, Schmall LM, Willis AM, Yamagata M. Changes in bacterial and fungal ocular flora of clinically normal horses following experimental application of topical antimicrobial or antimicrobial-corticosteroid ophthalmic preparations. Am J Vet Res 2005;66:800.
    doi: 10.2460/ajvr.2005.66.800pubmed: 15934607google scholar: lookup
  8. Huber K, Overman J. Vicinamibacteraceae fam nov., the first described family within the subdivision 6 Acidobacteria. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2018;68:2331.
    doi: 10.1099/ijsem.0.002841pubmed: 29809123google scholar: lookup
  9. Jost L. Entropy and diversity. OIKOS 2006;113:363.
    doi: 10.1111/j.2006.0030-1299.14714.xgoogle scholar: lookup
  10. Keller R, Hendrix D. Bacterial isolates and antimicrobial susceptibilities in equine bacterial ulcerative keratitis (1993–2004). Eq Vet J 2005;37:207.
    doi: 10.2746/0425164054530731pubmed: 15892227google scholar: lookup
  11. Kim HB, Borewicz K, White BA, Singer RS, Sreevatsan S, Tu ZJ, Isaacson RE. Microbial shifts in the swine distal gut in response to the treatment with antimicrobial growth promoter, tylosin. PNAS 2012;109:15485.
    doi: 10.1073/pnas.1205147109pmc: PMC3458334pubmed: 22955886google scholar: lookup
  12. LaFrentz S, Abarca E, Mohammed HH, Cuming R, Arias CR. Characterization of the normal equine conjunctival bacterial community using culture-independent methods. Vet Ophthalmol 2020;23:480.
    doi: 10.1111/vop.12743pubmed: 32017364google scholar: lookup
  13. Legaria MC, Nastro M, Camporro J, Heger J, Barberis C, Stecher D, Rodriguez CH, Vay CA. Peptostreptococcus anaerobius: Pathogenicity, identification, and antimicrobial susceptibility Review of monobacterial infections and addition of a case of urinary tract infection directly identified from a urine sample by MALDI-TOF MS. Anaerobe 2021;72:102461.
    doi: 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2021.102461pubmed: 34626800google scholar: lookup
  14. Manderwad GP, Kodiganti M, Ali MJ. Cardiobacterium hominis-induced acute dacryocystitis and lacrimal abscess. Indian J Ophthalmol 2014;62:495.
    doi: 10.4103/0301-4738.116461pmc: PMC4064233pubmed: 24008805google scholar: lookup
  15. Miller D, Iovieno A. The role of microbial flora on the ocular surface. Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol 2009;9:466.
    doi: 10.1097/ACI.0b013e3283303e1bpubmed: 19620859google scholar: lookup
  16. Moore CP, Heller N, Majors LJ, Whitley RD, Burgess EC, Weber J. Prevalence of ocular microorganisms in hospitalized and stabled horses. Am J Vet Res 1988;49:773.
    pubmed: 3400913
  17. Moore ERB, Mihaylova SA, Gomila M. The Family Cardiobacteriaceae. In: The Prokaryotes. Rosenberg E., DeLong EF., Lory S., Stackebrandt E., Thompson F., editors. Springer; Berlin, Germany: 2014.
    doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-38922-1_294google scholar: lookup
  18. Nardi S, Nuti M, Nocera I, Sgorbini M, Marmorini P, Barsotti G. Lacrimal secretion variation and menace response appearance in healthy standardbred foals from birth to four weeks of age. J Eq Vet Sci 2022;116:104050.
    doi: 10.1016/j.jevs.2022.104050pubmed: 35753634google scholar: lookup
  19. Neu A, Allen E, Roy K. Defining and quantifying a core microbiome: Challenges and prospects. PNAS 2021;118:e2104429118.
    doi: 10.1073/pnas.2104429118pmc: PMC8713806pubmed: 34862327google scholar: lookup
  20. Nguyen VG, Kim CU, Do H-Q, Shin S, Jang KC, Park YH, Park BK, Chung HC. Characteristics of Aerococcus viridans isolated from porcine fetuses in Korean farms. Vet Med Sci 2021;7:1325.
    doi: 10.1002/vms3.456pmc: PMC8294361pubmed: 33624943google scholar: lookup
  21. Oren A. The Family Xanthobacteraceae. In: The Prokaryotes. Rosenberg E., DeLong EF., Lory S., Stackebrandt E., Thompson F., editors. Springer; Berlin, Germany: 2014.
    doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-30197-1_258google scholar: lookup
  22. Pan Z, Ma Y, Ma J, Dong W, Yao H. Acute meningitis of piglets and mice caused by co-infected with Streptococcus suis and Aerococcus viridans. Microb Pathog 2017;106:60.
