The Impact of Environment on Microbial Diversity and Global Transcriptional Responses in the Developing Pig Gut

The study investigated the impact of environment on the composition of the gut microbiota and mucosal immune development and function at gut surfaces in early and adult life. Piglets of similar genotype were reared in indoor and outdoor environments and in an experimental isolator facility. Mucosa-adherent microbial diversity in the pig ileum was characterized by sequence analysis of 16S rRNA gene libraries. Host-specific gene responses in gut ileal tissues to differences in microbial composition were investigated using Affymetrix microarray technology and Real-time PCR.

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Mulder IE, Schmidt B, Stokes CR, Lewis M, Bailey M, Aminov RI, Prosser JI, Gill BP, Pluske JR, Mayer CD, Musk CC, Kelly D