Mineral Phosphorus Supply in Piglets Impacts the Microbial Composition and Phytate Utilization in the Large Intestine

A sufficient supply of phosphorus (P) to pigs in livestock farming is based on the optimal use of plant-based phytate and mineral P supplements to ensure proper growth processes and bone stability. However, a high P supplementation might bear the risk of higher environmental burden due to the occurrence of excess P and phytate degradation products in manure. In this context, the intestinal microbiota is of central importance to increase P solubility, to employ non-mineral P by the enzymatic degradation of phytate, and to metabolize residual P. A feeding experiment was conducted in which piglets were fed diets with different P levels, resulting in three groups with low, medium (covering requirements), and high concentrations of available P. Samples from caecum and colon digesta were analysed for microbial composition and phytate breakdown to estimate the microbial contribution to metabolize P sources. In terms of identified operational taxonomic units (OTU), caecum and colon digesta under the three feeding schemes mainly overlap in their core microbiome. Nevertheless, different microbial families correlate with increased dietary P supply. Specifically, microbes of Desulfovibrionaceae, Pasteurellaceae, Anaerovoracaceae, and Methanobacteriaceae were found significantly differentially abundant in the large intestine across the dietary treatments. Moreover, members of the families Veillonellaceae, Selenomonadaceae, and Succinivibrionaceae might contribute to the observed phytate degradation in animals fed a low P diet. In this sense, the targeted manipulation of the intestinal microbiota by feeding measures offers possibilities for the optimization of intestinal phytate and P utilization.