Porcine Feed Efficiency-Associated Intestinal Microbiota and Physiological Traits: Finding Consistent Cross-Locational Biomarkers for Residual Feed Intake.

ABSTRACT: Optimal feed efficiency (FE) in pigs is important for economic and environmental reasons. Previous research identified FE-associated bacterial taxa within the intestinal microbiota of growing pigs. This study investigated whether FE-associated bacteria and selected FE-associated physiological traits were consistent across geographic locations (Republic of Ireland [ROI] [two batches of pigs, ROI1 and ROI2], Northern Ireland [NI], and Austria [AT]), where differences in genetic, dietary, and management factors were minimized. Pigs (n = 369) were ranked, within litter, on divergence in residual feed intake (RFI), and 100 extremes were selected (50 with high RFI and 50 with low RFI) across geographic locations for intestinal microbiota analysis using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and exa

SUBMITTER: McCormack UM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6581691 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature