Molecular phenotyping through metabolomic analyses in pig breeds

The animal phenome can be defined as the ensemble of the physical and molecular traits of an animal. The molecular traits can be further dissected into different layers of internal phenotypes, also including many metabolites. Here we analysed ~800 metabolites detected from an untargeted metabolomic platforms on plasma of ~700 Italian Large White and ~300 Italian Duroc pigs to identify metabolites that could be useful to characterise the two breeds. Animals were sib-tested pigs, included in the selection programmes of Italian heavy pigs run by the Italian Pig Breeders Association (ANAS), raised in the same genetic station, and slaughtered at nine months of age when they reached about 160 kg live weight. After quality control, univariate, multivariate and machine learning analyses were used to identify metabolites that could discriminate the two breeds. Combining information from these approaches, a total of ~100 metabolites were identified (including ~1/3 amino acids and ~1/3 lipids among others). The selected metabolites clearly separated the two pig breeds. The observed differences for these molecular phenotypes can describe genetic differences between Italian Large White and Italian Duroc pigs. Acknowledgments: This study has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the grant agreement No. 01059609 (Re-Livestock project).