Abstract: Pig gut microbiota is an assembly of a large number of bacteria, viruses, fungi and archaea that colonize in the intestine of pigs. Previous studies have shown that many diseases and important economical traits of pigs are related to gut microbiota. Currently, 16S rRNA gene sequencing and shotgun metagenomic sequencing are the most commonly used approaches in the research of gut microbiota. However, the actual function capacities and physiological characterizations of gut bacterial strains can’t be fully illustrated by these sequencing technologies. The isolation and culture of gut bacteria are of special importance. In recent years, significant progress has been made in the area of cultivation of gut bacteria. Based on the diversity cultivation conditions, more and more gut bacterial strains can be isolated and cultured, which has significantly promoted the research and application of gut microbiota at the strain level. In this paper, we review and prospect the composition and structure of pig gut microbiota, the development of culturomics of gut microbiota, and the current status of pig gut bacterial culturomics, which will provide references for the subsequent studies on the function capacities of bacterial strains and the mechanism of gut bacteria affecting host phenotypes.

Key words: pig, gut bacteria, culturomics, progress