Effects of Dietary Supplementation With Enterococcus faecium and Clostridium butyricum, Either Alone or in Combination, on Growth and Fecal Microbiota Composition of Post-weaning Pigs at a Commercial Farm.

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and butyric acid bacteria (BAB) are commonly used as probiotics in swine production. However, their combined effect on post-weaning pigs has not been assessed. Therefore, here we investigated the individual and combined efficacy of dietary Enterococcus faecium and Clostridium butyricum on the growth and gut microbiota of post-weaning pigs at a commercial farm. Four independent trials were conducted, in each of which five pens containing 10 pigs were assigned to one of five treatments: C, basal diet; L, basal diet + live E. faecium; D, basal diet + heat-killed E. faecium; M, basal diet + C. butyricum; or L+M, basal diet + live E. faecium + C. butyricum. Each trial was conducted over a 90-day period that was divided into two phases (Phase 1, days 0-40 post-weaning; and Phase 2, days 40-90 post-weaning), with the probiotics being supplemented only during Phase 1. Ten pigs in each pen were used for body weight (BW) analysis and fecal samples were collected from five or six of these pigs. In addition, the fecal samples from one randomly selected trial were used for gut microbiota analysis. We found that pigs in the L, D, and L+M treatment groups had a significantly higher BW than those in C (p < 0.05) but pigs in the L+M treatment group had a similar BW to those in the L and M groups. Furthermore, there were no significant differences in alpha diversity among the treatments but the beta diversity (weighted UniFrac distances) showed distinct clustering patterns, with pigs in C having discrete microbiota from those in all of the probiotics treatment groups except D (C vs. L, q = 0.04; C vs. M, q = 0.06; C vs. L+M, q = 0.06). These findings indicate that dietary supplementation with live or heat-killed E. faecium enhances growth performance in pigs but there is no synergistic effect when E. faecium is used in combination with C. butyricum. Furthermore, the addition of live E. faecium and C. butyricum to the diet of pigs may change the structure of the gut microbiota.

Somatic cell reprogramming-free generation of genetically modified pigs.

Genetically modified pigs for biomedical applications have been mainly generated using the somatic cell nuclear transfer technique; however, this approach requires complex micromanipulation techniques and sometimes increases the risks of both prenatal and postnatal death by faulty epigenetic reprogramming of a donor somatic cell nucleus. As a result, the production of genetically modified pigs has not been widely applied. We provide a simple method for CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)/Cas9 gene editing in pigs that involves the introduction of Cas9 protein and single-guide RNA into in vitro fertilized zygotes by electroporation. The use of gene editing by electroporation of Cas9 protein (GEEP) resulted in highly efficient targeted gene disruption and was validated by the efficient production of Myostatin mutant pigs. Because GEEP does not require the complex methods associated with micromanipulation for somatic reprogramming, it has the potential for facilitating the genetic modification of pigs.

Efficient modification of the myostatin gene in porcine somatic cells and generation of knockout piglets.

Myostatin (MSTN) is a negative regulator of myogenesis, and disruption of its function causes increased muscle mass in various species. Here, we report the generation of MSTN-knockout (KO) pigs using genome editing technology combined with somatic-cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). Transcription activator-like effector nuclease (TALEN) with non-repeat-variable di-residue variations, called Platinum TALEN, was highly efficient in modifying genes in porcine somatic cells, which were then used for SCNT to create MSTN KO piglets. These piglets exhibited a double-muscled phenotype, possessing a higher body weight and longissimus muscle mass measuring 170% that of wild-type piglets, with double the number of muscle fibers. These results demonstrate that loss of MSTN increases muscle mass in pigs, which may help increase pork production for consumption in the future.

Effects of oral administration of heat-killed Enterococcus faecium strain NHRD IHARA in post-weaning piglets.

Probiotic bacteria such as lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have recently received attention as candidates for alternative anti-microbial feed additives. We previously isolated Enterococcus faecium strain NHRD IHARA (FERM BP-11090, NHRD IHARA strain) and reported its probiotic efficacy. However, we have not determined the effect of oral administration of heat-killed cells of this strain. Here, we performed two experiments to investigate the effect of oral administration of the heat-killed NHRD IHARA strain on post-weaning piglets. In Experiment 1, there was a significant improvement in growth performance (P = 0.04) and increase in serum immunoglobulin A (IgA) production (P = 0.03) in the group fed heat-killed cells. These results were similar to previous results we obtained with live cells. We also found changes in serum and fecal IgA production that were unrelated to the patterns of microbiotal change. In Experiment 2, we detected a significant improvement in villus growth in the jejunum (P = 0.0002). In conclusion, oral administration of the heat-killed NHRD IHARA strain in post-weaning piglets had the same efficacy as administration of the live strain. The heat-killed NHRD IHARA strain can be used as feed additives to improve pig growth and health on commercial farms.

Characterization of probiotic properties of Enterococcus faecium NHRD IHARA isolated from porcine feces.

We examined in vitro the adhesion of Enterococcus faecium NHRD IHARA (NHRD IHARA) to porcine small intestinal mucin (PSIM) and inhibition of the adherence of enteropathogenic bacteria due to pre-incubation of PSIM with NHRD IHARA. NHRD IHARA exhibited an effective barrier function in porcine small intestinal mucus layer.

Purification and characterization of a novel aspartic protease from basidiomycetous yeast Cryptococcus sp. S-2.

An aspartic protease (Cap1) was purified from basidiomycetous yeast Cryptococcus sp. S-2 (FERM ABP-10961) using HiTrap DEAE FF column and HiTrap Q HP column chromatography with azocasein as a substrate. Cap1 has a molecular mass of 34 kDa on SDS-PAGE. It was stable up to 50°C with maximum activity at 30°C. Maximum proteolytic activity was observed at pH 5.0. Cap1 was stable in the pH range 3.0-7.0. Its enzyme activity was strongly inhibited by pepstatin A, an inhibitor of aspartic proteases, indicating that Cap1 is an aspartic protease. Cap1 hydrolyzed protein substrates, including BSA, hemoglobin, α-casein, ß-casein, and κ-casein. It showed activity on synthetic substrates, such as MOCAc-Gly-Lys-Pro-Ile-Leu-Phe-Phe-Arg-Leu-Lys(Dnp)-D-Arg-NH2 and MOCAc-Ala-Pro-Ala-Lys-Phe-Phe-Arg-Leu-Lys(Dnp)-NH2. Hydrolysis of the oxidized insulin B chain followed by amino acid sequencing analysis of the cleavage products revealed that 9 of its 30 peptide bonds were hydrolyzed by Cap1. This result was similar to that observed with pig pepsin A and human pepsin A. Cap1 also exhibited milk-clotting activity. We cloned the cDNA of CAP1 gene, which contained a 1254 bp open reading frame encoding a protein of 417 amino acid residues. Homology search in the NCBI database revealed that the amino acid sequence of Cap1 showed less than 39% identity to other known proteins. Therefore, we proposed that Cap1 is a novel aspartic protease.

Purification and characterization of porcine skeletal muscle aminopeptidase T, a novel metallopeptidase homologous to leukotriene A4 hydrolase.

A novel aminopeptidase, Aminopeptidase T (APase T), was purified from porcine skeletal muscle following successive column chromatography: twice on DEAE-cellulose, hydroxyapatite, and Sephacryl S-200 HR using Leu-ß-naphthylamide (LeuNap) as a substrate. The molecular mass of the enzyme was 69 kDa on SDS-PAGE. The optimum pH towards LeuNap of the enzyme was about 7. The enzyme activity was strongly inhibited by bestatin and was negatively affected by ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). Chlorine-activated APase T liberated Leu, Ala, Met, Pro, and Arg from Nap derivatives. The APase T gene consisted of an ORF of 1,836 bp encoding a protein of 611 amino acid residues. The APase T was highly homologous to bovine, human, and mouse Leukotriene A(4) hydrolase (LTA(4)H), a bifunctional enzyme which exhibits APase and epoxide hydrolase activity.