title: The Fecal Microbial Communities of Dairy Cattle Shedding Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli or Campylobacter jejuni.
abstract: Cattle are a natural reservoir of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and have recently been recognized as a major source of Campylobacter jejuni contamination. While several factors are known to be associated with bacterial colonization, the underlying microbial factors have not been clarified. In this study, we characterized the fecal microbiota of dairy cattle (n = 24) using next-generation sequencing to elucidate the intestinal bacterial communities and the microbial diversity in relation to the presence of the foodborne pathogens STEC and C. jejuni (STEC-positive samples, n = 9; STEC-negative samples, n = 15; C. jejuni-positive samples, n = 9; and C. jejuni-negative samples, n = 15). While no significant differences were observed in alpha diversity between STEC-positive and STEC-negative samples, a high diversity index was observed in C. jejuni-positive samples compared to C. jejuni-negative samples. Nine phyla, 13 classes, 18 orders, 47 families, 148 genera, and 261 species were found to be the core microbiota in dairy cattle, covering 80.0-100.0% of the fecal microbial community. Diverse microbial communities were observed between cattle shedding foodborne pathogens and nonshedding cattle. C. jejuni-positive cattle had a higher relative abundance of Bacteroidetes (p = 0.035) and a lower relative abundance of Firmicutes (p = 0.035) compared to C. jejuni-negative cattle. In addition, while the relative abundance of 2 and 6 genera was significantly higher in cattle-shedding STEC and C. jejuni, respectively, the relative abundance of 3 genera was lower in both STEC- and C. jejuni-negative cattle. Our findings provide fundamental information on the bacterial ecology in cattle feces and might be useful in developing strategies to reduce STEC or C. jejuni shedding in dairy cattle, thereby reducing the incidence of STEC infection and campylobacteriosis in humans.
authors.affiliation: BK21 PLUS Program for Creative Veterinary Science Research, College of Veterinary Medicine and Research Institute for Veterinary Science, Seoul National University , Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hee-Jin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: BK21 PLUS Program for Creative Veterinary Science Research, College of Veterinary Medicine and Research Institute for Veterinary Science, Seoul National University , Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Woohyun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: BK21 PLUS Program for Creative Veterinary Science Research, College of Veterinary Medicine and Research Institute for Veterinary Science, Seoul National University , Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Uk
authors.initials: JU
authors.lastname: An
authors.affiliation: BK21 PLUS Program for Creative Veterinary Science Research, College of Veterinary Medicine and Research Institute for Veterinary Science, Seoul National University , Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Junhyung
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: BK21 PLUS Program for Creative Veterinary Science Research, College of Veterinary Medicine and Research Institute for Veterinary Science, Seoul National University , Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Seongbeom
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cho
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D057138:Bacterial Shedding; D002169:Campylobacter Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary*; D016123:Campylobacter jejuni / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D003612:Dairying; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary*; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D005516:Food Microbiology; D064307:Microbiota; D008892:Milk / Q000382:microbiology; D056910:Republic of Korea; D054323:Shiga-Toxigenic Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial