pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Effects of long-acting, broad spectra anthelmintic treatments on the rumen microbial community compositions of grazing sheep - PubMed

  • ️Fri Jan 01 2021

Effects of long-acting, broad spectra anthelmintic treatments on the rumen microbial community compositions of grazing sheep

Christina D Moon et al. Sci Rep. 2021.

Abstract

Anthelmintic treatment of adult ewes is widely practiced to remove parasite burdens in the expectation of increased ruminant productivity. However, the broad activity spectra of many anthelmintic compounds raises the possibility of impacts on the rumen microbiota. To investigate this, 300 grazing ewes were allocated to treatment groups that included a 100-day controlled release capsule (CRC) containing albendazole and abamectin, a long-acting moxidectin injection (LAI), and a non-treated control group (CON). Rumen bacterial, archaeal and protozoal communities at day 0 were analysed to identify 36 sheep per treatment with similar starting compositions. Microbiota profiles, including those for the rumen fungi, were then generated for the selected sheep at days 0, 35 and 77. The CRC treatment significantly impacted the archaeal community, and was associated with increased relative abundances of Methanobrevibacter ruminantium, Methanosphaera sp. ISO3-F5, and Methanomassiliicoccaceae Group 12 sp. ISO4-H5 compared to the control group. In contrast, the LAI treatment increased the relative abundances of members of the Veillonellaceae and resulted in minor changes to the bacterial and fungal communities by day 77. Overall, the anthelmintic treatments resulted in few, but highly significant, changes to the rumen microbiota composition.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1

Schematic overview of the study design showing the anthelmintic treatment of sheep and rumen sampling schedule. Three hundred ewes were randomly allocated to the CON, CRC and LAI groups, and rumen content samples were taken just prior to administration of the long-acting anthelmintic treatments on day 0 (D0). The ewes were grazed together in a single mob and rumen contents were sampled again at days 35 (D35) and 77 (D77).

Figure 2
Figure 2

Non-metric dimensional scaling analyses of the rumen bacterial, archaeal and protozoal communities on day 0 prior to administration of anthelmintic treatments. Analyses are based on partial small subunit rRNA gene sequences from (a) bacteria (genus level), archaea (genus or lower level) and protozoa (genus level) combined, (b) bacteria only, (c) archaea only, and (d) protozoa only. NMDS dimensions 1 and 2 are denoted DIM1 and DIM2, respectively. NMDS ordination stress values are shown above plots. The data from sheep ID 129 was selected as a reference point within the largest cluster of datapoints (indicated within the ellipse) in panel (a), and is shown in green in all panels.

Figure 3
Figure 3

Sheep rumen bacterial, archaeal, protozoal and fungal community compositions between treatment groups at days 0, 35 and 77. Stacked bar charts showing sheep rumen (a) bacterial family, (b) archaeal genus (or lower level), (c) protozoal genus, and (d) fungal species level taxa community compositions over time for each treatment group (n = 36). D0, D35, and D77 indicate the sampling days (see Fig. 1).

Figure 4
Figure 4

Non-metric dimensional scaling plots showing the impact of the CRC and LAI treatments on sheep rumen bacterial, archaeal, protozoal and fungal communities over time. Plots comparing rumen microbiota from sheep on (a) CON and CRC treatments, and (b) CON and LAI treatments. NMDS ordination stress values and ANOSIM P values comparing microbiota between treatments are shown above plots.

Figure 4
Figure 4

Non-metric dimensional scaling plots showing the impact of the CRC and LAI treatments on sheep rumen bacterial, archaeal, protozoal and fungal communities over time. Plots comparing rumen microbiota from sheep on (a) CON and CRC treatments, and (b) CON and LAI treatments. NMDS ordination stress values and ANOSIM P values comparing microbiota between treatments are shown above plots.

Figure 5
Figure 5

Effects of anthelmintic treatments on members of the family Veillonellaceae and methanogenic archaea. Bar charts displaying selected taxa that were differentially abundant (Supplementary Table S4) due to the CRC and LAI treatments at day 77 of the trial. Bars and error bars represent the means and standard error of the mean relative abundances for (a) genus-level taxa in the Veillonellaceae that were substantially increased by the LAI treatment, and (b) archaeal species-level taxa impacted by the CRC treatment. Results of one-way ANOVA testing are shown as ***P < 0.001; **P < 0.01; *P < 0.05; †P = 0.096; n = 36 per treatment.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Lawrence KE, et al. Management of gastrointestinal nematode parasites on sheep farms in New Zealand. N. Z. Vet. J. 2007;55:228–234. doi: 10.1080/00480169.2007.36773. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Gogolewski RP, et al. Demonstration of the sustained anthelmintic efficacy of a controlled-release capsule formulation of ivermectin in weaner lambs under field conditions in New Zealand. N. Z. Vet. J. 1997;45:158–161. doi: 10.1080/00480169.1997.36016. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Leathwick DM, Ganesh S, Miller CM. Nematode parasites are not a major cause of illthrift in adult ewes in New Zealand. N. Z. J. Agric. Res. 2018;63:1–14.
    1. Miller CM, Ganesh S, Garland CB, Leathwick DM. Production benefits from pre- and post-lambing anthelmintic treatment of ewes on commercial farms in the southern North Island of New Zealand. N. Z. Vet. J. 2015;63:211–219. doi: 10.1080/00480169.2015.1007108. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bansal Y, Silakari O. The therapeutic journey of benzimidazoles: A review. Bioorg. Med. Chem. 2012;20:6208–6236. doi: 10.1016/j.bmc.2012.09.013. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources