Comparison On Microbial Community And Growth Relevant Indicators In Different Pig Breeds

In recent years, the importance of the gut microbiota to the body’s metabolism has been widely acknowledged. The gut microbiota can be considered a microbial organ placed within a host organ, which has a central position in health and disease. This’organ’is intimately involved in numerous aspects of normal host physiology. It consumes, stores and redistributes energy, it mediates physiologically important chemical transformations, and it can maintain and repair itself through self-replication. China has the largest swine industry in the world. Due to variations in the natural environment and differences in socio-economic conditions, more than 100 local swine breeds are reared in China. The different Chinese native pig breeds exhibit many different growth properties. It is difficult to strictly compare gut microbial communities and performances among different pig breeds due to the long-term breeding and differences among environments, diets, management and so on. Therefore, our study aimed to investigate the differences of gut microbial communities among different pig breeds and the potential relationship between gut microbial communities and performances under natural conditions excluded the differences on diets and environments. The databases about the diversity and development of gut intestinal microbiota of pig breeds will be enriched based on the investigations on gut microbial communities and populations among different pig breed. And the research on development principle of the early gut intestinal, which will provide references for further research on the relationship between function and development of gastrointestinal tract and performances among different pig breeds.1 Comparison of Faecal Microbial Community of Lantang, Bama, Erhualian, Meishan, Xiaomeishan, Duroc, Landrace, and Yorkshire SowsThe objective of this study was to investigate differences in the faecal microbial composition among Lantang, Bama, Erhualian, Meishan, Xiaomeishan, Duroc, Landrace, and Yorkshire sows and to explore the possible link of the pig breed with the gut microbial community. Among the sows, the Meishan, Landrace, Duroc, and Yorkshire sows were from the same breeding farm with the same feed. Fresh faeces were collected from three sows of each purebred breed for microbiota analysis and volatile fatty acid (VFA) determination. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis revealed that samples from Bama, Erhualian, and Xiaomeishan sows, which from different farms, were generally grouped in one cluster, with similarity higher than 67.2%, and those from Duroc, Landrace, and Yorkshire sows were grouped in another cluster. Principal component analysis of the DGGE profile showed that samples from the foreign breeds and the samples from the Chinese indigenous breeds were scattered in two different groups, irrespective of the farm origin. Faecal VFA concentrations were significantly affected by the pig breed. The proportion of acetate was higher in the Bama sows than in the other breeds (P< 0.05). The proportion of butyrate was significantly lower in the Bama sows compared to the Meishan, Xiaomeishan, Duroc and Yorkshire sows (P< 0.05). The real-time PCR analysis showed that 16S rRNA gene copies of total bacteria, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were significantly higher in the Bama sows compared to Erhualian and Duroc sows (P< 0.05). There was a significant difference in copies of sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) between the Bama and Duroc sows (P< 0.05). The Meishan sows harboured significantly higher numbers of total bacteria, Firmicutes and Bacteroides than the Erhualian sows in faeces (P < 0.05). Both the Meishan and Xiaomeishan sows had higher numbers of total bacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroides and SRB as compared with the Duroc sows (P< 0.05). Copies of methanogens were significantly higher in the Xiaomeishan sows than in the Duroc sows (P < 0.05). The results suggest that the pig breed affects the composition of gut microbiota. The microbial composition is different with different breeds, especially between overseas breeds (lean type) and Chinese breeds (relatively obese type).2 Comparison of Microbial Community and Volatile Fatty Acid of Colon in Lantang, Bama, and Huanjiang PigletsThe objective of this study was to investigate the differences in the gut intestinal microbial composition and VFA among different breeds of piglets. The colonic contents and colonic mucosa were collected from 14 days piglets to analysis the differences in microbial community among three purebred pig breeds. The piglets of Lantang, Bama and Huanjiang were selected as the experimental animals. Four pigs per each genotype were slaughtered and samples from colonic content and mucosa were used for VFA determination and microbiota analysis. Interestingly, the concentrations of butyrate in Lantang piglets was significantly higher than in Bama piglets and the proportion of butyrate was significantly higher in Lantang piglets compared to the Bama piglets and Huanjiang piglets. DGGE analysis revealed that samples from same breed were generally grouped in one cluster, but with rather low similarity of 41.1%. The microbial diversity in colonic mucosa of Lantang and Huanjiang were significantly higher than in the Bama’s (P= 0.015, P= 0.003). The real-time PCR analysis showed that 16S rRNA gene copies of methanogen in colonic content were significantly higher in the Bama piglets compared to Lantang (P= 0.004) and Huanjiang piglets (P= 0.011). While Huanjiang piglets had higher numbers of total bacteria and Firmicutes than Bama piglets in colonic mucosa microbial community (P= 0.029, P= 0.021). The numbers of sulphate-reducing bacteria in colonic mucosa were significantly higher in the Huanjiang piglets compared to Bama (P= 0.001) and Lantang piglets (P= 0.026).3 Comparison on Growth Performance, Digestive Enzyme Activity, Serum Biochemical Index and Intestinal Morphology of Piglets between Meishan and YorkshireTo investigate the differences in growth performance and gut-intestine development between Meishan piglets and Yorkshire piglets, this study detected the growth performance, digestive enzyme activities, and serum biochemical indexes and intestinal mucosal morphology of those two breeds. Four litters’ healthy Meishan piglets and four litters’ healthy Yorkshire piglets were selected for this experiment. One piglet per litter was slaughtered at 28 and 49 days of age, respectively. The results showed there were difference between those two breeds at 1 to 28 days of age (before weaning) and 29 to 49 days of age (after weaning), and Yorkshire piglets had significantly higher average daily gain than Meishan piglets at 1 to 28 days of age (P< 0.05); the indexes of spleen, stomach and large intestine of Meishan piglets were significantly higher than those of Yorkshire piglets at 28 days of age (P< 0.05), while at 49 days of age, the small intestine index of Meishan piglets was significantly higher than that of Yorkshire piglets (P< 0.05). The jejunal lipase activity of Meishan piglets at the 28 days of age and pancreatic lipase activity of Meishan piglets at the 49 days of age were significantly higher than those of Yorkshire piglets. The Yorkshire piglets had higher high density lipoproteins content compared with Meishan piglets at 28 and 49 days of age (P< 0.05). At 28 days of age, the serum urea content of Meishan piglets was significantly higher than that of Yorkshire piglets (P< 0.05). It is concluded that the digestive organ development levels of Meishan piglets are greater than those of Yorkshire piglets. The digestive enzyme activities of Meishan piglets are much higher than those of Yorkshire piglets, suggesting that Meishan piglets had higher ability to absorb the nutrients.