The lymphocytes phagocytic capacity (quantified as mean fluorescence) and the total number of monocytes in blood were the traits associated with the largest number of taxa (6 taxa)

The lymphocytes phagocytic capacity (quantified as mean fluorescence) and the total number of monocytes in blood were the traits associated with the largest number of taxa (6 taxa). achieve this goal, we undertook a combination of network, mixed model and microbial-wide association studies (MWAS) for 21 immunity traits and the relative abundance Clofarabine of gut bacterial communities in 389 pigs genotyped for 70K SNPs. The heritability (h2; proportion of phenotypic variance explained by the host genetics) and microbiability (m2; proportion of variance explained by the microbial composition) showed similar values for most of the analyzed immunity traits, except for both IgM and IgG in plasma that was dominated by the host genetics, and the haptoglobin in serum which was the trait with larger m2 (0.275) compared to h2 (0.138). Results from the MWAS suggested a polymicrobial nature of the immunocompetence in pigs and revealed associations between pigs gut microbiota composition and 15 LHCGR of the analyzed traits. The lymphocytes phagocytic capacity (quantified as mean fluorescence) and the total number of monocytes in blood were the traits associated with the largest number of taxa (6 taxa). Among the associations identified by MWAS, 30% were confirmed by an information theory network approach. The strongest confirmed associations were between and phagocytic capacity of lymphocytes (r?=?0.37), followed by correlations between and the percentage of phagocytic lymphocytes (r?=?-0.34) and between and serum concentration of haptoglobin (r?=?0.26). In the interaction network, and percentage of phagocytic lymphocytes were the keystone bacterial and immune-trait, respectively. Conclusions Overall, our findings reveal an important connection between gut microbiota composition and immunity traits in pigs, and highlight the need to consider both sources of information, host genome and microbial levels, to accurately characterize immunocompetence in pigs. Supplementary Information Clofarabine The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s42523-021-00138-9. Background The pig industry has a considerable socio-economical value representing around 35% of the total meat produced worldwide [1] and being the most popular meat for consumption [2]. The intensification of pig production coupled with the ban on in-feed use of antibiotics has led to a deterioration of the health status of pig farms. In addition, the current emergence of antibiotic resistance and society demands for healthier products and environmentally responsible livestock systems, has motivated to explore relevant approaches for pig and other livestock breeding programs, to improve robustness and disease resistance [3]. The implementation of breeding programs to select animals according to their robustness presents several challenges and levels of complexity. One of the most relevant milestones is the identification of selection criteria that combine functional traits with those of immunocompetence. These complex traits are driven by several physiological and behavioral mechanisms that in turn are determined by genetic and environmental factors. Regarding the genetic determinism of immunocompetence, several studies in pigs acknowledged medium to high heritability estimates [4C9] and reported genomic regions and candidate genes associated with phenotypic variation of health-related traits [9C15]. Over the past few years, multiple studies highlighted the relevant role of the gut microbiota composition in the homeostasis and function of the mammalian immune system [16C19]. Gut microbiota can regulate host-immunity through both direct mechanisms like translocation of bacteria and their components (i.e., metabolites) or mediate indirect process such as T-cell polarization and the regulation of immune cell trafficking [18]. Commensal gut populations modulate host’s immune responses, which in turn can modify the microbiota composition to maintain gut homeostasis [20, 21]. Recently, polymorphisms in immune genes associated with the abundance of microbial communities have been reported [22C25]. Furthermore, it has been suggested that the pattern recognition receptors, which are proteins capable of recognizing molecules frequently associated with pathogens, may have evolved to Clofarabine mediate the bidirectional crosstalk between microbial symbionts and their hosts [26]. This has resulted in a mutualistic and symbiotic partnership between the immune system and these commensal microorganisms [27]. Therefore,.