The effect of chlortetracycline on faecal microbial populations in growing swine

The effect of antimicrobial use on the gastrointestinal microbiota of food animals is of increasing concern as bacteria accumulate resistance to multiple antimicrobials. Only a small fraction of the gastrointestinal microbiome is culturable, complicating characterisation of the swine gastrointestinal ecosystem. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of a growth promotion dose (50 g/ton) of chlortetracycline on the phylogenetic diversity of bacteria from swine faeces using a culture-independent method. Four freshly weaned pigs were provided a grower ration of primarily corn (63.7%) and soybean meal (25.2%) for 21 days; on Day 21 for 4 weeks the diet of two pigs was medicated with 50 g/ton chlortetracycline. Faecal material was collected from each pig on Days 0, 14, 23, 28, 35, 42 and 49 for 454-pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. UniFrac analysis of pyrosequencing data showed no significant difference in bacterial diversity based on diet and among pigs (P > 0.05) fed the low-level dose of chlortetracycline. The most abundant phyla in both treatment groups were Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria and Spirochaetes. Higher concentrations of chlortetracycline (e.g. 200 g/ton or 400 g/ton) may be required to observe a shift in the gastrointestinal flora in swine faeces compared with the low-level dose in this study. Studies of broader scope are needed to understand thoroughly how growth-promoting antimicrobials influence the gut microflora and benefit food animal growth efficiency.