Short communication: Intra- and inter-individual milk microbiota variability in healthy and infected water buffalo udder quarters

摘要

The concept that ruminant mammary gland quartersare anatomically and physiologically unrelated has beenrecently challenged by immunological evidence. Howthis interdependence reflects on individual quarter milkmicrobiota is unknown. The aim of the present study wasto cover this gap by investigating the interdependenceof quarters among the same mammary gland at themilk microbiota level using next-generation sequencingof the V4–16S rRNA gene. A total of 52 samples wereincluded in this study and classified as healthy or affectedby subclinical mastitis. Extraction of DNA, amplificationof the V4–16S rRNA gene, and sequencingusing Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (ThermoFisher Scientific, Waltham, MA) were carried out. Wefound that the intra-individual variability was lowerthan the inter-individual one. The present findingsfurther support at milk microbiota level the hypothesisof the interdependence of quarters, as previously demonstratedfollowing immunological studies, suggestingthat individual factors (e.g., immunity, genetics) mayhave a role in modulating milk microbiota.