Understanding gut microbiota similarities and differences across breeds in horses has the potential to advance approaches aimed at personalized microbial modifications, particularly those involved in improving sport athletic performance. Here, we explore whether faecal microbiota composition based on faecal 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing varies across six different sport breeds at two time points 8 months apart within a cohort of 189 healthy horses cared for under similar conditions. Lusitano horses presented the smallest and Hanoverians the greatest bacterial diversity. We found subtle but significant differences in β-diversity between Lusitano, Anglo Arabian and the central European breeds, and we reproduced these results across the two time points. Repeat sampling of subjects showed community to be temporally more stable in Lusitano and Anglo Arabian breeds. Additionally, we found that 27 genera significantly varied in abundance across breeds. Overall, 33% of these taxa overlapped with previously identified taxa that were associated with genetic variation in humans or other species. However, a non-significant correlation was observed between microbial composition and the host pedigree-based kinship. Despite a notable variation in the diversity and composition of the faecal microbiota, breed exerted limited effects on the equine faecal microbiota.

中文翻译：

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健康马的粪便微生物群的品种间多样性和时间动态

了解马的不同品种肠道微生物群的相似性和差异有可能推进旨在个性化微生物修饰的方法，特别是那些涉及提高运动成绩的方法。在这里，我们探讨了基于粪便 16S 核糖体 RNA 基因测序的粪便微生物群组成是否在 189 匹在类似条件下照料的健康马群中相隔 8 个月的两个时间点在六个不同的运动品种中存在差异。卢西塔诺马的细菌多样性最小，汉诺威马的细菌多样性最大。我们发现 Lusitano、盎格鲁阿拉伯和中欧品种之间的 β 多样性存在细微但显着的差异，我们在两个时间点重现了这些结果。对受试者的重复抽样表明，卢西塔诺和盎格鲁阿拉伯品种的群落在时间上更稳定。此外，我们发现 27 个属的丰度在不同品种之间存在显着差异。总体而言，这些分类群中有 33% 与先前确定的与人类或其他物种的遗传变异相关的分类群重叠。然而，在微生物组成和基于宿主谱系的亲属关系之间观察到非显着相关性。尽管粪便微生物群的多样性和组成存在显着差异，但品种对马粪便微生物群的影响有限。然而，在微生物组成和基于宿主谱系的亲属关系之间观察到非显着相关性。尽管粪便微生物群的多样性和组成存在显着差异，但品种对马粪便微生物群的影响有限。然而，在微生物组成和基于宿主谱系的亲属关系之间观察到非显着相关性。尽管粪便微生物群的多样性和组成存在显着差异，但品种对马粪便微生物群的影响有限。