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Since the European Union prohibited antimicrobial growth promoters in livestock breeding in 2006, feed supplements like probiotics and bivalent cations have received more and more attention in animal farming. Pigs are the most relevant livestock population and supply the main part of meat consumed in Germany, which is a main global provider of slaughtered pigs. Furthermore, pigs are omnivores like humans and their gastrointestinal tract is similar to that of humans. Studying the intestinal microbiome in pigs is thus of particular importance not only for the pig population itself but also for understanding mechanisms of the human gut microbiome. As a part of the CRC 852 the aim of this project (A3) was to investigate the impact of the feed supplements E. faecium NCIMB 10415 (a probiotic strain) and the divalent metal ion zinc on the intestinal E. coli population in pigs. E. coli is a member of the gastrointestinal microbiota of birds and mammals, including pigs, and contributes to the maintenance of the microbial gut balance. However, E. coli is also one of the most important intestinal pathogens in pig production, causing high economic losses, and is usually the cause of post-weaning diarrhea. In two independent animal trials piglets were supplemented with the probiotic E. faecium NCIMB 10415 (E. faecium trial) and zinc oxide (zinc trial). Samples were taken from the intestine and the feces at different times around weaning. In the E. faecium trial E. coli strains were isolated from three intestinal habitats (mucosa, digesta, and feces) of the probiotic and control group. E. coli bacteria were characterized via PFGE for clonal analysis. The high diversity of E. coli was reflected by 168 clones. MLST was used to determine the phylogenetic background. Pathotypes of E. coli were further defined using VAG-PCR. While these analyses discerned only a few significant differences in the E. coli population between the two feeding groups (hlyF [P = 0.011], focG [P = 0.015], papC [P = 0.008], papGIII [P = 0.028], iroN [P = ...

L'auteur montre dans un premier temps, à partir de l'estimation de fonctions monoproduit, que les productions céréalières et porcines sont interdépendantes. Cette interdépendance peut trouver son origine dans la présence d'intra-consommations de céréales par les porcs, dans la substitution d'une partie des engrais par des effluents porcins ou dans l'utilisation commune de certains inputs, comme la main-d'œuvre ou les fournitures. Dans la seconde partie, la microéconomie et les différentes origines des économies de gamme sont détaillées. Les économies de gamme mesurent, à partir de la fonction de coût, l'intérêt d'associer deux productions dans la même firme (Baumol, Panzar et Willig, 1982). Le caractère public de certains inputs est la vraie cause d'économies de gamme positives. Cependant, la présence de contraintes sur certains inputs privés suffit à engendrer des économies de gamme positives ou négatives. A partir d'un modèle simplifié emprunté à Kolhi (1994), il apparaît que, si l'utilisation du lisier est une source d'économies de gamme, ce n'est pas le cas des intra-consommations de céréales. Sous certaines hypothèses, la comparaison de différentes fonctions de coût restreint et de la fonction de coût total permet d'identifier la nature des inputs.

La production porcine française est à un tournant décisif. Sa croissance est arrêtée sur tout le territoire,la restructuration des élevages est freinée par des difficultés réglementaires et financières. Au vu del'état des bâtiments et des aménagements nécessaires, la présente étude évalue à plus de 2,6 milliardsd'euros le montant total des investissements nécessaires pour moderniser et mettre aux normes lesporcheries en France. Elle identifie trois archétypes d'élevage d'avenir qui répondent à trois grandeslogiques : valoriser la complémentarité entre le porc et les cultures, accéder à des économies d'échelleet à une productivité élevée du travail, déléguer le naissage. Les gains importants de productivité destruies (+20 à 30%), de l'aliment (+10%) et du travail (+25%) devraient permettre des coûts de revientcompatibles avec la situation concurrentielle imposée par le marché du porc, malgré des charges de structure élevées (investissements, main-d'oeuvre salariée). Les modèles ainsi définis constituent des scénarios probables pour l'avenir. Ils sont offerts à l'analyse critique et il appartient aux différents acteurs, les éleveurs et leurs organisations, les financeurs et les Pouvoirs publics, de prendre la mesure des contraintes et de construire la réalité du futur. ; French pig production is at a crossroads. Its growth has stopped. Farms restructuring is constrained by regulatory and financial difficulties. The stables become obsolete. The total investment in modernization and upgrading of pig stables in France is estimated in this study at over 2.6 billion euros. The study also identifies three archetypes of farms for the future of French pig production that meet three logics: to enhance complementarity between pigs and crops, to achieve economies of scale and high labor productivity, to delegate sow breeding. In these farms, gains in sows productivity (+20 to 30%), feed (+10%) and work (+25%) will achieve competitive costs of production, despite high structure costs. The defined models are possible scenarios for the future. They are submitted to critical analysis and debates. Now stakeholders (producers and their organizations, funders and government) must evaluate constraints and construct the future.

