THE ROLE OF DIETARY STARCH AND NON-STARCH POLYSACCHARIDE IN SWINE PERFORMANCE AND NUTRIENT RECEPTORS GENE EXPRESSION

The present work has been divided into two parts. At first, research projects attempt to evaluate technologies that increase digestibility of energy and other nutrients in cereal grains and their co-products. Differences in starch digestibility have been attributed to various factors, including the the type of corn endosperm, the presence of proteins and prolamins, the presence of lipids, the amylose-amylopectin ratio, the starch granule structure, the particle size, the conservation and processing methods. Second part of my work was dedicated to investigate the sensors of diet compounds which could be considered as potential markers to monitor nutrition status of organism. Activation of these receptors is believed to influence the hunger-satiety cycle, and their expression levels may be altered by dietary composition. Thus, the aim was to investigate for the first time the effect of arabinoxylans (AX) and β-glucans (BG) on the relative level of expression of carbohydrates, amino and fatty acid nutrient sensors genes in porcine oral and non-oral tissues.The present work has been divided into two parts. At first, research projects attempt to evaluate technologies that increase digestibility of energy and other nutrients in cereal grains and their co-products. Differences in starch digestibility have been attributed to various factors, including the the type of corn endosperm, the presence of proteins and prolamins, the presence of lipids, the amylose-amylopectin ratio, the starch granule structure, the particle size, the conservation and processing methods. Second part of my work was dedicated to investigate the sensors of diet compounds which could be considered as potential markers to monitor nutrition status of organism. Activation of these receptors is believed to influence the hunger-satiety cycle, and their expression levels may be altered by dietary composition. Thus, the aim was to investigate for the first time the effect of arabinoxylans (AX) and β-glucans (BG) on the relative level of expression of carbohydrates, amino and fatty acid nutrient sensors genes in porcine oral and non-oral tissues

Whole mitochondrial genomes unveil the impact of domestication on goat matrilineal variability

Background: The current extensive use of the domestic goat (Capra hircus) is the result of its medium size and high adaptability as multiple breeds. The extent to which its genetic variability was influenced by early domestication practices is largely unknown. A common standard by which to analyze maternally-inherited variability of livestock species is through complete sequencing of the entire mitogenome (mitochondrial DNA, mtDNA). Results: We present the first extensive survey of goat mitogenomic variability based on 84 complete sequences selected from an initial collection of 758 samples that represent 60 different breeds of C. hircus, as well as its wild sister species, bezoar (Capra aegagrus) from Iran. Our phylogenetic analyses dated the most recent common ancestor of C. hircus to ~460,000 years (ka) ago and identified five distinctive domestic haplogroups (A, B1, C1a, D1 and G). More than 90 % of goats examined were in haplogroup A. These domestic lineages are predominantly nested within C. aegagrus branches, diverged concomitantly at the interface between the Epipaleolithic and early Neolithic periods, and underwent a dramatic expansion starting from ~12–10 ka ago. Conclusions: Domestic goat mitogenomes descended from a small number of founding haplotypes that underwent domestication after surviving the last glacial maximum in the Near Eastern refuges. All modern haplotypes A probably descended from a single (or at most a few closely related) female C. aegagrus. Zooarchaelogical data indicate that domestication first occurred in Southeastern Anatolia. Goats accompanying the first Neolithic migration waves into the Mediterranean were already characterized by two ancestral A and C variants. The ancient separation of the C branch (~130 ka ago) suggests a genetically distinct population that could have been involved in a second event of domestication. The novel diagnostic mutational motifs defined here, which distinguish wild and domestic haplogroups, could be used to understand phylogenetic relationships among modern breeds and ancient remains and to evaluate whether selection differentially affected mitochondrial genome variants during the development of economically important breeds

Use of Monocereal diets based on barley in heavy pigs: the effects on performance

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Addition of nonstarch polysaccharides degrading enzymes to two hulless barley varieties fed in diets for weaned pigs

