Abstract
Simple SummaryThe gut microbiota in sows is important for the health of the host, and potential benefits may also be transferred to piglets during pregnancy. Therefore, systematic studies investigating the changes in the gut microbiota of sows are needed to elucidate the microbial compositions and functions. This study was conducted at 12 time points to investigate the temporal variations in the gut microbiota of sows using 16S rRNA sequencing. The results provided important information for the gut microbiota of sows during different perinatal periods.The gut microbiota in sows is important for the health of the host, and potential benefits may also be transferred to piglets during pregnancy. Therefore, systematic studies investigating the changes in the gut microbiota of sows are needed to elucidate the microbial compositions and functions. This study was conducted at 12 time points to investigate the temporal variations in gut microbiota on Days 27, 46, 64, 81, 100, and 113 during gestation (G) and Days 3, 5, 7, 10, 14, and 21 during lactation (L). Results suggested that the gut microbiota changed across the perinatal period with microbial function and abundance varying between the prenatal and postnatal periods. The alpha diversity was higher in the postnatal period than in the prenatal period. Thirty-eight genera were distributed between the two periods with Methanobrevibacter, Desulfovibrio, Akkermansia, and Turicibacter being enriched in the prenatal period while Eubacterium, Actinobacillus, Paludibacter, Butyricimonas, Megasphaera, Succiniclasticum, Acidaminococcus, and Rummeliibacillus were enriched in the postnatal period. Analysis done at the different time points of the prenatal period suggested that Days 27 and 113 had more microbial biomarkers than other days. Bacteroidales, Bacteroidia, and Prevotella were enriched on the 27th day, while bacteria belonging to the Clostridium and Ruminococcaceae were enriched on the 113th day. On the other hand, Clostridiales, Ruminococcaceae, Clostridia, and unclassified Christensenellaceae were enriched three days after delivery. Predicted microbial KO functions were also more enriched on Day 27 of the gestation period and Day 3 of the lactation period. Random forest, a machine learning method, was used to identify the top five important genera of Megasphaera, Stenotrophomonas, Phyllobacterium, Catenibacterium, and Turicibacter, while the most important function was arginine and proline metabolism. These systematic results provide important information for the gut microbiota of sows.
Highlights
Several trillion microbial cells present in the gut play different roles in the gut health of adults, and their cooperation and competition affect disease development [1]
Twelve time points were selected throughout the perinatal period in sows to illustrate the microbial structure of feces during the perinatal period including prenatal (27, 46, 64, 81, 100, and 113 days) and postpartum (3, 5, 7, 10, 14, and 21 days)
The abundance and diversity of the stage-producing microorganisms throughout the perinatal period of sows were determined by calculating the Chao 1, Shannon, and observed operational taxonomic units (OTUs) indices
Summary
Several trillion microbial cells present in the gut play different roles in the gut health of adults, and their cooperation and competition affect disease development [1]. Sows are very important for productivity since each sow with one parity can produce more than 10 piglets. Maintaining the health of sows is a very important mission for improving the productivity of pig farms. Studies conducted on pregnant sows in recent years have indicated that the pregnancy status of sows affects overall productivity, and affects the growth of piglets [3,4]. Most studies have only focused on the immunity and physiological effects of the sow on the piglets [3,4]. The role of the sow’s gut microbiota on the health of the sow and piglet has rarely been investigated
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