Project description:The gut microbiota is closely associated with digestion, metabolism, immunity, and host health. The imbalance of the microbial community in livestock directly affects their well-being and, consequently, productivity. The composition and diversity of the gut microbiota are influenced not only by host genetics but also by environmental factors such as the microbial complexity of the rearing environment, feeds, and antibiotics. Here, we focus on the comparison of gut microbial communities in miniature pigs developed for xenotransplantation in specific pathogen-free (SPF) and conventional (non-SPF) facilities. To identify the disparities in gut microbial composition and functionality between these two environments, 16S RNA metagenome sequencing was conducted using fecal samples. The results revealed that the non-SPF pigs had higher gut microbiota diversity than the SPF pigs. The genera Streptococcus and Ruminococcus were more abundant in SPF pigs than in non-SPF pigs. Blautia, Bacteroides, and Roseburia were exclusively observed in SPF pigs, whereas Prevotella was exclusively found in non-SPF pigs. Carbohydrate and nucleotide metabolism, as well as environmental information processing, were predicted to be enriched in SPF pigs. In addition, energy and lipid metabolism, along with processes related to genetic information, cellular communication, and diseases, were predicted to be enriched in non-SPF pigs. This study makes an important contribution to elucidating the impact of environments harboring a variety of microorganisms, including pathogens, on the gut microbiota of miniature pigs. Furthermore, we sought to provide foundational data on the characteristics of the gut microbiota in genetically modified pigs, which serve as source animals for xenotransplantation.
Project description:Gene expression profiling was carried out on peripheral blood mononuclear cell mRNA samples collected from 4 mo old rhesus macaques subject to maternal rearing, peer rearing, or surrogate peer rearing. The primary research question is whether gene expression differs as a function of early rearing conditions.
Project description:Gene expression profiling was carried out on peripheral blood mononuclear cell mRNA samples collected from 4 mo old rhesus macaques subject to maternal rearing, peer rearing, or surrogate peer rearing. The primary research question is whether gene expression differs as a function of early rearing conditions. Gene expression profiling was carried out on peripheral blood mononuclear cell mRNA samples collected from 4 mo old rhesus macaques subject to maternal rearing, peer rearing, or surrogate peer rearing. The primary research question is whether gene expression differs as a function of early rearing conditions.
Project description:In field studies and carefully controlled artificial infections, there is host variation in response to ASF infections. To better understand the mechanisms underlying this diversity and distinguish between resilient and susceptible pigs to African Swine Fever (ASF), the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were studied between the recovered versus non-recovered pigs before and after an infection challenge and also among non-recovered animals over time. In total, 17 Babraham pigs were sampled. Twelve animals were randomly immunized with low virulent ASFV isolate, and the others received the sham vaccine. All animals were then challenged with the virulent ASFV isolate 18 days after the immunization. Except for five animals, all showed clinical signs and dead between 4 and 6 days later. RNA sequencing was done for whole blood samples collected pre-infection, one day, and one week post-infection.
Project description:RNA isolated from draining tracheobronchial lymph nodes (TBLN) from 5-week old pigs, either clinically infected with a feral isolate of Pseudorabies virus or uninfected were interrogated using Illumina Digital Gene Expression Tag Profiling. Over 100 million tag sequences were observed, representing 4,064,189 unique 21-base sequences collected from TBLN at time points 1, 3, 6 and 14 days post-infection (dpi) RNA isolated from draining tracheobronchial lymph nodes (TBLN) from 5-week old pigs (% per group pooled), either clinically infected with feral isolate FS268 of Pseudorabies virus or uninfected at 1, 3, 6, and 14 days post inoculation. Over 100 million tag sequences were observed, representing 4,064,189 unique 21-base sequences.
Project description:The aim of this study was to acquire a better understanding of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) disease through a deeper knowledge of gene expression changes that occur in pulmonary lymph nodes by comparing PRRS virus (PRRSV), porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV-2), and swine influenza virus (IAV-S) infections. The PRRSV, IAV-S and PCV-2 viral infections followed a clinical course in these domestic pigs typical of experimental infection of young pigs with these viruses. PRRSV isolate SDSU-73 was pathogenic in this study inducing fever, anorexia, listlessness, and dyspnea.
Project description:This study aimed to characterize differences in gene expression in piglets inoculated with porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2), the essential causative agent of postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS). Comparisons between control and PCV2-inoculated pigs were done at five different time points: 1, 2, 5, 8, and 29 days post-inoculation. Experiment Overall Design: Seven-day-old caesarean-derived, colostrum-deprived piglets were distributed into two groups: control (n=8) and inoculated with 105.2 TCID50 of the Burgos PCV2 isolate (n=16). One control and 3 inoculated pigs were necropsied on days 1, 2, 5, and 8 post-infection (p.i.), the remaining pigs (4 of each group) were necropsied on day 29 p.i.
Project description:We deep sequenced and analyzed miRNAs using deep RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) in cage rearing and traditional breeding duck's duodenum sample of Nonghu NO.2 duck. 21 differentially expressed miRNA were identified in the duodenum. 6 miRNAs were upregulated and 15 were downregulated in the cage rearing duck's duodenum of the Nonghu NO.2 duck compared to their expression in the control group. These findings provided insights into the expression profiles of miRNAs in duck duodenum, and deepened our understanding of miRNAs in oxidative injury of duck.