RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 <em>Fusobacterium necrophorum</em> and <em>Fusobacterium varium</em> are commensal members of the bovine reproductive microbiota and may colonize calf prenatally
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2024.10.15.618546
DO 10.1101/2024.10.15.618546
A1 Kilama, Justine
A1 Dahlen, Carl R
A1 Abbasi, Mina
A1 Shi, Xiaorong
A1 Nagaraja, T. G.
A1 Crouse, Matthew S.
A1 Cushman, Robert A.
A1 Snider, Alexandria P.
A1 McCarthy, Kacie L.
A1 Caton, Joel S.
A1 Amat, Samat
YR 2024
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2024/10/16/2024.10.15.618546.abstract
AB Fusobacterium necrophorum is an important pathogen associated with several infectious diseases in cattle. However, recent sequencing-based studies have indicated that F. necrophorum is positively associated with pregnancy in beef cows and that Fusobacterium is the most abundant genus in the bull seminal microbiota, suggesting the potential role of Fusobacterium in reproductive health and fertility. Here, we performed a comprehensive screening to 1) determine whether Fusobacterium necrophorum (subspecies necrophorum [FNN] and funduliforme [FNF]), and Fusobacterium varium (FV) are part of the commensal members of the reproductive microbiota in cattle; 2) to explore whether these Fusobacterium spp. are colonized in calf prenatally. For this, we screened 11 different sample types including bovine and ram semen, bovine vaginal and uterine swabs, and bull fecal samples, as well as samples from 180- and 260-days old calf fetuses and their respective dams using both quantitative PCR (514 samples) and targeted culturing (499 samples). By qPCR, all the targeted Fusobacterium spp. were detected across all sample types, with FNF being the highly prevalent in the bull semen (66.7%) and maternal ruminal fluids (87.1%), which was confirmed by culturing. All the targeted Fusobacterium were identified in vaginal and uterine (3.1%-9.4%) as well as placental caruncles, and fetal fluids, ruminal and meconium samples (2.7% - 26.3%) by qPCR and were not isolated by culture method. Overall, our results suggest that F. necrophorum is a commensal member of healthy male reproductive microbiota, and that FNF, FNN and FV are present in bovine vagino-uterine microbiota, and calf intestine prenatally.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.