Liu Ziyu, Tsai Tsungcheng, Zuo Bin, Howe Samantha, Farrar Jason E, Randolph Christopher E, Maxwell Charles V, Zhao Jiangchao
Department of Animal Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA.
Arkansas Children's Research Institute, Little Rock, AR, USA.
J Anim Sci Biotechnol. 2025 Jan 7;16(1):6. doi: 10.1186/s40104-024-01140-2.
Sow longevity and reproductivity are essential in the modern swine industry. Although many studies have focused on the genetic and genomic factors for selection, little is known about the associations between the microbiome and sows with longevity in reproduction.
In this study, we collected and sequenced rectal and vaginal swabs from 48 sows, nine of which completed up to four parities (U4P group), exhibiting reproductive longevity. We first identified predictors of sow longevity in the rectum (e.g., Akkermansia) and vagina (e.g., Lactobacillus) of the U4P group using RandomForest in the early breeding stage of the first parity. Interestingly, these bacteria in the U4P group showed decreased predicted KEGG gene abundance involved in the biosynthesis of amino acids. Then, we tracked the longitudinal changes of the microbiome over four parities in the U4P sows. LEfSe analysis revealed parity-associated bacteria that existed in both the rectum and vagina (e.g., Streptococcus in Parity 1, Lactobacillus in Parity 2, Veillonella in Parity 4). We also identified patterns of bacterial change between the early breeding stage (d 0) and d 110, such as Streptococcus, which was decreased in all four parties. Furthermore, sows in the U4P group with longevity potential also showed better reproductive performance. Finally, we discovered bacterial predictors (e.g., Prevotellaceae NK3B31 group) for the total number of piglets born throughout the four parities in both the rectum and vagina.
This study highlights how the rectal and vaginal microbiome in sows with longevity in reproduction changes within four parities. The identification of parity-associated, pregnancy-related, and reproductive performance-correlated bacteria provides the foundation for targeted microbiome modulation to improve animal production.
母猪的长寿和繁殖力在现代养猪业中至关重要。尽管许多研究都集中在用于选择的遗传和基因组因素上，但关于微生物组与繁殖期长寿母猪之间的关联却知之甚少。
在本研究中，我们收集了48头母猪的直肠和阴道拭子并进行测序，其中9头母猪完成了多达四胎（U4P组），表现出繁殖期长寿。我们首先在第一胎的早期繁殖阶段使用随机森林算法，确定了U4P组母猪直肠（如阿克曼氏菌）和阴道（如乳酸杆菌）中母猪长寿的预测指标。有趣的是，U4P组中的这些细菌显示出参与氨基酸生物合成的预测KEGG基因丰度降低。然后，我们追踪了U4P组母猪在四个胎次中微生物组的纵向变化。线性判别分析效应大小（LEfSe）分析揭示了在直肠和阴道中都存在的与胎次相关的细菌（例如，第1胎的链球菌、第2胎的乳酸杆菌、第4胎的韦荣球菌）。我们还确定了早期繁殖阶段（第0天）和第110天之间细菌变化的模式，例如链球菌在所有四个胎次中都减少。此外，具有长寿潜力的U4P组母猪也表现出更好的繁殖性能。最后，我们发现了直肠和阴道中整个四个胎次产仔总数的细菌预测指标（例如，普雷沃氏菌科NK3B31组）。
本研究突出了繁殖期长寿母猪的直肠和阴道微生物组在四个胎次内如何变化。与胎次相关、与妊娠相关以及与繁殖性能相关的细菌的鉴定为有针对性地调节微生物组以提高动物生产提供了基础。
