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The use of antibiotics in swine production for the purpose of growth promotion dates back to the 1950s. Despite this long history of use, the exact mechanism(s) responsible for the growth-promoting effects of antibiotics in swine remain largely unknown. It is believed, however, that growth promotion is due to antibiotics having a direct impact on the gut microbiota. In this study, the effect of two antibiotics on the swine gut microbiota over a 19-week monitoring period was investigated using Illumina-based sequencing. A shift in the relative abundance of several taxa and in 26 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) was observed in pigs fed subtherapeutic concentrations of tylosin (44-11 mg kg(-1) feed). Only minor alterations were noted with the administration of chlortetracycline at 5.5 mg kg(-1) feed. The most notable changes in the relative abundance of taxa and OTUs were noted between suckling piglets and postweaned pigs. Diversity was also reduced in the gut microbiota of suckling piglets as measured using the Shannon, Chao1, and phylogenetic diversity indices. These results show that the effect of antibiotics on the swine gut microbiota is variable based on dosage and duration and that the swine gut microbiota exhibits considerable resilience to long-term changes due to antibiotic perturbations.
Holman et al. (Thu,) studied this question.