Disentangling the causal relationship between rabbit growth and cecal microbiota through structural equation models
Mora Fenoll, Mònica (Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries)
Velasco-Galilea, María (Centre de Recerca en Agrigenòmica)
Sánchez, Juan Pablo (Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries)
Ramayo-Caldas, Yuliaxis (Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries)
Piles, Miriam (Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries)

Date:	2022
Abstract:	Background: The effect of the cecal microbiome on growth of rabbits that were fed under different regimes has been studied previously. However, the term "effect" carries a causal meaning that can be confounded because of potential genetic associations between the microbiome and production traits. Structural equation models (SEM) can help disentangle such a complex interplay by decomposing the effect on a production trait into direct host genetics effects and indirect host genetic effects that are exerted through microbiota effects. These indirect effects can be estimated via structural coefficients that measure the effect of the microbiota on growth while the effects of the host genetics are kept constant. In this study, we applied the SEM approach to infer causal relationships between the cecal microbiota and growth of rabbits fed under ad libitum (ADG) or restricted feeding (ADG). Results: We identified structural coefficients that are statistically different from 0 for 138 of the 946 operational taxonomic units (OTU) analyzed. However, only 15 and 38 of these 138 OTU had an effect greater than 0. 2 phenotypic standard deviations (SD) on ADG and ADG, respectively. Many of these OTU had a negative effect on both traits. The largest effects on ADG were exerted by an OTU that is taxonomically assigned to the Desulfovibrio genus (− 1. 929 g/d, CSS-normalized OTU units) and by an OTU that belongs to the Ruminococcaceae family (1. 859 g/d, CSS-normalized OTU units). For ADG, the largest effect was from OTU that belong to the S24-7 family (− 1. 907 g/d, CSS-normalized OTU units). In general, OTU that had a substantial effect had low to moderate estimates of heritability. Conclusions: Disentangling how direct and indirect effects act on production traits is relevant to fully describe the processes of mediation but also to understand how these traits change before considering the application of an external intervention aimed at changing a given microbial composition by blocking/promoting the presence of a particular microorganism.
Grants:	European Commission 633531 Agencia Estatal de Investigación RTI2018-097610R-I00 Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2021-128173OR-C21 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación RYC2019-027244-I
Note:	Altres ajuts: "Formación de Personal Investigador (FPI)" associated with the research project RTI2018-097610R-I00
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:	Animals ; Cecum ; Microbiota ; Rabbits ; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
Published in:	Genetics, selection, evolution, Vol. 54 (December 2022) , art. 81, ISSN 1297-9686

DOI: 10.1186/s12711-022-00770-2
PMID: 36536288

14 p, 3.8 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > CRAG (Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles