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Conferencia invitada presentada en:13th International Symposium Modern Trends in Livestock Production. Belgrado, Serbia. 6-8 octubre 2021

The study of gut microbiota and its effects on hosts has emerged as an essential component of host homeostasis and global efficiency. Besides host’s influence on gut microbiota, major quantitative and qualitative changes may occur in the composition of the intestinal microbiota due to the influence of diet and other environmental factors. In accordance with the TREASURE project global aim of enhancing sustainability of production systems for local pig breeds, the objective of our task was to conduct a pilot characterisation of intestinal microbiota in order to test its usefulness to characterize several local European pig populations and their production systems. This approach has been applied to populations belonging to the following European traditional breeds: Gascon (France), Iberian (Spain), Krskopolje (Slovenia), Mangalitsa (Serbia), Moravka (Serbia) and Turopolje (Croatia). For each breed, faecal samples have been collected along different experiments performed in the TREASURE project targeting the comprehension of a particular traditional production system (e.g. open-air farming), management practice, or the comparison of breeds. In all experiments, the metagenomics technique employed is the re-sequencing of the bacterial 16S in an Illumina MiSeq system. Overall, the results have shown that the gut microbiota analysis is a promising approach for the characterisation of these local breeds, by allowing a deeper understanding of their production systems and potentially allowing the development of new certification approaches. Preliminary results will be summarized in this communication. Funded by European Union’s H2020 RIA program (Grant agreement no. 634476).

Immunocastration -vaccination against gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH)- has been shown to prevent sexual development and boar taint in pigs being a feasible alternative to surgical castration (SC). Studies in conventional pigs point out that immunocastrated (IC) pigs show better performance than SC pigs. Apart from the benefits on animal welfare, this fact could be of interest for Iberian pigs and other fatty pig types, characterized by long productive cycles and low capacity for lean tissue growth. There is a question on whether protein requirements might be increased in IC compared to SC Iberian pigs. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of immunocastration on Iberian pig growth and nitrogen (N) retention under 3 dietary protein concentrations. Fifty-four pure Iberian pigs were used (3 sexes: IC males, IC females, SC males; 3 isoenergetic diets: 150, 130 and 110 g CP/kg DM, 6 pigs/treatment combination). Vaccination against GnRH was at 4.3 (40 kg) and 6 months of age (70-80 kg). Pigs were individually housed consuming the experimental diets from 40 to 105 kg- BW with a slight restriction. Digestibility and N balance assays were performed at 50 and 90 kg BW, respectively. The IC males showed higher overall growth rate (+13%; P

El objetivo de este estudio es explorar el potencial de crecimiento de cerdos machos y hembras de raza Ibérica inmunocastrados, en comparación con los parámetros registrados en machos castrados quirúrgicamente, que se utilizan como grupo control o de referencia. En todos los grupos experimentales se emplearon tres tratamientos con concentraciones de proteína crecientes para comprobar el efecto del nivel proteico de la dieta sobre los parámetros productivos en los animales inmunocastrados y en el grupo de referencia. Los resultados obtenidos hasta la fecha en los experimentos realizados nos indican que no hay diferencias relevantes en parámetros de crecimiento, ni en las características de la canal al incrementar el nivel proteico de la dieta en los cerdos machos y hembras inmunocastrados, aunque el grupo de machos inmunocastrados presenta mejores índices productivos globales que el resto de grupos experimentales. A medida que avancen los resultados que se están obteniendo en el proyecto, con datos sobre parámetros metabólicos y de expresión génica, podremos dilucidar el papel que la inmunocastración puede jugar en el crecimiento y desarrollo de tejido magro en el cerdo Ibérico y en otras razas autóctonas.

Immunocastration is effective to prevent sexual development and boar taint in pigs of conventional genotypes. Other studies pointed out that immunocastrated (IC) pigs show better performance than surgically castrated (SC) pigs. Apart from animal welfare aspects, this fact could be of relevance for Iberian and other fatty pig types with low lean deposition capacity. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of immunocastration on Iberian pig performance and some carcass traits under different dietary protein concentrations. Fifty-four pure Iberian pigs were used (3 sexes: IC males, IC females, SC males; 3 isoenergetic diets: 160, 140 and 120 g CP/ kg DM, 6 pigs/treatment combination). Vaccination against gonadotropin releasing factor was at 4.3 (40 kg) and 6 months of age (70-80 kg). Pigs were individually housed consuming the experimental diets from 40 to 105 kg-BW. The results indicate greater growth rate and feed conversion efficiency for IC males compared to SC males and IC females, and no relevant differences in growth related to dietary protein. Further results will help to elucidate possible effects of immunocastration on lean tissue accretion in Iberian pigs.

The study of gut microbiota and its effects on hosts has emerged as an essential component of host homeostasis and global efficiency. Besides host’s influence on gut microbiota, major quantitative and qualitative changes may occur in the composition of the intestinal microbiota due to the influence of diet and other environmental factors. In accordance with the TREASURE project global aim of enhancing sustainability of production systems for local pig breeds, the objective of our task was to conduct a pilot characterisation of intestinal microbiota in order to test its usefulness to characterize several local European pig populations and their production systems. This approach has been applied to populations belonging to the following European traditional breeds: Gascon (France), Iberian (Spain), Krskopolje (Slovenia), Mangalitsa (Serbia), Moravka (Serbia) and Turopolje (Croatia). For each breed, faecal samples have been collected along different experiments performed in the TREASURE project targeting the comprehension of a particular traditional production system (e.g. open-air farming), management practice, or the comparison of breeds. In all experiments, the metagenomics technique employed is the resequencing of the bacterial 16S in an Illumina MiSeq system. Overall, the results have shown that the gut microbiota analysis is a promising approach for the characterisation of these local breeds, by allowing a deeper understanding of their production systems and potentially allowing the development of new certification approaches. Preliminary results will be summarized in this communication. Funded by European Union’s H2020 RIA program (Grant agreement no. 634476).