166 Maternal Versus Environmental Contributions to the Piglet Pioneer Microbiome
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AbstractThe pioneer microbiome is the initial and foundational colonization of microbiological organisms within the neonatal animal and has lifelong implications for health and performance. The objective of this project was to quantify various maternal and environmental sources contributing to the pioneer microbiome of the piglet. Five pregnant gilts farrowed at the Texas A&M University Swine Center in April 2022. Litters were a Duroc x Landrace x Yorkshire composite and averaged 13.4 total number born and 11.4 number weaned. At birth, all piglets were individually identified and weighed and 5 piglets per litter weighing 1,200 grams were selected for microbiome analysis. Sterile swabs were used to collect, in duplicate, samples from the farrowing crate before gilt introduction (EMPTYCRATE) and after gilts were moved in (FULLCRATE), from the birth canal during farrowing (BIRTHCANAL), and from the rectum of the piglet on days 0 (prior to suckling), 3, and 10 post-farrowing and at weaning (21.6 .0 days post-farrowing). Colostrum was collected from each gilt during farrowing from a representative sample of teats into a single sterile collection cup (COLOSTRUM). Swabs and colostrum were stored in sterile microcentrifuge tubes at -80C until sequencing. Bacterial DNA was extracted, and sequencing targeted the V4 hypervariable region of the6S rRNA gene. Statistical analyses were conducted using PROC GLM and PROC REG in SAS 9.4. The phyla Firmicutes and Proteobacteria were not different between maternal (BIRTHCANAL, COLOSTRUM) and environmental (EMPTYCRATE, FULLCRATE) sources (Table 1). The piglet microbiome shifted from birth to weaning. The relative abundance of phylum Firmicutes was less on day 3 compared with day 0 and at weaning but did not differ from day0 (Table 1). Within the phylum Firmicutes, Lactobacillus and Clostridium genera were greater on day 3 compared with day 0, 10, and at weaning (Table 1). The relative abundance of phylum Proteobacteria, and the relative abundance of genus Escherichia within phylum Proteobacteria, were greater on day 3 compared with day 0, 10, and at weaning (Table 1). Multiple regression analyses indicated that BIRTHCANAL explained 51.6% of the variation observed in piglet day 0 microbiome (P > 0.0001), and 6.5% of the variation in the piglet day 10 microbiome (P = 0.01). The piglet day 0 (pre-suckle) microbiome explained 10.0% of the variation observed in day 3 microbiome and 15.6% of the day 10 microbiome (P > 0.05). Finally, day 10 microbiome explained 58.6% of the variation observed in the piglet microbiome at weaning (P > 0.0001). The microbiome of COLOSTRUM and the farrowing crate did not impact piglet microbiome (P < 0.10). Results indicate that the piglet pioneer microbiome is largely influenced by the microbiome of the birth canal and that the microbiome of the animal at weaning may be largely established by 10 days of age.
