Published in:
Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 9 (2022)
Language:
Without Specification
DOI:
10.3389/fvets.2022.1004506
ISSN:
2297-1769
Origination:
Footnote:
Description:
Lawsonia(L.)intracellularisis a widespread, economically important bacterium causing the porcine proliferative enteropathy (PPE). In this study, we evaluated intestinal microbiota of naturally exposedL. intracellularis-positive pigs under standardized conditions. To obtain three independent repetitions, 27L. intracellularis-infected pigs (19.0 ± 1.50 kg body weight) from one farm were divided into three groups at an age of 7 to 8 weeks (nine pigs/group). Pigs were either vaccinated againstL. intracellularisvia oral drenching on their 21st day of life (attenuated live vaccine) or non-vaccinated and selected according to clinical findings (pigs without deviating fecal consistency or with moderate to soft fecal consistency). Comparison of the clinically inconspicuous piglets that differed regarding their vaccination status showed fewer significant differences in fecal microbiota composition. The vaccination led to an overall enrichment of bacterial species belonging to the orderClostridiales, while species of the genusCollinsellaandPrevotellawere decreased. Several bacterial species belonging to the orderBacteroidales, mainly of the familyPrevotellacecae, often closely matchingPrevotella copridiffered significantly between non-vaccinated clinically inconspicuous and conspicuous piglets. Whether those bacterial species play a role in mitigating the severity of anL. intracellularisinfection remains to be defined.