Study of intestinal microbial profiles of Kazakh horsebreed using NGS-sequencing

Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate the intestinal microbiome of horses (taking into account their maintenance, age, breed) by sequencing 16S rRNA amplicons. A total of 24 libraries were created from fecal samples of Kazakh breed horses from various regions of Kazakhstan. The alpha diversity (Chao 1 and ACE,  Shannon and Simpson indices) of the intestines of Kazakh-bred horses showed that a rich microbial diversity  was revealed in horses of the Mangystau, Pavlodar and Zhetysu regions, which were on natural pastures con[1]tinuously. The species richness in horses of the Pavlodar and Zhetysu regions was 9.7, which was slightly  higher than in horses of the Mangystau region (9.0 p <0.01). Beta diversity was examined using Bray-Curtis  distances, and the relationships between 24 horse fecal samples from three different regions of Kazakhstan  formed distinct clusters based on their geographic origin. We identified the main intestinal microbiome of  horses from different regions of Kazakhstan, consisting of Lactobacillus, Micrococcales, Bacillales,  Bacteroidales, Clostridiales, Corynebacteriales, Burkholderiales. The study of the composition of the intesti[1]nal microbiota of local breeds, such as the Kazakh horse breed, is necessary to preserve biodiversity and  choose ways to maintain and conduct productive horse breeding in agriculture.