Animal microbiome最新文献

{"title":"Optimized approaches to profile low biomass DNA and RNA virome in the upper respiratory tract of beef cattle.","authors":"Yue Wang, Mi Zhou, Nilusha Malmuthuge, Yanhong Chen, Trevor W Alexander, Edouard Timsit, Le Luo Guan","doi":"10.1186/s42523-026-00567-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s42523-026-00567-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Viruses play a key role in cattle respiratory tract (RT) health, yet, profiling the upper respiratory tract (URT) virome (DNA and RNA viruses) from deep nasopharyngeal swabs (DNS) remains challenging due to their low biomass, lack of well-defined enrichment approaches, and a high proportion of unclassified viral sequences. This study aimed to optimize DNS preservation, nucleic acid extraction, and bioinformatics pipelines to enhance URT virome characterization in beef calves.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Three DNS preservation methods were tested (RNAlater, brain heart infusion (BHI) medium/glycerol at -80 °C, and BHI medium/glycerol followed by RNAlater). Three nucleic acid extraction kits (QIAamp Fast DNA Stool Mini Kit, GeneJET Genomic DNA Purification Kit, and mirVana™ miRNA Isolation Kit) were evaluated to compare total nucleic acid yields. Viral DNA and RNA were extracted separately using the NucleoSpin Virus Kit, which was optimized for viral nucleic acid recovery. The DNS samples that preserved in RNAlater and extracted using the NucleoSpin Virus kit generated highest viral DNA (1.35 ± 0.12 µg) and RNA (1.57 ± 0.09 µg) (mean ± SEM) yields for metagenomics sequencing. Metagenomic sequencing and viral taxonomic assignment using Kraken2 and Kaiju, respectively showed that Kaiju allowed maximum exact matches for viral taxonomy assignment and provided high-resolution outputs for the profiling of cattle URT viromes.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The use of an optimized nucleic acid extraction method and Kaiju-based classification enhanced viral nucleic acid recovery and taxonomic classification from low-biomass DNS samples. The findings highlighted the importance of effective storage conditions and extraction methods in maximizing viral nucleic acid yield, while demonstrating that Kaiju provided more reliable viral taxonomic assignments than Kraken2. These advancements provide a framework for more accurate assessment of the URT virome in cattle and other farm animals, enabling deeper investigation into the roles of viruses in RT health.</p>","PeriodicalId":72201,"journal":{"name":"Animal microbiome","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13660347/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149186583","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correction to: Integrative multi-omics analysis identifies C-type lectin CNVs as functional targets for breeding mastitis-resistant dairy goats.","authors":"Ying Yuan, He Cong, Tao Ren, Peng-Cheng Ruan, Lu Xu, Bai-Gao Yang, Hao-Yuan Zhang, Simone Ceccobelli, Zi-Xuan Wang, Yao-Long Liu, Kaushalendra, Yan-Guo Han, Yan Zeng, Hong Miao, De-Jun Xu, Guang-Xin E","doi":"10.1186/s42523-026-00617-x","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s42523-026-00617-x","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":72201,"journal":{"name":"Animal microbiome","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2026-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13528054/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148868071","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"From onset to healing: temporal dynamics of microbial communities pinpoint Midichloria-like organism's key role in the development of the fish skin disease red mark syndrome.","authors":"Giulia Zarantonello, Fernando Puente-Sánchez, Jacob Günther Schmidt, Argelia Cuenca","doi":"10.1186/s42523-026-00588-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s42523-026-00588-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Red mark syndrome (RMS) is an infectious disease affecting rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), especially at market size, forcing farmers to downgrade the product with heavy economic repercussions. The causative agent of RMS has not been established according to Koch's postulates, since possible candidates have not been isolated and propagated in vitro. While the 16S rRNA gene of a Midichloria-like organism (MLO) is consistently detected in active skin lesions, the role of other bacteria in the disease has not been excluded. In this work, we provide a temporal perspective to elucidate the relationships between the bacteriome in rainbow trout skin and water, during the development and resolution of clinical disease in naive fish infected by cohabitation with RMS-affected fish in the same tank.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We quantified the MLO by qPCR in skin and, for the first time, in water using environmental DNA, showing that its quantity in both sample types corresponds with disease progression. Using 16S rRNA gene profiling, we provide further evidence that the MLO is likely the primary pathogen triggering RMS, as it was the only significantly enriched taxon in active lesions. Furthermore, the skin microbiome of affected fish reverted to a control-like state during healing. RMS also caused changes in the overall skin microbiome at peak pathology: the relative abundance of \"Ca. Branchiomonas\" and an unclassified gammaproteobacterium increased in apparently healthy skin areas of RMS-affected fish while remaining low in controls, suggesting they may be opportunistic bacteria implicated in skin dysbiosis.