Identification of microflora related to growth performance in pigs based on 16S rRNA sequence analyses

Abstract

Intestinal microorganisms have been shown to be important factors affecting the growth performance of pigs. Therefore, to investigate the effect of the intestinal microflora structure on the growth performance of pigs, samples from Duroc (n = 10), Landrace (n = 9) and Yorkshire (n = 21) pigs under the same diet and feeding conditions were collected. The fecal microbial composition was profiled via 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing. We also analyzed their growth performance. We found that Duroc and Landrace pigs had significant differences in average daily gain (ADG), feed efficiency ratio (FER), growth index (GI), and number of days taken to reach 100 kg (P < 0.05). Moreover, through analysis of the intestinal flora, we also identified 18 species of intestinal flora with significant differences between Duroc and Landrace pigs (P < 0.05). To eliminate the influence of genetic background, the differential intestinal flora of 21 Yorkshire pigs with differences in growth performance was analyzed. The results showed that there were significant correlations between Barnesiella, Dorea, Clostridium and Lactobacillus and pig growth performance. To explore the effect of the intestinal flora on the growth performance of pigs at the molecular level, Lactobacillus, which is the most abundant in the intestine, was selected for isolation and purification and cocultured with intestinal epithelial cells. qPCR was used to determine the effect of Lactobacillus on MC4R gene expression in intestinal epithelial cells. The results showed that Lactobacillus inhibited MC4R gene expression in these cells. The results provide a useful reference for further study of the relationship between the intestinal flora and pig growth performance.

Comparative Analyses of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Jejunum Microbiota of Pigs in Different Areas

“…The population structure of gut microbiota in vertebrates is regulated by both environmental and genetic factors of the host (Zhao et al, 2013). Previous studies have shown that there were significant differences in intestinal microbial composition among different breeds of pigs (Yang et al, 2014;Li et al, 2020). In our study, PCoA and ANOSIM analysis clearly showed distinct population structure at species level among four pig breeds, which confirmed the differences of intestinal microbes among different pig breeds.…”

Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) Larvae Meal Modulates Intestinal Morphology and Microbiota in Xuefeng Black-Bone Chickens

“…Of interest, in our findings, the genus Lactobacillus was the second leading bacterium in the jejunum. Li et al (2020) also found that Lactobacillus consisted in the gut of healthy pigs. Lactobacillus had a strong antibacterial activity, which enhanced the health of the chickens by inhibiting the growth of pathogens through competitive exclusion in the gastrointestinal tract ( Ahmed et al, 2019 ).…”

Different creep compound feed formulations for new born piglets: influence on growth performance and health parameters

“…Reduced numbers of Ruminococcus can be associated with diarrhea in suckling piglets therefore, this genus also may have association with animal body weight. The resent study also detected significant relation between Barnesiella and Lactobacillus to the growth performance in Yorkshire pigs ( 44 ). Lactobacillus also induces porcine host defense peptides and therefore improving immunity ( 45 ).…”