Effects of Gasterophilus pecorum infestation on the intestinal microbiota of the rewilded Przewalski's horses in China.
Horse botflies have been a threat to the Przewalski's horses in the Kalamaili Nature Reserve in Xinjiang of China since their reintroduction to the original range. As larvae of these parasites could infest the intestine of a horse for months, they could interact with and alter the structure and...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2021-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0251512 |
| _version_ | 1818342326540435456 |
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| author | Dini Hu Yuzhu Chao Boru Zhang Chen Wang Yingjie Qi Make Ente Dong Zhang Kai Li Kai Meng Mok |
| author_facet | Dini Hu Yuzhu Chao Boru Zhang Chen Wang Yingjie Qi Make Ente Dong Zhang Kai Li Kai Meng Mok |
| author_sort | Dini Hu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Horse botflies have been a threat to the Przewalski's horses in the Kalamaili Nature Reserve in Xinjiang of China since their reintroduction to the original range. As larvae of these parasites could infest the intestine of a horse for months, they could interact with and alter the structure and composition of its intestinal microbiota, affecting adversely its health. Nonetheless, there are no such studies on the rewilded Przewalski's horses yet. For the first time, this study characterizes the composition of the intestinal microbiota of 7 rewilded Przewalski's horses infected severely by Gasterophilus pecorum following and prior to their anthelmintic treatment. Bioinformatics analyses of the sequence data obtained by amplicon high throughput sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA genes showed that G. pecorum infestation significantly increased the richness of the intestinal microbial community but not its diversity. Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were found the dominant phyla as in other animals, and the parasitic infestation decreased the F/B ratio largely by over 50%. Large reduction in relative abundances of the two genera Streptococcus and Lactobacillus observed with G. pecorum infestation suggested possible changes in colic and digestion related conditions of the infected horses. Variations on the relative abundance of the genus groups known to be pathogenic or symbiotic showed that adverse impact of the G. pecorum infestation could be associated with reduction of the symbiotic genera Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium that are probiotics and able to promote immunity against parasitic infection. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T16:12:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f5a96eb3d36c485cacb87c0abcb746fd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T16:12:55Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-f5a96eb3d36c485cacb87c0abcb746fd2022-12-21T23:38:53ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032021-01-01165e025151210.1371/journal.pone.0251512Effects of Gasterophilus pecorum infestation on the intestinal microbiota of the rewilded Przewalski's horses in China.Dini HuYuzhu ChaoBoru ZhangChen WangYingjie QiMake EnteDong ZhangKai LiKai Meng MokHorse botflies have been a threat to the Przewalski's horses in the Kalamaili Nature Reserve in Xinjiang of China since their reintroduction to the original range. As larvae of these parasites could infest the intestine of a horse for months, they could interact with and alter the structure and composition of its intestinal microbiota, affecting adversely its health. Nonetheless, there are no such studies on the rewilded Przewalski's horses yet. For the first time, this study characterizes the composition of the intestinal microbiota of 7 rewilded Przewalski's horses infected severely by Gasterophilus pecorum following and prior to their anthelmintic treatment. Bioinformatics analyses of the sequence data obtained by amplicon high throughput sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA genes showed that G. pecorum infestation significantly increased the richness of the intestinal microbial community but not its diversity. Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were found the dominant phyla as in other animals, and the parasitic infestation decreased the F/B ratio largely by over 50%. Large reduction in relative abundances of the two genera Streptococcus and Lactobacillus observed with G. pecorum infestation suggested possible changes in colic and digestion related conditions of the infected horses. Variations on the relative abundance of the genus groups known to be pathogenic or symbiotic showed that adverse impact of the G. pecorum infestation could be associated with reduction of the symbiotic genera Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium that are probiotics and able to promote immunity against parasitic infection.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0251512 |
| spellingShingle | Dini Hu Yuzhu Chao Boru Zhang Chen Wang Yingjie Qi Make Ente Dong Zhang Kai Li Kai Meng Mok Effects of Gasterophilus pecorum infestation on the intestinal microbiota of the rewilded Przewalski's horses in China. PLoS ONE |
| title | Effects of Gasterophilus pecorum infestation on the intestinal microbiota of the rewilded Przewalski's horses in China. |
| title_full | Effects of Gasterophilus pecorum infestation on the intestinal microbiota of the rewilded Przewalski's horses in China. |
| title_fullStr | Effects of Gasterophilus pecorum infestation on the intestinal microbiota of the rewilded Przewalski's horses in China. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of Gasterophilus pecorum infestation on the intestinal microbiota of the rewilded Przewalski's horses in China. |
| title_short | Effects of Gasterophilus pecorum infestation on the intestinal microbiota of the rewilded Przewalski's horses in China. |
| title_sort | effects of gasterophilus pecorum infestation on the intestinal microbiota of the rewilded przewalski s horses in china |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0251512 |
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