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.
Highlights
Intramuscular fat (IMF) that deposits among muscle fibers or within muscle cells is an important meat quality trait in pigs
Microbial taxa associated with IMF content We identified 119 Operational Taxonomic Unit (OTU) which were significantly associated with IMF in the two types of samples using twopart model association analysis (FDR < 0.1)
In this study, we identified 119 OTUs that were significantly associated with IMF content
Summary
Intramuscular fat (IMF) that deposits among muscle fibers or within muscle cells is an important meat quality trait in pigs. Studies identified several quantitative trait loci (QTL) on pig genome associated with IMF content [12,13,14]. The studies have uncovered the effect of gut microbiota on pig fat deposition. He et al identified several gut microbial taxa showing significant associations with porcine backfat thickness and abdominal fat weight [17]. Yan et al suggested that high fat diets induced an improvement of body weight gain, feed efficiency and backfat accumulation in pigs through modulating hindgut microbial community [18]. Whether gut microbiota plays a role in porcine IMF remains unknown
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