Analysis of the large intestinal and faecal microbiota of horses with grass sickness using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis

Equine grass sickness (EGS) is a multi-system neuropathy affecting horses, characterized by degeneration of autonomic neurons and stasis of the gastrointestinal tract. Despite almost 100 years of research and the identification of numerous factors associated with disease risk, the precise etiology remains unknown. However, both historical and recent evidence supports a contributory role for Clostridium botulinum in disease etiopathogenesis. In this study we compared the microbiota of faeces and caecal and colonic contents from horses with EGS (n=10), control horses (n=4) and healthy co-grazing horses (n=21, only faeces) using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) in an attempt to identify a profile of the microbial community characteristic of EGS.