The first horse gut microbiome gene catalog reveals that rare microbiome ensures better cardiovascular fitness in endurance horses
Authors: Mach Núria, Midoux Cédric, Leclercq Sébastien, Pennarun Samuel, Le Moyec Laurence, Rué Olivier, Robert Céline, Sallé Guillaume, Barrey Eric
Summary
# Editorial Summary This French research team sequenced gut bacteria from elite endurance horses to understand how microbial function relates to cardiovascular fitness, creating the first comprehensive equine microbiome gene catalog with over 25 million genes from nearly 5,000 bacterial genera. They discovered that horses with more microbial diversity—particularly those harbouring rare bacterial species rather than being dominated by Lachnospiraceae—demonstrated superior cardiovascular capacity, likely through metabolic pathways that enhance mitochondrial function and oxygen utilisation. The 369 newly identified bacterial genomes provide a substantial reference database for future research. For practitioners managing endurance athletes, these findings suggest that microbial diversity may be as important as microbial abundance, with implications for probiotic and prebiotic strategies aimed at promoting rarer beneficial taxa rather than simply boosting common ones. This work opens the door to microbiome-informed nutritional protocols that could optimise performance in competition and sport horses.
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Practical Takeaways
- •Microbiome diversity, particularly rare bacterial species, is associated with better cardiovascular fitness in endurance horses—consider nutritional strategies that support microbial diversity rather than dominance of single taxa
- •Mitochondrial function appears to be a key mechanism linking microbiome composition to endurance performance; feed interventions targeting mitochondrial health through microbial metabolites may improve athletic performance
- •The identification of 369 novel bacterial genomes provides a foundation for developing targeted nutritional or probiotic interventions specific to endurance horses
Key Findings
- •First equine gut microbiome gene catalog created containing 25 million non-redundant genes representing 4,696 genera across 95 phyla
- •Microbiomes with rare species showed functionally distinct metabolic pathways compared to those enriched in Lachnospiraceae
- •Rare microbiome species provided expanded metabolic pathways to enhance cardiovascular capacity through mitochondrial mechanisms
- •369 novel metagenome-assembled bacterial genomes identified as reference genomes for future equine microbiome research