Characteristics of Gut Microbiota in Sows and Their Relationship with Apparent Nutrient Digestibility

The gut microbiota plays important roles in animal health and nutrient digestibility. The characteristics of gut microbiota population in grower pigs and their correlation with apparent nutrient digestibility were assessed in previous study. Here we studied characteristics of intestinal microbiota of sows and analyzed their relationships with apparent nutrient (ether extract (EE), crude protein (CP), crude fiber (CF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF)) digestibility. Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were the most dominant phyla, approximately 73% of the total sequences. Treponema, Oscillibacter and Lactobacillus were the most dominant generas, more than 49% of the total sequences. The microbiota of sows clustered separately from the microbiota of grower pigs at the age of D28 D60, D90 and D150. The abundance of Clostridium and Turicibacter was positively correlated with apparent EE digestibility. The abundance of Anaerofustis and Robinsoniella in sow fecal samples was positively correlated with apparent CF digestibility. The abundance of Collinsella and Sutterella was positively correlated with apparent NDF digestibility. The abundance of Clostridium, Collinsella, Robinsoniella and Turicibacter was positively correlated with apparent ADF digestibility. Sows have their unique gut microbial structure compared with grower pigs and some of them participate in the digestive process of different nutrients.