Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology最新文献

{"title":"Mannooligosaccharides modulate mucin O-glycan-gut microbe interactions and preserve the intestinal barrier in weaned piglets.","authors":"Shanghang Liu, Nian Liu, Yutao Qiu, Hao Li, Fan Zhang, Qian Jiang, Jing Wang, Yulong Yin, Bie Tan, Xiaokang Ma","doi":"10.1186/s40104-026-01492-x","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40104-026-01492-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The intestinal microbiota and mucosal barrier are closely intertwined, with mucin O-glycans playing a key role in maintaining intestinal homeostasis. However, how nutrition regulates mucin O-glycans remains poorly understood. This study investigated the regulatory effects of mannooligosaccharides (MOS) on mucin secretion and O-glycan modification in a weaned piglet model. We evaluated the effects of MOS on intestinal morphology, gut microbiota, mucin secretion, and O-glycosylation profiles in weaned piglets.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Transcriptome analysis revealed that MOS influenced key KEGG pathways, including mucin O-glycan biosynthesis, through the regulation of genes such as GALNT, GCNT3, and POFUT1. Furthermore, MOS increased the proportion of Core 2 structures in mucin and modulated the proportion of long-chain, sulfated and sialylated O-glycans, which may help protect the mucus layer from microbial degradation. Moreover, MOS improved colonic microbiota composition by promoting beneficial Lactobacillus species and suppressing potentially pathogenic Escherichia coli.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study highlights the molecular effects of MOS on mucin synthesis and modification, which may help preserve intestinal microbiota balance. These effects are important for maintaining intestinal barrier function in weaned piglets.</p>","PeriodicalId":64067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13501716/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148815032","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Developmental Cellular Programming: stage-specific architecting muscle and adipose tissues for high-quality meat production.","authors":"Bo Wang","doi":"10.1186/s40104-026-01475-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40104-026-01475-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The rising global demand for animal protein has driven intensive selection for rapid growth and leanness, often at the expense of meat quality and animal health. Achieving high-quality meat production with optimal intramuscular fat (IMF) and superior myofiber characteristics remains a major challenge in animal agriculture. Here, we propose a holistic conceptual framework termed Developmental Cellular Programming (DCP), which utilizes distinct developmental windows to precisely regulate skeletal muscle and adipose tissue formation in meat animals. Unlike traditional late-stage finishing strategies, the DCP framework operates as a coordinated, stage-specific pipeline: optimizing maternal nutrition during gestation to maximize prenatal myofiber hyperplasia and initiate adipocyte lineages; executing targeted neonatal interventions to drive microenvironment-mediated adipogenic precursor expansion and angiogenesis; and fine-tuning nutrient allocation during the finishing phase to control cellular hypertrophy and lipid deposition. Within this framework, vascularization is established as a critical, shared control point that coordinates multi-tissue niches to synchronize myofiber and adipocyte development. While advanced three-dimensional cell culture models, such as vascularized tissue organoids, have emerged as powerful platforms for high-throughput screening of key candidate metabolic modulators, bridging the gap to livestock production necessitates translating these cellular responses into whole-animal phenotypes. We propose that future research should focus on conducting in vivo animal trials to elucidate how various nutrients regulate muscle and adipose cell differentiation at specific developmental stages, thereby establishing precision nutritional strategies based on the DCP theory for high-quality meat production.</p>","PeriodicalId":64067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13487922/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148802132","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Follicle-stimulating hormone promotes energy metabolism in bovine granulosa cells through the FOXO1-ISG15 pathway to maintain the development of multiple follicles.","authors":"Huan Wang, Zhihui Hu, Huabin Zhu, Chao Wang, Jing An, Shanjiang Zhao","doi":"10.1186/s40104-026-01486-9","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40104-026-01486-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>As a central regulator of follicular development, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) is widely applied to induce synchronous multi-follicular growth in assisted reproductive technologies and livestock breeding. However, the molecular mechanism linking FSH signaling to synchronous multi-follicular development remains poorly defined. This study aimed to investigate the molecular mechanism by which porcine purified pituitary FSH (pFSH) promotes translation of multiple follicles.