Defense Date

6-17-2016

Graduation Date

Summer 1-1-2016

Availability

One-year Embargo

Submission Type

thesis

Degree Name

MS

Department

Environmental Science and Management (ESM)

Committee Chair

Jan Janecka

Committee Member

Nancy Trun

Committee Member

Becky Morrow

Keywords

cecal, equine, fecal, laminitis, microflora, next-generation sequencing

Abstract

Laminitis is characterized by the separation of the phalanx and the hoof wall. It can be induced in horses by ingesting high amounts of non-structural carbohydrates (NSC), which changes the hindgut microflora. However, fecal bacteria may not be representative of the cecum. In addition, in horses results from more recent sequencers (Illumina) have never been compared to previously used sequencers (454). To determine if there are functional differences alpha and beta-diversity, core biomes, and shifts in hindgut bacteria in response to NSC were compared between fecal and cecal communities and the MiSeq and 454 method. The results suggest that MiSeq is superior to the 454 due to greater number of reads per cost. The method had a greater effect on the diversity than the sample origin. Fecal microflora exhibited more substantial shifts than the cecum. It is hypothesized this is due to the downstream migration of lactic acid and VFAs.

Format

PDF

Language

English

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