Dietary changes in pig nutritional studies shape the structural and functional composition of the pigs fecal microbiome – from days to weeks

The porcine gut microbiota is involved in several physiologic processes of great interest both for studies on husbandry optimisation and translational research, aimed to elucidate the mechanisms of pathologies of human relevance. Diet is among the major factors shaping the gut microbiota. Standard pig diet contains supplemental levels of calcium and phosphorus, to compensate the animal incapability for an autonomous phosphorus uptake. In this work, 16S rRNA gene sequencing and a metaproteomic approach are employed to provide, for the first time, the description of events featuring the gradual restore of the pig faecal microbiota, after its homeostatic balance has been altered by feeding experimental diets.