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Here, we established a mammalian model of multi-follicular development using pFSH and integrated single-cell transcriptomics with functional analyses, which uncovered a regulatory axis governing the metabolism and proliferation of granulosa cells (GCs). Treatment with pFSH significantly increased ovarian weight, the number of antral follicles-particularly small antral follicles (3-5 mm)-and circulating estradiol levels. Single-cell RNA sequencing of GCs from small antral follicles revealed that pFSH markedly enhanced the expression of genes involved in energy metabolism, especially the oxidative phosphorylation and mitochondrial electron transport chain pathways, while concurrently downregulating FOXO1 expression. Mechanistically, pFSH activated the PI3K/AKT pathway to drive phosphorylation of FOXO1 at Ser267, a modification that is required for GC proliferation and metabolic activation. Overexpression of the dephosphorylated mutant FOXO1(S267A) abolished the pFSH-induced increases in GC proliferation, glucose uptake, oxidative phosphorylation, and ATP production, highlighting a central role of FOXO1 phosphorylation in mediating FSH responses. RNA-seq and chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses further identified ISG15 as a direct transcriptional target of FOXO1. Upon binding to the promoter region, FOXO1 activates ISG15 expression, linking FSH signaling to an interferon-related pathway and metabolic regulation.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Collectively, this study revealed the pivotal role of the pFSH-FOXO1-ISG15 regulatory axis in orchestrating GC metabolic reprogramming and synchronous multi-follicular development. These finding provide a conceptual framework to clarify how endocrine signals integrate with metabolic and immune pathways to regulate reproductive processes, with potential implications to improve assisted reproduction and livestock productivity.</p>","PeriodicalId":64067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13465301/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148714636","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Antibiotic exposure during weaning disrupts oral microbiota assembly in piglets.","authors":"Cuipeng Zhu, Ping Hu, Peng Yuan, Jiajun Yu, Miaonan Zhu, Kennedy J Ogamune, Hao Huang, In Ho Kim, Tlou G Manyelo, Abdelkareem A Ahmed, Demin Cai, Haoyu Liu","doi":"10.1186/s40104-026-01483-y","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40104-026-01483-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The use of antibiotics in swine production during the stressful weaning period is widespread. While their impact on the gut microbiome is documented, their effect on the developing oral microbiota, a critical gateway to systemic health, remains poorly understood. This study investigated how chronic exposure to tylosin (TYL) or a chlortetracycline-sulfadiazine-penicillin combination (CSP) shapes oral microbiota assembly in piglets from 21 to 60 days of age.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Healthy piglets exhibited a defined ecological succession, transitioning from an early, Pseudomonadota-dominated types of oral microbiota, or referred to as orotypes (driven by Moraxellaceae) at weaning to a stable, mature Bacillota-dominated state (driven by Lachnospiraceae) by 40 days of age. Antibiotic exposure disrupted this developmental program. CSP treatment locked the microbiota in an immature, Pseudomonadota-dominated state, while TYL promoted a dispersed and unstable Bacillota community. Dysbiosis was marked by enrichment of pathobionts (e.g., Moraxella, Bergeyella) and depletion of beneficial commensals like Veillonella and Phocaeicola, with the latter reduced in both the oral and gut microbiota. These structural shifts were linked to dysregulated microbial energy and lipid metabolism. Crucially, antibiotics compromised mucosal immunity, reducing salivary secretory IgA (SIgA), and provoked inflammation, evidenced by elevated salivary extracellular ATP (eATP), histological damage and transcriptome alteration in oral tissue, and changed serum metabolites.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our findings demonstrate that early-life antibiotic exposure disrupts the developmental programming of the oral ecosystem. The oral microbiota serves as a sensitive indicator of antibiotic impact and a key mediator of systemic health, highlighting the need for strategies that safeguard microbial succession to promote sustainable swine health.</p>","PeriodicalId":64067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13459214/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148708600","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dietary theabrownins alleviate age-related declines in productive performance and egg quality by improving intestinal health in laying hens.","authors":"Li Zhang, Wenwen Xu, Keying Zhang, Xuemei Ding, Qiufeng Zeng, Shiping Bai, Jingbo Liu, Jianping Wang","doi":"10.1186/s40104-026-01480-1","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40104-026-01480-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The late laying period is often accompanied by declines in productive performance, egg quality, and intestinal health in hens. This study used a 2 × 2 factorial design to evaluate the effects of dietary theabrownins (TB), bioactive polyphenols derived from dark tea, on production performance, egg quality, intestinal health, and cecal microbiota in 47- and 67-week-old laying hens. A total of 192 Lohmann Gray hens were fed diets containing 0 or 100 mg/kg TB for 12 weeks.