A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of 2 hulless barley varieties, with or without the addition of a nonstarch polysaccharide (NSP) enzyme complex (β-glucanase and xylanase), on growth performance of weaned piglets in a 42-d feeding study. The study was conducted with 140 piglets (PIC × Duroc). Pigs were allocated to pens (4 castrated males or 4 females per pen) based on BW and sex, and pens were assigned to 5 experimental diets with 4 pens of castrated males and 3 pens of females per treatment. Five isonitrogenous and isoenergetic diets were compared: 1) control corn-based diet (CTR), 2) diet with corn and wheat bran replaced by the Astartis hulless barley variety (AS), 3) diet with corn and wheat bran replaced by the AS supplemented with the NSP enzyme complex (ASE), 4) diet with corn and wheat bran replaced by the Alamo hulless barley variety (AL), and 5) diet with corn and wheat bran replaced by the AL supplemented with the NSP enzyme complex (ALE). The diets were formulated to meet or exceed nutrient requirements and offered in 2 phases: d 0 to 14 and d 14 to 42. At the end of the study, pigs fed AS and AL had equal weights as pigs fed CTR. Pigs fed the hulless barley diets had greater (P < 0.05) ADG during the second phase (P2) and overall phase, BW at d 42, and G:F during the P2 than those fed the CTR. Pigs fed the ASE and ALE had greater (P < 0.05) ADFI during the P2 and overall ADG than those fed the AS and AL. The increases in ADG during the P2 and final BW obtained with NSP enzyme supplementation were greater in pigs fed the AS than those fed the AL (barley × enzyme, P < 0.05). On the other hand, the NSP enzyme complex increased G:F in pigs fed the AS during the P2 and overall phase, but it had no effect on those fed the AL (barley × enzyme, P < 0.05). In conclusion, hulless barley with or without the NSP enzyme complex can be a replacement ingredient for corn and wheat bran in weaned pig diets. Addition of the NSP enzyme complex to AS variety, but not AL variety, improved growth performance of weanling pigs

Gut response induced by weaning in piglet features marked changes in immune and inflammatory response

At weaning, piglets are exposed to many stressors, such as separation from the sow, mixing with other litters, end of lactational immunity, and a change in their environment and gut microbiota. The sudden change of feeding regime after weaning causes morphological and histological changes in the small intestine which are critical for the immature digestive system. Sixteen female piglets were studied to assess the effect of sorbic acid supplementation on the small intestine tissue transcriptome. At weaning day (T0, piglet age 28 days), four piglets were sacrificed and ileal tissue samples collected. The remaining 12 piglets were weighed and randomly assigned to different postweaning (T5, piglet age 33 days) diets. Diet A (n = 6) contained 5 g/kg of sorbic acid. In diet B (n = 6), the organic acids were replaced by barley flour. Total RNA was isolated and then hybridized to CombiMatrix CustomArray™ 90-K platform microarrays, screening about 30 K genes. Even though diet had no detectable effect on the transcriptome during the first 5 days after weaning, results highlighted some of the response mechanisms to the stress of weaning occurring in the piglet gut. A total of 205 differentially expressed genes were used for functional analysis using the bioinformatics tools BLAST2GO, Ingenuity Pathway Analysis 8.0, and Dynamic Impact Approach (DIA). Bioinformatic analysis revealed that apoptosis, RIG-I-like, and NOD-like receptor signaling were altered as a result of weaning. Interferons and caspases gene families were the most activated after weaning in response to piglets to multiple stressors. Results suggest that immune and inflammatory responses were activated and likely are a cause of small intestine atrophy as revealed by a decrease in villus height and villus/crypt ratio

Additional file 2: of Whole mitochondrial genomes unveil the impact of domestication on goat matrilineal variability

Table S5. Goat haplogroup frequencies based on modern and ancient control-region mtDNA data from this study and downloaded from GenBanka. Table S6. Diagnostic mutational motifs of goat mtDNA haplogroups and sub-haplogroups. Table S7. A comparison of the phylogeographic features of goat, taurine and horse mtDNA haplogroups identified by analyzing domestic breeds from Eurasia. Table S8. Oligonucleotides used to amplify and to sequence (Sanger method) the goat mitochondrial genome. (PDF 652 kb

Additional file 2: of Whole mitochondrial genomes unveil the impact of domestication on goat matrilineal variability

Table S5. Goat haplogroup frequencies based on modern and ancient control-region mtDNA data from this study and downloaded from GenBanka. Table S6. Diagnostic mutational motifs of goat mtDNA haplogroups and sub-haplogroups. Table S7. A comparison of the phylogeographic features of goat, taurine and horse mtDNA haplogroups identified by analyzing domestic breeds from Eurasia. Table S8. Oligonucleotides used to amplify and to sequence (Sanger method) the goat mitochondrial genome. (PDF 652Â kb