The profitability of commercial pig farms largely depends on the reproductive performance of gilts and sows. The aim of this study was to identify differences in the composition and diversity of vaginal microbiota between gilts (G) and pregnant (P) sows, both artificially inseminated (AI) and natural mating (NM). Samples were collected by scraping the vaginal mucosa of G (n = 10) and P (NM, n = 10 and AI, n = 7) sows. Samples were analysed by culture-dependent techniques and 16S-rRNA gene High-Throughput-Sequencing. The profiles of the cultured microbiota showed two distinctive clusters, one of them grouped four samples of P sows from the AI group. The vaginal microbiota from P had lower richness than G sows (Mann-Whitney/Kruskal-Wallis test, p < 0.01), but all vaginal samples had a similar diversity. The PERMANOVA analyses revealed significant differences (p < 0.01) between the microbial communities' structures from G and P sows. The bacteria phyla with the highest relative abundances were Proteobacteria (33.1%), followed by Firmicutes (32%), Cyanobacteria (13.3%) and Actinobacteria (13.2%). The relative abundance for phyla, families and genera was estimated and Proteobacteria was significantly higher (p = 0.038) in P than in G sows; Firmicutes was significantly lower in AI than G and NM sows. A “core microbiota” included Lactobacillus, Bacillus, Enterococcus, Acinetobacter and Pseudomonas. The results presented highlight the differences in the bacterial composition between G and P sows, as well as the changes in the microbial populations associated with the breeding method.

商业养猪场的盈利能力很大程度上取决于小母猪和母猪的繁殖性能。本研究的目的是确定后备母猪 (G) 和怀孕 (P) 母猪，人工授精 (AI) 和自然交配 (NM) 在阴道微生物群组成和多样性方面的差异。通过刮擦 G（n  = 10）和 P（NM，n = 10 和 AI，n  = 7）母猪的阴道粘膜收集样品。通过培养依赖技术和 16S-rRNA 基因高通量测序分析样品。培养的微生物群的概况显示出两个不同的集群，其中一个集群将来自 AI 组的四个 P 母猪样本分组。来自 P 的阴道微生物群的丰富度低于 G 母猪（Mann-Whitney/Kruskal-Wallis test，p < 0.01)，但所有阴道样本都具有相似的多样性。PERMANOVA 分析显示 G 和 P 母猪的微生物群落结构之间存在显着差异 ( p < 0.01)。相对丰度最高的细菌门是变形菌门(33.1%)，其次是厚壁菌门(32%)、蓝细菌(13.3%) 和放线菌(13.2%)。估计了门、科和属的相对丰度 ，P 母猪中的变形菌明显高于G 母猪（p = 0.038）；厚壁菌在 AI 中显着低于 G 和 NM 母猪。包括“核心微生物群”乳酸杆菌、芽孢杆菌、肠球菌、不动杆菌和假单胞菌。所呈现的结果突出了 G 和 P 母猪之间细菌组成的差异，以及与育种方法相关的微生物种群的变化。