Fecal samples from pasture-raised pigs Metagenome

Conventional swine operations typically have large numbers of pigs that are raised indoors under environmental conditions that are tightly controlled. Conversely, pigs raised outdoors on pasture where have access to the soil and plants growing in the pasture. In addition to the environmental conditions, there may also be differences in antimicrobial exposure as conventionally-raised swine are more likely to be treated as a group if one animal becomes ill. Presently, there is relatively little information about how differences in these two production systems affect the pig gut microbiome and resistome (antimicrobial genes). Here, we collected fecal samples from pigs raised outdoors on pasture. Shotgun metagenomic sequencing was used to characterize the microbial community composition and resistome.