Investigation of Oral Microbiome in Donkeys and the Effect of Dental Care on Oral Microbial Composition

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Dental health in donkeys has long been neglected, even though it is quite common for them to have dental problems. Therefore, dental care, as basic as dental floating, can be a good start to improve their dental condition. Oral microbiome sequencing is a reliable way to reflect the oral health of animals. However, little is known on the effect of dental care on the oral microbiome of donkeys. Hence, a research project was undertaken to investigate the relationship between dental floating and oral microbial changes using a current sequencing technique. We found that the changes of the oral microbiome were not significant, probably due to the necessity of more specific and consistent treatment. However, the study provided an insight of the oral microbial composition and helped increase awareness of dental care in donkeys. ABSTRACT: The objective of this study was to investigate the oral microbial composition of the donkey and whether basic dental treatment, such as dental floating, would make a difference to the oral microbial environment in donkeys with dental diseases using high-throughput bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Oral swab samples were collected from 14 donkeys with various dental abnormalities on day 0 (before treatment) and day 20 (twenty days after treatment). It is the first report focusing on the oral microbiome in donkeys with dental diseases and the impact of common dental procedures thereon. Identified in group Day 0 and group Day 20, respectively, were 60,439.6 and 58,579.1 operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Several taxa in Day 0 differed significantly from Day 20 at the phylum and genus levels, but no statistically significant difference was observed in richness and diversity of Day 0 and Day 20. The results also indicated that a larger-scale study focusing on healthy donkey oral microbiome, as well as the correlation of dental diseases and oral microbiomes at different time frames following more specific and consistent dental treatment, are warranted.