Division mechanism of labor in Diqing Tibetan Pigs gut microbiota for dietary fiber efficiently utilization

The Diqing Tibetan (TP) pig is an roughage tolerance breed that inhabits an area with the highest altitude distribution in the world and can be maintained on a diet containing 90 % forage material in confined production systems. Our results showed that TP pigs had a strong capability for high-efficiency utilization of arabinose and xylose. Metagenomic analysis revealed that the secretion of carbohydrate esterases was mainly undertaken by fecal strains of Microbacterium, Alistipes, Acinetobacter, and Faecalibacterium, while Microbacterium, Prevotella, Turicibacter, Lactobacillus, Clostridium, and Streptococcus were responsible for most of the secretion of glycoside hydrolases. Then, a brand new species, which was named Microbacterium sp. Qiao 01 was captured and appeared to have the highest fiber utilization ability in vitro, degrading 36.54 % of the neutral detergent fiber in corn stover. Our results provide strong evidence that efficient utilization of dietary fiber by TP pigs is due to the emergence of highly specialized microbial strategies in the gut. Microorganisms showed preferences and a clear division of labor in the degradation process of dietary fiber. This study has great practical significance for improving the utilization efficiency of livestock feed and alleviating the tension of food insecurity.