title: The microbiome of the soft palate of swine.
abstract: The tonsil of the soft palate in pigs is a secondary lymphoid tissue that provides a first line of defense against foreign antigens entering by the mouth or nares. It has been known for a long time to be the site of colonization of important swine and zoonotic bacterial pathogens. Initially our understanding of microbes present at this site came from culture-based studies. Very recently, sequence-based approaches have been used to identify the core microbiome of the swine tonsil. Although animal to animal and herd to herd variation was detected in these studies, >90 of the organisms detected belonged to the phyla Proteobacteria and Firmicutes. Members of the family Pasteurellaceae appeared to be predominate in the tonsil; however, the relative proportions of Actinobacillus, Haemophilus, and Pasteurella varied. Members of the families Moraxellaceae, Fusobacteriaceae, Veillonellaceae, and Neisseriaceae were also seen as frequent residents of the tonsil.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathobiology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada.
authors.forename: Shaun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kernaghan
authors.forename: Adina R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Bujold
authors.forename: Janet I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: MacInnes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D054892:Metagenome; D010160:Palate, Soft / Q000382:microbiology*; D014066:Palatine Tonsil / Q000382:microbiology*; D013552:Swine / Q000382:microbiology*