Abstract:
A metagenomic approach was used to study the gut microbiome of Haemonchus contortus feld strains
and that of its predilection site, the abomasum of Dohne Merino sheep. The abomasum contents
and H. contortus were collected from 10 naturally infected Dohne Merino sheep. The H. contortus
specimens were classifed and sexually diferentiated using morphometric characters and was further
confrmed through molecular identifcation. We investigated diferences and similarities between the
bacterial composition of the adult male and female H. contortus gut microbiomes, which were both
dominated by bacteria from the Escherichia, Shigella, Vibrio and Halomonas genera. Major abundance
variations were identifed between the shared adult male and female H. contortus microbiomes.
The results also revealed that Succiniclasticum, Rikenellaceae RC9 gut group and Candidatus
Saccharimonas were the predominant genera in the Dohne Merino abomasum. This study provides
insight into the highly diverse bacterial composition of the H. contortus gut microbiome and the
Dohne Merino abomasum which needs to be studied further to explore the complex interactions of
diferent gastrointestinal nematode microbiomes with the host.
