A novel dataset of 2,362 equine fecal microbiomes from veterinary teaching hospitals across three countries reveals effects of geography and disease

作者：Zachary L. McAdams, Emma Joanne Campbell, Rebecca A. Dorfmeyer, Giedre Turner, Samantha Shaffer, Tamara Ford, Jenna Lawson, Jackson Terry, Murugesan Raju, Lyndon M. Coghill, Lucia Cresci, Kara M. Lascola, Tiffany A. Pridgen, Anthony T. Blikslager, Emily A. Barrell, Heidi E. Banse, Linda J. Paul, Alex M. Gillen, Sascha Nott, Marie VandeCandelaere, Gaby van Galen, Kile S. Townsend, Lynn M. Martin, Philip Jai Johnson, Aaron C. Ericsson · 发表于：Animal Microbiome · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1186/s42523-025-00493-x · 被引用次数：1 · 研究领域：Gut microbiota and health、Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens research、Veterinary Equine Medical Research

BACKGROUND: Horses and other equids are reliant on the gut microbiome for health, and studies have reported associations between certain clinical conditions and features of the fecal microbiome. However, research to date on the equine fecal microbiome has often relied on small sample sizes collected from single and relatively localized geographic regions. Previous work also largely employs single timepoint analyses, or horses selected based on limited health criteria. RESULTS: To address these limitations and expand our understanding of the core microbiome in health, and the changes associated with adverse outcomes, the Equine Gut Group (EGG) has collected and performed 16S rRNA sequencing on 2,362 fecal samples from 1,190 healthy and affected horses. This resource of 16S rRNA sequencing data with accompanying demographic and clinical metadata represent a diverse equine population in health and disease. We identified features making up the core microbiome of healthy equids and metadata factors influencing the relative abundance of those features. We then identified microbial markers of acute gastrointestinal disease at the community and taxonomic levels. CONCLUSIONS: Here we present the EGG database and demonstrate its utility in characterizing the equine microbiome in health and acute gastrointestinal disease. The EGG 16S rRNA database is a valuable resource to study the equine microbiome and its role in equine health.