Indexed in

License and use

Citations

Analysis of institutional authors

Share

Certain bacteria are associated with artificial insemination success in sheep

Publicated to:Research Square. - 2025-08-07 (), DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7320131/v1

Calvo Lacosta, Jorge Hugo;

Affiliations

Abstract

Sheep are farmed in many regions of the world for their meat, milk, and wool. Spain is an important sheep producer, but populations have been dwindling in recent years, making it difficult to keep up with demand. While livestock breeding programs can help boost these numbers, key strategies like artificial insemination can be inefficient. Now, scientists are turning toward microbes to help. In a recent study, researchers characterized bacterial communities in the vaginal tracts of over 300 ewes prior to artificial insemination, identifying a core community primarily made up of 5 groups of closely related species called genera. Variability in the bacterial communities could be attributed to several different factors, including breed, herd, and whether successful pregnancy took place. Specifically, certain bacterial genera were more common in ewes that did not become pregnant, with further analysis showing these bacteria could be linked to inflammation and reproductive impairment. These findings indicate that certain bacteria may hinder pregnancy in sheep through inflammatory or pathogenic mechanisms, supporting the development of new microbe-based strategies to enhance reproductive success.

Keywords

Quality index

Leadership analysis of institutional authors