Abstract
Abstract While the intestinal microbiota is functionally important in nutrient digestibility and animal performance, the role of the microbiome in influencing feed efficiency is not well characterised. The objective of this experiment was to determine the relative influence of feed efficiency and farm of origin on the pig colonic microbiome. Animals were sourced from two geographically distinct locations in Ireland (farm A + B) and evaluated to identify pigs divergent in feed efficiency. The 8 most efficient (LRFI) & 8 least efficient (HRFI) pigs from farm A and 12 LRFI & 12 HRFI pigs from farm B were slaughtered. Colonic digesta was collected for sequencing of the V3-V4 hypervariable region of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene was performed on the Illumina MiSeq. Alpha diversity differed between the farms in this study with pigs from farm A having greater diversity based on Shannon and InvSimpson measures compared to pigs from farm B (P < 0.05). In agreement with this observation, pigs grouped by farm of origin rather than RFI in the beta diversity analysis. However, despite variation between farms, interesting taxonomic differences were identified between RFI groups. Within the phylum Bacteroidetes, the LRFI pigs had increased abundance of two families BS11 (P < 0.05) and a tendency towards increased Bacteroidaceae (P < 0.10) relative to the HRFI group. At genus level, the LRFI pigs had a tendency towards increased Bacteroides and CF231 (P < 0.10). In conclusion, while farm of origin has a substantial influence on microbial diversity in the pig colon, a microbial signature indicative of feed efficiency status was evident.
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