Comparative analysis of gut microbiota between healthy and diarrheic tibetan pigs using 16s rrna sequencing

Diarrhea is a common gastrointestinal symptom in Tibetan pigs, generally considered to be related to gut microbiota imbalance. However, studies comparing the gut microbiota of healthy and diarrheal Tibetan pigs are relatively few. This study used high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing to analyze the fecal microbiota of diarrheal Tibetan pigs. Diversity analysis and functional prediction results showed that the microbiota richness of healthy Tibetan pigs was significantly higher than that of diarrheal Tibetan pigs, and the clustering of gut microbiota between the two groups was more obvious. The gut microbiota of healthy Tibetan pigs was mainly composed of Firmicutes and Lactobacillus, while the abundance of Proteobacteria and Eubacterium increased in diarrheal Tibetan pigs. In particular, the abundance of Lactobacillus was significantly different between the two groups in the Tibetan pig gut, demonstrating the role of probiotics in gut health. In addition, the complexity of the gut microbiota of diarrheal Tibetan pigs was reduced, and the stability of the gut microbiota was disrupted. Metabolic analysis showed significant differences between the different groups: the intestinal fermentation and nitrate reduction pathways were increased in diarrheal Tibetan pigs, while healthy Tibetan pigs showed enhanced amino acid metabolism and a more pronounced anaerobic phenotype. These findings elucidate the structural and functional alterations in the gut microbiota associated with diarrhea in Tibetan pigs, offering new insights for potential interventions.