title: Effect of barley and oat cultivars with different carbohydrate compositions on the intestinal bacterial communities in weaned piglets.
abstract: This experiment was aimed at comparing the intestinal microbial community composition in pigs fed hulled common barley supplemented with isolated barley mixed-linked beta-glucan, four hulless barley varieties and breeding lines with mixed-linked beta-glucan contents ranging from 41 to 84 g kg(-1) and different amylose/amylopectin ratios as well as two oat varieties. Seventy-two weaned piglets were allocated to one of nine diets composed of 81.5% cereal, 6% whey, 9% soy protein isolate and 3.5% minerals. After 15 days, pigs were sacrificed and ileum and colon contents were collected for quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis to evaluate microbial communities. Shifts in intestinal microbial communities were observed with the hulless barley cultivars with a normal to high beta-glucan content and from normal starch toward either high-amylopectin or high-amylose starch. These hulless barleys had the lowest (P<0.05) microbial diversity, whereas oats had intermediate diversity compared with low-beta-glucan hulless cultivars and hulled varieties. Furthermore, hulless varieties favoured xylan- and beta-glucan-degrading bacteria whereas mixed-linked beta-glucan-supplemented hulled barley favoured lactobacilli. Numbers of lactobacilli decreased in the ileum of pigs fed hulless/high mixed-linked beta-glucan barley-based diets. Thus, cultivar differences in both the form and the quantity of carbohydrates affect gut microbiota in pigs, which provides information for future feeding strategies.
authors.affiliation: Research Unit for Nutritional Physiology 'Oskar Kellner', Research Institute for the Biology of Farm Animals, Dummerstorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pieper
authors.forename: Rajesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jha
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rossnagel
authors.forename: Andrew G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Van Kessel
authors.forename: Wolfgang B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Souffrant
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Leterme
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018554:Avena / Q000737:chemistry*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D003106:Colon / Q000382:microbiology*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004032:Diet / Q000662:veterinary; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates / Q000378:metabolism*; D001467:Hordeum / Q000737:chemistry*; D007085:Ilium / Q000382:microbiology*; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D011897:Random Allocation; D013552:Swine / Q000382:microbiology*; D014886:Weaning; D047071:beta-Glucans / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D047071:beta-Glucans