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Heat stress affects pig metabolism, health and welfare, resulting in reduced growth and important economic losses. The present experiment aimed to evaluate the effects of two climatic environments [temperate (TEMP) vs. tropical humid (TROP)] on feeding behaviour in growing pigs. The feeding behaviour traits were measured with automated feeders and included: daily feed intake, daily eating time, feeding rate, daily number of meals, feed intake per meal, and feeding time per meal. Pigs came from a backcross population between Large White (LW, heat sensitive) and Creole (CR, heat tolerant) pigs. The same 10 F1 LW × CR boars (sire families [SF]) were mated with related LW sows in each environment. Feeding behaviour was recorded for a total of 1,296 pigs (n = 634 pigs for TEMP and n = 662 pigs for TROP) between 11 and 23 weeks of age. Growth performance and thermoregulatory responses (rectal and skin temperatures) were also measured. Results show that TROP conditions affect feeding behaviour traits: animals had more meals per day but these meals were smaller both in duration and in size, resulting in lower daily feed intake and less time eating per day. Significant SF by environment (GxE) interactions were found for all feeding behaviour traits. When SF were distributed into robust and sensitive groups (previously defined according to performance and thermoregulatory traits), results showed group by environment interactions for all feeding traits, except meal frequency. Moreover, a significant difference in feeding rate between robust and sensitive group was detected in TEMP, suggesting that feeding rate may be a good candidate to evaluate heat tolerance., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Feed efficiency is a major driver of the sustainability of pig production systems. Understanding the biological mechanisms that underlie these agronomic traits is an important issue for environment questions and farms' economy. This study aimed at identifying genomic regions that affect residual feed intake (RFI) and other production traits in two pig lines divergently selected for RFI during nine generations (LRFI, low RFI; HRFI, high RFI)., Results: We built a whole dataset of 570,447 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 2426 pigs with records for 24 production traits after both imputation and prediction of genotypes using pedigree information. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) were performed including both lines (global-GWAS) or each line independently (LRFI-GWAS and HRFI-GWAS). Forty-five chromosomal regions were detected in the global-GWAS, whereas 28 and 42 regions were detected in the HRFI-GWAS and LRFI-GWAS, respectively. Among these 45 regions, only 13 were shared between at least two analyses, and only one was common between the three GWAS but it affects different traits. Among the five quantitative trait loci (QTL) detected for RFI, two were close to QTL for meat quality traits and two pinpointed novel genomic regions that harbor candidate genes involved in cell proliferation and differentiation processes of gastrointestinal tissues or in lipid metabolism-related signaling pathways. In most cases, different QTL regions were detected between the three designs, which suggests a strong impact of the dataset structure on the detection power and could be due to the changes in allelic frequencies during the establishment of lines., Conclusions: In addition to efficiently detecting known and new QTL regions for feed efficiency, the combination of GWAS carried out per line or simultaneously using all individuals highlighted chromosomal regions that affect production traits and presented significant changes in allelic frequencies across generations. Further analyses are needed to estimate whether these regions correspond to traces of selection or result from genetic drift.

Background: The impact of individual genetic and genomic variations on immune responses is an emerging lever investigated in vaccination strategies. In our study, we used genetic and pre-vaccination blood transcriptomic data to study vaccine effectiveness in pigs., Results: A cohort of 182 Large White pigs was vaccinated against Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (M. hyo) at weaning (28 days of age), with a booster 21 days later. Vaccine response was assessed by measuring seric M. hyo antibodies (Ab) at 0 (vaccination day), 21 (booster day), 28, 35, and 118 days post-vaccination (dpv). Inter-individual variability of M. hyo Ab levels was observed at all time points and the corresponding heritabilities ranged from 0.46 to 0.57. Ab persistence was higher in females than in males. Genome-wide association studies with a 658 K SNP panel revealed two genomic regions associated with variations of M. hyo Ab levels at 21 dpv at positions where immunity-related genes have been mapped, DAB2IP on chromosome 1, and ASAP1, CYRIB and GSDMC on chromosome 4. We studied covariations of Ab responses with the pre-vaccination blood transcriptome obtained by RNA-Seq for a subset of 82 pigs. Weighted gene correlation network and differential expression analyses between pigs that differed in Ab responses highlighted biological functions that were enriched in heme biosynthesis and platelet activation for low response at 21 dpv, innate antiviral immunity and dendritic cells for high response at 28 and 35 dpv, and cell adhesion and extracellular matrix for high response at 118 dpv. Sparse partial least squares discriminant analysis identified 101 genes that efficiently predicted divergent responders at all time points. We found weak negative correlations of M. hyo Ab levels with body weight traits, which revealed a trade-off that needs to be further explored., Conclusions: We confirmed the influence of the host genetics on vaccine effectiveness to M. hyo and provided evidence that the pre-vaccination blood transcriptome co-varies with the Ab response. Our results highlight that both genetic markers and blood biomarkers could be used as potential predictors of vaccine response levels and more studies are required to assess whether they can be exploited in breeding programs.

