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Article
2021
Evolution of rumen and oral microbiota in calves is influenced by age and time of weaning
Evolution of rumen and oral microbiota in calves is influenced by age and time of weaning
Abstract (English)
Background: The rumen bacterial communities are changing dynamically throughout the first year of calf’s life
including the weaning period as a critical event. Rumen microbiome analysis is often limited to invasive rumen
sampling procedures but the oral cavity of ruminants is expected to harbour rumen microbes due to regurgitation
activity. The present study used buccal swab samples to define the rumen core microbiome and characterize the
shifts in rumen and oral microbial communities occurring as result of calf’s age as well as time of weaning.
Results: Buccal swab samples of 59 calves were collected along the first 140 days of life and compared to stomach
tubing sample of the rumen at day 140. Animals were randomly divided into two weaning groups. Microbiota of
saliva and rumen content was analysed by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Our study showed that most
rumen-specific bacterial taxa were equally observed in rumen samples as well as in the buccal swabs, though
relative abundance varied. The occurrence of rumen-specific OTUs in buccal swab samples increased approximately
1.7 times from day 70 to day 140, indicating the gradual development of rumen as calf aged. The rumen-specific
bacterial taxa diversity increased, and inter-animal variations decreased with age. Early weaning (7 weeks of age)
rapidly increased the rumen microbial diversity from pre- to post-weaned state. Rumen microbiota of early-weaned
calves seemed to have a suppressed growth of starch- and carbohydrate-utilizing bacteria and increased fibre
degraders. Whereas, in late-weaned calves (17 weeks of age) no impact of dietary modifications on rumen
microbiota composition was observed after weaning. Oral-specific bacterial community composition was
significantly affected by calf’s age and time of weaning.
Conclusions: The present study showed the significant impact of calf’s age and weaning on the establishment of
rumen- and oral-specific bacterial communities utilizing buccal swab samples. The results emphasize the possibility
of using buccal swab samples as a replacement of complex stomach tube method for large-scale predictive studies
on ruminants. For in-depth rumen microbiome studies, the time of sampling should be carefully considered using
an active phase of regurgitation.
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Published in
Animal microbiome, 3 (2021), 1, 31.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s42523-021-00095-3.
ISSN: 2524-4671
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BibTeX
@article{Amin2021,
url = {https://hohpublica.uni-hohenheim.de/handle/123456789/16423},
doi = {10.1186/s42523-021-00095-3},
author = {Amin, Nida and Schwarzkopf, Sarah and Kinoshita, Asako et al.},
title = {Evolution of rumen and oral microbiota in calves is influenced by age and time of weaning},
journal = {Animal microbiome},
year = {2021},
volume = {3},
number = {1},
}