Unraveling the influence of the host genetic on vaginal microbiota composition in Holstein cows

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A. M. Sabuj, A. | Sanchez, Marie-Pierre | Ducrocq, S. | Even, G. | Martel, S. | Merlin, S. | Audebert, C. | Estellé, J. | Croiseau, P. | Brulin, L.

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International audience. The vaginal microbiota is essential for maintaining reproductive health, bolstering immune function, and enhancing herd productivity in domestic animals. In this context, we have recently unveiled relevant associations between cow vaginal microbiota relative abundances and host traits linked to health and dairy production traits. However, the influence of host genetic makeup on the bovine vaginal microbiota, along with their genetic correlations with animal performance, remains mostly unknown. To address this question, we performed a comprehensive genetic study of the vaginal microbiota in Holstein cows. Vaginal swab samples were collected from 681 cows in 18 commercial herds from northern France between 2017 and 2018. Additionally, fertility, milk production, and health traits were recorded for each cow. Vaginal microbiota samples were sequenced for the 16S rRNA gene, and count tables for amplicon sequence variants (ASV) were generated. We estimated the genetic parameters associated with vaginal microbiota for α-diversity (Chao1, Shannon, Simpson) and β-diversity (Bray-Curtis dissimilarity) indices, as well as for the centered-log ratio (CLR) abundances of 64 genera, 48 families, 38 orders, and nine phyla reaching a 50% prevalence threshold. Our study will estimate heritabilities of the vaginal microbiota,as well as genetic correlations between taxa and host phenotypes. In future work, after imputing all the cows at the sequence level, we plan to perform Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) to identify specific genes and genomic variants involved in the genetic determinism of the vaginal microbiota composition.

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