Bacterial fingerprinting of faecal samples of pigs supplemented with plant sourced feed additives

Abstract

The present study was aimed to see the faecal bacterial fingerprints of pigs applying terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis. Sixteen crossbred (Large White Yorkshire X desi) grower pigs (body weight of 15.8±1.1 kg), were divided into four groups (control, antibiotic, herbal residue and prebiotic) with four in each treatment. T-RFLP analysis revealed comparable bacterial abundance in control - antibiotic and herbal residue - prebiotic groups. Abundance of Peptostreptococcus anaerobius (an antibiotic resistant pathogen) was higher in antibiotic supplemented pigs. Number of significantly responded operational taxonomic units (OTU) was higher in herbal residue and prebiotic supplemented pigs than control or antibiotic pigs. Bacterial abundance was significantly higher in pigs supplemented with prebiotic, followed by herbal residue, antibiotic, and control. The abundance of beneficial bacteria such as Sarcina maxima, Bacteroidetes sp., Cetobacterium somerae, Selenomonas sputigera, Fecalibacterium prausnitzi were significantly higher in prebiotic groups. The present findings established that herbal residue and prebiotic are alternative to feed antibiotic in pigs.