Authors
C.Y. Paz, E.A., Chua, E.G., Palmer, D.G., Greeff, J.C., Liu, S., Cheuquemán, C., Ul Hassan, S., Martin, G.B. & Tay
Publication date
2024
Journal
Scientific Reports
Volume
14
Pages
3723
Description
Trichostrongylus colubriformis is a parasitic helminth that primarily infects small ruminants, causing substantial economic losses in the livestock industry. Exploring the microbiome of this helminth might provide insights into the potential influence of its microbial community on the parasite’s survival. We characterised the intestinal microbiome of T. colubriformis that had been collected from the duodenum of sheep, and compared the helminth microbiome with the duodenal microbiome of its host, aiming to identify contributions from the helminth’s environment. At the same time, we explored the isolation of fastidious organisms from the harvested helminth. Primary alpha and beta diversity analyses of bacterial species revealed statistically significant differences between the parasite and the host, in terms of species richness and ecological composition. 16S rRNA differential abundance analysis showed that …