Divergent selection for feed efficiency in pigs altered the duodenum transcriptomic response to feed intake and its DNA methylation profiles.

Feed efficiency is a trait of interest in pigs as it contributes to lowering the ecological and economical costs of pig production. A divergent genetic selection experiment from a Large White pig population was performed for 10 generations, leading to pig lines with relatively low- (LRFI) and high- (HRFI) residual feed intake (RFI). Feeding behavior and metabolic differences have been previously reported between the two lines.

Disruption of the primocolonizing microbiota alters epithelial homeostasis and imprints stem cells in the colon of neonatal piglets.

The gut microbiota plays a key role in the postnatal development of the intestinal epithelium. However, the bacterial members of the primocolonizing microbiota driving these effects are not fully identified and the mechanisms underlying their long-term influence on epithelial homeostasis remain poorly described. Here, we used a model of newborn piglets treated during the first week of life with the antibiotic colistin in order to deplete specific gram-negative bacteria that are transiently dominant in the neonatal gut microbiota.

Whole-genome sequencing of cryopreserved resources from French Large White pigs at two distinct sampling times reveals strong signatures of convergent and divergent selection between the dam and sire lines.

Background: Numerous genomic scans for positive selection have been performed in livestock species within the last decade, but often a detailed characterization of the detected regions (gene or trait under selection, timing of selection events) is lacking. Cryopreserved resources stored in reproductive or DNA gene banks offer a great opportunity to improve this characterization by providing direct access to recent allele frequency dynamics, thereby differentiating between signatures from recent breeding objectives and those related to more ancient selection constraints. Improved characterization can also be achieved by using next-generation sequencing data, which helps narrowing the size of the detected regions while reducing the number of associated candidate genes.

The phenotype of the gut region is more stably retained than developmental stage in piglet intestinal organoids.

Intestinal organoids are innovative tools to study the digestive epithelium. The objective of this study was to generate jejunum and colon organoids from suckling and weaned piglets in order to determine the extent to which organoids retain a location-specific and a developmental stage-specific phenotype. Organoids were studied at three time points by gene expression profiling for comparison with the transcriptomic patterns observed in crypts .

Finishing season and feeding resources influence the quality of products from extensive-system Gascon pigs. Part 1: Carcass traits and quality of fresh loin.

Consumers perceive pork products from local breeds reared in extensive systems positively because of their specific quality properties and regional identity. The sensory, nutritional and technological qualities of these products depend, among other things, on pig production, especially its climatic conditions and the availability of feed resources, which can influence traits of muscle and fat tissue. The present study (part 1) was part of a larger project that assessed the influence of the finishing season and feeding resources on carcass and tissue traits and the quality of meat and dry-cured ham from Gascon pigs in an extensive system.