Diversidad Bacteriana Presente en Leche de Cabras con Mastitis Clínica en Ecuador

Mastitis is an inflammation of the mammary gland that significantly affects goat milk production and quality, leading to economic losses for Ecuadorian farmers. This study aimed to research the bacterial diversity associated with clinical mastitis in goats from Ecuador. Milk samples were collected from goats showing macroscopic evidence of clinical mastitis for subsequent DNA extraction. The 16S rRNA gene was amplified and sequenced using Illumina MiSeq technology for metagenomic analysis. Sequences were quality filtered and clustered into Zero-radius Operational Taxonomic Units (zOTUs). They were then taxonomically grouped to classify the bacterial species present in the milk. The analysis revealed a high diversity of bacterial communities, with 550 zOTUs belonging to 12 phyla. Proteobacteria and Firmicutes emerged as the predominant phyla, harboring diverse families which include: Enterobacteriaceae (Proteobacteria) and Staphylococcaceae (Firmicutes). Notably, a significant portion (86.91%) of the zOTUs identified belonged to families with unknown functionalities related to mastitis. These findings offer an initial and valuable overview of the bacterial diversity associated with clinical mastitis in goats, as well as highlighting the potential presence of uncharacterized mastitis-related bacteria that could be relevant for this disease. Future studies focusing on species level identification and functional characterization are needed to develop strategies for the prevention and control of mastitis in Ecuadorian goat production.