A healthy gut microbiome is crucial for the development, growth, and health of dairy calves; however, diarrhea in pre-weaned calves is highly prevalent, difficult to treat, and causes detrimental effects to the dairy industry. This study characterized early gut microbiota using longread-based 16S rRNA gene sequencing and investigated its associations with calf diarrhea and colostrum microbiota. The full-length 16S rRNA gene was amplified and sequenced on a Nanopore sequencer. We identified shared bacterial species in colostrum and calf feces, whose abundance in calf feces reduced with age. Diarrheic calves exhibited differing gut diversity before, during, and after diarrhea, and harbored increased bacteria resistant to the Cefotaxime antibiotic. Several bacterial species were associated with age and calf health. Additionally, a machine learning model identified bacteria to predict diarrhea. This study will be useful for the goal of reducing antibiotic use to promote gut health and prevent and treat neonatal calf diarrhea.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MSSTATE/oai:scholarsjunction.msstate.edu:td-7273 |
| Date | 13 August 2024 |
| Creators | Hawkins, Jalyn Grace |
| Publisher | Scholars Junction |
| Source Sets | Mississippi State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Theses and Dissertations |
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