Metzler-Zebeli Barbara U, Lerch Frederike, Yosi Fitra, Vötterl Julia, Ehmig Juliane, Koger Simone, Verhovsek Doris
Unit Nutritional Physiology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
Christian-Doppler Laboratory for Innovative Gut Health Concepts of Livestock, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
Animals (Basel). 2023 Jul 9;13(14):2251. doi: 10.3390/ani13142251.
Feces enable frequent samplings for the same animal, which is valuable in studies investigating the development of the gut microbiome in piglets. Creep feed should prepare the piglet's gut for the postweaning period and shape the microbiome accordingly. Little is known about the variation that is caused by differences in fecal color and consistency and different sample types (feces versus swab samples). Therefore, this study evaluated the age-related alterations in the microbiome composition (16S rRNA gene) in feces of suckling and newly weaned piglets in the context of nutrition and fecal consistency, color and sample type from day 2 to 34 of life. Feces from 40 healthy piglets (2 each from 20 litters) were collected on days 2, 6, 13, 20, 27, 30 and 34. Weaning occurred on day 28. Half of the litters only drank sow milk during the suckling phase, whereas the other half had access to creep feed from day 10. Creep feeding during the suckling phase influenced the age-related total bacterial and archaeal abundances but had less of an influence on the relative bacterial composition. Results further showed different taxonomic compositions in feces of different consistency, color and sample type, emphasizing the need to consider these characteristics in comprehensive microbiome studies.
粪便便于对同一头动物进行频繁采样，这对于研究仔猪肠道微生物群的发育非常有价值。教槽料应为仔猪断奶后的阶段做好肠道准备，并相应地塑造微生物群。关于粪便颜色、质地以及不同样本类型（粪便与拭子样本）差异所导致的变化，我们了解得还很少。因此，本研究在营养以及粪便质地、颜色和样本类型的背景下，评估了从出生第2天到第34天哺乳和刚断奶仔猪粪便中微生物群组成（16S rRNA基因）随年龄的变化。在第2、6、13、20、27、30和34天收集了40头健康仔猪（来自20窝，每窝2头）的粪便。断奶发生在第28天。一半的仔猪在哺乳期只喝母乳，而另一半从第10天开始就可以吃到教槽料。哺乳期的教槽料喂养影响了与年龄相关的细菌和古菌总丰度，但对细菌相对组成的影响较小。结果还表明，不同质地、颜色和样本类型的粪便中存在不同的分类组成，这强调了在全面的微生物群研究中需要考虑这些特征。
