| Summary: | Suckling is a unique period in porcine development where the early-life environment affects the composition of the microbiota. Colonic samples were collected from four suckling 22-day old, pigs each, in three separate trials and the microbiome composition assessed by 16s rRNA gene sequencing. Common colonic community indicators were identified from microbiota in each trial. Data could be pooled, where performance, bacterial diversity and abundance were not significantly different between repeated trials, except for a significant difference in Jaccard Similarity.
Performance positively correlated with diversity and abundance of protein digesting and short-chain fatty acid producing taxonomic units, suggesting a nutritional role for these organisms. Poorly performing piglets receiving commercial milk replacers in rescue pens do not benefit from naturally occurring prebiotic galacto- oligosaccharides otherwise found in sow milk. In a study investigating effects of complete milk replacer supplemented with galacto-oligosaccharides, milk replacer plus galacto-oligosaccharides improved gut architectural features and villus/crypt ratio throughout the gastrointestinal tract, increased the number of goblet cells and revealed a differential abundance of beneficial probiotic bacteria, particularly Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium demonstrating that galacto-oligosaccharides may be a useful addition to animal husbandry. Rotavirus causes significant mortality, morbidity and reduced performance in neonatal pigs. In a study of late gestational sows on a commercial farm with natural endemic rotavirus challenge, supplementation with galacto-oligosaccharides during late gestation significantly increased rotavirus specific antibodies in sow colostrum, reduced the number of infected piglets and suppressed piglet faecal pathogens indicating that galacto-oligosaccharide supplementation during late gestation may have a role in veterinary health settings.
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