Research Chair in Meat Safety, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Montreal, 3 200 rue Sicotte, (J2S 2M2), Saint-Hyacinthe, Canada.
Swine and Poultry Infectious Diseases Research Centre, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Montreal, 3 200 rue Sicotte, (J2S 2M2), Saint-Hyacinthe, Canada.
Acta Vet Scand. 2023 May 19;65(1):17. doi: 10.1186/s13028-023-00679-w.
Modulating the microbiota is an emerging way to improve pig health. In-vitro bioreactor systems can be used to reproduce intestinal microbiota to study modulating avenues. In this study, a continuous feeding system to support a microbiota derived from piglet colonic contents, over 72 h, was developed. The microbiota from piglets was collected and used as inoculum. The culture media was derived from an artificial digestion of piglet feed. The microbiota diversity in time, the reproducibility between replicates and the diversity of the bioreactor microbiota compared to the inoculum was assessed. Essential oils were used as a proof of concept to assess the in vitro microbiota modulation. The microbiota diversity was assessed by 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Quantitative PCR was also used for total bacteria, lactobacilli and Enterobacteria.
At the start of the assay, the bioreactor microbiota diversity was similar to the inoculum. Time and replication affected the bioreactor microbiota diversity. Between 48 and 72 h, no statistical variation of the microbiota diversity was observable. After a 48 h running period, thymol and carvacrol were added at 200 ppm or 1000 ppm for 24 h. No microbiota modification was observed by sequencing. Quantitative PCR results showed a significant growth of lactobacilli when thymol was used at 1000 ppm, where only a trend was observed with the 16S analysis.
This study presents a bioreactor assay that can be used as a tool for rapid screening of additives and suggests that the effects of essential oils on the microbiota are subtle, acting against a few bacterial genera.
调节微生物群是改善猪健康的一种新兴方法。体外生物反应器系统可用于复制肠道微生物群以研究调节途径。在这项研究中，开发了一种连续喂养系统，以支持源自仔猪结肠内容物的微生物群，持续 72 小时。使用仔猪的微生物群作为接种物。培养基源自仔猪饲料的人工消化。评估了时间内的微生物群多样性、重复之间的重现性以及生物反应器微生物群与接种物的多样性。使用精油作为体外微生物群调节的概念验证。通过 16S rRNA 扩增子测序评估微生物群多样性。还使用定量 PCR 检测总细菌、乳酸菌和肠杆菌。
在测定开始时，生物反应器微生物群多样性与接种物相似。时间和重复影响生物反应器微生物群的多样性。在 48 至 72 小时之间，未观察到微生物群多样性的统计变化。经过 48 小时运行期后，在 24 小时内以 200 ppm 或 1000 ppm 添加百里香酚和香芹酚。测序未观察到微生物群修饰。定量 PCR 结果显示，当使用 1000 ppm 的百里香酚时，乳酸菌的生长显著，而在 16S 分析中仅观察到趋势。
本研究提出了一种生物反应器测定法，可作为快速筛选添加剂的工具，并表明精油对微生物群的影响很细微，仅针对少数细菌属起作用。
