Metabolomic networks and pathways associated with feed efficiency and related-traits in Duroc and Landrace pigs

Victor Adriano Okstoft Carmelo,Wellison Jarles da Silva Diniz,Haja N. Kadarmideen,Priyanka Banerjee

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-57182-4

Victor Adriano Okstoft Carmelo, Wellison Jarles da Silva Diniz + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-57182-4

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Abstract

Improving feed efficiency (FE) is a major goal of pig breeding, reducing production costs and providing sustainability to the pig industry. Reliable predictors for FE could assist pig producers. We carried out untargeted blood metabolite profiling in uncastrated males from Danbred Duroc (n = 59) and Danbred Landrace (n = 50) pigs at the beginning and end of a FE testing phase to identify biomarkers and biological processes underlying FE and related traits. By applying linear modeling and clustering analyses coupled with WGCNA framework, we identified 102 and 73 relevant metabolites in Duroc and Landrace based on two sampling time points. Among them, choline and pyridoxamine were hub metabolites in Duroc in early testing phase, while, acetoacetate, cholesterol sulfate, xanthine, and deoxyuridine were identified in the end of testing. In Landrace, cholesterol sulfate, thiamine, L-methionine, chenodeoxycholate were identified at early testing phase, while, D-glutamate, pyridoxamine, deoxycytidine, and L-2-aminoadipate were found at the end of testing. Validation of these results in larger populations could establish FE prediction using metabolomics biomarkers. We conclude that it is possible to identify a link between blood metabolite profiles and FE. These results could lead to improved nutrient utilization, reduced production costs, and increased FE.

Highlights

With the expanding human population and requirement for nutrient-rich food, there is an increasing demand for improvement of meat production, but simultaneously, to decrease the input costs in terms of feed[1]
The phenotypic traits summary, including feed consumed (FC), feed efficiency (FE), daily gain (DG), and delta weight (DW), for 109 pigs from Duroc and Landrace breed is shown in Supplementary Table S1
The start phase was labeled as time point 1 (TP1) and the breeds as Duroc 1 and Landrace 1, while the end of the testing phase as time point 2 (TP2), mentioned as Duroc 2 and Landrace 2

Summary

Introduction

With the expanding human population and requirement for nutrient-rich food, there is an increasing demand for improvement of meat production, but simultaneously, to decrease the input costs in terms of feed[1]. As part of the existing genetic determinants of FE, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and differential expression (DE) analyses have reported a large number of polymorphism and genes for RFI or FCR in pigs[9,14] Despite these efforts, FE is a complex trait with many aspects involved and the functional molecular background is still somewhat elusive[1]. Blood is the sole way of absorption of nutrients into the body, and the blood metabolites are useful as a prime candidate for the study of FE in livestock[16] In this context, it is generally considered than improvement of RFI is associated with improved efficiency in the utilization of feed[11,12] and improved utilization of nutrients. Selecting two diverse breeds can help generalize any results obtained versus only focusing on one breed

Results

Discussion

Conclusion