Microbial composition in different gut locations of weaning piglets receiving antibiotics

Abstract

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to examine shifts in the composition of the bacterial population in the intestinal tracts (ITs) of weaning piglets by antibiotic treatment using high-throughput sequencing.MethodsSixty 28-d-old weaning piglets were randomly divided into two treatment groups. The Control group was treated with a basal diet without antibiotics. The Antibiotic group’s basal diet contained colistin sulfate at a concentration of 20 g per ton and bacitracin zinc at a concentration of 40 g per ton. All of the pigs were fed for 28 days. Then, three pigs were killed, and the luminal contents of the jejunum, ileum, cecum, and colon were collected for DNA extraction and high-throughput sequencing.ResultsThe results showed that the average daily weight gain of the antibiotic group was significantly greater (p<0.05), and the incidence of diarrhea lower (p>0.05), than the control group. A total of 812,607 valid reads were generated. Thirty-eight operational taxonomic units (OTUs) that were found in all of the samples were defined as core OTUs. Twenty-one phyla were identified, and approximately 90% of the classifiable sequences belonged to the phylum Firmicutes. Forty-two classes were identified. Of the 232 genera identified, nine genera were identified as the core gut microbiome because they existed in all of the tracts. The proportion of the nine core bacteria varied at the different tract sites. A heat map was used to understand how the numbers of the abundant genera shifted between the two treatment groups.ConclusionAt different tract sites the relative abundance of gut microbiota was different. Antibiotics could cause shifts in the microorganism composition and affect the composition of gut microbiota in the different tracts of weaning piglets.

Characterization of Microbiota Associated with Digesta and Mucosa in Different Regions of Gastrointestinal Tract of Nursery Pigs

“…Like Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes were also highly associated with mucosa, whereas Firmicutes were highly associated with lumen in both ages. In addition, the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes was the highest in mid-colon compared to both proximate and distal jejunum in 27-day post-weaned pigs as reported earlier [29]. However, in seven-day post-weaned pigs, Bacteriodetes were reported higher in proximate jejunum.…”

Dietary protein level affects nutrient digestibility and ileal microbiota structure in growing pigs

“…Cyanobacteria were more abundant in the jejunum and ileum but were rarely found in the other regions (Li et al . ). In this study, cyanobacteria were also detected as a dominant bacteria in the porcine ileum (its abundance in any sample was >0.1%) and showed a significant increase as the dietary protein content reduced.…”

Antimicrobial Effects on Swine Gastrointestinal Microbiota and Their Accompanying Antibiotic Resistome

“…A mixture of amoxicillin and colistin sulfate treatment in post-weaning piglets also resulted in different digestive microbiota profiles along the entire gastrointestinal tract (Soler et al, 2018). Similarly, in-feed administration of colistin sulfate and bacitracin zinc in weaned piglets caused a significant shift in GI microbiota composition along different biogeographic gut locations (Li K. et al, 2017).…”