Authors : Yuzhe Zhang, Zemeng Feng, Guoqi Lian, Yongfei Wang, Gang Liu and Wei Qiu
Abstract: Iatric obesity is a growing problem around the world with an increasing prevalence among even infants and young children. The intestinal microbiota have recently been shown to affect the energy balance by influencing both the efficiency of calorie harvest from the diet and how harvested energy is used and stored and is a non-negligible contributor of the formation of obesity. Pig is a good model for use in human nutrition research but few studies have examined the differences among different pig breeds. This study was conducted to compare the diversities of intestinal microbiota among lean Landrace pig and four local Chinese pig breeds with obese phenotype including Bama mini-pig, Huanjiang mini-pig, Ningxiang pig and Lantang pig. These local Chinese pig breeds have obvious differences in genotype and phenotype compared to Landrace pig. The aim of this study was to examine the association between the intestinal microbiota composition in infancy and future obesity using pigs as a model. The results indicated that the local Chinese pig breeds had significantly greater microbiota diversities in the distal intestine than Landrace pig. There are also clear differences in genus that can influence the energy balance and contribute to obesity. The results indicated that the microbiota diversity in the distal intestine in LCBs was significant higher than in LD which challenge the result that the microbiota diversity decrease in obese individuals. Intestinal microbiota do contribute for the obese phenotype but genotype is the main contributor. The higher contents of intestinal microbial populations that show strong energy-harvesting ability may partly contribute to the obese phenotype in local Chinese pigs. The research may help to clarify the mechanism of phenotype diversity in pig breeds and contribute to studies on infant nutrition and obesity.
Yuzhe Zhang, Zemeng Feng, Guoqi Lian, Yongfei Wang, Gang Liu and Wei Qiu, 2014. Comparative Analysis of Intestinal Microbiota Diversities in Four Chinese Local Pig Breeds and Landrace Pig. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 13: 484-495.