Analysis of Microbial Aerosols Diversity in Cattle Farms

As one of the 'six specialties' leading industries in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, the beef cattle industry has entered into a trend of intensification, and the bioaerosols it generates also pose a serious and growing public health challenge; however, the distribution characteristics of these bioaerosols have never been evaluated. The aim of this study was to characterize bioaerosols in beef cattle breeding pens in 5 regions of Ningxia [Guyuan (G), Yinchuan (Y), Shizuishan (S), Zhongwei (Z), and Wuzhong (W)], and to evaluate the differences in the composition of bioaerosols in 2 different feeding scales [breeding retail (S) and large-scale farmers (L)]. In this study, we collected bioaerosol samples from beef cattle breeding pens using the filter membrane method and applied the 16S rRNA sequencing technique to characterize bacteria in bioaerosol samples from beef cattle breeding pens from different regions and from different rearing scales in the same region. The results showed that the effect of different regions on the abundance of bacteria in aerosols was more pronounced in air samples from beef cattle breeding pens than in different feeding scales. Although only 423 out of a total of 45,486 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in all aerosol samples were identical, this core microbiome accounted for a large fraction (46%) of all sequence reads. Symbiosis analyses further indicated a higher complexity of interactions among microbiota in samples from different regions. These results will provide an important scientific basis for exploring the potential risks of barn aerosols to human and animal health.