Gastrointestinal microbial diversity and short-chain fatty acid production in pigs fed different fibrous diets with or without cell wall-degrading enzyme supplementation

Abstract The microbial diversity and short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production in pigs fed different fibrous diets with or without cell wall-degrading enzyme (phytase, cellulase and xylanase) supplementation were compared using the Illumina MiSeq sequencing technique. Eight growing castrated pigs fitted with a T-shaped cannula at the terminal ileum were randomly assigned to four diets, i.e., wheat bran-based diet (WB), enzyme-supplemented WB, soybean hull-based diet (SH), and enzyme-supplemented SH, according to a 4 × 4 Latin square design. The ileal digesta and feces were collected after 15 days of adaptation in each period. The WB diet increased ( P Lactobacillus , Veillonella and Ruminococcaceae compared to SH diet, whereas the SH diet led to a higher ( P Streptococcaceae , Peptostreptococcaceae , Lachnospiraceae , Treponema and Methanobrevibacter than that of WB diet. Adding exogenous cell wall-degrading enzyme selectively altered the relative abundance of bacteria in both dietary groups. The SH promoted ( P P