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Significant age × TB interactions were observed for average daily feed intake (ADFI; P = 0.005), eggshell thickness (P = 0.001), jejunal villus height (P = 0.005), and TJP2 expression (P = 0.029). Compared with 47-week-old hens, 67-week-old hens had higher egg weight, feed-to-egg ratio, and unqualified egg rate, but lower laying rate, egg mass, Haugh unit, and eggshell strength (all P < 0.01). TB supplementation increased laying rate (P < 0.001), egg mass (P = 0.003), Haugh unit (P = 0.015), eggshell strength (P = 0.010), and albumen height (P = 0.018), while reducing feed-to-egg ratio (P = 0.003). TB also improved jejunal morphology by increasing villus height and reducing crypt depth, enhanced antioxidant capacity by increasing T-AOC (P = 0.002) and GST activity (P = 0.025), and upregulated jejunal TJP2 expression in older hens. In addition, TB decreased the Firmicutes/Bacteroidota ratio (P < 0.001) and enriched Prevotellaceae_UCG-001 abundance. Notably, correlation analysis showed that Prevotellaceae_UCG-001 was positively correlated with intestinal antioxidant indices, whereas productive and egg quality traits were significantly associated with intestinal structural and functional indicators.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Dietary TB supplementation partly alleviated age-related declines in productive performance and egg quality in laying hens, possibly through improving intestinal health and modulating cecal microbiota. Notably, the TB-enriched genus Prevotellaceae_UCG-001 was positively associated with intestinal antioxidant indices, suggesting a potential microbial link to the intestinal benefits of TB in aged laying hens. These findings support the potential application of TB as a functional feed additive to help maintain intestinal health and productive performance in aged laying hens.</p>","PeriodicalId":64067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13455484/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148703023","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Fisetin alleviates zinc overload-induced intestinal injury by inhibiting ferroptosis and remodeling gut microbiota in weaned piglets.","authors":"Feifei Huang, Yuhang Deng, Mohan Zhou, Huangen Xu, Jie Feng","doi":"10.1186/s40104-026-01481-0","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40104-026-01481-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>High doses of zinc oxide (ZnO) effectively prevent post-weaning diarrhea and promote growth in weaned piglets, but raise concerns over intestinal injury, metabolic disorders, and risks of fostering bacterial resistance. This study aimed to identify non-chelating polyphenols capable of mitigating zinc toxicity and to elucidate their protective mechanisms, with emphasis on ferroptosis inhibition.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Network toxicology predicted ferroptosis as a central mechanism in zinc-induced intestinal injury, which was confirmed in intestinal epithelial cells where zinc overload specifically induced ferroptosis without activating apoptosis, necroptosis, or autophagy. From multiple polyphenols, fisetin (FIS) was identified as a non-chelating candidate that alleviated zinc-induced cytotoxicity, preserved tight junction proteins, and activated the Nrf2-GPX4 axis to inhibit ferroptosis in vitro. In zinc-overloaded weaned piglets, FIS supplementation maintained the growth-promoting effects of high-dose zinc while ameliorating intestinal damage. FIS also attenuated oxidative stress, alleviated inflammation, and inhibited ferroptosis in the jejunum. Furthermore, FIS remodeled the gut microbiota, enriching beneficial taxa Romboutsia (positively correlated with growth performance) and Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1 (positively correlated with the p-Nrf2/Nrf2 ratio), while suppressing the zinc-enriched Anaerovibrio (negatively correlated with GPX4 protein expression). FIS also shifted microbial metabolic pathways toward amino acid and terpenoid metabolism, potentially contributing to the observed ferroptosis defense.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>FIS alleviates high-dose ZnO-induced intestinal injury in weaned piglets through dual modulation, activating the Nrf2-GPX4 axis to inhibit ferroptosis and remodeling the gut microbiota to reinforce this defense. By preserving the growth benefits of zinc while mitigating its toxicity, FIS represents a promising nutritional strategy for sustainable swine production.