Supplementary table

Gastrointestinal diseases in weaned piglets frequently cause high morbidity and mortality in domestic pigs. The use of antibiotics is problematic due to increasing antibiotic resistence in bacterial populations, making probiotics highly recommended for maintaining animal health. In this study, 57 strains of biologically safe lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and bifidobacteria from the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of pigs were identified and characterized in terms of their probiotic properties for potential use in weaned piglets. These strains were divided into two sets based on their origin – from wild boars (n=41) and domestic pigs (n=16). Strains obtained from wild boars exhibited greater taxonomic diversity compared to isolates from domestic pigs. While searching for coding sequences (CDS) encoding bacteriocins and bile salt hydrolases (BSH), no significant difference was detected between the two tested groups. On the other hand, CDS encoding adhesin-like factors and carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) were more frequent in wild boar strains. Utilization of important carbohydrates like starch, D-raffinose, D-mannose, D-cellobiose, and gentiobiose was confirmed by API testing. Antimicrobial activity against at least one out of five tested pathogens was found in 51% of wild boar strains, but none from domestic pigs. This suggests the intestinal microbiota of wild boars could serve as a promising source of probiotics for domestic pigs.