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our findings on the temporal dynamics of the skin microbiome during disease progression and recovery strengthen the evidence that Midichloria-like organism is the primary pathogen of RMS. The observed shifts in other bacterial taxa suggest possible secondary roles in disease-associated skin dysbiosis. Finally, detection of MLO in environmental DNA from water provides new insights into RMS transmission and potential monitoring strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":72201,"journal":{"name":"Animal microbiome","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2026-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13488072/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148801069","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Differential skin-bacteriome-mediated defense against chytridiomycosis in two neotropical frog species.","authors":"Laura K Schuck, Julia R Ernetti, Shannon Buttimer, Ananda B de Assis, Renato A Martins, Mariana R Pontes, Ana C Zanatta, Maria B Tosta, Luís Felipe Toledo, C Guilherme Becker","doi":"10.1186/s42523-026-00593-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s42523-026-00593-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Symbiotic microbial communities have been implicated in host resistance to pathogens, but their effects are rarely demonstrated experimentally in wildlife. This study tested how skin-associated bacterial communities (i.e., bacteriomes) influence infection by the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) in two tropical frog species, Haddadus binotatus and Ischnocnema henselii, which differ in susceptibility to Bd. Using a 2x2 factorial experimental design, frogs of both species were assigned to treatments crossing Bd exposure and antibiotic-mediated bacteriome suppression. In parallel, we cultured 786 bacterial isolates from frog skin and assayed their ability to inhibit Bd in vitro, generating a functional database of Bd-inhibitory symbionts. Haddadus binotatus with an unsuppressed skin bacteriome and exposed to Bd showed no reduction in survival relative to Bd-unexposed controls, consistent with the lack of Bd infection previously observed in wild populations. In contrast, bacteriome suppression increased mortality and infection intensity under Bd exposure. Bd infection intensity in H. binotatus also decreased with the proportion of Bd-inhibitory sequence reads in the bacteriome, and a significant interaction between antibiotic treatment and Bd exposure affecting survival was detected, consistent with bacteriome-mediated protection in this species. In contrast, I. henselii experienced lower survival under Bd exposure in general. Species-specific log-rank tests revealed that bacteriome suppression significantly increased mortality under Bd exposure in H. binotatus but not in I. henselii, where survival was reduced under Bd exposure regardless of bacteriome state, suggesting fundamentally different defense strategies between species. Functional attributes of microbial communities, rather than diversity alone, appear to be key to disease outcomes. This work advances understanding of host-microbe-pathogen interactions and highlights microbiome function as a critical axis of wildlife disease defense.</p>","PeriodicalId":72201,"journal":{"name":"Animal microbiome","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2026-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13436015/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148671344","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Spatiotemporal plasticity of the gut microbiome facilitates redbelly tilapia (Coptodon zillii) invasion in China.","authors":"Shoujie Tang, Ying Xing, Zhiyi Yan, Kenneth Nyirenda, Jinliang Zhao","doi":"10.1186/s42523-026-00604-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s42523-026-00604-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The redbelly tilapia (Coptodon zillii) is a highly invasive fish species posing serious ecological risks to freshwater systems in China. To uncover mechanisms behind its invasion success, this study investigated spatiotemporal plasticity of its gut microbiome and explored the drivers of such plasticity. Using high-throughput 16 S rRNA sequencing, gut microbiota of C. zillii from five water bodies (two rivers, three reservoirs) and from Shuikou Reservoir across four seasons were compared.