    doi: 10.1016/j.micpath.2016.10.024pubmed: 27816682google scholar: lookup
  23. Petrillo F, Pignataro D, Lavano MA, Santella B, Volliero V, Zannella C, Astarita C, Gagliano C, Franci G, Avitabile T, Galdiero M. Current evidence on the ocular surface microbiota and related diseases. Microorganisms 2020;8:1033.
    doi: 10.3390/microorganisms8071033pmc: PMC7409318pubmed: 32668575google scholar: lookup
  24. Quast C, Pruesse E, Yilmaz P, Gerken J, Schweer T, Yarza P, Peplies J, Glöckner FO. The SILVA ribosomal RNA gene database project: improved data processing and web-based tools. Nucl Acid Res 2012;41:D590.
    doi: 10.1093/nar/gks1219pmc: PMC3531112pubmed: 23193283google scholar: lookup
  25. Rummelt V, Boltze H, Jünemann A, Röllinghof M, Naumann G. Persistence and transient microbial colonisation of the conjunctiva before planned intraocular surgery (in German). Klin Monbl Augenheilkd 1992;201:231.
    doi: 10.1055/s-2008-1045900pubmed: 1453659google scholar: lookup
  26. Saishu N, Morimoto K, Yamasato H, Ozaki H, Murase T. Characterization of Aerococcus viridans isolated from milk samples from cows with mastitis and manure samples. J Vet Med Sci 2015;77:1037.
    doi: 10.1292/jvms.15-0100pmc: PMC4591142pubmed: 25843745google scholar: lookup
  27. Santibáñez R, Lara F, Barros TM, Mardones E, Cuadra F, Thomson P. Ocular microbiome in a group of clinically healthy horses. Animals 2022;12:943.
    doi: 10.3390/ani12080943pmc: PMC9028004pubmed: 35454190google scholar: lookup
  28. Satora M, Magdziarz M, Rząsa A, Rypuła K, Płoneczka-Janeczko K. Insight into the intestinal microbiome of farrowing sows following the administration of garlic (Allium sativum) extract and probiotic bacteria cultures under farming conditions. BMC Vet Res 2020;16:422.
    doi: 10.1186/s12917-020-02659-ypmc: PMC7666521pubmed: 33187511google scholar: lookup
  29. Scott EM, Arnold C, Dowell S, Suchodolski JS. Evaluation of the bacterial ocular surface microbiome in clinically normal horses before and after treatment with topical neomycin-polymyxin-bacitracin. PLoS One 2019;14:e0214877.
    doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0214877pmc: PMC6447178pubmed: 30943258google scholar: lookup
  30. Shade A, Handelsman J. Beyond the Venn diagram The hunt for a core microbiome. Environ Microbiol 2012;14:4.
    doi: 10.1111/j.1462-2920.2011.02585.xpubmed: 22004523google scholar: lookup
  31. Slobodkin A. The Family Peptostreptococcaceae. In: The Prokaryotes. E. Rosenberg, DeLong EF., Lory S., Stackebrandt E., Thompson F., editors. Springer; Berlin, Germany: 2014.
    doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-30120-9_217google scholar: lookup
  32. Stackebrandt E. The Family Aerococcaceae. In: The Prokaryotes. Rosenberg E., DeLong EF., Lory S., Stackebrandt E., Thompson F., editors. Springer; Berlin, Germany: 2014.
    doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-30120-9_349google scholar: lookup
  33. Leger AJ, St RR Caspi. Visions of eye commensals: The known and the unknown about how the microbiome affects eye disease. Bioessays 2018;40:1800046.
    doi: 10.1002/bies.201800046pmc: PMC6354774pubmed: 30289987google scholar: lookup
  34. Verbanic S, Kim CY, Deacon JM, Chen IA. Improved single-swab sample preparation for recovering bacterial and phage DNA from human skin and wound microbiomes. BMC Microbiol 2019;19:214.
    doi: 10.1186/s12866-019-1586-4pmc: PMC6729076pubmed: 31488062google scholar: lookup
  35. Walsh ML, Meason-Smith C, Arnold C, Suchodolski JS, Scott EM. Evaluation of the ocular surface mycobiota in clinically normal horses. PLoS One 2021;16:e0246537.
    doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0246537pmc: PMC7861450pubmed: 33539431google scholar: lookup
  36. Żak A, Siwińska A, Słowikowska M, Borowicz H, Płoneczka-Janeczko K, Chorbiński P, Niedźwiedź A. Conjunctival aerobic bacterial flora in healthy Silesian foals and adult horses in Poland. BMC Vet Res 2018;14:261.
    doi: 10.1186/s12917-018-1598-6pmc: PMC6119321pubmed: 30170594google scholar: lookup
Subscribe to our newsletter
Join 99,357 horse owners like you who receive our email updates on horse health and nutrition.