Characterization of the bacterial fecal microbiota composition of pigs preceding the clinical signs of swine dysentery

Swine dysentery (SD) is a worldwide production-limiting disease of growing-finishing pigs in commercial farms. The importance of the large intestinal microbiota in the swine dysentery pathogenesis has been established, but not well characterized. The objective of this study was to characterize the fecal bacterial microbiota of pigs immediately prior to developing clinical signs of swine dysentery. A total of 60 fecal samples were collected from 15 pigs with SD. Sampling times included a time point prior to SD (d0, n=15), 2 days before mucohaemorrhagic diarrhea was observed (d-2SD, n=15), 1 day before mucohaemorrhagic diarrhea was observed (d-1SD, n=15), and the day when pigs developed mucohemorragic diarrhea (MHD, n=15). Sequencing of cpn60 amplicons was used to profile the microbiome, and analyses were performed on QIIME2. Increased Chao1 index in d-1SD and MHD samples when compared to the d0 was the only change observed in alpha diversity. No differences between sampling times on beta diversity (Bray-Curtis dissimilarity) were found. Although a small sample size was investigated, differential abundance analysis revealed that Alistipes dispar and Parabacteroides gordonii were increased in MHD fecal samples when compared to d-2SD and d-1SD. It is suggested that these taxa may play a role in the pathogenesis of SD, which is known to require the presence of Brachyspira spp. and an anaerobe for severe disease development.