The present study aimed at investigating the impact of heat challenges on gut microbiota composition in growing pigs and its relationship with pigs' performance and thermoregulation responses. From a total of 10 F1 sire families, 558 and 564 backcross Large White × Créole pigs were raised and phenotyped from 11 to 23 wk of age in temperate (TEMP) and in tropical (TROP) climates, respectively. In TEMP, all pigs were subjected to an acute heat challenge (3 wk at 29 °C) from 23 to 26 wk of age. Feces samples were collected at 23 wk of age both in TEMP and TROP climate (TEMP23 and TROP23 samples, respectively) and at 26 wk of age in TEMP climate (TEMP26 samples) for 16S rRNA analyses of fecal microbiota composition. The fecal microbiota composition significantly differed between the 3 environments. Using a generalized linear model on microbiota composition, 182 operational taxonomic units (OTU) and 2 pathways were differentially abundant between TEMP23 and TEMP26, and 1,296 OTU and 20 pathways between TEMP23 and TROP23. Using fecal samples collected at 23 wk of age, pigs raised under the 2 climates were discriminated with 36 OTU using a sparse partial least square discriminant analysis that had a mean classification error-rate of 1.7%. In contrast, pigs in TEMP before the acute heat challenge could be discriminated from the pigs in TEMP after the heat challenge with 32 OTU and 9.3% error rate. The microbiota can be used as biomarker of heat stress exposition. Microbiota composition revealed that pigs were separated into 2 enterotypes. The enterotypes were represented in both climates. Whatever the climate, animals belonging to the Turicibacter-Sarcina-Clostridium sensu stricto dominated enterotype were 3.3 kg heavier (P < 0.05) at 11 wk of age than those belonging to the Lactobacillus-dominated enterotype. This latter enterotype was related to a 0.3 °C lower skin temperature (P < 0.05) at 23 wk of age. Following the acute heat challenge in TEMP, this enterotype had a less-stable rectal temperature (0.34 vs. 0.25 °C variation between weeks 23 and 24, P < 0.05) without affecting growth performance (P > 0.05). Instability of the enterotypes was observed in 34% of the pigs, switching from an enterotype to another between 23 and 26 wk of age after heat stress. Despite a lower microbial diversity, the Turicibacter-Sarcina-Clostridium sensu stricto dominated enterotype was better adapted to heat stress conditions with lower thermoregulation variations., (© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society of Animal Science.)

