Culture-dependent and metataxonomic analysis of milk from red deer (Cervus elaphus). (March 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Castro, Irma; Alba, Claudio; Fernández, Leónides; García, Andrés J.; Rodríguez, Juan Miguel
• Is Part Of: International dairy journal. Volume 102(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-03
• Subjects: Dairying -- Periodicals; Industrie laitière -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; 338.1762142
• DOI: 10.1016/j.idairyj.2019.104610
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0958-6946

Abstract

Abstract: Some studies have shown that milk of a variety of mammalian species contain a site-specific microbiota, with potential implications for the health of the mother-offspring dyad. Since no study has addressed the microbiological composition of the milk from red deer so far, the objective of this work was to characterise the milk microbiota of healthy red deer at different lactation stages, from colostrum to milk collected 18 weeks after delivery, using culture-dependent and metataxonomic approaches. The mean of the total bacterial counts in the milk samples with detectable growth (25 out of the 35 samples) was 2.80 log10 cfu mL −1 . Both approaches coincided in the most abundant phyla (Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes) and, also, there were some coincidences at the genus level ( Staphylococcus, Bacillus, Corynebacterium, Streptococcus, Lactobacillus and Macrococcus ). In addition, both type of techniques revealed that the α-diversity of the samples decreased with time.