biostudies-literatureUnknown16Yang JImproving dairy cow lifespan is essential for sustainable livestock production. The milk microbiome and metabolome are closely associated with mammary gland health and influence the persistent productivity of dairy cows. However, the characteristics of the milk microbiome and metabolome underlying persistent productivity remain unknown. In this study, 16S rRNA sequencing and untargeted metabolomics were applied to evaluate the milk microbiome and milk metabolome composition of long-lived, high-yielding cows (LH) and long-lived, low-yielding cows (LL). The results showed that no significant differences were observed in the <i>α</i>- and <i>β</i>-diversity of milk microbiota between the two groups (<i>p</i> > 0.05). However, the community assembly processes differed significantly. The LH groFrontiers in microbiology1725031https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC12816256biostudies-literatureComparative study of milk microbiota and metabolome in long-lived dairy cows with different persistent production capacities.PMC12816256Lin PYang JWang AFeng YZhou DYuan NGuo TGuo SJin YfalseComparative study of milk microbiota and metabolome in long-lived dairy cows with different persistent production capacities.Improving dairy cow lifespan is essential for sustainable livestock production. The milk microbiome and metabolome are closely associated with mammary gland health and influence the persistent productivity of dairy cows. However, the characteristics of the milk microbiome and metabolome underlying persistent productivity remain unknown. In this study, 16S rRNA sequencing and untargeted metabolomics were applied to evaluate the milk microbiome and milk metabolome composition of long-lived, high-yielding cows (LH) and long-lived, low-yielding cows (LL). The results showed that no significant differences were observed in the <i>α</i>- and <i>β</i>-diversity of milk microbiota between the two groups (<i>p</i> > 0.05). However, the community assembly processes differed significantly. The LH gro2025-01-01T00:00:00Z20252026-07-05T03:12:29.571Z2026-07-05T03:11:09.261ZS-EPMC128162564156805010.3389/fmicb.2025.1725031