The Effect of an Early-Life Lactiplantibacillus plantarum LPJZ-658 Intervention on Performance and Gut Microbiota in Suckling Piglets

This study aimed to investigate the effects of early-life supplementation with Lactiplantibacillus plantarum LPJZ-658 on the growth performance and gut microbiota of newborn piglets. Twelve one-day-old suckling piglets were randomly divided into two groups: the control group (C) was orally administered saline and the LPJZ-658 group (LP) was gavaged with 1.0 × 1010 cfu LPJZ-658. The supplementation was carried out once daily for 28 days. Fresh fecal samples were collected at 7 and 28 days, respectively. The microbiota composition (16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing) and its predicted functions (PICRUSt2) were analyzed. The body weight and average daily weight gain were significantly increased in the LP group. Statistically significant differences were observed in bacterial diversity and composition of the gut microbial community between the C and LP groups. The predominant bacterial phylum in the piglets changed from Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria at day 7 to Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Spirochaetota at day 28 in both the C group and LP group. We found that LPJZ-658 supplementation suppressed a significant decrease in the relative abundance of Bacteroidota in suckling piglets at 28 days. At the genus level, LPJZ-658 reduced the relative abundance of pathogenic genera such as Clostridium sensu stricto 1, and increased the relative abundance of beneficial genera such as Ruminococcus, Christensenellaceae_R-7_group, Turicibacter, and UCG-002. KEGG metabolic pathway analysis showed that LPJZ-658 may improve amino acid metabolism by regulating the intestinal microbiota of suckling piglets. In summary, the early-life LPJZ-658 interventions significantly improve the growth performance of suckling piglets by the modulation of the gut microbiota.