Abstract
The gut microbiota plays a vital role in host reproduction, yet its contribution to semen quality in boars remains unclear. In this study, we analyzed 556 boars from three commercial breeds and identified Muribaculaceae as a key microbial taxon positively associated with sperm quality, with the effect mediated by short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). This association was validated in Yorkshire boars with extreme semen phenotypes. Fecal microbiota transplantation in mice confirmed that enrichment of Muribaculaceae improved semen quality, likely through enhanced SCFA production and reduced inflammation in the gut and reproductive tract. Furthermore, in vitro fermentation and mouse experiments demonstrated that a designed functional fiber selectively promoted Muribaculaceae, increased SCFA levels, and improved sperm quality. These findings suggest a functionally supported and potentially translational association between gut microbiota and boar fertility, suggesting that targeted dietary modulation of Muribaculaceae may represent a novel strategy to enhance reproductive performance in livestock.
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Data availability
Boar fecal 16S rRNA gene sequencing data are available from the Sequence Read Archive under accession number PRJNA1007937. Mouse fecal 16S rRNA gene sequencing data are available from the Genome Sequence Archive under accession number CRA028648.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the China Agriculture Research System (CARS-35), the Key Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32430099), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2662023DKPY002). We acknowledge Yangxiang Joint Stock Company members for their assistance in the phenotype collection and sampling.
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J.P. conceived and designed the experiments and wrote and revised the manuscript. H.K.W. designed the experiments and revised the manuscript. L.L.G. performed the experiments, collected the samples, analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscript. X.Q.P. conducted the mouse experiments, collected samples and performed the tests. J.J.T. and H.Q.S. collected the samples. S.W.J. analyzed the data. All the authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
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Guo, L., Pei, X., Tan, J. et al. From association to intervention: Muribaculaceae driven SCFAs production enhances boar semen quality via inflammation alleviation. npj Biofilms Microbiomes (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41522-026-00933-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41522-026-00933-9
