Investigation of Oral Microbiome in Donkeys and the Effect of Dental Care on Oral Microbial Composition

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the oral microbial composition of the donkey and whether basic dental treatment, such as dental floating, would make a difference to the oral microbial environment in donkeys with dental diseases using high-throughput bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Oral swab samples were collected from 14 donkeys with various dental abnormalities on day 0 (before treatment) and day 20 (twenty days after treatment). It is the first report focusing on the oral microbiome in donkeys with dental diseases and the impact of common dental procedures thereon. Identified in group Day 0 and group Day 20, respectively, were 60,439.6 and 58,579.1 operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Several taxa in Day 0 differed significantly from Day 20 at the phylum and genus levels, but no statistically significant difference was observed in richness and diversity of Day 0 and Day 20. The results also indicated that a larger-scale study focusing on healthy donkey oral microbiome, as well as the correlation of dental diseases and oral microbiomes at different time frames following more specific and consistent dental treatment, are warranted.

Could Weaning Remodel the Oral Microbiota Composition in Donkeys? An Exploratory Study

“…The predominant phyla in the donkeys’ oral cavities were Firmicutes , Proteobacteria , Actinobacteriota , Bacteroidota , Fusobacteriota , and Patescibacteria . This is in agreement with the findings of Zhu et al [ 18 ], who investigated the influence of dental care on the oral microbiomes of donkeys. In addition, the oral bacteria in the donkey shared some similarities with those of humans and other animals [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ].…”

“…At the genus level, the predominant genera detected in the present study were Gemella , Streptococcus , Alysiella , etc. Zhu et al [ 18 ] also reported that the Gemella spp. and Streptococcus spp.…”

“…Before morning feeding, between 08:00 and 10:00 am on the same day, oral samples were collected from two groups: the preweaning donkey foals (PreW group, n = 10) and the postweaning donkey foals (PostW group, n = 10). Buccal swabs were collected by using two sterile cotton wool swabs (BKMAM Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Changde, Hunan Province, China) rubbed around the buccal side bilaterally in the mouth of each foal for at least 30 s [ 18 ], at 1 week just prior to weaning and after weaning for PreW and PostW group, respectively. Each swab was then immediately inserted into a sterile tube and stored in ice until deep-freezing at −70 °C while awaiting analysis.…”

“…In addition to being the initiation point of digestion, the oral microbiome plays an important role in maintaining oral and systemic health [ 6 ]. Due to the high prevalence and adverse influence of dental diseases in equines, available studies in horses and donkeys have focused on the oral microbiome and its association with periodontal diseases [ 17 , 18 ]. Although the establishment of the gut microbiota composition has been demonstrated to be affected by the cessation of breastfeeding and weaning onto feedstuffs [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ], it remains unclear whether the weaning transition influences the oral microbiota composition with the adaptation to new food in donkeys.…”

Dysbiosis and predicted function of dental and ruminal microbiome associated with bovine periodontitis

“…Thus, the mouth and rumen, two complex and distinct microbial ecosystems, communicate in a bidirectional way. Comparison of the oral bacterial microbiota in different mammalian species tends to reveal extensive general similarity (Sturgeon et al, 2014;Gao et al, 2016;Ruparell et al, 2020;Zhu et al, 2020), although the species present in the microbiomes are different and often host-specific because of long-term co-evolution (Dethlefsen et al, 2007;Moeller et al, 2016). However, oral microbiomes are dynamic, with complex physiological and genetic interactions (Killian, 2018), and their association or correlation with health and disease is not limited to periodontal disease (Hajishengallis, 2015).…”