Metabolomics Meets Genomics to Open Up New Avenues for Re-Breeding Pigs
Re-breeding involves finding innovative pathways to design breeding programs that meet challenging goals. In this context, we are focusing on pigs, with the overall objective of enhancing their adaptive capacity to climate-related stressors, such as increased environmental temperatures.
To achieve this, we are delving into the basic biological mechanisms that govern pig metabolism. Within the Re-Livestock project, we have conducted experiments that have identified genetic components impacting pig metabolism. This is the central theme of a recent scientific publication stemming from activities within WP3, where we report the results of combining metabolomics and genomics.
Metabolomics is the discipline that studies metabolites—small molecules involved in metabolism. We analyzed numerous plasma metabolites in over 1300 pigs from two populations of Italian Large White and Italian Duroc pig breeds. These metabolites, and their levels in biofluids, serve as molecular phenotypes (known as metabotypes) that directly reflect enzyme activities and are linked to all metabolic pathways, including the catabolism and anabolism of nutrients. This information was then correlated with genetic variability by analyzing the genomes of the same pigs.
The combination of metabolomics and genomics in pigs has allowed us to identify numerous genomic regions containing variants that influence the levels of various metabolites in porcine plasma. By analyzing the levels of these metabolites, we were able to reconstruct biochemical pathways involving these metabolites, some of which have not been clarified in other species. Some of these metabolites are essential nutrients. Our published studies describe the potential practical applications of this information in nutrigenetics.
The experimental design we conducted in pigs represents one of the first examples of applying precision feeding based on nutrigenetic concepts in a livestock species. This new approach offers an interesting direction for increasing the adaptation of pig populations to challenging environmental conditions.
The results obtained are significant for both basic and applied biology, as well as for evaluating the pig as a potential biomedical model. The molecular phenotypes we have described can be valuable for understanding complex traits and for designing innovative feeding, breeding, and selection programs in pigs to improve the adaptation of future generations. We will continue analyzing the extensive metabolomic and genomic datasets generated within Re-Livestock for pig populations (Italian Large White, Italian Duroc, and a PIC Duroc line) to develop new breeding strategies for pigs. Additional progress will be shared at various congresses this summer, where we will present other results. This promising work is ongoing, so stay tuned for updates!
Reference:
Bovo S, … Fontanesi L. Merging metabolomics and genomics provides a catalog of genetic factors that influence molecular phenotypes in pigs linking relevant metabolic pathways. Genet Sel Evol. 2025 Mar 6;57(1):11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12711-025-00960-8