Dataset Information

Uterine and vaginal bacterial community diversity prior to artificial insemination between pregnant and nonpregnant postpartum cows1.

ABSTRACT: The present study evaluated the bovine vaginal and uterine bacterial community diversity and its relationship to fertility. Postpartum beef cows (n = 68) were synchronized beginning on day -21 and ending with timed artificial insemination (TAI) on day 0. Pregnancy was diagnosed 30 d after TAI. Uterine and vaginal flushes were collected on day -21, -9, and -2 for bacterial DNA extraction to sequence the V1 to V3 hypervariable regions of the 16S rRNA gene. Results indicated a decrease in the number of bacterial species over time in the uterus of resulting pregnant and nonpregnant beef cows (P < 0.0001). Principal coordinate analyses (PCoA) depicted clustering of samples, indicating closely related bacterial communities, by day in the uterus and vagina (P < 0.0001). At day -2, uterine samples from nonpregnant and pregnant animals clustered separately (P < 0.0001), with nonpregnant animal samples clustering tightly together. Overall, the current study suggests the shift in the reproductive bacterial communities' diversity and phylogenetic relationship leading up to the time of breeding may contribute to successful pregnancy establishment.

SUBMITTER: Ault TB

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6776308 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Uterine and vaginal bacterial community diversity prior to artificial insemination between pregnant and nonpregnant postpartum cows1.

Ault Taylor B TB Clemmons Brooke A BA Reese Sydney T ST Dantas Felipe G FG Franco Gessica A GA Smith Tim P L TPL Edwards J Lannett JL Myer Phillip R PR Pohler Ky G KG

Journal of animal science 20191001 10

The present study evaluated the bovine vaginal and uterine bacterial community diversity and its relationship to fertility. Postpartum beef cows (n = 68) were synchronized beginning on day -21 and ending with timed artificial insemination (TAI) on day 0. Pregnancy was diagnosed 30 d after TAI. Uterine and vaginal flushes were collected on day -21, -9, and -2 for bacterial DNA extraction to sequence the V1 to V3 hypervariable regions of the 16S rRNA gene. Results indicated a decrease in the numbe ...[more]

PMID: 31250893

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Project description:The knowledge surrounding the bovine vaginal microbiota and its implications on fertility and reproductive traits remains incomplete. The objective of the current study was to characterize the bovine vaginal bacterial community and estradiol concentrations at the time of artificial insemination (AI). Brangus heifers (n = 78) underwent a 7-d Co-Synch + controlled internal drug release estrus synchronization protocol. At AI, a double-guarded uterine culture swab was used to sample the anterior vaginal tract. Immediately after swabbing the vaginal tract, blood samples were collected by coccygeal venipuncture to determine concentrations of estradiol. Heifers were retrospectively classified as pregnant (n = 29) vs. nonpregnant (n = 49) between 41 and 57 d post-AI. Additionally, heifers were classified into low (1.1 to 2.5 pg/mL; n = 21), medium (2.6 to 6.7 pg/mL; n = 30), and high (7.2 to 17.6 pg/mL; n = 27) concentration of estradiol. The vaginal bacterial community composition was determined through sequencing of the V4 region from the 16S rRNA gene using the Illumina Miseq platform. Alpha diversity was compared via ANOVA and beta diversity was compared via PERMANOVA. There were no differences in the Shannon diversity index (alpha diversity; P = 0.336) or Bray-Curtis dissimilarity (beta diversity; P = 0.744) of pregnant vs. nonpregnant heifers. Overall, bacterial community composition in heifers with high, medium, or low concentrations of estradiol did not differ (P = 0.512). While no overall compositional differences were observed, species-level differences were present within pregnancy status and estradiol concentration groups. The implications of these species-level differences are unknown, but these differences could alter the vaginal environment thereby influencing fertility and vaginal health. Therefore, species-level changes could provide better insight rather than overall microbial composition in relation to an animal's reproductive health.

Project description:Reproductive inefficiency in cattle has major impacts on overall productivity of cattle operations, increasing cost of production, and impacting the sustainability of the cattle enterprise. Decreased reproductive success and associated disease states have been correlated with the presence of specific microbes and microbial community profiles, yet details of the relationship between microbial communities and host physiology are not well known. The present study profiles and compares the microbial communities in the bovine uterus and vagina using 16S rRNA sequencing of the V1-V3 hypervariable region at the time of artificial insemination. Significant differences (p < 0.05) between the vaginal and uterine communities were observed at the level of ?-diversity metrics, including Chao1, Shannon's Diversity Index, and observed OTU. Greater clustering of vaginal OTU was apparent in principal coordinate analysis compared to uterine OTU, despite greater diversity in the vaginal community in both weighted and unweighted UniFrac distance matrices (p < 0.05). There was a significantly greater relative abundance of unassigned taxa in the uterus (p = 0.008), otherwise there were few differences between the overall community profiles. Both vaginal and uterine communities were dominated by Firmicutes, although the relative abundance of rRNA sequences corresponding to species in this phylum was significantly (p = 0.007) lower in the uterine community. Additional differences were observed at the genus level, specifically in abundances within Clostridium (p = 0.009), Anaerofustis (p = 0.018), Atopobium (p = 0.035), Oscillospira (p = 0.035), 5-7N15 (p = 0.035), Mycoplasma (p = 0.035), Odoribacter (p = 0.042), and within the families Clostridiaceae (p = 0.006), Alcaligenaceae (p = 0.021), and Ruminococcaceae (p = 0.021). Overall, the comparison revealed differences and commonalities among bovine reproductive organs, which may be influenced by host physiology. The increased abundance of unassigned taxa found in the uterus may play a significant biological role in the reproductive status of the animal. The study represents an initial dataset for comparing bacterial communities prior to establishment of pregnancy.

Dataset Information

Uterine and vaginal bacterial community diversity prior to artificial insemination between pregnant and nonpregnant postpartum cows1.

Publications

Uterine and vaginal bacterial community diversity prior to artificial insemination between pregnant and nonpregnant postpartum cows1.

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