Characterisation of the Faecal Microbiome of Alpacas Raised in South Eastern Australia

Abstract

There is limited investigation of the alpaca microbiome on a global scale, with no previous research conducted in Australia characterising the faecal microbiome. The microbiome composition in other ruminants has been shown to impact feed efficiency, average daily gain and methane production. This study aimed to characterise the faecal microbiome of alpacas raised in south-eastern Australia and identify variation across geographic regions. Faecal samples were collected from 59 healthy adult female alpacas, aged between 15 months and 17 years in NSW, Australia. Firmicutes were identified as the dominant phyla, accounting for 57.78% of the cumulative abundance, followed by Bacteroidota (29.12%). These two phyla accounted for 90% of the taxa, with the cumulative abundance of Firmicutes and Bacteriodota significantly differing (p < 0.05) across locations. There was no effect of age on the frequency of microbes identified at either phyla or class levels. The alpaca’s production status only significantly affected the abundance of Firmicutes Clostridia Oscillospirales (p = 0.0026). The breakdown of the alpaca faecal microbiome identified here is consistent with previous ruminant and camelid studies. This study provides a valuable baseline for the microbiome characterisation of alpacas in south-eastern Australia and can be used as a baseline for further microbiome studies.