ABSTRACT
Synbiotics are feed supplements with the potential to promote health and productivity in pigs partly, through modulation of the intestinal microbiome. Our study used shotgun sequencing and 16S rRNA gene sequencing techniques to characterize the effect of a synbiotic containing three Lactobacillus species and a fructo-oligosaccharide on the proximal colonic microbiome of 4- to 7-month-old Korean native black gilts. With shotgun sequencing we constructed unique metagenome-assembled genomes of gut microbiota in Native Black Pig for the first time, which we then used for downstream analysis. Results showed that synbiotic treatment did not alter microbial diversity and evenness within the proximal colons, but altered composition of some members of the Lactobacillaceae, Enterococcaceae and Streptococcaceae families. Functional analysis of the shotgun sequence data revealed 8 clusters of orthologous groups (COGs) that were differentially represented in the proximal colonic microbiomes of synbiotic-treated Jeju black pigs relative to controls. In conclusion, our results show that administering this synbiotic causes changes in the functional capacity of the proximal colonic microbiome of the Korean native black pig. This study improves our understanding of the potential impact of synbiotics on the colonic microbiome of Korean native black pigs.
