Prevotella Copri Increases Fat Accumulation in Pigs Fed by Formula Diets

Abstract

Background: Excessive fat accumulation of pigs is undesirable, as it severely affects economic returns in the modern pig industry. Studies in humans and mice have examined the role of the gut microbiome in host energy metabolism. Commercial Duroc pigs are often fed formula diets with high energy and protein contents. Whether and how the gut microbiome under this type of diet regulates swine fat accumulation is largely unknown.Results: In the present study, we systematically investigated the correlation of gut microbiome with pig lean meat percentage (LMP) in 698 commercial Duroc pigs and found that P. copri was significantly associated with pig fat accumulation. Fat pigs had significantly higher abundance of P. copri in the gut. High abundance of P. copri was correlated with increased concentrations of serum metabolites related to chronic inflammation, e.g., lipopolysaccharides, branched chain amino acids, aromatic amino acids, and the metabolites of arachidonic acid. Host intestinal barrier permeability and chronic inflammation response were increased. A gavage experiment using germ-free mice confirmed that the P. copri isolated from experimental pigs was a causal species increasing host fat accumulation and altering serum metabolites. Colon, adipose tissue, and muscle transcriptomes in gavage mice indicated that P. copri colonization activated host chronic inflammatory responses through the TLR4 and mTOR signaling pathways and significantly upregulated the expression of the genes related to lipogenesis and fat accumulation, but attenuated the genes associated with lipolysis, lipid transport, and muscle growth.Conclusions: Taken together, the results identified and confirmed that P. copri in the gut microbial communities of pigs fed by commercial formula diets results in significantly increased host fat deposition. We propose a possible mechanism of P. copri affecting fat accumulation. The results provide fundamental knowledge for reducing pig fat accumulation through regulating the gut microbial composition.

Enterosignatures of the Fecal Pig Microbiota: Exploring Determinants and Revealing Host-Performance Consequences

“…In agreement with our ndings, an increased abundance of Prevotella (mainly Prevotella copri) in lowly e cient pigs had been reported by Jiang et al (2021). A role of Prevotella on fat deposition within a commercial Duroc population has been documented (Chen et al 2021b). In growing pigs, the growth of lean tissue demands less energy than fat deposition, leading to a more e cient transformation of feed into muscle.…”

Closely related Lak megaphages replicate in the microbiomes of diverse animals

“…Given that Prevotella are enriched in the hindgut where fiber is primarily fermented, lysis could be detrimental to the animal host. However, overgrowth of certain Prevotella species in pigs may reduce feed efficiency and facilitate undesirable fat accumulation (Quan et al, 2020;Tan et al, 2017;Chen et al, 2020a). Thus, Lak phage predation could positively or negatively impact swine production.…”