Open AccessCharacterization of the fecal bacteria communities of forage‐fed horses by pyrosequencing of 16 S rRNA V 4 gene amplicons
Author(s) -
Shepherd Megan L.,
Swecker William S.,
Jensen Roderick V.,
Ponder Monica A.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2011.02434.x
Subject(s) - biology , bacteroidetes , firmicutes , pyrosequencing , actinobacteria , verrucomicrobia , feces , proteobacteria , 16s ribosomal rna , microbiology and biotechnology , microbiome , bacterial phyla , bacteria , genetics , gene
The diversity of the equine fecal bacterial community was evaluated using pyrosequencing of 16 S rRNA gene amplicons. Fecal samples were obtained from horses fed cool‐season grass hay. Fecal bacteria were characterized by amplifying the V 4 region of bacterial 16 S rRNA gene. Of 5898 mean unique sequences, a mean of 1510 operational taxonomic units were identified in the four fecal samples. Equine fecal bacterial richness was higher than that reported in humans, but lower than that reported in either cattle feces or soil. Bacterial classified sequences were assigned to 16 phyla, of which 10 were present in all samples. The largest number of reads belonged to F irmicutes (43.7% of total bacterial sequences), V errucomicrobia (4.1%), P roteobacteria (3.8%), and B acteroidetes (3.7%). The less abundant A ctinobacteria , C yanobacteria , and TM 7 phyla presented here have not been previously described in the gut contents or feces of horses. Unclassified sequences represented 38.1% of total bacterial sequences; therefore, the equine fecal microbiome diversity is likely greater than that described. This is the first study to characterize the fecal bacterial community in horses by the use of 16 S rRNA gene amplicon pyrosequencing, expanding our knowledge of the fecal microbiota of forage‐fed horses.