Description of the preputial microbiota of bulls using 16S r-DNA profiling

Abstract

Worldwide there is approximately 971 million head of cattle, with 92 million head within the United States alone. The production of cattle is 1 of the most important industries in the United States, accounting for $78.2 billion in cash receipts during 2015. Despite the relevance of cattle economically, many aspects of their reproductive physiology and biology are still relatively unknown. Only recently has the vaginal microbiome been characterized in the cow and ewe, and the microbiota of the male urogenital system has yet to be determined. It is increasingly recognized that studying host-parasite-bacteria-virus complex interactions at mucosal or epithelial surfaces represents an important new paradigm to comprehend the impact, positive and negative, of these interactions on animal health and disease conditions. Therefore the objective of this study was to investigate and define the microbiota of the penis and prepuce of the post-pubertal bull using 16S r-DNA profiling as a proof-of-concept study. By establishing a baseline for the microbiota of pubertal bulls we can then begin to examine how certain disease conditions impact the epithelial surface of the penis and prepuce. The characterization of the urogenital microbiota coupled with knowledge about the immunology of the area can converge to improve our knowledge of how diseases affect the area, with Tritrichomonas foetus being an example.