PSXII-42 Peptide product (FPM), zinc oxide and lactobacillus acidophilus fermented product (LAFP) alter gut microbiota of nursery pigs.

Abstract

Spray dried plasma protein (SDPP) can improve growth performance in young pigs. In order to reduce production cost, economical and feasible alternatives are greatly needed. A previous study in our laboratory showed that fish-porcine-microbial peptide cocktail (FPM), zinc oxide (ZnO) and a lactobacillus acidophilus fermented products (LAFP) had similar effects on growth performance as SDPP. The current study was to evaluate the impact of supplementation of FPM alone, FPM with ZnO, or FPM with ZnO and LAFP on fecal microbiota in weaning piglets. A total of 288 pigs (21-day-old) were assigned to one of 6 treatments: 1) Negative Control: devoid of SDPP and ZnO (NC); 2) Positive Control: SDPP+ ZnO (PC); 3) 3% FPM (F); 4) 3% FPM + ZnO (FZ); 5) 3% FPM +LAFP (FL); and 6) 3% FPM +LAFP + ZnO (FLZ). Rectal swab samples (n = 8/treatment) from a median body weight pig in each pen were collected at 21, 28, 42, and 56 d of age. DNA was extracted and sequenced targeting the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene with a Miseq platform. Sequences were processed using the mothur software package. Although pigs fed PC, FZ, and FLZ had improved growth performance, their gut microbiota diversity and structure did not change, compared with those fed NC. Random forest was performed to identify bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) that differentiate PC, FZ, and FLZ from NC. OTUs associated with butyrate producers (e.g. Clostridium_IV) were enriched in pigs fed FZ, FLZ, and PC compared to NC fed counterpart. Campylobacter was decreased in the FZ group in comparison with NC group. In conclusion, supplementation with FPM+ZnO or FPM+ZnO+LAFP restored the growth performance comparable to that of SDPP fed pigs, which could be due to reduction of potential pathogenic taxa and the enrichment of potentially beneficial bacteria.