Dynamic Characterization of the Changes in Intestinal Fungi and Fecal Metabolites during the Reproductive Cycle of Sows Raw sequence reads

Pregnancy-induced changes in the intestinal microbiota have been widely demonstrated. However, research on the alterations of intestinal fungi and fecal metabolism during the reproductive cycle of sows is limited. In this study, fresh fecal samples were collected from 12 sows during the empty pregnancy (KL), early pregnancy (PE), late pregnancy (PL), delivery (PI), and lactation (BJ) periods for ITS amplicon sequencing and untargeted metabolomics sequencing. Our results demonstrate that pregnancy is a key driver of dynamic changes in intestinal fungi and fecal metabolites throughout the reproductive cycle. The diversity of intestinal fungi and fecal metabolites is significantly reduced during pregnancy (PE + PL). Ascomycota and Basidiomycota dominate during non-pregnancy (KL + PI + BJ), while Neocallimastigomycota is predominant during pregnancy. Fecal metabolites exhibit significant alterations during PL and BJ periods. During PL period, glycerophospholipids and fatty acyls are the main metabolites, while glycerophosphocholines predominate during BJ period. Additionally, various intestinal fungi are correlated with multiple fecal metabolites, which may be associated with host physiological health. This study elucidates the dynamic changes and correlations of intestinal fungi and fecal metabolites in sows, providing theoretical insights for sow breeding production, feed management, and the development of microecological agents.