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(Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries) (Centre de Recerca en Agrigenòmica) (Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries) (Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries) (Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries)
| Date: | 2020 |
| Abstract: | Background. The pig gut microbiome harbors thousands of species of archaea, bacteria, viruses and eukaryotes such as protists and fungi. However, since the majority of published studies have been focused on prokaryotes, little is known about the diversity, host-genetic control, and contributions to host performance of the gut eukaryotic counterparts. Here we report the first study that aims at characterizing the diversity and composition of gut commensal eukaryotes in pigs, exploring their putative control by host genetics, and analyzing their association with piglets body weight. Results. Fungi and protists from the faeces of 514 healthy Duroc pigs of two sexes and two different ages were characterized by 18S and ITS ribosomal RNA gene sequencing. The pig gut mycobiota was dominated by yeasts, with a high prevalence and abundance of Kazachstania spp. Regarding protists, representatives of four genera (Blastocystis, Neobalantidium, Tetratrichomonas and Trichomitus) were predominant in more than the 80% of the pigs. Heritabilities for the diversity and abundance of gut eukaryotic communities were estimated with the subset of 60d aged piglets (N = 390). The heritabilities of α-diversity and of the abundance of fungal and protists genera were low, ranging from 0. 15 to 0. 28. A genome wide association study reported genetic variants related to the fungal α-diversity and to the abundance of Blastocystis spp. Annotated candidate genes were mainly associated with immunity, gut homeostasis and metabolic processes. Additionally, we explored the association of gut commensal eukaryotes with piglet body weight. Our results pointed to a positive contribution of fungi from the Kazachstania genus, while protists displayed both positive (Blastocystis and Entamoeba) and negative (Trichomitus) associations with piglet body weight. Conclusions. Our results point towards a minor and taxa specific genetic control over the diversity and composition of the pig gut eukaryotic communities. Moreover, we provide evidences of the associations between piglets' body weight after weaning and members from the gut fungal and protist eukaryote community. Overall, this study highlights the relevance of considering, along with that of bacteria, the contribution of the gut eukaryote communities to better understand host-microbiome association and their role on pig performance, welfare and health. |
| Grants: | European Commission 665919 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad SEV-2015-0533 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad RYC-2013-12573 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad AGL2016-75432-R Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad AGL2017-88849-R Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2017/SGR-1290 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2017/SGR-1719 |
| Rights: | Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.  |
| Language: | Anglès |
| Document: | Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada |
| Subject: | Gut eukaryotes ; Fungi ; Protists ; Pig ; Host genetics |
| Published in: | Animal Microbiome, Vol. 2 (May 2020) , art. 18, ISSN 2524-4671 |
