阿勒泰羊繁殖季节血清激素含量与瘤胃微生物的相关性OA

This study aims to clarify the correlation between rumen microbiota composition and repro-ductive hormone levels as well as seasonal reproductive characteristics by analyzing the differences in rumen microbiota community structure of Altay sheep during breeding season(BS)and non-breeding season(N-BS),so as to provide a reference for elucidating the potential role of rumen microbiota in regulating seasonal reproduction in sheep.Six healthy Altay ewes aged(12±1)months with similar body mass were selected.Blood and rumen fluid samples were collected from these ewes in the BS and N-BS,respectively.Serum reproductive hormone concentrations(FSH,E2,LH,P)were measured,and metagenomic sequencing was performed to analyze the composition of the rumen microbiota and the KEGG pathways of related functional genes.Correlation analysis was conducted between serum re-productive hormone levels and 30 differential dominant genera at the genus level screened by rank sum test.The results showed that:(1)The concentrations of FSH,E2,LH,and P in the BS group were extremely significantly higher than those in the N-BS group(P＜0.01).(2)There were significant differences in rumen microbiota at the phylum and genus levels between the BS and N-BS groups.The dominant genera in the breeding season were Methylocucumis,Klebsiella,Aerococcus,and Lactica-seibacillus.Among them,Methylocucumis was positively correlated with FSH,Lacticaseibacillus and Aerococcus were positively correlated with E2,Methylocucumis,Aerococcus,and Klebsiella were positively correlated with LH,and Methylocucumis was positively correlated with P.(3)Compared with the N-BS group,the functional genes in the BS group were significantly enriched in 11 KEGG pathways,including metabolic pathways,photosynthesis,and oxidative phosphorylation.In conclu-sion,rumen microbiota community structure is correlated with the seasonal reproduction of Altay sheep and may participate in regulating energy metabolism and reproductive processes.