Search Results (3)

The porcine interferon (PoIFN) complex represents an ideal model for studying IFN evolution which has resulted from viral pressure during domestication. Bama and Banna miniature pigs are the two Chinese miniature pig breeds that have been developed as laboratory animal models for studying virus infection, pathogenesis, and vaccine evaluation. However, the PoIFN complex of such miniature pig breeds remains to be studied. In the present study, we cloned PoIFN-β genes from Bama and Banna miniature pigs, detected their PoIFN-β tissue expression profiles, prepared recombinant PoIFN-β (rPoIFN-β) using the E. coli expression system, and measured their antiviral activities against three different pig viruses. At the amino acid sequence level, PoIFN-βs of the two miniature pig breeds were identical, which shared 100% identity with that of Congjiang Xiang pigs, 99.4–100% identity with that of domestic pigs, and 99.5% identity with that of three species of African wild boars. The tissue expression profiles of PoIFN-β mRNA differed not only between the two miniature pig breeds but between miniature pigs and domestic pigs as well. The four promoter domains of PoIFN-β of the two miniature pig breeds were identical with that of humans, domestic pigs, and three species of African wild boars. The recombinant PoIFN-β prepared from the two miniature pig breeds showed dose-dependent pre-infection and post-infection antiviral activities against vesicular stomatitis virus, porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome virus, and pig pseudorabies virus. This study provided evidence for the high sequence conservation of PoIFN-β genes within the Suidae family with different tissue expression profiles and antiviral activities. Full article

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of tea powder in diets on the growth performance, meat quality, muscular amino acid, fatty acid profile, and serum biochemical indices of pigs. A total of 120 local Chinese pigs (Tibetan × Bama miniature pigs) were randomly assigned to five treatment groups, each with six pens and four pigs per pen. During a 60-day experiment, these groups of pigs were fed the normal diet and the diet supplemented with 1%, 2%, 4%, and 6% tea powder, respectively. The results showed that the supplementation of tea powder did not affect the growth performance of pigs. However, the dietary tea powder inclusion decreased (p < 0.05) the average fat thickness, total fat, and abdominal fat, and increased (p < 0.05) the total muscle as well. In addition, the dietary 2% tea powder decreased (p < 0.05) the muscle lightness (L*) and yellowness (b*). Compared with the control group, the dietary supplementation with 1%, 2%, and 4% tea powder raised (p < 0.05) the total amino acids (TAA) and essential amino acids (EAA), and dietary 4% and 6% tea powder increased (p < 0.05) the C20:5n3 in the muscle tissue. Furthermore, the serum lipid metabolism-related biochemical indices and mRNA expression levels were improved with the addition of tea powder. These results indicated that dietary tea powder might improve the carcass traits and meat quality of the Chinese native finishing pigs, but it does not affect their growth performance. Tea powder could be fully developed and reasonably applied as a dietary supplement. Full article

RIPs have been developed as effective genetic markers and popularly applied for genetic analysis in plants, but few reports are available for domestic animals. Here, we established 30 new molecular markers based on the SINE RIPs, and applied them for population genetic analysis in seven Chinese miniature pigs. The data revealed that the closed herd (BM-clo), inbreeding herd (BM-inb) of Bama miniature pigs were distinctly different from the BM-cov herds in the conservation farm, and other miniature pigs (Wuzhishan, Congjiang Xiang, Tibetan, and Mingguang small ear). These later five miniature pig breeds can further be classified into two clades based on a phylogenetic tree: one included BM-cov and Wuzhishan, the other included Congjiang Xiang, Tibetan, and Mingguang small ear, which was well-supported by structure analysis. The polymorphic information contents estimated by using SINE RIPs are lower than the predictions based on microsatellites. Overall, the genetic distances and breed-relationships between these populations revealed by 30 SINE RIPs generally agree with their evolutions and geographic distributions. We demonstrated the potential of SINE RIPs as new genetic markers for genetic monitoring and population structure analysis in pigs, which can even be extended to other livestock animals. Full article