Article

Effects of supplemental bacteriophage on the gut microbiota and nutrient digestibility of ileal-cannulated pigs

Hyunwoong Jo1, Geongoo Han2, Eun Bae Kim3, Changsu Kong4, Beob Gyun Kim1,5,*
Author Information & Copyright
1Monogastric Animal Feed Research Institute, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, Korea.
2Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, United States.
3Department of Applied Animal Science, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Korea.
4Department of Animal Science, Kyungpook National University, Sangju 37224, Korea.
5Department of Animal Science and Technology, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, Korea.
*Corresponding Author: Beob Gyun Kim, Monogastric Animal Feed Research Institute, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, Korea, Republic of. Department of Animal Science and Technology, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, Korea, Republic of. E-mail: bgkim@konkuk.ac.kr.

© Copyright 2023 Korean Society of Animal Science and Technology. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

This study measured the potential changes of the microbiota in the gastrointestinal tract and energy and nutrient digestibility by supplemental bacteriophages in pigs. Twelve castrated male pigs (initial mean body weight = 29.5 ± 2.3 kg) were surgically cannulated using T-cannula. The animals were housed individually in pens equipped with a feeder and a nipple waterer. The pigs were allotted to 1 of 3 experimental diets in a quadruplicated 3 × 2 Latin square design with 3 experimental diets, 2 periods, and 12 pigs resulting in 8 replicates per diet. The 3 diets were a control mainly based on corn and soybean meal with no antibiotics or bacteriophages, a diet containing 0.1% antibiotics, and a diet containing 0.2% bacteriophages. On day 5 of the experimental period, feces were collected and on days 6 and 7, ileal digesta were collected. Genomic DNA for bacteria were extracted from the ileal digesta and feces and the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene was amplified. The ileal and fecal digestibility of energy, dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, and fiber was unaffected by dietary antibiotics or bacteriophages. At the phylum level, the supplemental antibiotic or bacteriophage tended to result in a higher proportion of <italic>Firmicutes</italic> (<italic>p</italic> = 0.059) and a lower proportion of <italic>Bacteroidetes</italic> (<italic>p</italic> = 0.099) in the ileal digesta samples compared with the control group with no difference between the antibiotic and bacteriophage groups. At the genus level, the supplemental antibiotic or bacteriophage tended to result in a higher proportion of <italic>Lactobacillus</italic> (<italic>p</italic> = 0.062) and a lower proportion of <italic>Bacteroides</italic> (<italic>p</italic> = 0.074) and <italic>Streptococcus</italic> (<italic>p</italic> = 0.088) in the ileal digesta compared with the control group with no difference between the antibiotic and bacteriophage groups. In the feces, supplemental antibiotics or bacteriophages reduced the proportion of <italic>Bifidobacterium</italic> compared with the control group (<italic>p</italic> = 0.029) with no difference between the antibiotic and bacteriophage groups. Overall, supplemental antibiotics and bacteriophages showed positive effect on the microbiota of in the ileal digesta without largely affecting energy or nutrient digestibility, with no differences between the antibiotic and bacteriophage groups in growing pigs.

Keywords: Additive; Antibiotic; Digestibility; Probiotic; Pig; Lactobacillus