Age-related gut microbiota succession in Neijiang pigs: insights for precision feeding and productivity

作者：Qihang Wu, Shijie Hu, Yan Wang, Yuanyuan Wu, Zhao Ye, Lili Niu, Xiaofeng Zhou, Linyuan Shen, Yihui Liu, Ying Chen, Mailin Gan, Li Zhu · 发表于：Frontiers in Microbiology · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.3389/fmicb.2025.1698169 · 被引用次数：2 · 研究领域：Gut microbiota and health、Animal Nutrition and Physiology、Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens research

Objective: To characterize age-related gut microbiota succession in Neijiang pigs and translate these dynamics into actionable insights for precision feeding and productivity improvement. Methods: = 6/stage). 16S rRNA V3-V4 amplicon sequencing was used to profile microbiota composition and diversity; PICRUSt2 was employed to predict metagenome functions against the KEGG database. Results: = 0.996) with an inflection point at 84.2 days (25.9 kg). Microbial alpha-diversity (Shannon, Chao1) increased with age and plateaued after 110 days. Firmicutes and Bacteroidota dominated (>90% relative abundance), whereas Spirochaetota and Euryarchaeota expanded significantly in finishing pigs. LEfSe identified 45 stage-specific biomarkers: Prevotella_9, Collinsella and Blautia characterized suckling-weaning stages; Faecalibacterium and Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1 peaked at 70 days; Lactobacillus was dominant at 110 days; Treponema, Streptococcus and Bacteroides defined the 150-day microbiome. Functional prediction revealed a metabolic shift from basal biosynthesis and DNA repair in early life toward enhanced ABC transporters, bacterial motility proteins, oxidative phosphorylation and methane metabolism in finishing pigs. Conclusion: Our data provide a temporal blueprint of gut microbiota maturation that mirrors host nutrient requirements across growth phases. These microbial indicators and functional signatures can guide stage-specific dietary formulations and microbiota-targeted intervent...