Modern commercial pig production systems are currently facing several challenges like market prices volatility, high production and environmental costs. Responding to public demand and the legal ...requirements for improving the welfare standards is leading to further growth of the farming costs and lower profit margins for the pig industry. Due to its impact on key production performance indicators and on welfare, space allowance for nursery and finishing pigs has been the subject of extensive research over the past decades. However, space allowance per pig is just a relative approach, pen side ratio and shape being important as well as it interferes with the free movement and several behaviors expressed by pigs. This study is focused on the impact of pen shape by comparing implications of housing pigs in pens with different perimeter to area ratios at the same level of surface allowed per pig. Results are suggesting that the pen shape design might have an influence on the rearing performance indicators like average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) both in nursery and finishing stages. It seems as well that a welfare indicator, namely the recorded number of skin lesions, differ according to the pen shape, in the favor of pens with lower length to width ratio, even if the pig density per surface unit, feeding, ventilation and enrichment patterns are the same.
Improving sow productivity and welfare have been long-withstanding goals for the swine industry. Identifying novel traits and phenotypes to accomplish these objectives is needed. The objective of the ...current study was to determine if activity-based phenotypes collected by the NUtrack livestock monitoring system, NUtrack, could serve as early-life indicator traits for mothering ability in swine. The phenotypes collected included distance traveled, average velocity, angle rotated, time allocated to eating, lying lateral, lying sternal, standing, and sitting. The response variables selected in first parity females to model mothering ability were gestation length, number born alive, and number weaned. Simple linear regression models were generated to analyze the relationship between activity traits and reproductive measures. The results of this study indicate that select activity traits may be used to explain a portion of the variability in gilt reproductive performance. This information is foundational to informing future selection decisions pertaining to the use of activity traits in breeding programs. Early indicator traits for swine reproduction and longevity support economical selection decision-making. Activity is a key variable impacting a sow’s herd life and productivity. Early-life activities could contribute to farrowing traits including gestation length (GL), number born alive (NBA), and number weaned (NW). Beginning at 20 weeks of age, 480 gilts were video recorded for 7 consecutive days and processed using the NUtrack system. Activity traits included angle rotated (radians), average speed (m/s), distance traveled (m), time spent eating (s), lying lateral (s), lying sternal (s), standing (s), and sitting (s). Final daily activity values were averaged across the period under cameras. Parity one data were collected for all gilts considered. Data were analyzed using linear regression models (R version 4.0.2). GL was significantly impacted by angle rotated (p = 0.03), average speed (p = 0.07), distance traveled (p = 0.05), time spent lying lateral (p = 0.003), and lying sternal (0.02). NBA was significantly impacted by time spent lying lateral (p = 0.01), lying sternal (p = 0.07), and time spent sitting (p = 0.08). NW was significantly impacted by time spent eating (p = 0.09), time spent lying lateral (p = 0.04), and time spent sitting (p = 0.007). This analysis suggests early-life gilt activities are associated with sow productivity traits of importance. Further examination of the link between behaviors compiled utilizing NUtrack and reproductive traits is necessitated to further isolate behavioral differences for potential use in selection decisions.
In 2011, porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) infection rates rose substantially in vaccinated swine herds. To determine the distribution profile of PEDV outbreak strains, we sequenced the ...full-length spike gene from samples from 9 farms where animals exhibited severe diarrhea and mortality rates were high. Three new PEDV variants were identified.
Concentrated pig production is a major source of environmental pollution. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) show potential for reducing heavy metal pollution. Two zirconium-based octahedral MOFs, ...UiO-66 and UiO-66-NH.sub.2, were prepared by solvothermal method and were characterized by XRD, SEM, FT-IR, and BET. The adsorption capacity, treatability, and reusability of the adsorbents were tested in batch experiments. The optimum adsorbent dosage was 4 g/L, and the maximum removal rates at room temperature of chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), and Arsenic (As) on UiO-66 were 76.93%, 93.73%, 88.81%, 83.30%, and 86.11%, respectively. In the kinetic experiments, the adsorption process achieved equilibrium within 90 min and generally conformed to the quasi-second kinetics model. The results demonstrated that UiO-66 and UiO-66-NH.sub.2 can be used over a wide range of pH for removal of most HMs on a large scale. Meanwhile, the adsorbents maintained excellent adsorption capacity after at least 3 cycles. Overall, UiO-66 and UiO-66-NH.sub.2 have a high potential for practical application on the recovery of heavy metals in the complex wastewater from animal farms.
The introduction of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technology has spurred additional advancements in analyzing the cellular composition of tissues. The longissimus dorsi (LD) in pigs serves ...as the primary skeletal muscle for studying meat quality in the pig industry. However, the single-cell profile of porcine LD is still in its infancy stage. In this study, we profiled the transcriptomes of 16,018 cells in the LD of a newborn Suhuai pig at single-cell resolution. Subsequently, we constructed a cellular atlas of the LD, identifying 11 distinct cell populations, including endothelial cells (24.39%), myotubes (18.82%), fibro-adipogenic progenitors (FAPs, 18.11%), satellite cells (16.74%), myoblasts (3.99%), myocytes (5.74%), Schwann cells (3.81%), smooth muscle cells (3.22%), dendritic cells (2.99%), pericytes (1.86%), and neutrophils (0.33%). CellChat was employed to deduce the cell–cell interactions by evaluating the gene expression of receptor–ligand pairs across different cell types. The results show that FAPs and pericytes are the primary signal contributors in LD. In addition, we delineated the developmental trajectory of myogenic cells and examined alterations in the expression of various marker genes and molecular events throughout various stages of differentiation. Moreover, we found that FAPs can be divided into three subclusters (NR2F2-FAPs, LPL-FAPs, and TNMD-FAPs) according to their biological functions, suggesting that the FAPs could be associated with the differentiation of tendon cell. Taken together, we constructed the cellular atlas and cell communication network in LD of a newborn Suhuai pig, and analyzed the developmental trajectory of myogenic cells and the heterogeneity of FAPs subpopulation cells. This enhances our comprehension of the molecular features involved in skeletal muscle development and the meat quality control in pigs.
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is a serious infectious disease and one of the major causes of death in the global pig industry. PRRS virus (PRRSV) strains have complex and ...diverse genetic characteristics and cross-protection between strains is low, which complicates vaccine selection; thus, the current vaccination strategy has been greatly compromised. Therefore, it is necessary to identify effective natural compounds for the clinical treatment of PRRS. A small molecule library composed of 720 natural compounds was screened in vitro, and we found that Sanggenon C (SC) was amongst the most effective natural compound inhibitors of PRRSV infection. Compared with ribavirin, SC more significantly inhibited PRRSV infection at both the gene and protein levels and reduced the viral titres and levels of protein expression and inflammatory cytokine secretion to more effectively protect cells from PRRSV infection and damage. Mechanistically, SC inhibits activation of the NF-κB signalling pathway by promoting TRAF2 expression, thereby reducing PRRSV replication. In conclusion, by screening natural compounds, we found that SC suppresses PRRSV infection by regulating the TRAF2/NF-κB signalling pathway. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the therapeutic targets and pathogenesis of PRRSV infection. More importantly, our results demonstrate that SC has potential as a candidate for the treatment of PRRS. Keywords: PRRSV, natural compounds, Sanggenon C, TRAF2, NF-κB
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