Composition and Predicted Metabolic Capacity of Upper and Lower Airway Microbiota of Healthy Dogs in Relation to the Fecal Microbiota.

ABSTRACT: The upper and lower airways of healthy humans are reported to harbor stable and consistent bacterial populations, and the composition of these communities is altered in individuals affected with several respiratory diseases. Data regarding the presence of airway microbiota in other animals are scant and a better understanding of the composition and metabolic function of such bacterial populations is essential for the development of novel therapeutic and diagnostic modalities for use in both veterinary and human medicine. Based on targeted next-generation sequencing of feces and samples collected at multiple levels of the airways from 16 healthy female dogs, we demonstrate that canine airways harbor a topographically continuous microbiota with increasing relative abundance of proteobacteria

SUBMITTER: Ericsson AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4852910 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature