Swine influenza-modified pulmonary microbiota

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Microbiology
• Animal Health
• Microbiome Research

Background:

• Influenza A virus (IAV) in pigs poses a significant public health risk due to potential pandemic reassortant strains.
• IAV infection can lead to secondary bacterial complications, impacting animal health and disease severity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate lung microbiota changes in pigs naturally infected with IAV.
• To characterize bacterial communities associated with IAV infection using advanced sequencing techniques.
• To identify microbial signatures predictive of IAV infection status in swine.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) long-read 16S rRNA sequencing for bacterial community analysis.
• Collected lung samples from IAV-infected and healthy pigs across Spain.
• Employed clustering analyses to differentiate microbial profiles based on infection status.

Main Results:

• IAV-infected pigs showed higher bacterial genus diversity compared to controls.
• Significant shifts in bacterial taxa abundance were observed, with increased prevalence of pathogens like Glaesserella spp., Pasteurella, Staphylococcus, Mycoplasma, and Fusobacterium.
• Distinct microbial profiles clearly separated infected from non-infected animals, revealing infection-predictive bacterial signatures.

Conclusions:

• IAV infection significantly disrupts the pulmonary microbiota in pigs, potentially fostering secondary bacterial infections.
• Microbiota alterations are crucial in understanding respiratory disease progression in swine.
• Developed a novel, rapid ONT sequencing pipeline for swine respiratory microbiota research and diagnostics.