Heat stress affects pig health, welfare, and production, and thus the economic viability of the pig sector in many countries. Breeding for heat tolerance is a complex issue, increasingly important due to climate change and the development of pig production in tropical areas. Characterizing genetic determinism of heat tolerance would help building selection schemes dedicated to high performance in tropical areas. The main objective of our study was to estimate the genetic parameters for production and thermoregulation traits in two highly related growing pig populations reared in temperate (TEMP) or tropical humid (TROP) environment. Pigs came from a backcross population between Large White (LW, heat sensitive) and Creole (CR, heat tolerant) pigs. Phenotypic data were obtained on a total of 1,297 pigs using the same procedures in both environments, for body weight (BW, at weeks 11 and 23), daily feed intake (ADFI), backfat thickness (BFT, at weeks 19 and 23), cutaneous temperature (CT, at weeks 19 and 23), and rectal temperature (RT, at weeks 19, 21, and 23). Feed conversion ratio (FCR) and residual feed intake (RFI) were computed for the whole test period (11 to 23 wk). Criteria comparing the fits to the data revealed genotype × environment (G × E) interactions for most traits but not for FCR. The variance components were obtained using two different methods, a restricted maximum likelihood method and a Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo method, considering that traits are either similar or different in each environment. Regardless of the method, heritability estimates for production traits were moderate to high, except for FCR (lower than 0.18). Heritability estimates for RT were low to moderate, ranging from 0.04 to 0.34. The genetic correlations of each trait between environments generally differed from 1, except for FCR and ADG. For most thermoregulation traits, they also did not differ significantly from zero, suggesting that the main genetic bases of heat tolerance may vary in different environment. Within environments, the unfavorable genetic correlations between production traits and RT suggest an antagonism between the ability to maintain inner temperature and the ability to increase ADFI and ADG. However, greater RT were also associated to leaner pigs and better feed efficiency. Nevertheless, due to large inaccuracies of these estimations, larger cohorts would be needed to decide about the best breeding schemes to choose for tropical pig production., (© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society of Animal Science. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Weaning is a stress every piglet has to face. It is a main cause of antibiotic uses due to digestive disorders. In this study, response to weaning was analyzed in pigs from two lines divergently selected for residual feed intake (RFI) during growth. A total of 132 pigs from each line, housed per line and diet in conventional postweaning units of 12 castrated males and 12 females, were fed either a conventional control (two successive diets) or a complex (three successive diets) dietary sequence during the postweaning period (4 to 10 wk of age). BWs were recorded at weaning (days 0 and 28 of age), days 1, 2, 6, 12, 19, 26, and 42 (10 wk of age), and at 23 wk of age. Feces texture was examined before weaning (day -1), at day 1, 2, 6, 12, and 19. Feed intake was recorded at pen level from days 0 to 42 after weaning, and individually thereafter. Plasma was collected after blood samplings at days -1, 6, 19, and 42 on half of the piglets: all piglets of a given sex in each pen were sampled, to achieve a balanced number across factors. Pigs of the low RFI (LRFI) line were heavier at weaning, had greater glucose concentration, and lower levels of diarrhea at days 1 and 2 than pigs from the high RFI (HRFI) line (P < 0.01). At day 42, there was no BW difference between lines, and G:F ratio did not differ between lines (P = 0.40). The LRFI pigs had lower feed intake and growth rate from day 0 to day 19 (P < 0.005), and greater plasma concentration of non-esterified fatty acid (P < 0.001), indicating an increased mobilization of body lipids and proteins immediately after weaning compared with HRFI pigs. They also had greater levels of diarrhea at day 6 (22% for LRFI vs. 14% for HRFI, P = 0.002), but the concentration of plasma haptoglobin did not indicate acute inflammation. The complex diet sequence improved feed intake and growth, and reduced diarrhea, mainly in the LRFI line (P < 0.001). To conclude, pigs from the LRFI line were more negatively affected by weaning stress, but managed to recover afterwards. The complex diet sequence ameliorated some of the negative effects that weaning had on the LRFI pigs, but limited effects of nursery period feeding sequence on growth performance were observed during the growing-finishing period.

The negative impact of heat stress (HS) on the production performances in pig faming is of particular concern. Novel diagnostic methods are needed to predict the robustness of pigs to HS. Our study aimed to assess the reliability of blood metabolome to predict the sensitivity to chronic HS of 10 F1 (Large White × Creole) sire families (SF) reared in temperate (TEMP) and in tropical (TROP) regions (n = 56±5 offsprings/region/SF). Live body weight (BW) and rectal temperature (RT) were recorded at 23 weeks of age. Average daily feed intake (AFDI) and average daily gain were calculated from weeks 11 to 23 of age, together with feed conversion ratio. Plasma blood metabolome profiles were obtained by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy (1HNMR) from blood samples collected at week 23 in TEMP. The sensitivity to hot climatic conditions of each SF was estimated by computing a composite index of sensitivity (Isens) derived from a linear combination of t statistics applied to familial BW, ADFI and RT in TEMP and TROP climates. A model of prediction of sensitivity was established with sparse Partial Least Square Discriminant Analysis (sPLS-DA) between the two most robust SF (n = 102) and the two most sensitive ones (n = 121) using individual metabolomic profiles measured in TEMP. The sPLS-DA selected 29 buckets that enabled 78% of prediction accuracy by cross-validation. On the basis of this training, we predicted the proportion of sensitive pigs within the 6 remaining families (n = 337). This proportion was defined as the predicted membership of families to the sensitive category. The positive correlation between this proportion and Isens (r = 0.97, P < 0.01) suggests that plasma metabolome can be used to predict the sensitivity of pigs to hot climate.

The ecological interactions within the gut microbial communities are complex and far from being fully understood. Here we report the first study that aims at defining the interaction network of the gut microbiota in pigs and comparing it with the enterotype-like clustering analysis. Fecal microbiota of 518 healthy piglets was characterized by 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing. Two networks were constructed at the genus and operational taxonomic unit levels. Within-network interactions mirrored the human gut microbiota relationships, with a strong co-exclusion between Prevotella and Ruminococcus genera, and were consistent with the two enterotype-like clusters identified in the pig microbiota. Remarkably, the cluster classification of the individuals was significantly associated with the body weight at 60 days of age (P=0.005) and average daily gain (P=0.027). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to provide an integrated overview of the porcine gut microbiota that suggests a conservation of the ecological community interactions and functional architecture between humans and pig. Moreover, we show that the microbial ecosystems and porcine growth traits are linked, which allows us to foresee that the enterotype concept may have an important role in the animal production industry.

Background: HPA axis plays a major role in physiological homeostasis. It is also involved in stress and adaptive response to the environment. In farm animals in general and specifically in pigs, breeding strategies have highly favored production traits such as lean growth rate, feed efficiency and prolificacy at the cost of robustness. On the hypothesis that the HPA axis could contribute to the trade-off between robustness and production traits, we have designed this experiment to explore individual variation in the biological response to the main stress hormone, cortisol, in pigs. We used ACTH injections to trigger production of cortisol in 120 juvenile Large White (LW) pigs from 28 litters and the kinetics of the response was measured with biological variables and whole blood gene expression at 4 time points. A multilevel statistical analysis was used to take into account the longitudinal aspect of the data., Results: Cortisol level reached its peak 1 h after ACTH injection. White blood cell composition was modified with a decrease of lymphocytes and monocytes and an increase of granulocytes (F D R<0.05). Basal level of cortisol was correlated with birth and weaning weights. Microarray analysis identified 65 unique genes of which expression responded to the injection of ACTH (adjusted P<0.05). These genes were classified into 4 clusters with distinctive kinetics in response to ACTH injection. The first cluster identified genes strongly correlated to cortisol and previously reported as being regulated by glucocorticoids. In particular, DDIT4, DUSP1, FKBP5, IL7R, NFKBIA, PER1, RGS2 and RHOB were shown to be connected to each other by the glucocorticoid receptor NR3C1. Most of the differentially expressed genes that encode transcription factors have not been described yet as being important in transcription networks involved in stress response. Their co-expression may mean co-regulation and they could thus provide new patterns of biomarkers of the individual sensitivity to cortisol., Conclusions: We identified 65 genes as biological markers of HPA axis activation at the gene expression level. These genes might be candidates for a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of the stress response.