L'objectif de cet article est de proposer une vue prospective de la filière porcine française et européenne dans le contexte des réformes de la politique agricole française et européenne, des négociations agricoles multilatérales à l'Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC) et de la nécessaire prise en compte des nouvelles attentes des sociétés des pays développés en termes de sécurité et de traçabilité des aliments, de protection des ressources naturelles et de l'environnement, et de diverses considérations morales et éthiques telles que, par exemple, le bien-être animal.

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is a major causative agent of postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS). Sequence and phylogenetic analyses based on the ORF2 capsid protein gene fragment showed that field isolate in Republic of Korea (ROK), PCV2 YJK 0703, was closely related with the PCV2 Fh18 isolate. PCV2 YJK 0703 was genetically distinct and not related to previously reported ROK isolates. Therefore, genotypic variation exists among prevailing PCV2 in ROK. This result suggests that several PCV2 genotypes exist in Korean pig farms. ; We thank Jin-Sun Kim at DaeSang Farmsco for field samples, Ki-Jung Yun at Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, WonKwang University for histopathological expertise, and Dong-Ho Nho for assistance. This work was supported by theKorea Research Foundation Grant funded by the Korean Government (MOEHRD) KRF-2006-331-E00358.

Background It has been recognized that the expression of type I interferon (IFN alpha/beta) may be suppressed during infection with porcine reproductive, respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV). This causes profound negative effects on both the innate and adaptive immunity of the host resulting in persistence of infection. Objective Test the effects of PRRSV infection of porcine alveolar macrophages (PAMs), the main target cell, on the expression of interferon beta (IFN beta) and downstream signaling events. Methods In order to examine those effects, PAMs harvested from lungs of healthy PRRSV-free animals were infected with virulent, attenuated, infectious clone-derived chimeric viruses, or field PRRS virus strains. Culture supernatants from the infected PAMs were tested for IFN beta protein expression by means of indirect ELISA and for bioactivity by a vesicular stomatitis virus plaque reduction assay. The expression of the Mx protein was assayed to ascertain signaling events. Results These experiments demonstrated that PRRSV does induce variably, the expression of bioactive IFN beta protein in the natural host cell. To further elucidate the effects of PRRSV infection on IFN beta signaling, Mx-1 an interferon stimulated gene (ISG), was also tested for expression. Interestingly, Mx-1 expression by infected PAMs generally correlated with IFN beta production. Conclusion The results of this study demonstrate that the induction of IFN beta and signaling in PAMs after PRRSV infection is variable. ; University of Connecticut [58-1940-2-245]; USDAUnited States Department of Agriculture (USDA) [58-1940-2-245]; Integrated Control and Elimination of PRRS [NC229]; Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Connecticut; ARS, USDAUnited States Department of Agriculture (USDA) [20043520414267] ; This work was supported by funds from the Specific Cooperative Agreement #58-1940-2-245 between the University of Connecticut and the USDA, ARS, USDA grant # 20043520414267, Integrated Control and Elimination of PRRS (NC229), Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Connecticut. The authors thank Drs. F. Osorio and A. Pattnaik (University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE) for providing the chimeric viruses used in this work. The authors also thank Dr. Surya Waghela (Texas A&M University, College Station, TX) for valuable suggestions with the manuscript. ; Public domain authored by a U.S. government employee

microRNAs (miRNAs) are important post-transcriptional regulators in eukaryotes that target mRNAs repressing their expression. The uncertain process of pig domestication, with different origin focuses, and the selection process that commercial breeds suffered, have generated a wide spectrum of breeds with clear genetic and phenotypic variability. The aim of this work was to define the miRNAs expression profile in kidney of several porcine breeds. Small RNA libraries from kidney were elaborated and high-throughput sequenced with the 454 Genome Sequencer FLX (Roche). Pigs used were classified into three groups: the European origin group (Iberian breed and European Wild Boar ancestor), European commercial breeds (Landrace, Large White and Piétrain breeds) and breeds with Asian origin (Meishan and Vietnamese breeds). A total of 229 miRNAs were described in the pig kidney miRNA profile, including 110 miRNAs out of the 257 previously described pig miRNAs and 119 orthologous miRNAs. The most expressed miRNAs in pig kidney microRNAome were Hsa-miR-200b-3p, Ssc-miR-125b and Ssc-miR-23b. Moreover, 5 novel porcine miRNAs and 3 orthologous miRNAs could be validated through RT-qPCR. miRNA sequence variation was determined in 116 miRNAs, evidencing the presence of isomiRs. 125 miRNAs were differentially expressed between breed groups. The identification of breed-specific miRNAs, which could be potentially associated to certain phenotypes, is becoming a new tool for the study of the genetic variability underlying complex traits and furthermore, it adds a new layer of complexity to the interesting process of pig evolution. ; This work was supported by the projects AGL2007-66371-C02-01 and AGL2010-22358-C02-01 and by the Consolider-Ingenio 2010 program (CSD2007-00036) from Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. OT is recipient of FPI PhD fellowship from Spanish Government. ; Peer reviewed

Relative quantification is the strategy of choice for processing RT-qPCR data in microRNAs (miRNAs) expression studies. Normalisation of relative quantification data is performed by using reference genes. In livestock species, such as pigs, the determination of reference miRNAs and the optimal number of them has not been widely studied. In this study, the stability of ten miRNAs (Ssc-let-7a, Ssc-miR-103, Ssc-miR-17-3p, Hsa-miR-25, Hsa-miR-93, Ssc-miR-106a, Ssc-miR-191, Ssc-miR-16, Ssc-miR-26a and Ssc-miR-17-5p) was investigated by RT-qPCR in different tissues (skeletal muscle, kidney, liver, ovary and uterus) and in different pig breeds (Iberian, Landrace, Large White, Meishan and Vietnamese) as variation factors. Stability values were calculated with geNorm and NormFinder algorithms obtaining high correlation between them (r2 = 0.99). The analyses showed that tissue is an important variability factor in miRNAs expression stability whereas breed is not a determinant factor. All ten miRNAs analysed had good stability values and, therefore, can be used as reference miRNAs. When all tissues were considered, miR-93 was the most stable miRNA. Dividing data set by tissues, let-7a was the most stable in skeletal muscle and ovary, miR-17-5p in kidney, miR-26a in liver and miR-103 in uterus. Moreover, the optimal number of reference miRNAs to be used for proper normalisation data was determined. It is suggested the use of five reference miRNAs (miR-93, miR-25, miR-106a, miR-17-5p and miR-26a) in multi-tissue experimental designs and the use of three reference miRNAs as the optimal number in single tissues studies (let-7a, miR-17-5p and miR-25 in skeletal muscle; miR-17-5p, miR-93 and miR-26a in kidney, miR-26a, miR-103 and let-7a in liver, let-7a, miR-25 and miR-106a in ovary and miR-103, let-7a and miR-93 in uterus). Overall, this study provides valuable information about the porcine reference miRNAs that can be used in order to perform a proper normalisation when relative quantification by RT-qPCR studies is undertaken. ; This work was supported by the projects AGL2007-66371-C02-01 and AGL2010-22358-C02-01 and by the Consolider-Ingenio 2010 program (CSD2007-00036) from Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. OT is recipient of PhD fellowship (Programa de Formación al Personal Investigador - FPI) from the Spanish government. ; Peer reviewed