Identification of metabolomic markers for on-farm selection of gilts with high reproductive potential

识别高繁殖力后备母猪的能力是盈利猪肉生产的关键之一。目前，信息的父亲和母亲和所有可用的亲属有关生殖性能，生长和外观进行了分析。然而，由于繁殖性能的遗传力较低，选择效率仍然不是很高。我们建议使用一种称为代谢组学的新兴技术来开发一种筛选方法，该方法可以在进入育种群之前识别高繁殖性能。代谢组学揭示了生物体内的分子代谢物。它可以定量和识别不同生理和病理状态之间的代谢物。因此，这是一个很好的方法来确定表型所造成的遗传变异，个人的生理状态和环境，因此也被称为“功能基因组学”。查看全局代谢概况 作为一种独特的化学标记，其可以与性状的表达相关联，并用于鉴定具有有利表达该性状的潜力的动物。代谢组学已被用于确定预测糖尿病，出生缺陷和其他难以诊断的疾病的生物标志物，其中它优于当前的临床测试。这些成功可能是由于代谢组学不仅反映了个体基因的表达，而且还反映了这些基因产物与个体生理环境的相互作用。我们建议使用该技术开发一种筛选试验，以确定后备母猪的代谢组学特征，这些后备母猪极有可能成为出色的繁殖表现者。将来自经证实的高生殖性能者的尿液/血清样本与来自表现不佳者的尿液/血清样本进行比较，目的是识别代谢物 高繁殖力母猪的特征。随后将在后续研究中对后备母猪的这些标志物进行检测和验证，其中将对其生殖性能进行随访，以验证这些早期预测代谢组学生物标志物的准确性。我们的目标是开发一种非侵入性的快速农场测试，将区分具有高和低繁殖潜力的后备母猪，避免对低生产者投入时间和金钱。

The ability to identify highly reproductive gilts for recruiting into the breeding stock is one of the keys for profitable pork production. Currently, information on the sire and dam and all available relatives regarding reproductive performance, growth, and appearance are analysed. However, selection efficiency remains not very high due to the low heritability of reproductive performance. We propose to use an emerging technology called Metabolomics to develop a screening method that can identify high reproductive performers prior to entering the breeding herd. Metabolomics reveals molecular metabolites within living organisms. It quantitates and identifies metabolites which differ between different physiological and pathological statuses. It is therefore an excellent approach for determining the phenotype caused by a genetic variation, individual physiological status and environment, and thus is also called "functional genomics". The global metabolic profile is viewed as a unique chemical signature that can be linked to the expression of a trait and used to identify animals with potential for favourable expression of the trait. Metabolomics has been used in identifying biomarkers that predict diabetes, birth defects, and other hard to diagnose diseases, in which it outperforms current clinical tests. These successes are likely due to the fact that metabolomics not only reflects the expression of individual genes, but also the interaction of these gene products with the physiological environment of the individual. We propose to use this technology to develop a screening test to identify the metabolomic profile of gilts that have a high probability of being exceptional reproductive performers. Urine/serum samples from proven high reproductive performers will be compared to poor performers with the goal of identifying metabolites signatures of highly fertile sows. These markers will then be tested and vilified in gilts in subsequent studies in which their reproductive performance will be followed up to validate the accuracy of these early predictive metabolomics biomarkers. The goal is to develop a non-invasive, quick on-farm test that will differentiate gilts having high and low reproductive potentials avoiding the investment of time and money into low-producers.