For the first time in the domestic pig, meiotic recombination along the 18 porcine autosomes was directly studied by immunolocalization of MLH1 protein. In total, 7,848 synaptonemal complexes from 436 spermatocytes were analyzed, and 13,969 recombination sites were mapped. Individual chromosomes for 113 of the 436 cells (representing 2,034 synaptonemal complexes) were identified by immunostaining and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). The average total length of autosomal synaptonemal complexes per cell was 190.3 µm, with 32.0 recombination sites (crossovers), on average, per cell. The number of crossovers and the lengths of the autosomal synaptonemal complexes showed significant intra- (i.e. between cells) and inter-individual variations. The distributions of recombination sites within each chromosomal category were similar: crossovers in metacentric and submetacentric chromosomes were concentrated in the telomeric regions of the p- and q-arms, whereas two hotspots were located near the centromere and in the telomeric region of acrocentrics. Lack of MLH1 foci was mainly observed in the smaller chromosomes, particularly chromosome 18 (SSC18) and the sex chromosomes. All autosomes displayed positive interference, with a large variability between the chromosomes.

Increased litter size and within-litter uniformity in birth weight would improve pig reproductive efficiency. This study compared the location and gene and protein expression of secreted phosphoprotein 1 in placental and uterine tissues supplying a normally sized and the smallest fetus carried by hyperprolific Large White and Meishan gilts on Days 41-42 of pregnancy. Immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization showed that the protein and gene encoding secreted phosphoprotein 1 were located in the glandular and luminal epithelium of the endometrium and in the placenta. Secreted phosphoprotein 1 protein levels were higher in glandular epithelium, luminal epithelium, and placenta from Meishan gilts compared to corresponding tissues from hyperprolific Large White gilts. Reverse transcription quantitative PCR demonstrated secreted phosphoprotein 1 mRNA levels were higher in endometrium, but not placenta, from Meishan compared to hyperprolific Large White gilts. In hyperprolific Large White gilts, secreted phosphoprotein 1 protein levels were higher in glandular epithelium and placenta surrounding small fetuses than corresponding tissues supplying normal-sized fetuses. Similarly, in Meishan gilts, secreted phosphoprotein 1 protein levels were higher in luminal epithelium surrounding small compared to normal-sized fetuses. Within hyperprolific Large White, but not Meishan, gilts secreted phosphoprotein 1 mRNA was higher in endometrium surrounding the normal-sized fetus than the control fetus. The contradictory relationship between fetal size and secreted phosphoprotein 1 protein and mRNA in the hyperprolific Large White is intriguing and may reflect breed differences in posttranslational modification. The striking breed differences in secreted phospoprotein 1 expression suggest that SPP1 may be associated with placental efficiency.

Background: Many QTL have been detected in pigs, but very few of them have been fine-mapped up to the causal mutation. On SSC2, the IGF2-intron3-G3072A mutation has been described as the causative polymorphism for a QTL underlying muscle mass and backfat deposition, but further studies have demonstrated that at least one additional QTL should segregate downstream of this mutation. A marker-assisted backcrossing design was set up in order to confirm the segregation of this second locus, reduce its confidence interval and better understand its mode of segregation., Results: Five recombinant full-sibs, with genotype G/G at the IGF2 mutation, were progeny-tested. Only two of them displayed significant QTL for fatness traits although four inherited the same paternal and maternal chromosomes, thus exhibiting the same haplotypic contrast in the QTL region. The hypothesis of an interaction with another region in the genome was proposed to explain these discrepancies and after a genome scan, four different regions were retained as potential interacting regions with the SSC2 QTL. A candidate interacting region on SSC13 was confirmed by the analysis of an F2 pedigree, and in the backcross pedigree one haplotype in this region was found to mask the SSC2 QTL effect., Conclusions: Assuming the hypothesis of interactions with other chromosomal regions, the QTL could be unambiguously mapped to a 30 cM region delimited by recombination points. The marker-assisted backcrossing design was successfully used to confirm the segregation of a QTL on SSC2 and, because full-sibs that inherited the same alleles from their two parents were analysed, the detection of epistatic interactions could be performed between alleles and not between breeds as usually done with the traditional Line-Cross model. Additional analyses of other recombinant sires should provide more information to further improve the fine-mapping of this locus, and confirm or deny the interaction identified between chromosomes 2 and 13.

Quantitative trait loci (QTL) influencing many traits including backfat thickness and carcass composition have been detected on porcine chromosome 7 (SSC7) in an F2 cross between Large White (LW) and Meishan (MS) pigs. However, the genes and controlled pathways underlying the QTL effects on body phenotype remain unknown. This study aimed at investigating the tissue characteristics at metabolic and cellular levels in pigs that were either homozygous or heterozygous for a body composition SSC7 QTL. A backcross pig (BC3) was first progeny tested to confirm its heterozygoty for the SSC7 QTL; results on all offspring (n = 80) confirmed the QTL effects on body fatness. This boar was then mated with three sows known to be heterozygous for this QTL. In the subset of pigs per genotype, we found that heterozygous LW(QTL7)/MS(QTL7) pigs had smaller adipocytes in backfat, together with a lower basal rate of glucose incorporation into lipids and lower activities of selected lipogenic enzymes in backfat isolated cells, compared with homozygous LW(QTL7)/LW(QTL7) pigs. A higher number of adipocytes was also estimated in backfat of LW(QTL7)/MS(QTL7) animals compared with LW(QTL7)/LW(QTL7) pigs. The SSC7 QTL did not influence oxidative and glycolytic metabolisms of longissimus and trapezius muscles, as estimated by the activities of specific energy metabolism enzymes, or the myofiber type properties. Altogether, this study provides new evidence for an altered adipocyte cellularity in backfat of pigs carrying at least one MS allele for the SSC7 QTL. Some candidate genes known for their functions on adipocyte growth and differentiation are suggested.

Large White and Meishan sows differ in maternal ability and early piglet growth. We investigated the relationships between 100 maternal traits, grouped into 11 blocks according to the biological function they describe and litter growth over three successive periods after birth (D0–D1, D1–D3 and D3–D7; D0 starting at the onset of farrowing), as a measure of sow investment in early piglet production. Within- and between-breed variation was exploited to cover a maximum of the variability existing in pig maternal populations. The objective was to quantify the contribution of maternal traits, including functional traits and behavioural traits, to early litter growth. Multivariate analyses were used to depict correlations among traits. A partial least square multiblock analysis allowed quantifying the effect of maternal traits on early growth traits. Partial triadic analyses highlighted how sow behaviour changed with days, and whether it resulted in changes in litter growth. Several behavioural traits (standing activity, reactivity to different stimuli, postural activity) and functional traits (body reserves, udder quality) at farrowing contributed substantially to litter growth from D0 to D7. Sow aggression towards piglets and time spent standing at D0 were unfavourably correlated to D1–D3 litter growth. Time spent lying with udder exposed at D0 was favourably correlated to D1–D3 litter growth. The farrowing duration was negatively correlated to D0–D1 and D1–D3 litter growth. Furthermore, D3–D7 litter growth was positively correlated to feed intake in the same period. Several behavioural traits and some functional traits influence early litter growth. The contribution of sow behaviour was greater in the critical period around farrowing than in later days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed at investigating the impact of heat challenges on gut microbiota composition in growing pigs and its relationship with pigs' performance and thermoregulation responses. From a total of 10 F1 sire families, 558 and 564 backcross Large White × Créole pigs were raised and phenotyped from 11 to 23 wk of age in temperate (TEMP) and in tropical (TROP) climates, respectively. In TEMP, all pigs were subjected to an acute heat challenge (3 wk at 29 °C) from 23 to 26 wk of age. Feces samples were collected at 23 wk of age both in TEMP and TROP climate (TEMP23 and TROP23 samples, respectively) and at 26 wk of age in TEMP climate (TEMP26 samples) for 16S rRNA analyses of fecal microbiota composition. The fecal microbiota composition significantly differed between the 3 environments. Using a generalized linear model on microbiota composition, 182 operational taxonomic units (OTU) and 2 pathways were differentially abundant between TEMP23 and TEMP26, and 1,296 OTU and 20 pathways between TEMP23 and TROP23. Using fecal samples collected at 23 wk of age, pigs raised under the 2 climates were discriminated with 36 OTU using a sparse partial least square discriminant analysis that had a mean classification error-rate of 1.7%. In contrast, pigs in TEMP before the acute heat challenge could be discriminated from the pigs in TEMP after the heat