Microbial diversity in uterus of healthy and metritic postpartum Holstein dairy cows

Clone library of bacterial 16S rRNA gene was constructed to evaluate the bacterial diversity and community structure of uterus samples obtained from three postpartum healthy cows and three metritic cows on days 10 and 40. Sequences were assigned to five major groups (Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Fusobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Tenericutes) and to an uncultured group. On day 10, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Fusobacteria were the dominant group both in healthy and metritic cows. On day 40, the major sequences were affiliated with Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Tenericutes, and Proteobacteria. Tenericutes (Ureaplasma diversum) were revealed only from healthy cows, while Proteobacteria (Histophilus somni) were found only from metritic cows. Quantitative PCR revealed that metritic cows on day 10 showed higher value of total bacteria, Bacteroidetes, Peptostreptococcus, and Fusobacterium compared with healthy cows, while only a higher value of Fusobacterium spp. was observed from the metritic cows on day 40 compared with that from healthy cows (P < 0.05). Our data indicates that great difference in the uterine bacterial community in both phyla level and species level exists between healthy and metritic postpartum cows, and dynamic changes in bacterial community occur over time.