Integrated Microbiome and Serum Metabolome Analysis Reveals Molecular Regulatory Mechanisms of the Average Daily Weight Gain of Yorkshire Pigs

Abstract

The average daily weight gain (ADG) is considered a crucial indicator for assessing growth rates in the swine industry. Therefore, investigating the gastrointestinal microbiota and serum metabolites influencing the ADG in pigs is pivotal for swine breed selection. This study involved the inclusion of 350 purebred Yorkshire pigs (age: 90 ± 2 days; body weight: 41.20 ± 4.60 kg). Concurrently, serum and fecal samples were collected during initial measurements of blood and serum indices. The pigs were categorized based on their ADG, with 27 male pigs divided into high-ADG (HADG) and low-ADG (LADG) groups based on their phenotype values. There were 12 pigs in LADG and 15 pigs in HADG. Feces and serum samples were collected on the 90th day. Microbiome and non-targeted metabolomics analyses were conducted using 16S rRNA sequencing and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Pearson correlation, with Benjamini–Hochberg (BH) adjustment, was employed to assess the associations between these variables. The abundance of Lactobacillus and Prevotella in LADG was significantly higher than in HADG, while Erysipelothrix, Streptomyces, Dubosiella, Parolsenella, and Adlercreutzia in LADG were significantly lower than in HADG. The concentration of glutamine, etiocholanolone glucuronide, and retinoyl beta-glucuronide in LADG was significantly higher than in HADG, while arachidonic acid, allocholic acid, oleic acid, phenylalanine, and methyltestosterone in LADG were significantly lower than in HADG. The Lactobacillus–Streptomyces networks (Lactobacillus, Streptomyces, methyltestosterone, phenylalanine, oleic acid, arachidonic acid, glutamine, 3-ketosphingosine, L-octanoylcarnitine, camylofin, 4-guanidinobutyrate 3-methylcyclopentadecanone) were identified as the most influential at regulating swine weight gain. These findings suggest that the gastrointestinal tract regulates the daily weight gain of pigs through the network of Lactobacillus and Streptomyces. However, this study was limited to fecal and serum samples from growing and fattening boars. A comprehensive consideration of factors affecting the daily weight gain in pig production, including gender, parity, season, and breed, is warranted.