Gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota plays an important role in promoting growth in piglets. However, studies on microbiota composition at various growth stages are lacking. We measured body weights of Jinfen White and Mashen piglets every seven days and collected their fecal samples by rectal swabbing at nine time points during suckling (1-28 days) and nursery (35-70 days) stages to gain insight into microbiota variability during piglet growth. The fecal microbiota was characterized via 16S rRNA gene sequencing to analyse effects of microbial diversity on piglet growth and development preliminarily. The results showed that although the two breeds of piglets have similar body weights at birth, weaned Jinfen White piglets demonstrated a significantly greater body weight and daily weight gain than weaned Mashen piglets (P< 0.01). A total of 1,976 OTUs belonging to 27 phyla and 489 genera were uncovered, in which the highest numbers of OTUs belongs to phyla Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. Lactobacillus, Bacteroides and Prevotellaceae NK3B31 groups accounting for 12.4%, 8.8%, and 5.8% of OTUs, respectively, showed relatively high abundance at the genus level. Nine sampling time points were divided into three growth stages, namely, immediate postfarrowing (1 day old), suckling (7, 14, and 21 days old) and nursery (28, 35, 49, 63, and 70 days old), on the basis of the results of microbial diversity, principal coordinate and co-occurrence network analyses. In addition, it identified 54 discriminative features in the microbiota between two breeds of piglets by LEfSe analysis, in which 17 genera enriched in microbiota community of Jinfen White piglets. Finally, abundances of 29 genera showed significant positive correlations with body weights and daily weight gain of piglets. Conversely, abundances of 12 genera demonstrated significant negative correlations with body weights of piglets. Results of our study will provide a theoretical basis for succession patterns in fecal microbiota of piglets and suggest the need for meticulous management of piglets in pig production.

中文翻译：

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仔猪各生长阶段粪便微生物群的组成


胃肠道 (GI) 微生物群在促进仔猪生长方面发挥着重要作用。然而，缺乏对不同生长阶段微生物群组成的研究。我们每 7 天测量一次金粉白仔猪和马神仔猪的体重，并在哺乳期（1-28 天）和保育期（35-70 天）的 9 个时间点通过直肠拭子采集其粪便样本，以深入了解仔猪期间微生物群的变化生长。通过16S rRNA基因测序对粪便微生物群进行表征，初步分析微生物多样性对仔猪生长发育的影响。结果显示，虽然两个品种仔猪的出生体重相似，但断奶后的金粉白仔猪的体重和日增重显着高于断奶后的马神仔猪（P<<0.01）。共发现1976个OTU，分属于27个门、489个属，其中最多的是厚壁菌门和拟杆菌门。乳杆菌属、拟杆菌属和普雷沃氏菌科 NK3B31 类群分别占 OTU 的 12.4%、8.8% 和 5.8%，在属水平上表现出相对较高的丰度。 9个采样时间点分为三个生长阶段，即产后即刻（1日龄）、哺乳期（7、14、21日龄）和保育期（28、35、49、63、70日龄），微生物多样性、主坐标和共现网络分析结果的基础。此外，通过LEfSe分析，鉴定出两个品种仔猪微生物群中的54个鉴别特征，其中金粉白仔猪微生物群落富集了17个属。最后，29个属的丰度与仔猪体重和日增重呈显着正相关。 相反，12 个属的丰度与仔猪体重呈显着负相关。我们的研究结果将为仔猪粪便微生物群的演替模式提供理论依据，并表明在养猪生产中需要对仔猪进行精细管理。