Impact of Microbial Communities on the Female Reproductive Tract of Bovine

Abstract

The presence of microbial communities in animal body could play a significant role in host biology. Many of the studies are focused on various parts of the body, such as the skin, mouth, and gut, although the microbiome of the reproductive tract is relatively well known. Uterine health and infection of the bovine reproductive tract would be due to the interaction between the host and the microbes originating from either the environment or the vagina. Recent research suggests that bacterial colonization through extrinsic and ascending pathways could spread from gut to vagina/uterus, and associate with the health status of the reproductive tract. Furthermore, the presence of microbiome on cattle provides an avenue to develop new biomarkers to identify the physiological status of the reproductive aspect, i.e., pregnancy, estrus, clinical endometritis, and metastasis. At the same time, next-generation sequencing technology also makes it more appropriate to unveil microbiome analysis of cervical, vaginal, and uterine health status. This review outlines the current progress in understanding the microbiome of cattle reproductive tract mainly and its functional role by the microbial communities with a particular emphasis on the reproductive system physiology.