Comparison of Fecal Microbiota Communities between Primiparous and Multiparous Cows during Non-Pregnancy and Pregnancy

Abstract

Imbalances in the gut microbiota composition may lead to several reproductive disorders and diseases during pregnancy. This study investigates the fecal microbiome composition between primiparous and multiparous cows during non-pregnancy and pregnancy to analyze the host-microbial balance at different stages. The fecal samples obtained from six cows before their first pregnancy (BG), six cows during their first pregnancy (FT), six open cows with more than three lactations (DCNP), and six pregnant cows with more than three lactations (DCP) were subjected to 16S rRNA sequencing, and a differential analysis of the fecal microbiota composition was performed. The three most abundant phyla in fecal microbiota were Firmicutes (48.68%), Bacteroidetes (34.45%), and Euryarchaeota (15.42%). There are 11 genera with more than 1.0% abundance at the genus level. Both alpha diversity and beta diversity showed significant differences among the four groups (p < 0.05). Further, primiparous women were associated with a profound alteration of the fecal microbiota. The most representative taxa included Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group, Prevotellaceae_UCG_003, Christensenellaceae_R_7_group, Ruminococcaceae UCG-005, Ruminococcaceae UCG-013, Ruminococcaceae UCG-014, Methanobrevibacter, and [Eubacterium] coprostanoligenes group, which were associated with energy metabolism and inflammation. The findings indicate that host-microbial interactions promote adaptation to pregnancy and will benefit the development of probiotics or fecal transplantation for treating dysbiosis and preventing disease development during pregnancy.

Keywords: 16S rRNA sequencing; cow; fecal microbiota; pregnancy; primiparous and multiparous.

Figure 1

Histogram of the number of OTUs in the four groups. Different letters indicate a significant difference among groups (p < 0.05), while the same letter indicates no difference among groups (p > 0.05).

Figure 2

The fecal microbiota composition of the four groups.

Figure 3

Relative abundance of fecal microbiota at the phylum level in the four groups.

Figure 4

Heatmap of high abundance at genus level in the four groups.

Figure 5

Box-plot representation of alpha diversity among four groups. The number of observed OTUs (A), Chao1 (B), Shannon (C), Simpson (D), Coverage (E) and Faith’s PD (F) among the four groups.

Figure 6

Principal Coordinates Analysis (PCoA) using Jaccard distance (A) and Bray–Curtis distance (B) among the four groups.

Figure 7

Histogram of the LDA scores for differentially abundant of fecal bacteria among the four groups.

Figure 8

The differentially enriched OTUs among the four groups. Adjusted p < 0.05 (blue) or p < 0.01 (red) were considered significant. (A)-BG VS. FT, (B)-BG VS. DNCP, (C)-BG VS. DCP, (D)-FT VS. DNCP, (E)-FT VS. DCP, (F)-DNCP VS. DCP.