More than 7 million bacterial genes in the pig gut

Date: September 21, 2016

Source: INRA-France

Pig is a main livestock species for food production worldwide and is also widely used as an animal model in biomedical research. Today we know that the many types of bacteria that inhabit the gut are important for health and disease. Knowledge of the genes of these bacteria and their function therefore constitutes the first step towards a more comprehensive understanding of how bacteria in the gut affect health and disease.

An international consortium of researchers from INRA (France), University of Copenhagen and SEGES (Denmark), BGI-Shenzhen (China) and NIFES (Norway) has now established the first catalog of bacterial genes in the gut of pigs. This achievement is published in the latest issue of Nature Microbiology.

The researchers have analyzed stool samples from 287 pigs representing different breeds and selected pig lines from 11 different farms in France, China and Denmark. In total the researchers identified 7.7 million genes and identified a large number of known and unknown bacteria. The results showed clear country dependent differences, reflecting differences in farm systems and antibiotics supplementation. The results further illustrate how age, gender, and pig genetics are associated with differences in the composition of bacteria in the gut.

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