• Journal of Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.157-165
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• 2019

This study was conducted to analyze the diversity census of fecal microbiome in horses using meta-analysis of equine 16S rRNA gene sequences that are available in the Ribosomal Database Project (RDP; Release 11, Update 5). The search terms used were "horse feces (or faeces)" and "equine feces (or faeces)". A total of 842 sequences of equine feces origin were retrieved from the RDP database, where 744 sequences were assigned to 10 phyla placed within Domain Bacteria. Firmicutes (n = 391) and Bacteroidetes (n = 203) were the first and the second dominant phyla, respectively, followed by Verrucomicrobia (n = 58), Proteobacteria (n = 30) and Fibrobacteres (n = 24). Clostridia (n = 319) was the first dominant class placed within Bacteroidetes while Bacteroidia (n = 174) was the second dominant class placed within Bacteroidetes. The remaining 98 sequences were assigned to phylum Euryarchaeota placed within Domain Archaea, where 74 sequences were assigned to class Methanomicrobia. The current results will improve understanding of the diversity of fecal microbiome in horses and may be used to further analyze equine fecal microbiome in future studies.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.1042-1055
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• 2020

Objective: The ecosystem of an animal farm is composed of various elements, such as animals, farmers, plants, feed, soil, and microorganisms. A domesticated animal's health is largely connected with the reservoir of bacteria and viruses in animal farms. Although a few studies have focused on exploring the gut microbiome of animals, communities of microbiota and viruses in feedlots have not been thoroughly investigated. Methods: Here, we collected feces and dust samples (4 groups: cattle feces, C_F; horse feces, H_F; cattle dust, C_D; and horse dust, H_D) from cattle and horse farms sharing the same housing and investigated their microbiome/virome communities by Illumina sequencing. Results: Dust groups (C_D and H_D) showed higher microbial diversity than feces groups (C_F and H_F) regardless of animal species. From the microbial community analysis, all the samples from the four groups have major phyla such as Proteobacteria (min 37.1% to max 42.8%), Firmicutes (19.1% to 24.9%), Bacteroidetes (10.6% to 22.1%), and Actinobacteria (6.1% to 20.5%). The abundance of Streptococcus, which commonly recognized as equine pathogens, was significantly higher in the horse group (H_D and H_F). Over 99% among the classified virome reads were classified as Caudovirales, a group of tailed bacteriophages, in all four groups. Foot-and-mouth disease virus and equine adenovirus, which cause deadly diseases in cattle and horse, respectively, were not detected. Conclusion: Our results will provide baseline information to understand different gut and environmental microbial ecology between two livestock species.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.75-79
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• 2013

Laminitis is a common horse disease that causes pain and disability. One of the major causes of laminitis is carbohydrate overload, which leads to the overgrowth of gram-positive bacteria and subsequent toxemia. This study was performed to establish an experimental model of acute phase laminitis. A horse was fed with a bolus dose of oligofructose, examined for clinical signs and blood parameters, and euthanized for necropsy and histopathology. After administration, the horse exhibited clinical signs including watery feces, inappetence, severe lameness, pyrexia and tachycardia. Complete blood count showed increased hematocrit, lymphocytosis and neutropenia. Serum chemistry revealed hyperglycemia, hyperproteinemia, high level of glutamic oxalate transaminase, creatinine, uric acid and mild hyponatremia. Histologically, the lamina tissue was edematous with mild infiltration of inflammatory cells. These findings indicate that oligofructose-induced laminitis in horse is an appropriate model for studying pathogenesis of acute phase laminitis.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.139-143
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• 2008

We report here two cases of Rhodococcus (R.) equi-causing pneumonia of Throughbred foals in Gyeonggi-do in 2006. R. equi was isolated from the lung lesions of the dead foals, and from the feces and soils on the farms where the clinical cases of R. equi infection occurred. The isolates were characterized by biochemical properties, polymerase chain reaction for vapA gene and antimicrobial susceptibility. In drug susceptibility test, erythromycin, gentamycin, vancomycin, and rifampin were found to be the most susceptible for all isolates. These results suggest that R. equi pneumonia may be endemic in the horse-breeding farms in inland Korea and the farm environment may be widely contaminated with virulent R. equi.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.322-331
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• 2017

This study was conducted to evaluate the changes of pH, dry matter digestibility (DMD), $NH_3-N$ concentrate, gas production and volatile fatty acid (VFA) through in vitro fermentation by adding horse feces to various juice pomaces fermented with Bacillus, yeast and lactic acid bacteria. The pH range of fermented fluid with juice pomaces was 6.4-7.1, indicating that the digestion by microbial fermentation was normal. Juice pomaces adopted will be helpfully used to assist with digestion by microbes in intestines because approximately $10^9CFU/m{\ell}$ microbes were grown after 48 hours in fermented fluid. DMD rate gradually increased from 12 hours. It was 39.19% in pomaces of apple, 38.22% in grape, 37.02% in carrot, 36.2% in citrus and 34.35% in mixture respectively after 48 hours. $NH_3-N$ concentrate was not changed significantly as it was maintained at $1.5mg/100m{\ell}$ level in the entire treatment group from beginning of fermentation until 12 hours, but increased rapidly from 24 hours. Amount of gas produced was lowest in the mixture and increased rapidly after 12 hours. Total VFA increased from 24 hours and was highest at 48 hours. It was suggested that dry matter digestion was processed while fermented juice pomaces kept proper pH during in vitro digestion, and cellulose degrading microorganisms could act actively in the caecum and colon of horses.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.525-531
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• 2000

Verotoxin non-producing E coli O157 strains have been isolated from cattle feces and compared in particular regard to biochemical properties and genotypes with verotoxin-producing E coli (VTEC). E coli O157 : nonH7 strains had different phenotypes in sorbitol fermentation and ${\beta}-glucuronidase$ activity from E coli O157 : H7. Regardless of verotoxin production ability of E coli O157 : H7, uidA gene was uniquely detected from sorbitol and ${\beta}-glucuronidase$ negative E coli O157 : H7. Forty five fecal samples from 6 dairy farms were obtained and VTEC was detected as 15.6% (7 strains) of the samples. Most VTEC isolates were positive for sorbitol fermentation and ${\beta}-glucuronidase$ activity but negative for eaeA gene. This study suggested that cattle could be a reservior for VTEC. However, absence of eaeA gene in VTEC isolates from most of healthy cattle suggested that they might be less virulent than eaeA-positive E coli against human health.