title: Vaginal Microbiome Characterization of Nellore Cattle Using Metagenomic Analysis.
abstract: Understanding of microbial communities inhabiting cattle vaginal tract may lead to a better comprehension of bovine physiology and reproductive health being of great economic interest. Up to date, studies involving cattle microbiota are focused on the gastrointestinal tract, and little is known about the vaginal microbiota. This study aimed to investigate the vaginal microbiome in Nellore cattle, heifers and cows, pregnant and non-pregnant, using a culture independent approach. The main bacterial phyla found were Firmicutes (~40-50%), Bacteroidetes (~15-25%) and Proteobacteria (~5-25%), in addition to ~10-20% of non-classified bacteria. 45-55% of the samples were represented by only ten OTUs: Aeribacillus, Bacteroides, Clostridium, Ruminococcus, Rikenella, Alistipes, Bacillus, Eubacterium, Prevotella and non-classified bacteria. Interestingly, microbiota from all 20 animals could be grouped according to the respiratory metabolism of the main OTUs found, creating three groups of vaginal microbiota in cattle. Archaeal samples were dominated by the Methanobrevibacter genus (Euryarchaeota, ~55-70%). Ascomycota was the main fungal phylum (~80-95%) and Mycosphaerella the most abundant genus (~70-85%). Hormonal influence was not clear, but a tendency for the reduction of bacterial and increase of archaeal populations in pregnant animals was observed. Eukaryotes did not vary significantly between pregnant and non-pregnant animals, but tended to be more abundant on cows than on heifers. The present work describes a great microbial variability in the vaginal community among the evaluated animals and groups (heifers and cows, pregnant and non-pregnant), which is significantly different from the findings previously reported using culture dependent methods, pointing out the need for further studies on this issue. The microbiome found also indicates that the vaginal colonization appears to be influenced by the gastrointestinal community.
authors.affiliation: Departmento de Microbiologia, Instituto de Ciencias Biologicas, Universidade Federal Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Mateus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Laguardia-Nascimento
authors.affiliation: Departmento de Microbiologia, Instituto de Ciencias Biologicas, Universidade Federal Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Kelly Moreira Grillo Ribeiro
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Branco
authors.affiliation: Departmento de Microbiologia, Instituto de Ciencias Biologicas, Universidade Federal Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcela Ribeiro
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Gasparini
authors.affiliation: Departmento de Microbiologia, Instituto de Ciencias Biologicas, Universidade Federal Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Giannattasio-Ferraz
authors.affiliation: René Rachou Research Center - Fiocruz, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Laura Rabelo
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Leite
authors.affiliation: René Rachou Research Center - Fiocruz, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Flávio Marcos Gomes
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Araujo
authors.affiliation: René Rachou Research Center - Fiocruz, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Anna Christina de Matos
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Salim
authors.affiliation: Departmento de Microbiologia, Instituto de Ciencias Biologicas, Universidade Federal Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Jacques Robert
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Nicoli
authors.affiliation: René Rachou Research Center - Fiocruz, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Guilherme Corrêa
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Departmento de Microbiologia, Instituto de Ciencias Biologicas, Universidade Federal Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Edel Figueiredo
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Barbosa-Stancioli
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001105:Archaea / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D002417:Cattle; D005260:Female; D005658:Fungi / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D015723:Gene Library; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D054892:Metagenome; D064307:Microbiota; D010802:Phylogeny; D014621:Vagina / Q000382:microbiology*