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Animals
Special Issues
Epigenetics and Animal Welfare, Stress and Resilience
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Epigenetics and Animal Welfare, Stress and Resilience

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Welfare".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2021) | Viewed by 10289

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Silvana Diverio

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, Via San Costanzo 4, 00126 Perugia, Italy
Interests: behavior and welfare of working animals; computer video analysis; animal physiology in sport exercise; dog olfaction science; human–working animal relationship; animal-assisted intervention issues; veterinary medicine on working animals
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Gabriella Guelfi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, Via San Costanzo 4, 06126 Perugia, Italy
Interests: epigenetics; non-coding RNA; physiological stress and animal welfare; biotechnological techniques; bioinformatics analysis; Physiological stress adaptation; Epigenetic adaptation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Epigenetic mechanisms are explored in more depth to investigate the effect of the environment on phenotype and adaptation ability of animals. Successfully coping with stress is a complex multifactorial competence that animals build up ontogenically and phylogenetically. 

The welfare state of an animal is strictly related to its capacity to be resilient when facing stress. 

Interactions with the environment expose the animal to beneficial or hostile situations, and understanding environmental influence on animal health and behavior is crucial for welfare study.

Resilient adaptation to various environmental stresses derives from complex gene–environment interactions that are mediated by epigenetic changes. To best understand animal resilience, it must be addressed not only through behavioral evaluation but also through assessment of the epigenetic mechanism that induces it.

Molecular and structural changes indicate the presence of resilience or vulnerability and biological changes in phenotype are the mirror of animal adaptability to new experience or stress factors. 

Further knowledge will shed light on which molecular mechanisms to act on to expand the adaptation of an animal to the environment to improve welfare and performance.

Innovative papers from different research areas, such as epigenetics and animal welfare, animal coping styles, multiomics, resilience and animal welfare in pets, laboratory, exotics, and wild or farm animals are invited to this Special Issue that aims to bring together the latest advances in epigenetics and animal welfare. Interdisciplinary studies will be considered, especially those regarding (but not limited to): 

  1. Behavior epigenetics;
  2. Nutrition epigenetics;
  3. Neuroepigenetics and animal neuroplasticity; epigenetics, resilience and brain stimulation;
  4. Epigenetic influence and animal diseases; immunity and resilience in animals;
  5. Epigenetic studies on mental health and well-being in animals;
  6. Resilience in animals and implications for animal welfare;
  7. Epigenetics and welfare in fish;
  8. Epigenetic influence of stress and social environment in animals;
  9. Multiomics analyses approach to animal welfare studies;
  10. Multiomics studies on resilience and animal performance; 
  11. Multiomics approach to assess behavioral problems and pathologies in pets. 

Assoc. Prof. Silvana Diverio
Dr. Gabriella Guelfi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Behavior epigenetics
  • Nutrition epigenetics
  • Neuroepigenetics and animal neuroplasticity
  • epigenetics, resilience and brain stimulation
  • Epigenetic influence and animal diseases
  • immunity and resilience in animals
  • Epigenetic studies on mental health and well-being in animals
  • Resilience in animals and implications for animal welfare
  • Epigenetics and welfare in fish
  • Epigenetic influence of stress and social environment in animals
  • Multiomics analyses approach to animal welfare studies
  • Multiomics studies on resilience and animal performance
  • Multiomics approach to assess behavioral problems and pathologies in pets.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Review

17 pages, 1851 KiB  
Review
How Epigenetics Can Enhance Pig Welfare?
by Arthur Nery da Silva, Michelle Silva Araujo, Fábio Pértille and Adroaldo José Zanella
Animals 2022, 12(1), 32; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12010032 - 24 Dec 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4924
Abstract
Epigenetics works as an interface between the individual and its environment to provide phenotypic plasticity to increase individual adaptation capabilities. Recently, a wide variety of epi-genetic findings have indicated evidence for its application in the development of putative epi-biomarkers of stress in farm [...] Read more.
Epigenetics works as an interface between the individual and its environment to provide phenotypic plasticity to increase individual adaptation capabilities. Recently, a wide variety of epi-genetic findings have indicated evidence for its application in the development of putative epi-biomarkers of stress in farm animals. The purpose of this study was to evaluate previously reported stress epi-biomarkers in swine and encourage researchers to investigate potential paths for the development of a robust molecular tool for animal welfare certification. In this literature review, we report on the scientific concerns in the swine production chain, the management carried out on the farms, and the potential implications of these practices for the animals’ welfare and their epigenome. To assess reported epi-biomarkers, we identified, from previous studies, potentially stress-related genes surrounding epi-biomarkers. With those genes, we carried out a functional enrichment analysis of differentially methylated regions (DMRs) of the DNA of swine subjected to different stress-related conditions (e.g., heat stress, intrauterine insult, and sanitary challenges). We identified potential epi-biomarkers for target analysis, which could be added to the current guidelines and certification schemes to guarantee and certify animal welfare on farms. We believe that this technology may have the power to increase consumers’ trust in animal welfare. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Epigenetics and Animal Welfare, Stress and Resilience)
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24 pages, 3235 KiB  
Review
Omics Insights into Animal Resilience and Stress Factors
by Federica Basile, Camilla Capaccia, Danilo Zampini, Tommaso Biagetti, Silvana Diverio and Gabriella Guelfi
Animals 2021, 11(1), 47; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11010047 - 29 Dec 2020
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4162
Abstract
Resilience is conceived as a dynamic developmental process involving the achievement of positive adaptation within the context of significant adversity. Resilience is not a unique ability but rather a set of capacities of a system put in place to absorb a disturbance and [...] Read more.
Resilience is conceived as a dynamic developmental process involving the achievement of positive adaptation within the context of significant adversity. Resilience is not a unique ability but rather a set of capacities of a system put in place to absorb a disturbance and to reorganize while trying to retain the same function, structure, and identity. This review describes the characteristics and the molecular mechanisms of resilience to understand the core elements of resilience and its indicators. The objectives of this review are: (1) to define some of the leading environmental stressors and clarify the mechanism of vulnerability or resilience outcomes; (2) to clarify some of the prominent epigenetic modulations mediating resilience or vulnerability as a stress response; (3) to highlight the neural mechanisms related to stress resilience since the central nervous system is a highly dynamic structure characterized by an everlasting plasticity feature, which therefore has the opportunity to modify resilience. The review aims to introduce the reader to the concept of resilience seen as an ability acquired in life and not only inherited from birth. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Epigenetics and Animal Welfare, Stress and Resilience)
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