Animal & Poultry Science
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Item Impact of adding water to a barley-based finishing feedlot diet on feed sorting behaviour and ruminal fermentation for growing beef steers(Canadian Science Publishing, 2025-05-07) Seidle, C.M.; Penner, Gregory; Ribeiro, GabrielThis study evaluated the effects of adding water to a barley-based feedlot diet on feed intake, feed sorting, ruminal fermentation, and apparent total tract digestibility. Eight ruminally cannulated Hereford crossbred steers were used in a replicated 4 × 4 Latin square design with 4 dietary treatments. Steers received a common diet with aggressively processed dry-rolled barley grain to create a sortable diet. Water was added to the total mixed ration, equating to 0% (CON), 10% (10W), 20% (20W), and 30% (30W) of the barley grain weight. Data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS with linear and quadratic contrasts. Adding water linearly increased dry matter intake (DMI; P < 0.01) and water intake (P = 0.04). As water inclusion increased, the sorting index for particles on the pan approached 100% (linear, P < 0.01) indicating greater fine particle consumption. Mean (P < 0.01) and maximum ruminal pH linearly (P = 0.02) decreased, while the duration that pH was <5.5 (P = 0.02) and the concentration of lipopolysaccharide in ruminal fluid increased linearly as water inclusion increased (P < 0.01). These data suggest that adding water to a barley-based feedlot diet reduces dietary sorting and increases DMI but elevates the risk of ruminal acidosis when using aggressively processed barley grain.Item Characterization of Na+⁄K+-ATPase associated with boar fertility(Elsevier, 2025-04) Imran, Muhammad; Pettitt, Murray; Buhr, Mary M.The ubiquitous transmembrane protein Na+⁄K+-ATPase affects sperm fertility and capacitation through ion transport and cell signaling, but its effect on in vivo boar fertility, and any controlling mechanism(s) are unknown. The isoforms of the α and β subunits of Na+⁄K+-ATPase (α1, α2, α3, β1, β2, β3) were assessed in one ejaculate from each of six high and six low fertility boars (HF, LF respectively) which differed in their in vivo direct boar effects (DBE) for both farrowing rate (FR) and litter size (p < 0.05). Sperm function assessed by CASA was similar in HF and LF ejaculated sperm. Immunocytochemistry of the ejaculate sperm found more intact HF than LF sperm had α3 equatorially (p < 0.05), and fewer HF than LF methanol-permeabilized sperm had detectable α2 (p < 0.05). Image Quant analysis of Western blots rigorously quantified the amount of each isoform in the isolated head plasma membrane from each ejaculate, determining that the total amount of the isoform α3, and the amounts of 7 individual α3 bands, differed significantly (HF > LF, p < 0.05), and linear regression confirmed a highly significant relationship of total amount of α3 and α1 with FR (r2 = 0.90; p < 0.0001 and r2 = 0.36; p < 0.05, respectively). The β1, β2 and β3 isoforms in LF lacked several molecular weight bands common to HF, and the total volume of β1 tended to correlate with DBE for FR (r2 = 0.2652; p = 0.09). These findings suggest that specific isoforms of Na+/K+-ATPase in the sperm head are correlated to boar in vivo fertility, probably through Na+⁄K+-ATPase's role in capacitation.Item A comparison of wild boar and domestic pig microbiota does not reveal a loss of microbial species but an increase in alpha diversity and opportunistic genera in domestic pigs(American Society for Microbiology, 2024-08-20) Rahman, Rajibur; Fouhse, Janelle; Ju, Tingting; Fan, Yi; Schultz Marcolla, Camila; Pieper, Robert; Brook, Ryan K.; Willing, Benjamin PeterThe microbiome of wild animals is believed to be co-evolved with host species, which may play an important role in host physiology. It has been hypothesized that the rigorous hygienic practices in combination with antibiotics and diets with simplified formulas used in the modern swine industry may negatively affect the establishment and development of the gut microbiome. In this study, we evaluated the fecal microbiome of 90 domestic pigs sampled from nine farms in Canada and 39 wild pigs sampled from three different locations on two continents (North America and Europe) using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Surprisingly, the gut microbiome in domestic pigs exhibited higher alpha-diversity indices than wild pigs (P < 0.0001). The wild pig microbiome showed a lower Firmicutes-to-Bacteroidetes ratio and a higher presence of bacterial phyla Elusimicrobiota, Verrucomicrobiota, Cyanobacteria, and Fibrobacterota when compared to their domestic counterparts. At the genus level, the wild pig microbiome had enriched genera that were known for fiber degradation and short-chain fatty acid production. Interestingly, the phylum Fusobacteriota was only observed in domestic pigs. We identified 31 ASVs that were commonly found in the pig gut microbiome, regardless of host sources, which could be recognized as members of the core gut microbiome. Interestingly, we found five ASVs missing in domestic pigs that were prevalent in wild ones, whereas domestic pigs harbored 59 ASVs that were completely absent in wild pigs. The present study sheds light on the impact of domestication on the pig gut microbiome, including the gain of new genera, which might provide the basis to identify novel targets to manipulate the pig gut microbiome for improved health.