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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Animal Disease Center » Food Safety and Enteric Pathogens Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #250313
Title: Swine Intestinal Tract Harbors a High Diversity of Butyrate-Producing Bacteria

Author
item Levine, Uri
item Allen, Heather
item Stanton, Thaddeus

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/11/2010
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Butyrate is a preferred energy source of human colonic epithelial cells, and changes in the communities of butyrate-producing bacteria have been associated with adverse health. We hypothesize that in swine, like in humans, butyrate-producing bacteria contribute to a healthy intestinal ecosystem. To our knowledge, no surveys of this functional group have been performed in swine, and therefore their impact on swine health has not yet been determined. Here we present the preliminary identification of butyrate-producing bacteria in mature sows. Six media formulations were used in the anaerobic isolation of butyrate producers from fecal, ileal, cecal, and colonic contents and tissues. The volatile fatty acid concentrations of the spent culture media of 402 isolates were determined, and 72 (18%) of the isolates produced butyrate (defined by the production of greater than or less than 2 microM of butyrate). Based on the sequencing of the V1-V3 region of the 16S rRNA gene of the butyrate-producing isolates, a high percentage (41%) belonged to the Bacteroidetes phylum, while only a small percentage (13%) belonged to the dominant butyrate-producers in human feces, Clostridium cluster XVI. The different gut sections each yielded a varied assemblage of butyrate producers, contributing to the diversity of isolates. Taken together, the butyrate-producing bacteria in swine are different and more diverse than those that have been reported in humans. The results of this study will aid our understanding of a microbial process that is important to animal health, and will inform studies on improving animal health and food safety.