Supplementary file 1_Variation in the early-life interdigital skin microbiota of lambs in a commercial sheep flock.docx

Here, we investigated variation in the interdigital skin microbiota among lambs in different age-location groups.</p>Methods<p>Interdigital skin swabs were collected from all four feet of 25 lambs aged 0–15 days on a commercial farm.

Bacterial community composition was characterised using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, and quantitative PCR was used to estimate total bacterial load and detect Dichelobacter nodosus.</p>Results<p>Community composition differed markedly among lamb age-location groups. Microbial communities were more tightly clustered in newborn lambs than in older lambs and total bacterial load was higher in lambs ≥ 1 day old. A consistent early-life core microbiome, dominated by Staphylococcaceae and Corynebacteriaceae, was detected across all groups, although dominant amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) differed among age-location groups.