The influence of feeding the marine macroalgal extract laminarin on weaned pig microbiota

The objective of this study was to evaluate supplementing newly weaned piglet diets with Laminarin to determine its influence on caecal and colonic microbiota. Newly weaned pigs (n=54) were assigned to one of two dietary treatments, T1. Basal diet or T2. Basal diet + 300ppm LAM. Diets were fed for 14 days after which digesta from the caecum and colon was collected for sequencing of the V3-V4 hypervariable region of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. A number of microbial taxa were differentially abundant at both adjusted and non-adjusted P value. Interestingly pigs fed the LAM supplemented diet had reduced pathogenic bacteria such as Enterobacteriaceae and Helicobacteraceae compared with pigs fed the LAM supplemented diet. In contrast beneficial bacteria associated with increased nutrient utilisation including the family Prevotellaceae and the species Ruminococcus bromii were increased in the pigs fed the LAM supplemented diet. The supplementation of LAM in the post weaning is altering the intestinal microbiome with a reduction of pathogenic bacteria and an increase in taxa associated with nutrient breakdown and utilisation. The feeding of LAM may accelerate the adaption of pigs to the post-weaning diet enhancing pig performance.