Blastocystis sp. as a Predictive Biomarker of High Productive Longevity in Dairy Heifers

A method for predicting productive longevity in a dairy cow or for predicting carbon footprint of a dairy cow or for predicting microbiota α-diversity in a dairy cow, the method comprising a step of:

• detecting the presence or absence of Blastocystis sp. in a fecal sample obtained from the dairy cow when the dairy cow is a heifer,
• wherein the presence of Blastocystis sp. in the fecal sample is indicative of a higher productive longevity in the dairy cow, and the absence of Blastocystis sp. in the fecal sample is indicative of lower productive longevity in the dairy cow;
• wherein the presence of Blastocystis sp. in the fecal sample is indicative of a lower carbon footprint for the dairy cow, and the absence of Blastocystis sp. in the fecal sample is indicative of higher carbon footprint for the dairy cow;
• and
• wherein the presence of Blastocystis sp. in the fecal sample is indicative of a higher microbiota α-diversity in the dairy cow, and the absence of Blastocystis sp. in the fecal sample is indicative of lower microbiota α-diversity in the dairy cow.