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Among populations from different habitats, 6 of the top 10 abundant phyla and 17 of the top 30 genera varied significantly (P < 0.05). Gut microbiota differed significantly (P < 0.05) in all pairwise population comparisons. Alpha diversity indices also showed significant differences among some populations (P < 0.05). Of 24 digestion-related KEGG pathways identified, 23 exhibited significant abundance variations across populations. Relative gene abundances of beta-glucosidase (P = 0.0025) and chitinase (P = 0.022) also differed significantly. Water temperature, dissolved oxygen, and conductivity were key environmental drivers of gut microbiota variation. Notably, microbial community assembly was predominantly governed by deterministic processes (> 60%), with heterogeneous selection contributing 42%-63%. In seasonal samples from Shuikou Reservoir, 6 of the top 10 phyla and 15 of the top 30 genera showed significant seasonal variation (P < 0.05). PERMANOVA indicated significant differences (P < 0.05) in all pairwise seasonal comparisons. Of 19 digestion-related KEGG pathways, 13 exhibited significant abundance variations across seasons. Chitinase-coding gene abundance varied significantly among populations (P < 0.0001). Key factors driving seasonal differentiation were pH, conductivity, turbidity degree, and total nitrogen.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The gut microbiome of invasive C. zillii displays significant spatiotemporal variation in structure, diversity, and functional gene composition. This pronounced plasticity-rather than a stable, specialized microbiota-likely serves as a key adaptive strategy, enabling the species to thrive in heterogeneous environments.</p>","PeriodicalId":72201,"journal":{"name":"Animal microbiome","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2026-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149229520","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Differences in rumen microbiome protein metabolism are associated with individual variation in rumen bloating on high-concentrate diets.","authors":"Jinju Mao, Chunzheng Zhang, Lizhi Wang, Zhisheng Wang, Bai Xue, Quanhui Peng, Rui Hu, Jianxin Xiao","doi":"10.1186/s42523-026-00605-1","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s42523-026-00605-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>This study primarily investigated the differences in rumen microbial composition and functional profiles among goats with varying degrees of rumen bloat under a high-concentrate diets (HCDs) feeding condition. Forty Nubian goats fed a HCDs were selected as experimental animals and subjected to rumen bloating (RB) scoring. From these, six goats with high bloat scores (HB group) and six goats without obvious bloat (NB group) were selected. Rumen content samples were collected via oral stomach tubes. Rumen fluid foaming characteristics and pH values were measured, and metatranscriptome sequencing was conducted to analyze microbial functions.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The results demonstrated that compared to the NB group, the HB group exhibited significantly higher foaming capacity, foam stability, and viscosity of ruminal fluid, along with a significantly lower pH value (P < 0.05). Additionally, α-diversity indices (Chao1, ACE, and observed_species) were significantly elevated in the HB group (P < 0.05). Annotation of rumen microbial species showed that the relative abundance of Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Dialister, and Dialister sp. CAG:486 was significantly higher in the HB group, whereas Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Spirochaetes, Prevotella, Bacteroides, Treponema, Lactobacillus, Leptotrichia hofstadii and Prevotella oralis were significantly reduced (P < 0.05). Functional analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) revealed significant enrichment in several biological processes. In the Gene Ontology (GO) database, DEGs were predominantly associated with cellular protein modification, protein maturation, and ribosome biogenesis. According to KEGG pathway analysis, DEGs were mainly enriched in pathways related to endocytosis, ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis, and protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>In summary, under uniform feeding conditions, individual variations in goat rumen microbiota functions are associated with differences in microbial community structure and gene expression patterns. Alterations in the protein metabolism function of the rumen microbiome are associated with the presence of foaming proteins, which in turn are linked to individual differences in rumen foam production capacity. Ultimately, these associations may result in differing susceptibility and severity of RB among animals.</p>","PeriodicalId":72201,"journal":{"name":"Animal microbiome","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2026-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13681919/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149225539","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Heat stress triggers bone performance degeneration via impairing intestinal barrier function and altering gut microbiota in chickens.","authors":"Hang Gao, Jingsha Gu, Yi Wang, Yu Zou, Zhouyuan Wang, Rendong Fang, Sha Jiang","doi":"10.1186/s42523-026-00602-4","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s42523-026-00602-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Heat stress (HS) is a pervasive environmental hazard in intensive poultry production that severely impairs skeletal health and causes substantial economic losses. While emerging evidence links gut microbiota dysbiosis to bone metabolism, its causal role in mediating HS-induced bone loss remains poorly defined. Here, we established a chicken model of HS and employed fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) to investigate the mechanistic link between gut microbiota and skeletal deterioration. Our results demonstrated that HS reduced growth performance, disrupted gut microbial community structure, and impaired bone microarchitecture and biomechanical strength. Critically, FMT from HS-exposed donors recapitulated the key features of HS-induced bone loss in recipient chickens, characterized by impaired trabecular bone microarchitecture, reduced biomechanical strength, and enhanced bone resorption-related gene expression. Mechanistically, the HS-microbiota induces functional dysbiosis, characterized by a relative increase in the abundance of the genus Turicibacter, while compromising intestinal barrier integrity, triggering an inflammatory response, and inhibiting intestinal mineral absorption. Collectively, these factors contribute to reduced bone performance. These findings establish the gut microbiota as a key mediator of HS-induced bone loss, providing a novel mechanistic framework for understanding host-microbiota-environment interactions in the context of environmental hazards, which has broader implications for animal health and environmental toxicology.</p>","PeriodicalId":72201,"journal":{"name":"Animal microbiome","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2026-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13681844/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149229531","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Genome-resolved gut microbial guild and fecal metabolic signatures associated with post-weaning estrus return in sows.","authors":"Pan Jiang, Mengqing Zhou, Yang Wen, Zikang Hu, Yongqiang Hu, Min Liu","doi":"10.1186/s42523-026-00601-5","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s42523-026-00601-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Post-weaning estrus return is critical for sow reproductive efficiency. The gut microbiota is associated with post-weaning estrus of sows, potentially through effects on nutrient utilization and metabolic regulation. However, current microbial signatures associated with estrus return remain poorly resolved at the strain-level. Here, we explored the relationship between the gut microbiome and post-weaning estrus in sows using metagenomics and metabolomics profiling of 85 fecal samples. From 2,704 non-redundant metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs), 608 estrus-associated MAGs were identified by LEfSe analysis. Among these, 48 high-quality MAGs were selected for co-abundance network analysis, which revealed two competing microbial functional guilds. Guild 1 was significantly enriched in the normal group, harboring more β-glucosidase and folate biosynthesis genes, but fewer antibiotic resistance genes and virulence factors than Guild 2. A random forest model based on these 48 MAGs demonstrated excellent performance in distinguishing between the normal and non-return sows (AUROC = 0.946) and was validated in an independent dataset (n = 29, AUROC = 0.818). Additionally, the guild-level microbiome index (GMI) derived from abundance differences between the two guilds also showed good discriminatory power (AUROC = 0.799). Integrated multi-omics analysis revealed alterations in fecal bile acid metabolism in non-return sows, characterized by a significantly increased ratio of secondary to primary bile acids and the accumulation of specific secondary bile acids. Notably, the enrichment of the Clostridia strain SFHK01 sp016296675, a member of Guild 2, and its encoded 12α-HSDH gene was positively associated with specific secondary bile acids, suggesting that this specific strain is involved in the distinct metabolic alterations observed in non-return sows. These findings provide the genome-resolved and guild-based insights into the gut microbial signatures associated with post-weaning estrus return, offering a basis for potential microbiota-targeted interventions to improve sow reproductive performance.</p>","PeriodicalId":72201,"journal":{"name":"Animal microbiome","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2026-07-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13673678/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148537862","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The faecal microbiota and its influence on fur seal (Arctocephalus sp.) physiology.","authors":"T Franciscus Scheelings, David J Beale, Thi Thu Hao Van, Robert J Moore, John P Y Arnould","doi":"10.1186/s42523-026-00603-3","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s42523-026-00603-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The gastrointestinal microbiota is a key determinant of vertebrate physiology, metabolism, and adaptation, forming a dynamic holobiont system that supports host health and resilience. However, while the gut microbiota of several fur seal species has been described, most studies have focused primarily on taxonomic composition, leaving a major gap in understanding how microbial communities influence host physiology in marine mammals. This study provides the first comprehensive comparison of the faecal microbiota and blood metabolomic profiles of Australian (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus) and New Zealand fur seals (A. forsteri) across age classes (adult vs. pup), integrating 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and untargeted metabolomics and untargeted lipidomics to examine host-microbe interactions.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Adult fur seals exhibited a conserved microbial structure dominated by the phyla Bacillota, Fusobacteriota, and Bacteroidota, while pups displayed lower microbial diversity and higher relative abundances of Actinobacteriota and Campylobacterota, alongside enrichment of metabolites involved in DNA synthesis (2-deoxy-D-ribose, 2-deoxycytidine, and 2-deoxyuridine) and lipid metabolism. Correlations between bacterial taxa and metabolites implicated in growth, fat deposition, and hair development suggest that it is possible that early-life microbial communities may play an important role in supporting rapid development and thermoregulation.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Despite logistical constraints inherent to field-based sampling of wild marine mammals, our findings demonstrate consistent microbial patterns within the Arctocephalus genus and clear age-related differences in blood metabolic profiles. Together, these results enhance understanding of the complex interplay between host development, diet, and microbial ecology in fur seals, and establish a foundation for future research into the functional significance of microbiota in marine mammal health and adaptation.</p><p><strong>Clinical trial number: </strong>Not applicable.</p>","PeriodicalId":72201,"journal":{"name":"Animal microbiome","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2026-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13673889/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148457715","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Enhancement of postpartum cow health and calf performance through maternal‒offspring interactions: effects on the immunity, antioxidants, and bacterial flora induced by Guiqi Yimu Powder.","authors":"Kaikai Bao, Hao Zhang, Weidong Ma, Peng Ji, Yanming Wei, Yongli Hua","doi":"10.1186/s42523-026-00595-0","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s42523-026-00595-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study evaluated the effects of dietary supplementation with Guiqi Yimu powder (GYP) on the postpartum health of beef cows and the growth performance of their calves, with an emphasis on immune function, antioxidant capacity, and the bacterial flora. Twenty-two postpartum cows were randomly assigned on the day of calving to either the control group (CON) or the GYP group. The control group was fed a basal diet, and the GYP group was fed the basal diet supplemented with 300 g/day of GYP starting on the day of calving. After 7 days of supplementation, serum samples from the cows and calves were collected, and antioxidant indices [superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), and glutathione (GSH)] as well as immunoglobulins (IgA, IgM, and IgG) were analyzed. Fecal samples from cows were assessed for gut microbiota diversity and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) content; milk samples were analyzed for microbial composition and immunoglobulins. GYP was administered to the cows, and calves were exposed to GYP solely through suckling. Compared with those in the CON group, calves in the GYP group presented significantly greater weaning weights and average daily gains. The calf survival rate tended to increase, whereas the incidence of diarrhea tended to decrease in the GYP group. Among cows in the GYP group, both postpartum conception rates and estrus rates tended to increase; conversely, return-to-estrus rates and semen doses per conception tended to decrease. Serum levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione (GSH) were elevated, whereas malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were reduced (p < 0.05) in GYP cows. Moreover, supplementation with GYP significantly increased the serum IgG levels (p < 0.05), the milk IgM, IgA, and IgG levels (p < 0.05), and the serum IgG levels in calves (p < 0.05). Analysis of the gut microbiota of these cows revealed that, compared with CON, GYP improved the gut bacterial diversity and increased the relative abundances of UCG-002, Faecalibacterium, norank_f_F082, and Oscillibacter. Furthermore, examination of the milk microbiota revealed that GYP increased the relative abundances of Acetobacter, Lactobacillus, and Prevotellaceae_UCG-003. In addition, compared with CON, GYP significantly increased the contents of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), including acetic acid, propionic acid, isobutyric acid, n-butyric acid, isovaleric acid, and n-valeric acid, in the feces of postpartum cows (p < 0.05). GYP improves postpartum cow health and calf performance via (1) direct antioxidant and immunomodulatory effects, (2) gut microbiota remodeling and SCFAs promotion, and (3) vertical transfer of immunoglobulins and probiotics through milk. These findings support the use of GYP as a functional feed additive for optimizing postpartum management in beef cattle.</p>","PeriodicalId":72201,"journal":{"name":"Animal microbiome","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2026-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148426898","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}