Metagenomic Analysis of Cecal Microbiome Identified Microbiota and Functional Capacities Associated with Feed Efficiency in Landrace Finishing Pigs

Feed efficiency (FE) appears to vary even within closely related pigs, and may be partly affected by the diversity in the composition and function of gut microbes. To investigate the components and functional differences of gut microbiota of low and high FE pigs, high throughput sequencing and de novo metagenomics were performed on pig cecal contents. Pigs were selected in pairs with low and high feed conversion ratio. The microorganisms of individuals with different FE were clustered according to diversity. The genus Prevotella was the most enriched in both groups, and the abundance of species Prevotella sp. CAG:604 was significantly increased in low efficiency individuals compared to that in animals showing high efficiency. In contrast, other differential species, including lactic acid bacteria, were all enriched in the group with good feeding characteristics. Functional analysis based on the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes databases demonstrated that differential genes for the metabolism of carbohydrates were most abundant in both groups, but pathways of pyruvate-related metabolism were more intense in pigs with higher FE. All these data indicated that the microbial environment was closely related to the growth traits of pigs, and regulating microbial composition could aid developing strategies to improve FE for pigs.