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MT is the recipient of a pre-doctoral contract (FPI) by the CEU-UCH. AG-M and JQ are supported by a "Ramon y Cajal" contract of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (RYC2021-032245-I; RYC-2018-024985-I). This work was funded and approved by the grant for carrying out research, development and innovation projects by emerging research groups 2020 (GVA/2020/026), Generalitat Valenciana (Spain). Also, by the project from Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Project reference PID2020-119462RA-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033).

Analysis of institutional authors

Barba, MartaAuthor

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February 12, 2024
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Description of the vaginal microbiota in nulliparous ewes during natural mating and pregnancy: preliminary signs of the male preputial microbiota modulation

Publicated to:Frontiers In Microbiology. 14 1224910- - 2024-01-11 14(), DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1224910

Authors: Barba, Marta; Toquet, Marion; Garcia-Rosello, Empar; Gomis, Jesus; Quereda, Juan J; Gonzalez-Torres, Pedro; Carbonetto, Belen; Gomez-Martin, Angel

Affiliations

Agrifood Res & Technol Ctr Aragon CITA, Teruel, Spain - Author
Microom Sst SL, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Univ Cardenal Herrera CEU, CEU Univ, Fac Vet, Dept Prod & San Anim,Microbiol Agents Associated A, Carrer Tirant Blanc, Valencia, Spain - Author
Univ Cardenal Herrera CEU, CEU Univ, Fac Vet, Dept Prod & San Anim,Res Grp Intracellular Pathoge, Valencia, Spain - Author

Abstract

The vaginal microbiota plays a key role in animals' health. Understanding its diversity and composition and associated changes occurring through the reproductive cycle represents valuable knowledge to disclose the mechanisms leading to dysbiosis and eventually to infection. Even if the human vaginal microbiota has been thoroughly studied, scarce research has been conducted on the vaginal microbiota of livestock. In this study, 16S rRNA gene-based sequencing was performed on vaginal samples of ten nulliparous ewes at three different sampling points: before the estrus synchronization protocol (T0), at the time of estrus before mating (Testrus), and the day of the pregnancy diagnosis (Tpreg). Preputial samples from the three males collected pre and post-mating were also analyzed. Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria were the most abundant phyla in vaginal samples. The most abundant genera were Porphyromonas, Anaerococcus, and Peptinophilius. Vaginal microbiota biodiversity decreased during pregnancy. Tenericutes (Ureaplasma spp.) increased significantly at Tpreg in both pregnant and non-pregnant ewes. Differences were observed between pregnant and non-pregnant ewes at Tpreg where pregnant ewes had a significantly higher abundance of Actinobacillus spp. and Ureaplasma spp. Ewes that were diagnosed with pregnancy at Tpreg showed a decreased abundance of gram-negative bacteria such as Bacteroidales, Campylobacterales, and Enterobacteriales. In addition, a significant decrease in the relative abundances of genera within Firmicutes, such as Alloicoccus (Lactobacillales), Atopostipes (Lactobacillales), and an uncultured bacteria W5053 from Family XI (Firmicutes, Clostridiales) was observed in non-pregnant ewes at Tpreg. The four most abundant phyla in the rams' prepuce were the same as in the ewes' vagina. The most abundant genus was Corynebacterium. No major differences were observed in the ram's preputial microbiota between pre and post-mating samples. Nevertheless, the differences in the taxonomic composition of ewes' vaginal microbiota between Testrus and Tpreg could be explained by the exposure to the preputial microbiota. This study offers new insights into the effects of several key steps of the ewe's reproductive cycle such as estrus-synchronization protocol, mating, and pregnancy on ovine vaginal microbiota. The knowledge of the microbiota dynamics during the reproductive cycle can help improve the reproductive outcomes of dams by identifying biomarkers and putative probiotics.

Keywords

16s metagenomicsAntibioticsDairy-cowsEstrous synchronizationEstrusHealthyInsertionIntravaginal spongeIntravaginal spongesLactic-acid bacteriaMicrobiomeMilkOvinePregnantReproductive microbiotaSheepSusceptibility

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Frontiers In Microbiology due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2024 there are still no calculated indicators, but in 2023, it was in position 38/163, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Microbiology.

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2025-07-31:

  • WoS: 6
  • Scopus: 6
  • Europe PMC: 4

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-07-31:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 20.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 23 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 9.75.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 2 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions in news outlets: 1 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Barba Recreo, Marta) .