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Department of Animal Science, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
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The pioneer microbiome is the initial colonization and establishment of microorganisms within the neonate. The objective of this project was to quantify maternal and environmental contributions to the piglet's pioneer microbiome. Sterile swabs were used to collect samples from the gilt’s rectum, the farrowing crate before and after gilts were moved in, the gilt’s birth canal during farrowing, and the piglet’s rectum on days 0 (prior to suckling), 3, and 10 post farrowing and at weaning (21.6 ± 1.0 days post farrowing). During farrowing, colostrum was collected from each gilt from a representative sample of teats into a single sterile collection cup. Bacterial DNA extraction and sequencing targeted the V4 hypervariable region of the 16S rRNA gene. The relative abundance of Lactobacillus in the piglet microbiome was lower on day 3 compared to day 0, day 10, and at weaning (P < 0.05). For alpha diversity, piglet samples exhibited distinct clustering for bacterial richness by day (P < 0.01). Multiple regression analyses indicated that the birth canal explained 51.6% of the variation observed in the piglet day 0 microbiome (P < 0.0001) and 6.5% of the variation in the piglet day 10 microbiome (P = 0.013). The day 10 microbiome explained 58.6% of the variation observed in the piglet microbiome at weaning (P < 0.0001). Bacterial communities of the farrowing crate and colostrum did not impact the piglet microbiome for any day (P > 0.10). The results indicate that the piglet pioneer microbiome is largely influenced by the microbiome of the birth canal.
Lay summary
The pioneer microbiome is the initial colonization of microbial organisms within an animal. For a newborn animal, these microbes can greatly affect their health and growth. It has been shown that the piglet pioneer microbiome is shaped by both maternal and environmental factors. However, it is unclear which source is the primary driver in shaping the microbiome in the newborn pig. The purpose of the study was to determine the piglet gut microbiome and to identify the maternal and environmental factors that contribute to the piglet microbiome from birth to weaning. The results showed that the majority of the piglet's pioneer gut microbiome at birth comes from the mother’s birth canal. This indicates a strong role of maternal factors in shaping the initial newborn’s microbiome. By weaning, the piglet microbiome becomes more stable, even with some disruptions in the microbiome early in life.