Abstract
The present study was carried out to determine the seminal microbiota of boars and their correlation with sperm quality. A total of 17 ejaculates were collected from 17 Duroc boars and were classified according to sperm quality into two groups: low-quality (n = 8) and high-quality (n = 9). Each ejaculate was subjected to (i) semen evaluation, (ii) bacterial culture and MALDI-TOF identification, and (iii) 16S rRNA gene sequencing and bioinformatic analyses. No difference in the total bacterial count, alpha diversity, and beta diversity between the high-quality group and the low-quality group was detected (p > 0.05). While Globicatella sanguinis was negatively correlated with sperm quality (p < 0.05), Delftia acidovorans was positively correlated with sperm quality (p < 0.05). Lactobacillales (25.2%; LB) and Enterobacterales (10.3%; EB) were the most dominant bacteria and negatively correlated: EB = 507.3 - 0.5 × LB, R(2) = 0.24, p < 0.001. Moreover, the abundance of Escherichia-shigella was negatively correlated with LB (r = -0.754, p < 0.001) and positively correlated with Proteus (r = 0.533, p < 0.05). Alysiella was positively correlated with Lactobacillus (r = 0.485, p < 0.05), Prevotella (r = 0.622, p < 0.01), and Staphylococcus (r = 0.489, p < 0.05). In conclusion, seminal microbiota is significantly associated with boar semen qualities. The distributions of the most dominant bacterial genera, the differences in the abundance of small subset microbes, and their correlation appear to have far more impact than the overall seminal bacterial content (e.g., total bacterial count, alpha diversity, and beta diversity) on sperm quality.