16S rRNA gene-based association study identified microbial taxa associated with pork intramuscular fat content in feces and cecum lumen

Abstract

BackgroundIntramuscular fat (IMF) that deposits among muscle fibers or within muscle cells is an important meat quality trait in pigs. Previous studies observed the effects of dietary nutrients and additives on improving the pork IMF. Gut microbiome plays an important role in host metabolism and energy harvest. Whether gut microbiota exerts effect on IMF remains unknown.ResultsIn this study, we investigated the microbial community structure of 500 samples from porcine cecum and feces using high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing. We found that phylogenetic composition and potential function capacity of microbiome varied between two types of samples. Bacteria wide association study identified 119 OTUs significantly associated with IMF in the two types of samples (FDR < 0.1). Most of the IMF-associated OTUs belong to the bacteria related to polysaccharide degradation and amino acid metabolism (such as Prevotella, Treponema, Bacteroides and Clostridium). Potential function capacities related to metabolisms of carbohydrate, energy and amino acids, cell motility, and membrane transport were significantly associated with IMF content. FishTaco analysis suggested that the shifts of potential function capacities of microbiome associated with IMF might be caused by the IMF-associated microbial taxa.ConclusionsThis study firstly evaluated the contribution of gut microbiome to porcine IMF content. The results presented a potential capacity for improving IMF through modulating gut microbiota.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12866-017-1055-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Microbiability of meat quality and carcass composition traits in swine

“…High positive microbial correlation was found between IMF and SFIRM (0.91 ± 0.17), MINA (0.55 ± 0.28) and MINB (0.75 ± 0.27). This agrees with [52] who reported that gut bacteria involved in energy metabolism and intramuscular fat content in pig also regulate the muscle composition and muscle bers. Higher microbial correlation of IMF with minolta color measurements and SFIRM indicated that microbial composition increasing IMF would make the muscle paler and rmer.…”

Gut Microbiota Contribute to Age-Related Changes in Skeletal Muscle Size, Composition, and Function: Biological Basis for a Gut-Muscle Axis

“…Concomitant with these changes, the authors reported an increase in circulating inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α, and MCP-1) and intramuscular fat after just 3 days [85], suggesting rapid dysregulation of these seemingly inter-connected systems. Regulation of muscle composition by gut microbiota is supported by associations between gut bacteria involved in energy metabolism and porcine intramuscular fat content [86]. Furthermore, age-related changes in gut microbiota have also been proposed to evoke fat infiltration into bone [87, 88], culminating in a triad of aberrant muscle, bone, and adipose tissue dysregulation (osteosarcopenic obesity).…”

The PPAR–microbiota–metabolic organ trilogy to fine‐tune physiology

“…Gut dysbiosis disrupts the physical and metabolic function in muscles through microbial products such as LPS (29) and gut microbe-derived extracellular vesicles that impair glucose metabolism in skeletal muscle (234). These microbial products leak into the systemic circulation, prompting a proinflammatory response via the release of inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-a and IL-6, culminating in smaller, fat-infiltrated muscles with disrupted insulin signaling pathways and eventually leading to the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome and sarcopenia (235)(236)(237)(238)(239)(240)(241).…”