Abstract
The aim of the present study was to evaluate the bacterial flora in the udder and intestinal environments in cows with and without protothecal mastitis. We used next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis to identify 16S rRNA genes from bacterial flora present in 13 milk and 13 fecal samples from protothecal mastitic and healthy dairy cows in the Aichi region of Japan. Sequences associated with 5 species (Calothrix desertica, Corynebacterium simulans, Corynebacterium striatum, Empedobacter falsenii, and Rothia endophytica) showed the highest prevalence in samples of milk and feces from animals with protothecal mastitis. This range of species differed from those detected in the milk and feces from healthy cows.