Abrupt dietary changes between grass and hay alter faecal microbiota of ponies.

ABSTRACT: Abrupt dietary changes, as can be common when managing horses, may lead to compositional changes in gut microbiota, which may result in digestive or metabolic disturbances. The aim of this study was to describe and compare the faecal microbiota of ponies abruptly changed from pasture grazing ad libitum to a restricted hay-only diet and vice versa. The experiment consisted of two, 14-day periods. Faecal samples were collected on day 0 and days 1-3,7,14 after abrupt dietary change from grass to hay and from hay to grass. Microbial populations were characterised by sequencing the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene using the Illumina MiSeq platform, 4,777,315 sequences were obtained from 6 ponies. Further analyses were performed to characterise the microbiome as well as the relative abundance o

SUBMITTER: Garber A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7446798 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature