Estimating the contribution of the porcine fecal core microbiota to metabolite production via mathematical modeling and in vitro fermentation.

experimentations aiming to explore the core microbiota dynamics are technically demanding, expensive, or restricted by ethical considerations. Modeling approaches can be used as an initial exploratory tool to develop hypotheses for targeted experimentation. Our mathematical model provides initial information on the microbial and metabolite dynamics of the core microbiota in relation to diet and therapeutic intervention.