Fecal microbiome profiles of neonatal dairy calves with varying severities of gastrointestinal disease.

Gastrointestinal disease (GI) is the most common illness in pre-weaned dairy calves. Studies have associated the fecal microbiome composition with health status, but it remains unclear how the microbiome changes across different levels of GI disease and breeds. Our objective was to associate the cli...

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Main Authors: Giovana S Slanzon, Benjamin J Ridenhour, Dale A Moore, William M Sischo, Lindsay M Parrish, Sophie C Trombetta, Craig S McConnel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2022-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0262317&type=printable
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author Giovana S Slanzon
Benjamin J Ridenhour
Dale A Moore
William M Sischo
Lindsay M Parrish
Sophie C Trombetta
Craig S McConnel
author_facet Giovana S Slanzon
Benjamin J Ridenhour
Dale A Moore
William M Sischo
Lindsay M Parrish
Sophie C Trombetta
Craig S McConnel
author_sort Giovana S Slanzon
collection DOAJ
description Gastrointestinal disease (GI) is the most common illness in pre-weaned dairy calves. Studies have associated the fecal microbiome composition with health status, but it remains unclear how the microbiome changes across different levels of GI disease and breeds. Our objective was to associate the clinical symptoms of GI disease with the fecal microbiome. Fecal samples were collected from calves (n = 167) of different breeds (Holstein, Jersey, Jersey-cross and beef-cross) from 4-21 d of age. Daily clinical evaluations assessed health status. Calves with loose or watery feces were diagnosed with diarrhea and classified as bright-sick (BS) or depressed-sick (DS) according to behavior. Calves with normal or semiformed feces and no clinical illness were classified as healthy (H). One hundred and three fecal samples were obtained from consistently healthy calves and 64 samples were from calves with diarrhea (n = 39 BS; n = 25 DS). The V3-V4 region of 16S rRNA gene was sequenced and analyzed. Differences were identified by a linear-mixed effects model with a negative binomial error. DS and Jersey calves had a higher relative abundance of Streptococcus gallolyticus relative to H Holstein calves. In addition, DS calves had a lower relative abundance of Bifidobacterium longum and an enrichment of Escherichia coli. Species of the genus Lactobacillus, such as an unclassified Lactobacillus, Lactobacillus reuteri, and Lactobacillus salivarius were enriched in calves with GI disease. Moreover, we created a model to predict GI disease based on the fecal microbiome composition. The presence of Eggerthella lenta, Bifidobacterium longum, and Collinsella aerofaciens were associated with a healthy clinical outcome. Although lactobacilli are often associated with beneficial probiotic properties, the presence of E. coli and Lactobacillus species had the highest coefficients positively associated with GI disease prediction. Our results indicate that there are differences in the fecal microbiome of calves associated with GI disease severity and breed specificities.
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spelling doaj.art-e4dba0d3c7a446fc9daca2339ba252072025-03-04T05:31:59ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-01171e026231710.1371/journal.pone.0262317Fecal microbiome profiles of neonatal dairy calves with varying severities of gastrointestinal disease.Giovana S SlanzonBenjamin J RidenhourDale A MooreWilliam M SischoLindsay M ParrishSophie C TrombettaCraig S McConnelGastrointestinal disease (GI) is the most common illness in pre-weaned dairy calves. Studies have associated the fecal microbiome composition with health status, but it remains unclear how the microbiome changes across different levels of GI disease and breeds. Our objective was to associate the clinical symptoms of GI disease with the fecal microbiome. Fecal samples were collected from calves (n = 167) of different breeds (Holstein, Jersey, Jersey-cross and beef-cross) from 4-21 d of age. Daily clinical evaluations assessed health status. Calves with loose or watery feces were diagnosed with diarrhea and classified as bright-sick (BS) or depressed-sick (DS) according to behavior. Calves with normal or semiformed feces and no clinical illness were classified as healthy (H). One hundred and three fecal samples were obtained from consistently healthy calves and 64 samples were from calves with diarrhea (n = 39 BS; n = 25 DS). The V3-V4 region of 16S rRNA gene was sequenced and analyzed. Differences were identified by a linear-mixed effects model with a negative binomial error. DS and Jersey calves had a higher relative abundance of Streptococcus gallolyticus relative to H Holstein calves. In addition, DS calves had a lower relative abundance of Bifidobacterium longum and an enrichment of Escherichia coli. Species of the genus Lactobacillus, such as an unclassified Lactobacillus, Lactobacillus reuteri, and Lactobacillus salivarius were enriched in calves with GI disease. Moreover, we created a model to predict GI disease based on the fecal microbiome composition. The presence of Eggerthella lenta, Bifidobacterium longum, and Collinsella aerofaciens were associated with a healthy clinical outcome. Although lactobacilli are often associated with beneficial probiotic properties, the presence of E. coli and Lactobacillus species had the highest coefficients positively associated with GI disease prediction. Our results indicate that there are differences in the fecal microbiome of calves associated with GI disease severity and breed specificities.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0262317&type=printable
spellingShingle Giovana S Slanzon
Benjamin J Ridenhour
Dale A Moore
William M Sischo
Lindsay M Parrish
Sophie C Trombetta
Craig S McConnel
Fecal microbiome profiles of neonatal dairy calves with varying severities of gastrointestinal disease.
PLoS ONE
title Fecal microbiome profiles of neonatal dairy calves with varying severities of gastrointestinal disease.
title_full Fecal microbiome profiles of neonatal dairy calves with varying severities of gastrointestinal disease.
title_fullStr Fecal microbiome profiles of neonatal dairy calves with varying severities of gastrointestinal disease.
title_full_unstemmed Fecal microbiome profiles of neonatal dairy calves with varying severities of gastrointestinal disease.
title_short Fecal microbiome profiles of neonatal dairy calves with varying severities of gastrointestinal disease.
title_sort fecal microbiome profiles of neonatal dairy calves with varying severities of gastrointestinal disease
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0262317&type=printable
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