</p>","PeriodicalId":64067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13453087/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148698493","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"From linear models to deep learning: statistical advances in genomic selection for animal breeding.","authors":"Lifei Zhang, Mingzhu Zhang, Xinle Wang, Cancan Chen, Shunzhe Wang, Yujie Zhao, Yanjun Zhang, Ruijun Wang, Yongbin Liu","doi":"10.1186/s40104-026-01477-w","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40104-026-01477-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Genomic selection (GS) has revolutionized animal breeding by accelerating genetic gain through genome-wide marker data. As genotyping technologies advance and data dimensionality grows, the statistical foundations of GS are shifting from classical linear frameworks, which assume additive genetic effects, toward advanced computational models that capture complex nonlinear relationships in genomic data. The commercialization of genotyping arrays for livestock and poultry, coupled with steadily declining sequencing costs, has led to an exponential increase in the availability of high-density genomic data. However, challenges persist, including scenarios where the number of genetic markers far exceeds the number of samples with phenotypic data, and the growing complexity of relationships within genomic data. These issues significantly limit the applicability of traditional evaluation models. In parallel, computational power has increased significantly over the last few decades, providing the capacity necessary for highly complex analyses. While traditional linear mixed models provide a robust framework for incorporating biological priors and modeling additive genetic effects, they often rely on simplified assumptions. In contrast, machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) algorithms, which do not rely on predefined parametric models, are well-suited to capturing complex nonlinear relationships and offer effective solutions to the aforementioned challenges. This review provides a comprehensive overview of GS methodologies. We first cover the statistical foundations of linear mixed and Bayesian models, and then survey modern ML and DL approaches. We discuss the assumptions, advantages, and limitations of each method and, by comparing the computational efficiency and predictive accuracy of these diverse approaches, aim to provide practical guidance for optimizing genomic evaluation strategies in the era of big data breeding.</p>","PeriodicalId":64067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13449407/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148686577","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Integrating landscape genomics and machine learning to analyze the genetic structure and specific molecular markers of Chinese dairy goats (Capra hircus).","authors":"Jinke Xiong, Mingyu Shang, Jingjing Bao, Tianyi Liu, Peifu Yang, Xintian Sun, Yuting Jiang, Li Zhang","doi":"10.1186/s40104-026-01473-0","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40104-026-01473-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>During long-term artificial selection, China has developed indigenous dairy goat populations with breed-specific traits and environmental adaptability. However, the genetic relationships and genomic characteristics of these populations remain insufficiently studied.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We analyzed 270 whole-genome sequences from 16 goat breeds, including eight Chinese dairy breeds, four introduced dairy breeds, and four other breeds. Population structure analysis revealed significant genetic differentiation among Chinese, European, and African dairy goats. Different dairy goat breeds in China formed geographically distinct subclusters, and multiple gene flow events with introduced breeds were detected. Compared with European and African populations, Chinese dairy goats exhibited higher genetic diversity, lower genomic inbreeding levels, and faster linkage disequilibrium decay. Among five machine learning algorithms evaluated across 10 repeated validations, k-nearest neighbors (KNN) showed the best performance (accuracy = 0.981, AUC = 0.991), and a minimal 134-SNP panel was selected for accurate classification of Chinese dairy goat breeds. Genome-environment association analyses identified candidate genes associated with energy and lipid metabolism, stress response, reproduction, and immune function, with a missense variant in HDAC10 (chr5:118557145 A > G) showing significant differentiation among Chinese dairy goat populations from different regions. Selection signature and genome-wide association analyses identified candidate genes associated with horn type and coat color, including two missense mutations in ERG (chr1:149921788 C > G) and MITF (chr22:31686241 T > C).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These findings systematically reveal the genetic structure and genomic characteristics of Chinese dairy goats, providing an important scientific basis for genetic improvement, breed identification, and the conservation of dairy goat genetic resources.</p>","PeriodicalId":64067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13445786/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148681218","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Taurolithocholic acid alleviates hepatic glycolipid dysregulation in low-birth-weight piglets by activating HNF4α and FXR.","authors":"Tianle Gao, Hairong Liang, Meizheng Li, Rui Zhou, Li Wang, Ran Li, Lingjie Huang, Yong Zhuo, Shengyu Xu, Yan Lin, Bin Feng, Jian Li, Hua Li, Lun Hua, Lianqiang Che, De Wu, Liang Hu, Zhengfeng Fang","doi":"10.1186/s40104-026-01474-z","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40104-026-01474-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Low-birth-weight (LBW) piglets often exhibit glycolipid metabolic disorders at birth, which severely impair their postnatal growth and survival. Bile acids (BAs) act as signaling molecules that participate in the regulation of glycolipid metabolism. However, whether the hepatic metabolic abnormalities observed in LBW piglets are associated with altered BA metabolism remains largely unclear. Thus, using naturally occurring LBW fetal pigs, neonatal piglets, and hepatic cell lines as models, the present study aimed to elucidate the association between BA homeostasis and hepatic glycolipid metabolism and to further reveal the underlying molecular mechanisms through integrated analyses of BA-targeted metabolomics, 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and molecular docking.