Abstract

Gut microbiota regulates host metabolism and immunity. The phylogenetic composition of gut microbiota is influenced by diverse factors that include host gender. In this study, the effects of gender on gut microbial composition and its subsequent influence on serum metabolites in pigs were evaluated. The bacterial composition of feces samples was determined by 16S rRNA gene sequencing in 293 pure-bred Duroc pigs (108 gilts and 185 entire boars) and 64 validated pigs from an eight-breed mosaic F6 population. Twenty-eight F6 boars were castrated at 80 days of age to evaluate the effects of androgen on gut microbial composition. Untargeted serum metabolite features were determined in 45 boars and 26 gilts by an ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF/MS). The study observed an obvious influence of host gender on the gut microbial composition and identified numerous sex-biased bacterial taxa. These included Veillonellaceae, Roseburia, Bulleidia, and Escherichia which showed the higher abundance in boars, and Treponema and Bacteroides which were over-represented in gilts. Castration significantly shifted the fecal microbiota composition of the boars toward that of gilts. The predicted functional pathways of the gut microbiome related to obesity and energy harvest were enriched in gilts, and positively associated with gilt-enriched bacteria. Functional pathways related to peptidases and carbohydrate metabolism were enriched in boars and positively associated with boar-enriched bacteria. Serum metabolites related to androgen and cresol metabolism were identified as sex-biased metabolites. Correlation analysis between serum metabolites and sex-biased bacteria identified that the serum concentration of androgen-related metabolites was positively correlated with Bulleidia and Escherichia, but negatively associated with Treponema, suggesting a significant interaction between gut microbiota and host sex hormone metabolism. These results offer basic knowledge of how host gender and gut microbiota influence host metabolism.

Highlights

  • The gut microbial community is an intricate and heterogeneous ecosystem that is influenced by the environment, diet, and the host (Wu et al, 2011; David et al, 2014; Goodrich et al, 2014; Tong et al, 2014; Org et al, 2015; Benson, 2016; Bonder et al, 2016; Singh et al, 2017)

  • An obvious global shift in the fecal bacterial composition was detected between gilts and entire boars according to Principle coordinate analysis (PCoA) and analysis of similarities (ANOSIM) analysis (R = 0.659, P = 1.00E-03, Figure 1A)

  • To decipher the bacterial taxa influenced by host gender, the relative abundance of bacterial taxa was compared between entire boars and gilts using Wilcoxon rank-sum tests

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Summary

Introduction

The gut microbial community is an intricate and heterogeneous ecosystem that is influenced by the environment, diet, and the host (Wu et al, 2011; David et al, 2014; Goodrich et al, 2014; Tong et al, 2014; Org et al, 2015; Benson, 2016; Bonder et al, 2016; Singh et al, 2017). An increasing number of studies have indicated profound interactions between host gender and the gut microbiome including the influence of puberty in male mice, which is less diverse than that of their female counterparts (Yurkovetskiy et al, 2013). Several studies have shown that the bacteria participating in the production of skatole and indole are genderrelated, including Clostridium, Bacteroides, and Lactobacillus (Jensen et al, 1995; Wesoly and Weiler, 2012). Despite this knowledge, systematical studies on the influence of sex hormones on gut microbes are lacking in the literature

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