challenge with 32 OTU and 9.3% error rate. The microbiota can be used as biomarker of heat stress exposition. Microbiota composition revealed that pigs were separated into 2 enterotypes. The enterotypes were represented in both climates. Whatever the climate, animals belonging to the Turicibacter – Sarcina – Clostridium sensu stricto dominated enterotype were 3.3 kg heavier (P < 0.05) at 11 wk of age than those belonging to the Lactobacillus -dominated enterotype. This latter enterotype was related to a 0.3 °C lower skin temperature (P < 0.05) at 23 wk of age. Following the acute heat challenge in TEMP, this enterotype had a less-stable rectal temperature (0.34 vs. 0.25 °C variation between weeks 23 and 24, P < 0.05) without affecting growth performance (P > 0.05). Instability of the enterotypes was observed in 34% of the pigs, switching from an enterotype to another between 23 and 26 wk of age after heat stress. Despite a lower microbial diversity, the Turicibacter – Sarcina – Clostridium sensu stricto dominated enterotype was better adapted to heat stress conditions with lower thermoregulation variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The negative impact of heat stress (HS) on the production performances in pig faming is of particular concern. Novel diagnostic methods are needed to predict the robustness of pigs to HS. Our study aimed to assess the reliability of blood metabolome to predict the sensitivity to chronic HS of 10 F1 (Large White × Creole) sire families (SF) reared in temperate (TEMP) and in tropical (TROP) regions (n = 56±5 offsprings/region/SF). Live body weight (BW) and rectal temperature (RT) were recorded at 23 weeks of age. Average daily feed intake (AFDI) and average daily gain were calculated from weeks 11 to 23 of age, together with feed conversion ratio. Plasma blood metabolome profiles were obtained by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy (1HNMR) from blood samples collected at week 23 in TEMP. The sensitivity to hot climatic conditions of each SF was estimated by computing a composite index of sensitivity (Isens) derived from a linear combination of t statistics applied to familial BW, ADFI and RT in TEMP and TROP climates. A model of prediction of sensitivity was established with sparse Partial Least Square Discriminant Analysis (sPLS-DA) between the two most robust SF (n = 102) and the two most sensitive ones (n = 121) using individual metabolomic profiles measured in TEMP. The sPLS-DA selected 29 buckets that enabled 78% of prediction accuracy by cross-validation. On the basis of this training, we predicted the proportion of sensitive pigs within the 6 remaining families (n = 337). This proportion was defined as the predicted membership of families to the sensitive category. The positive correlation between this proportion and Isens (r = 0.97, P < 0.01) suggests that plasma metabolome can be used to predict the sensitivity of pigs to hot climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Some genetic studies need to take into account correlations between traits that are repeatedly measured over time. Multiple-trait random regression models are commonly used to analyze repeated traits but suffer from several major drawbacks. In the present study, we developed a multiple-trait extension of the structured antedependence model (SAD) to overcome this issue and validated its usefulness by modeling the association between litter size (LS) and average birth weight (ABW) over parities in pigs and rabbits. Methods: The single-trait SAD model assumes that a random effect at time tj can be explained by the previous values of the random effect (i.e. at previous times). The proposed multiple-trait extension of the SAD model consists in adding a cross-antedependence parameter to the single-trait SAD model. This model can be easily fitted using ASReml and the OWN Fortran program that we have developed. In comparison with the random regression model, we used our multiple-trait SAD model to analyze the LS and ABW of 4345 litters from 1817 Large White sows and 8706 litters from 2286 L-1777 does over a maximum of five successive parities. Results: For both species, the multiple-trait SAD fitted the data better than the random regression model. The difference between AIC of the two models (AIC_random regression-AIC_SAD) were equal to 7 and 227 for pigs and rabbits, respectively. A similar pattern of heritability and correlation estimates was obtained for both species. Heritabilities were lower for LS (ranging from 0.09 to 0.29) than for ABW (ranging from 0.23 to 0.39). The general trend was a decrease of the genetic correlation for a given trait between more distant parities. Estimates of genetic correlations between LS and ABW were negative and ranged from -0.03 to -0.52 across parities. No correlation was observed