Effect of enteric parasites on the enteric metagenome of bovine livestock

Sabir, Mumdooh J. (2022) Effect of enteric parasites on the enteric metagenome of bovine livestock. Masters thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

Cryptosporidium is a protozoan parasite and it is the causative agent of cryptosporidiosis in cattle. Symptoms of the infection may include abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhoea, however infections may also be asymptomatic. The severity of cryptosporidiosis infection depends on many factors, including host immunity which plays an important role in the outcome of infection. Agricultural losses globally due to Cryptosporidium infection in cattle amount to several billion dollars. Previous studies utilised genotyping techniques to identify and classify Cryptosporidium and relate this to virulence. Here, the impact of the gut microbiome on infection in cattle was studied. The gut microbiome is the community of bacteria resident in the digestive system. Ruminants including cattle have a stomach with four compartments specialised to pre-gastric digestion. It has previously been demonstrated that specific alterations in the bovine microbiome can facilitate growth of cryptosporidial parasites. Therefore, cryptosporidiosis can lead to long-term dysbiosis of the gut. It has been reported that infections with C. parvum showed changes in the microbiota as well as a shift in metabolites in the host gut. In this study, a bioinformatic pipeline based on shotgun metagenomic sequencing to detect Cryptosporidium infection was utilised employing computational analysis of the sequence obtained from faecal DNA to investigate the changes to the gut microbiome between infected and non-infected hosts. Crucial changes to the microbiome in cattle and humans resulting from Cryptosporidium infection were uncovered. The results show infection with Cryptosporidium decreases bacterial diversity in the gut microbiome of the host.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
Depositing User:	Chris White
Date Deposited:	05 Jul 2022 08:24
Last Modified:	05 Jul 2022 08:24
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/85944
DOI:

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