Past studies characterizing the feline intestinal microflora have used traditional
bacterial culture techniques. However, in recent years it has been recognized that the
majority of intestinal bacteria are non cultivable. Therefore, the aim of this study was to
describe the microflora along the intestinal tract in healthy cats using comparative 16S
ribosomal DNA (16S rDNA) analysis. Intestinal content from the stomach, duodenum,
jejunum, ileum, and colon was collected from 4 healthy cats and one specific pathogen
free cat (SPF) and the bacterial composition was identified by direct sequencing of
bacterial 16S rDNA amplicons. A predominant anaerobic microflora was observed in all
evaluated segments of the intestine. Fourteen different bacterial orders were identified
with the majority of all sequences classified in the class Clostridiales. Six different
Clostridium clusters were identified with the majority of sequences affiliated with
Clostridium cluster I. Comparative 16S rDNA analysis was also used to evaluate
differences in the fecal microflora between healthy cats (n=6), cats with
histopathologically confirmed inflammatory bowel disease (IBD; n=6), and cats with intestinal neoplasia (n=3). Compared to the IBD group, cats in the control group showed
a significantly higher number of sequences classified as Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and
Actinobacteria (p<0.0001). The control group had a significantly higher proportion of
clones affiliated with Clostridium cluster XI, and a significantly lower proportion
affiliated with cluster I (both p<0.0001). In the neoplasia group, the majority of
sequences were classified in the phylum Firmicutes (97.9%) and clones were
predominately affiliated with Clostridium clusters I and XI. These data indicate that the
feline intestinal microflora is highly diverse and is comprised predominantly of anaerobic
bacteria. Further studies are warranted to evaluate the clinical significance of the
observed differences in intestinal microflora between healthy cats and cats with
gastrointestinal disease.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-3081 |
| Date | 15 May 2009 |
| Creators | Ritchie, Lauren Elizabeth |
| Contributors | Steiner, J? M., Suchodolski, Jan S. |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Thesis, text |
| Format | electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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