between the permanent environmental effects, except between the permanent environmental effects of LS and ABW of the same parity, for which the estimate of the correlation was strongly negative (ranging from -0.57 to -0.67). Conclusions: We demonstrated that application of our multiple-trait SAD model is feasible for studying several traits with repeated measurements and showed that it provided a better fit to the data than the random regression model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gut microbiota comprises a large and diverse community of bacteria that play a significant role in swine health. Indeed, there is a tight association between the enteric immune system and the overall composition and richness of the microbiota, which is key in the induction, training and function of the host immunity, and may therefore, influence the immune response to vaccination. Using vaccination against Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (M. hyo) as a model, we investigated the potential of early-life gut microbiota in predicting vaccine response and explored the post-vaccination dynamics of fecal microbiota at later time points. At 28 days of age (0 days post-vaccination; dpv), healthy piglets were vaccinated, and a booster vaccine was administered at 21 dpv. Blood samples were collected at 0, 21, 28, 35, and 118 dpv to measure M. hyo-specific IgG levels. Fecal samples for 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing were collected at 0, 21, 35, and 118 dpv. The results showed variability in antibody response among individual pigs, whilst pre-vaccination operational taxonomic units (OTUs) primarily belonging to Prevotella, [Prevotella], Anaerovibrio, and Sutterella appeared to best-predict vaccine response. Microbiota composition did not differ between the vaccinated and non-vaccinated pigs at post-vaccination time points, but the time effect was significant irrespective of the animals' vaccination status. Our study provides insight into the role of pre-vaccination gut microbiota composition in vaccine response and emphasizes the importance of studies on full metagenomes and microbial metabolites aimed at deciphering the role of specific bacteria and bacterial genes in the modulation of vaccine response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed at investigating the impact of heat challenges on gut microbiota composition in growing pigs and its relationship with pigs' performance and thermoregulation responses. From a total of 10 F1 sire families, 558 and 564 backcross Large White × Créole pigs were raised and phenotyped from 11 to 23 wk of age in temperate (TEMP) and in tropical (TROP) climates, respectively. In TEMP, all pigs were subjected to an acute heat challenge (3 wk at 29 °C) from 23 to 26 wk of age. Feces samples were collected at 23 wk of age both in TEMP and TROP climate (TEMP23 and TROP23 samples, respectively) and at 26 wk of age in TEMP climate (TEMP26 samples) for 16S rRNA analyses of fecal microbiota composition. The fecal microbiota composition significantly differed between the 3 environments. Using a generalized linear model on microbiota composition, 182 operational taxonomic units (OTU) and 2 pathways were differentially abundant between TEMP23 and TEMP26, and 1,296 OTU and 20 pathways between TEMP23 and TROP23. Using fecal samples collected at 23 wk of age, pigs raised under the 2 climates were discriminated with 36 OTU using a sparse partial least square discriminant analysis that had a mean classification error-rate of 1.7%. In contrast, pigs in TEMP before the acute heat challenge could be discriminated from the pigs in TEMP after the heat challenge with 32 OTU and 9.3% error rate. The microbiota can be used as biomarker of heat stress exposition. Microbiota composition revealed that pigs were separated into 2 enterotypes. The enterotypes were represented in both climates. Whatever the climate, animals belonging to the Turicibacter – Sarcina – Clostridium sensu stricto dominated enterotype were 3.3 kg heavier (P < 0.05) at 11 wk of age than those belonging to the Lactobacillus -dominated enterotype. This latter enterotype was related to a 0.3 °C lower skin temperature (P < 0.05) at 23 wk of age. Following the acute heat challenge in TEMP, this enterotype had a less-stable rectal temperature (0.34 vs. 0.25 °C variation between weeks 23 and 24, P < 0.05) without affecting growth performance (P > 0.05). Instability of the enterotypes was observed in 34% of the pigs, switching from an enterotype to another between 23 and 26 wk of age after heat stress. Despite a lower microbial diversity, the Turicibacter – Sarcina – Clostridium sensu stricto dominated enterotype was better adapted to heat stress conditions with lower thermoregulation variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]