Transgenic Pigs Exhibit Excellent Digestion of High-Fiber Diets

Researchers from South China Agricultural University and partners explored the digestion and utilization of plant-based diets by transgenic pigs. The results of their study are released in Transgenic Research.

Transgenic pigs with three microbial enzymes (β-glucanase, xylanase, and phytase) in their saliva were developed for reduced phosphorus and nitrogen emissions and improved growth performances. To know more about these transgenic pigs, the researchers studied their age-related change of the enzymic activity, the residual activity of the enzymes in the simulated gastrointestinal tract, and the effect of the transgenes on the digestion of nitrogen and phosphorus content in the fiber-rich, plant-based diet.

The findings showed that all the three enzymes were steadily expressed during the growing and finishing periods of the F2 generation transgenic pigs. Furthermore, all three enzymes showed exceptional gastrointestinal environment adaptability. The available phosphorus and water-soluble phosphorus in fecal phosphorus were reduced significantly. They also observed that the performance of phosphorus, calcium, and nitrogen retention rates were enhanced and led to faster growth performance. Thus, the researchers concluded that the transgenic pigs could effectively digest high-fiber diets and exhibit good growth performance compared with the non-transgenic pigs.

Know more about the study in Transgenic Research.