Gut-associated microbes are present and active in the pig nasal cavity.

The nasal microbiota is a key contributor to animal health, and characterizing the nasal microbiota composition is an important step towards elucidating the role of its different members. Efforts to characterize the nasal microbiota composition of domestic pigs and other farm animals frequently report the presence of bacteria that are typically found in the gut, including many anaerobes from the Bacteroidales and Clostridiales orders. However, the in vivo role of these gut-microbiota associated taxa is currently unclear. Here, we tackled this issue by examining the prevalence, origin, and activity of these taxa in the nasal microbiota of piglets. First, analysis of the nasal microbiota of farm piglets sampled in this study, as well as various publicly available data sets, revealed that gut-microbiota associated taxa indeed constitute a substantial fraction of the pig nasal microbiota that is highly variable across individual animals. Second, comparison of herd-matched nasal and rectal samples at amplicon sequencing variant (ASV) level showed that these taxa are largely shared in the nasal and rectal microbiota, suggesting a common origin driven presumably by the transfer of fecal matter. Third, surgical sampling of the inner nasal tract showed that gut-microbiota associated taxa are found throughout the nasal cavity, indicating that these taxa do not stem from contaminations introduced during sampling with conventional nasal swabs. Finally, analysis of cDNA from the 16S rRNA gene in these nasal samples indicated that gut-microbiota associated taxa are indeed active in the pig nasal cavity. This study shows that gut-microbiota associated taxa are not only present, but also active, in the nasal cavity of domestic pigs, and paves the way for future efforts to elucidate the function of these taxa within the nasal microbiota.

Intensive antibiotic treatment of sows with parenteral crystalline ceftiofur and tulathromycin alters the composition of the nasal microbiota of their offspring.

The nasal microbiota plays an important role in animal health and the use of antibiotics is a major factor that influences its composition. Here, we studied the consequences of an intensive antibiotic treatment, applied to sows and/or their offspring, on the piglets' nasal microbiota. Four pregnant sows were treated with crystalline ceftiofur and tulathromycin (CTsows) while two other sows received only crystalline ceftiofur (Csows). Sow treatments were performed at D-4 (four days pre-farrowing), D3, D10 and D17 for ceftiofur and D-3, D4 and D11 for tulathromycin. Half of the piglets born to CTsows were treated at D1 with ceftiofur. Nasal swabs were taken from piglets at 22-24 days of age and bacterial load and nasal microbiota composition were defined by 16 s rRNA gene qPCR and amplicon sequencing. Antibiotic treatment of sows reduced their nasal bacterial load, as well as in their offspring, indicating a reduced bacterial transmission from the dams. In addition, nasal microbiota composition of the piglets exhibited signs of dysbiosis, showing unusual taxa. The addition of tulathromycin to the ceftiofur treatment seemed to enhance the deleterious effect on the microbiota diversity by diminishing some bacteria commonly found in the piglets' nasal cavity, such as Glaesserella, Streptococcus, Prevotella, Staphylococcus and several members of the Ruminococcaceae and Lachnospiraceae families. On the other hand, the additional treatment of piglets with ceftiofur resulted in no further effect beyond the treatment of the sows. Altogether, these results suggest that intensive antibiotic treatments of sows, especially the double antibiotic treatment, disrupt the nasal microbiota of their offspring and highlight the importance of sow-to-piglet microbiota transmission.