The impact of gut microbiome composition was investigated at different stages of production (weaning, Mid-test and Off-test) on meat quality and carcass composition traits of 1,123 three-way crossbred pigs. Data were analysed using linear mixed models which included the fixed effects of dam line, contemporary group and gender as well as the random effects of pen, animal and microbiome information at different stages. The contribution of the microbiome to all traits was prominent although it varied over time, increasing from weaning to Off-test for most traits. Microbiability estimates of carcass composition traits were greater than that of meat quality traits. Among all of the traits analysed, belly weight (BEL) had a higher microbiability estimate (0.29 ± 0.04). Adding microbiome information did not affect the estimates of genomic heritability of meat quality traits but affected the estimates of carcass composition traits. Fat depth had a greater decrease (10%) in genomic heritability at Off-test. High microbial correlations were found among different traits, particularly with traits related to fat deposition with a decrease in the genomic correlation up to 20% for loin weight and BEL. This suggested that genomic correlation was partially contributed by genetic similarity of microbiome composition. The results indicated that better understanding of microbial composition could aid the improvement of complex traits, particularly the carcass composition traits in swine by inclusion of microbiome information in the genetic evaluation process.

中文翻译：

---

猪肉品质和胴体成分性状的微生物学研究

研究了不同生产阶段（断奶、中期试验和非试验）肠道微生物组组成对 1,123 头三向杂交猪的肉质和胴体组成性状的影响。数据使用线性混合模型进行分析，该模型包括坝系、当代群体和性别的固定效应以及不同阶段围栏、动物和微生物组信息的随机效应。微生物组对所有性状的贡献是突出的，尽管它随着时间的推移而变化，大多数性状从断奶到非测试。胴体成分性状的微生物性估计值大于肉质性状的微生物性估计值。在所有分析的性状中，腹部重量 (BEL) 具有更高的微生物估计值 (0.29 ± 0.04)。添加微生物组信息不会影响肉质性状基因组遗传力的估计，但会影响胴体成分性状的估计。在 Off-test 中，脂肪深度在基因组遗传力方面有更大的下降 (10%)。在不同的性状之间发现了高度的微生物相关性，特别是与脂肪沉积相关的性状，腰重和 BEL 的基因组相关性降低了 20%。这表明基因组相关性部分是由微生物组组成的遗传相似性造成的。结果表明，通过在遗传评估过程中包含微生物组信息，更好地了解微生物组成可以帮助改善复杂性状，特别是猪的胴体组成性状。