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Analysis of Wild Boar Faeces Identified 538 Previously Unknown Microbial Species

Young wild boar sow standing in a forest clearing in Germany
Research: Disease, parasites & microbiology, Genetics & genomics

A metagenomic study of wild boar (Sus scrofa) faeces uncovered a large amount of previously unrepresented microbial diversity. Researchers analysed 89 samples collected in India, Italy, Japan and Singapore and reconstructed 3,288 high- and medium-quality metagenome-assembled genomes. These are genomes pieced together directly from the mixed DNA of all microorganisms in a sample, without first culturing each organism separately. After grouping closely related genomes at a species-level threshold, the material represented 968 distinct microbial species, 538 of which were considered previously unknown because they lacked a matching reference genome.

The new wild-boar data were then compared with 125 previously published faecal microbiomes, including samples from both wild boar and domestic pigs. Across the combined set of 214 samples, the researchers identified two major microbial community types. One contained 81% samples from free-ranging, foraging wild boar, while 93% of the other community type consisted of samples from captive, fed domestic pigs. The authors found that these community patterns were associated more strongly with diet and lifestyle than with whether the host was a wild boar or domestic pig. The wild-boar-dominated community also had lower within-sample microbial diversity, which the authors suggest may reflect highly variable food resources and environmental conditions favouring fewer resilient or adaptable taxa.

Wild boar and pig microbiomes differed in carbohydrate functions

The two community types also differed in how carbohydrate-degrading functions were distributed. The community associated mainly with captive, fed pigs had a higher relative abundance of carbohydrate-active enzyme genes linked to a broader range of carbohydrate classes. The wild-boar-dominated community, however, contained individual microbial species that were generally richer in these genes and in the range of carbohydrate classes they could potentially use.

From both community types, the researchers compiled a catalogue of carbohydrate degraders and identified 47 particularly versatile microbial species, including several of the previously unknown species. They conclude that the wild-boar faecal microbiome contains substantial microbial diversity that has been poorly represented in existing reference databases, while the broader comparison indicates that diet and lifestyle are major factors structuring the faecal microbiome across wild and domesticated Sus.

Sources and image credit

  1. Heng, Y. C., Chua, J. H. X., Silvaraju, S., Fan, H., Low, A., Lim, A. C. H., Chen, B., Mane, L., Dagar, S. S., Fliegerova, K., Moniello, G., Ikeda-Ohtsubo, W., Okuda, K., Seedorf, H., Lim, K. J., & Kittelmann, S. (2026). Metagenomic insights into the global wild boar faecal microbiome reveal novel taxa and carbohydrate degraders distinguishing wild and domesticated Sus. Microbiome, 14, 142.Primary peer-reviewed study, published 2 April 2026. Metagenomic sequencing of 89 wild-boar faecal samples yielded 3,288 high- and medium-quality MAGs representing 968 species-level genome bins, including 538 without reference-genome matches.

Image: Galanalag — young wild boar sow at a watering hole in Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park, Germany, photographed 13 April 2020; representative species image. Source: Wikimedia Commons. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

About this content: This story was produced with AI assistance within an editorial workflow developed by Wildlife Vagabond. Editorial responsibility remains with Wildlife Vagabond.How AI is used

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