Microorganisms · Published 2026-08-05 · DOI 10.3390/microorganisms14081720
Jian Zhang, Shihao Pei, Xiaobin Li, Haixia Xiao, Qiong Wang, Qinqi Yu, Wuerkenaili Biegeialei, Zenghui Huo, Hefan Luo
Gut microbiota play important roles in early host development and metabolic regulation, but stage-associated differences in the gut microbiota and fecal metabolome of donkey foals remain poorly understood. In this study, 16S rRNA gene sequencing and LC–MS/MS-based untargeted metabolomics were used to compare donkey mares (MF, <i>n</i> = 10), newborn foals sampled before colostrum intake (DF_0, <i>n</i> = 10), and the same foals at 30 days of age (DF_30, <i>n</i> = 10). The neonatal foal microbiota showed relatively high abundances of <i>Pseudomonadota</i> and <i>Actinomycetota</i>, whereas the DF_30 group showed higher relative abundances of <i>Bacillota</i> and <i>Bacteroidota</i>, together with increased abundances of <i>Christensenellaceae_R-7_group</i> and <i>Akkermansia</i> (<i>q</i> < 0.05). The ACE and Chao richness indices were lower in the DF_30 group than in both the MF and DF_0 groups (<i>q</i> < 0.05). Beta-diversity analysis showed significant differences in microbial community structure among the three groups (<i>p</i> = 0.001). The DF_30 community showed partial compositional resemblance to the mare fecal community but remained distinct from it. These observed compositional shifts were consistent with stage-associated early microbial development, although a continuous maturation trajectory and direct maternal microbial transmission could not be established from the present design. Untargeted metabolomics detected 11,894 metabolite features, of which 1570 were putatively annotated. KEGG-based enrichment analysis highlighted steroid biosynthesis, steroid hormone biosynthesis, and primary bile acid biosynthesis across the pairwise comparisons (<i>q</i> < 0.05). Four putatively annotated metabolites—7-dehydrodesmosterol, 11-oxooctadecanoic acid, 7,8-dihydropteroic acid, and 3-O-beta-D-glucosyl-brassicasterol—differed among the groups (<i>q</i> < 0.001). Because these annotations were not confirmed using authentic standards and the analyses were association-based, their biological roles require further targeted and mechanistic validation. Overall, the findings provide exploratory baseline information on stage-associated microbial and metabolic differences during the first month of life in donkey foals.
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Zhang, J., Pei, S., Li, X., et al. (2026). Early Gut Microbiota and Metabolic Profiles of Neonatal Donkey Foals and a Comparative Study with Maternal Communities. Microorganisms. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms14081720