Abstract
The gut microbiota plays important roles in animal health and nutrient digestibility. The characteristics of gut microbiota population in grower pigs and their correlation with apparent nutrient digestibility were assessed in previous study. Here we studied characteristics of intestinal microbiota of sows and analyzed their relationships with apparent nutrient (ether extract (EE), crude protein (CP), crude fiber (CF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF)) digestibility. Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were the most dominant phyla, approximately 73% of the total sequences. Treponema, Oscillibacter and Lactobacillus were the most dominant generas, more than 49% of the total sequences. The microbiota of sows clustered separately from the microbiota of grower pigs at the age of D28 D60, D90 and D150. The abundance of Clostridium and Turicibacter was positively correlated with apparent EE digestibility. The abundance of Anaerofustis and Robinsoniella in sow fecal samples was positively correlated with apparent CF digestibility. The abundance of Collinsella and Sutterella was positively correlated with apparent NDF digestibility. The abundance of Clostridium, Collinsella, Robinsoniella and Turicibacter was positively correlated with apparent ADF digestibility. Sows have their unique gut microbial structure compared with grower pigs and some of them participate in the digestive process of different nutrients.
Highlights
A highly diversified community of microorganisms lives in the mammalian gastrointestinal tract with about 1014 microbes belong to approximately 500–1000 species [1,2,3]
We have studied gut microbiota of fecal samples from the pigs in different growth phase at the age of D28, D60, D90 and D150, and reported the changes in the gut microbiota and apparent CF digestibility in pigs at different growth stages, as well as the correlation between the microbiota and apparent CF digestibility in pigs [12]
The hypothesis was that gut of sows, compared with that of grower pigs, had a unique microbiota population related to apparent nutrient digestibility of sows
Summary
A highly diversified community of microorganisms lives in the mammalian gastrointestinal tract with about 1014 microbes belong to approximately 500–1000 species [1,2,3]. Pigs serve as important animal models for human diseases [12]. It might benefit for intestinal health and scientific diet of human beings to study the relationship between gut microbiota and nutrient digestibility in pigs. For improving the efficiency of pork production it is beneficial to study the relationship between intestinal microbiota and digestibility of pigs. Adding a balanced amount of fiber in the sow diet can relieve stress and improve sow performance and nutrient balance [14,15]. The hypothesis was that gut of sows, compared with that of grower pigs, had a unique microbiota population related to apparent nutrient digestibility of sows. Gut microbiota characteristics and their correlation with apparent nutrient digestibility of sows was still unclear
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