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Compared with normal-birth-weight (NBW) fetal pigs, LBW fetal pigs exhibited a marked reduction in hepatic glycogen storage accompanied by excessive lipid accumulation. As key nuclear receptors governing glycolipid metabolism, farnesoid X receptor (FXR) and hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α (HNF4α) were significantly down-regulated in the liver of LBW fetal pigs at both the transcriptional and protein levels, which was coupled with impaired glycogen synthetic capacity and lipolytic capacity in these fetal pigs. Targeted BA metabolomic analysis revealed a profound alteration in the hepatic BA profile of LBW fetal pigs, characterized by an increased proportion of secondary BAs. Notably, the hepatic level of taurolithocholic acid (TLCA) was markedly decreased in LBW fetal pigs. Further analyses demonstrated that critical processes of BA metabolism, including synthesis, transport, detoxification and conjugation, were impaired in LBW fetal pigs, along with disrupted endogenous TLCA biosynthesis. Mechanistically, molecular docking results suggested that TLCA might act as a potential agonist of FXR and HNF4α. In vitro assays confirmed that TLCA modulated hepatic glycolipid metabolism by activating FXR and HNF4α. More importantly, in vivo studies indicated that exogenous supplementation of TLCA significantly ameliorated hepatic glycolipid metabolism and improved overall liver function in LBW neonatal piglets.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These findings reveal crosstalk between hepatic glucose-lipid and BA metabolism via HNF4α and FXR, providing potential nutritional strategies to improve liver health in LBW piglets and a theoretical basis for using BAs as feed additives in pig production.</p>","PeriodicalId":64067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13439904/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148674583","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"High-throughput in vivo phenotyping of chicken carcass traits based on digital radiographic imaging.","authors":"Yidan Yan, Lei Wei, Yuan Zhou, Ruitao Tian, Yuhang Sun, Yuanling Zhang, Yang Liu, Pingtao Luo, Kun Yu, Yuzhe Wang, Hanyu Wu, Xiaoxiang Hu","doi":"10.1186/s40104-026-01479-8","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40104-026-01479-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Accurate phenotyping of breast, drumstick, and wing yield is essential for genetic improvement in poultry breeding. However, these key economic traits can traditionally be measured only after slaughter, forcing breeding programs to rely on time-consuming, costly, and operator-biased sibling testing. This has become a major challenge for large-scale, high-precision, and non-destructive phenotypic evaluation in commercial poultry breeding. In this study, a non-destructive in vivo phenotyping framework based on digital radiography (DR) imaging combined with deep learning and machine learning methods is established.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A standardized DR image acquisition platform is constructed for in vivo phenotyping of live chickens. A lightweight multi-objective segmentation network, DRSegNet, is designed to achieve precise segmentation of breast, drumstick, and wing regions, with Dice coefficients higher than 97%. Morphological features were extracted from the segmentation masks and fed into machine learning models for weight regression. Five-fold cross-validation revealed strong predictive performance: the best-performing models achieved mean Pearson correlation coefficients of 0.8972, 0.7696, and 0.8049 for breast, drumstick, and wing weights, respectively. A phenotypic index (PI) and carcass balance index (CBI) are further constructed to enable comprehensive and balanced multi-trait selection. The deployed system supports a complete detection cycle of approximately 40 s per chicken, allowing high-throughput in vivo detection.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This DR-based non-destructive framework enables reliable, real-time, and high-throughput in vivo prediction of key carcass traits in live chickens. It transforms traditional post-slaughter measurements into in vivo phenotypes obtainable directly from individual birds, may improve the accuracy and efficiency of breeding selection, and has the potential to shorten the breeding cycle. This study provides a practical and scalable technical solution for intelligent phenotyping in poultry, and may contribute to data-driven precision breeding systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":64067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13435433/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148671348","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}