Analysis on the difference of intestinal microflora of Sujiang piglets with different growth performance

Abstract:

[Background] Sujiang pig is a new breed of high-quality lean meat pig. The growth performance of weaned piglets will be different under various stress. [Objective] To study the differences and similarities of intestinal flora structure of Sujiang piglets with different growth performance. [Methods] 100 healthy piglets with similar body weight at the same age were selected and fed under the same feeding conditions for 42 days. At the end of the experiment, three weaker and heavier piglets were selected for the further analysis. The average body weight of the three weak and healthy piglets was 18.43±2.37 kg and 27.27±1.36 kg, respectively. After slaughtering, the contents of jejunum and cecum were collected, and the microbial genomic DNA was extracted and analyzed by high-throughput sequencing. [Results] There were significant differences in microflora abundance and diversity between jejunum and cecum of Sujiang piglets (P<0.01). The predominant strain of jejunum flora of Sujiang piglets is the non-pathogenic strain of Proteobacteria Pseudomonas, accounting for more than 90%. The dominant bacteria in the cecum of Sujiang piglets were Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria in turn. There were differences in the composition and structure at the phylum level, the abundance of Firmicutes in weak piglets was lower than that in healthy piglets, and the abundance of Proteobacteria was higher than that in healthy piglets. Prevotella, Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005, Alloprevotella and other bacteria related to fiber digestion were abundant in the cecum of Sujiang pigs. There were significant differences in cecal flora between weak piglets and healthy piglets at genus level (P<0.05). Prevotella_9, Escherichia-shigella, Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005 and norank_f_Prevotellaceae in cecum of weak piglets were higher than those of healthy piglets, while Lactobacillus, Prevotella_2, Terrisporobacter and Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1 in cecum of healthy piglets were higher than those of weak piglets. Lactobacillus and Terrisporobacter are related to the health of piglets, Escherichia-shigella is associated with disease of piglets. [Conclusion] There were significant differences in the composition of intestinal microflora among piglets with different growth performance. The results provided a basis for further study on the function of intestinal microflora in Sujiang pigs.