Intestinal microbiota modulation and improved growth in pigs with post-weaning antibiotic and ZnO supplementation but only subtle microbiota effects with Bacillus altitudinis

Abstract

The objective was to evaluate the effect of dietary Bacillus altitudinis spore supplementation during day (D)0–28 post-weaning (PW) and/or D29–56 PW compared with antibiotic and zinc oxide (AB + ZnO) supplementation on pig growth and gut microbiota. Eighty piglets were selected at weaning and randomly assigned to one of five dietary treatments: (1) negative control (Con/Con); (2) probiotic spores from D29–56 PW (Con/Pro); (3) probiotic spores from D0–28 PW (Pro/Con); (4) probiotic spores from D0–56 PW (Pro/Pro) and (5) AB + ZnO from D0–28 PW. Overall, compared with the AB + ZnO group, the Pro/Con group had lower body weight, average daily gain and feed intake and the Pro/Pro group tended to have lower daily gain and feed intake. However, none of these parameters differed between any of the probiotic-treated groups and the Con/Con group. Overall, AB + ZnO-supplemented pigs had higher Bacteroidaceae and Prevotellaceae and lower Lactobacillaceae and Spirochaetaceae abundance compared to the Con/Con group, which may help to explain improvements in growth between D15–28 PW. The butyrate-producing genera Agathobacter, Faecalibacterium and Roseburia were more abundant in the Pro/Con group compared with the Con/Con group on D35 PW. Thus, whilst supplementation with B. altitudinis did not enhance pig growth performance, it did have a subtle, albeit potentially beneficial, impact on the intestinal microbiota.

Characterization of the Effects of a Novel Probiotic on Salmonella Colonization of a Piglet-Derived Intestinal Microbiota Using Improved Bioreactor

“…For the alpha diversity, the continuous treatments lowered richness more than the daily dose condition even after the product was removed from the bioreactor ( Table 4 ). The Bacillus -based product used in our study seemed to be more potent in the diminution of the alpha diversity compared to other studies, especially for the continuous mode of administration [ 40 , 41 ]. This finding could be explained by the duration of the experiment, which was short, the compounds present in the Bacillus -based product, which could bear a strong antimicrobial activity, or the possible synergy between the probiotic secreted antimicrobial compounds or enzymes that increased the microbiota modulation.…”

“…After 24 h of treatment, the continuous treatment samples differentiated more from the control when compared to the daily dose treatment, and this remained true over time ( Figure 2 ). Some studies showed no significant change in beta diversity in the gut microbiota when administrating a Bacillus -based probiotic to swine [ 41 , 43 ], but others did [ 40 , 44 ]. This might be due to the length that the treatments were administered, the mode of administration, or a difference in the product tested.…”

Maternal and/or post-weaning supplementation with Bacillus altitudinis spores modulates the microbial composition of colostrum, digesta and faeces in pigs

“…Administration of Bacillus spores has previously been shown to reduce α-diversity of the faecal microbiota of piglets when compared to antibiotic-supplemented piglets 69 . In another study completed by our group, α-diversity was lower in pigs supplemented with the same Bacillus spores as used here for 56 days PW compared with pigs only supplemented for 28 days PW or with pigs supplemented with an antibiotic-ZnO combination 70 . This suggests that the duration of supplementation is an important factor influencing the impact of Bacillus spore supplementation on bacterial diversity.…”

Screening of sponge-associated bacteria to control vibriosis in vannamei shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei)

“…Moreover, B. altitudinis was reported as antibacterial against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli (Hwang et al 2016) as well as antifungal on Alternaria alternata (Sun et al 2021). It is also employed as spore supplementation on pig growth; however, the application did not enhance the growth performance (Crespo-Piazuelo et al 2021). and the lowest similarity was performed in PA.4 which is closely related to B. paramycoides.…”