It is well accepted that the gut microbiota of breast-fed (BF) and formula-fed (FF) infants are significantly different. However, there is still a limited number of studies comparing the gut microbiota of BF and FF piglets, despite increasing numbers of FF piglets in the modern pig industry. The present study identified the differences in gut microbiota composition between BF- and FF-weaned Rongchang piglets at 30 days old, using pair-end sequencing on the Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform. The BF piglets had lower microbiota diversities than FF piglets (p < 0.05), and the community structures were well clustered as a result of each feeding pattern. Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes represented the most dominant phyla, and Ruminococcus, Prevotella, and Gemmiger were prominent genera in all piglets. Ruminococcus, Prevotella, Oscillospira, Eubacterium, Gemmiger, Dorea, and Lactobacillus populations were significantly higher, while Treponema and Coprococcus were significantly lower in BF piglets compared to FF piglets (p < 0.05). The metabolism pathways in the BF piglets were significantly different from FF piglets, which included carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism (p < 0.05). In addition, the top 10 abundance of microbiota were more or less significantly associated with the two phenotypes (p < 0.05). Collectively, these findings provide probable explanations for the importance of BF in neonates and support a theoretical basis for feeding regimes in indigenous Chinese piglets.
Keywords: breast-fed; formula-fed; gut microbiota; piglets.