The gastrointestinal microbiome plays an important role in swine health and wellbeing,
but the gut archaeome structure and function in swine remain largely unexplored. To date,
no metagenomics-based analysis has been done to assess the impact of an early life antimicrobials
intervention on the gut archaeome. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of perinatal
tulathromycin (TUL) administration on the fecal archaeome composition and diversity in suckling
piglets using metagenomic sequencing analysis. Sixteen litters were administered one of two treatments
(TUL; 2.5 mg/kg IM and control (CONT); saline 1cc IM) soon after birth. Deep fecal swabs
were collected from all piglets on days 0 (prior to treatment), 5, and 20 post intervention. Each
piglet’s fecal archaeome was composed of rich and diverse communities that showed significant
changes over time during the suckling period. At the phylum level, 98.24% of the fecal archaeome
across all samples belonged to Euryarchaeota. At the genus level, the predominant archaeal genera
across all samples were Methanobrevibacter (43.31%), Methanosarcina (10.84%), Methanococcus (6.51%),
and Methanocorpusculum (6.01%). The composition and diversity of the fecal archaeome between
the TUL and CONT groups at the same time points were statistically insignificant. Our findings
indicate that perinatal TUL metaphylaxis seems to have a minimal effect on the gut archaeome
composition and diversity in sucking piglets. This study improves our current understanding of the
fecal archaeome structure in sucking piglets and provides a rationale for future studies to decipher
its role in and impact on host robustness during this critical phase of production. |