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Gut microbiota plays an important role in pig health and production. Still, availability of sequenced genomes and functional information for most pig gut microbes remains limited. Here we perform a landscape survey of the swine gut microbiome, spanning extensive sample sources by deep metagenomic sequencing resulting in an expanded gene catalog named pig integrated gene catalog (PIGC), containing 17,237,052 complete genes clustered at 90% protein identity from 787 gut metagenomes, of which 28% are unknown proteins. Using binning analysis, 6339 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) were obtained, which were clustered to 2673 species-level genome bins (SGBs), among which 86% (2309) SGBs are unknown based on current databases. Using the present gene catalog and MAGs, we identified several strain-level differences between the gut microbiome of wild boars and commercial Duroc pigs. PIGC and MAGs provide expanded resources for swine gut microbiome-related research. Here, the authors present a pig integrated gene catalog and metagenome-assembled genomes, which they construct from swine gut microbiomes spanning various ages, sexes, breeds, geographical locations, domestication, and gut locations by metagenomic sequencing, providing expanded resources for pig microbiome studies.

Abstract Feed efficiency (FE) is an economically important trait in pig production. Gut microbiota plays an important role in energy harvest, nutrient metabolism, and fermentation of dietary indigestible components. Whether and which gut microbes affect FE in pigs are largely unknown. Here, a total of 208 healthy Duroc pigs were used as experimental materials. Feces and serum samples were collected at the age of 140 d. We first performed 16S rRNA gene and metagenomic sequencing analysis to investigate the relationship between the gut microbiome and porcine residual feed intake (RFI). 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis detected 21 operational taxonomic units showing the tendency to correlation with the RFI (P < 0.01). Metagenomic sequencing further identified that the members of Clostridiales, e.g., Ruminococcus flavefaoiens, Lachnospiraceae bacterium 28-4, and Lachnospiraceae phytofermentans, were enriched in pigs with low RFI (high-FE), while 11 bacterial species including 5 Prevotella spp., especially, the Prevotella copri, had higher abundance in pigs with high RFI. Functional capacity analysis suggested that the gut microbiome of low RFI pigs had a high abundance of the pathways related to amino acid metabolism and biosynthesis, but a low abundance of the pathways associated with monosaccharide metabolism and lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis. Serum metabolome and fecal short-chain fatty acids were determined by UPLC-QTOF/MS and gas chromatography, respectively. Propionic acid in feces and the serum metabolites related to amino acid metabolism were negatively correlated with the RFI. The results from this study may provide potential gut microbial biomarkers that could be used for improving FE in pig production industry.

The structure and size of bimetallic catalysts play a crucial role in many important chemical transformations. Controlled synthesis of bimetallic nanoparticles avoiding overgrowth and aggregation can be achieved by surfactants, which are always detrimental to catalytic performances and understanding of structure-property relationship. Preparation of surface-clean bimetallic catalysts with uniform size and well-defined structure is still challenging. Herein the Au-Pt bimetallic nanoparticles immobilized on SBA-15 were prepared by facile adsorption-reduction method. Characterizations showed that Au-Pt bimetallic nanoparticles were evenly confined within the mesopores of SBA-15, possessing the uniform size of 6.0 nm and existing in the form of alloy structure. For the first time the Au-Pt bimetallic nanoalloys with Au-to-Pt molar ratio of 5:1 (Au 5 Pt 1 @SBA-15) exhibited a lot higher activity than monometallic Au@SBA-15 and Pt@SBA-15 catalysts with excellent selectivity towards 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline for chemoselective hydrogenation of quinoline in water under very mild conditions. It was superior to other heterogeneous catalysts reported to date. The observed properties were related to the synergic effect between Au and Pt. The Pt sites of high electron density originated from the electron transfer between Au and Pt enhanced the ability of H 2 dissociation and then provided a new and main approach to H 2 splitting, while the Au sites accounted for the adsorption and activation of quinoline. This precise synthetic strategy will be very helpful to explore surface-clean gold-based bimetallic catalysts with high performance for selective hydrogenations.

Background Excessive fat accumulation of pigs is undesirable, as it severely affects economic returns in the modern pig industry. Studies in humans and mice have examined the role of the gut microbiome in host energy metabolism. Commercial Duroc pigs are often fed formula diets with high energy and protein contents. Whether and how the gut microbiome under this type of diet regulates swine fat accumulation is largely unknown. Results In the present study, we systematically investigated the correlation of gut microbiome with pig lean meat percentage (LMP) in 698 commercial Duroc pigs and found that Prevotella copri was significantly associated with fat accumulation of pigs. Fat pigs had significantly higher abundance of P. copri in the gut. High abundance of P. copri was correlated with increased concentrations of serum metabolites associated with obesity, e.g., lipopolysaccharides, branched chain amino acids, aromatic amino acids, and the metabolites of arachidonic acid. Host intestinal barrier permeability and chronic inflammation response were increased. A gavage experiment using germ-free mice confirmed that the P. copri isolated from experimental pigs was a causal species increasing host fat accumulation and altering serum metabolites. Colon, adipose tissue, and muscle transcriptomes in P. copri -gavaged mice indicated that P. copri colonization activated host chronic inflammatory responses through the TLR4 and mTOR signaling pathways and significantly upregulated the expression of the genes related to lipogenesis and fat accumulation, but attenuated the genes associated with lipolysis, lipid transport, and muscle growth. Conclusions Taken together, the results proposed that P. copri in the gut microbial communities of pigs fed with commercial formula diets activates host chronic inflammatory responses by the metabolites through the TLR4 and mTOR signaling pathways, and increases host fat deposition significantly. The results provide fundamental knowledge for reducing fat accumulation in pigs through regulating the gut microbial composition. 8i_LmNceHRNfJRY2rW1K4p Video Abstract

Background Intramuscular fat (IMF) that deposits among muscle fibers or within muscle cells is an important meat quality trait in pigs. Previous studies observed the effects of dietary nutrients and additives on improving the pork IMF. Gut microbiome plays an important role in host metabolism and energy harvest. Whether gut microbiota exerts effect on IMF remains unknown. Results In this study, we investigated the microbial community structure of 500 samples from porcine cecum and feces using high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing. We found that phylogenetic composition and potential function capacity of microbiome varied between two types of samples. Bacteria wide association study identified 119 OTUs significantly associated with IMF in the two types of samples (FDR < 0.1). Most of the IMF-associated OTUs belong to the bacteria related to polysaccharide degradation and amino acid metabolism (such as Prevotella , Treponema , Bacteroides and Clostridium ). Potential function capacities related to metabolisms of carbohydrate, energy and amino acids, cell motility, and membrane transport were significantly associated with IMF content. FishTaco analysis suggested that the shifts of potential function capacities of microbiome associated with IMF might be caused by the IMF-associated microbial taxa. Conclusions This study firstly evaluated the contribution of gut microbiome to porcine IMF content. The results presented a potential capacity for improving IMF through modulating gut microbiota.

HighlightsErythrocyte-like CuS microspheres were encapsulated in ultrathin polyaniline (PANI) layer coating.PANI swollen by electrolytes stabilizes solid electrolyte interface layer and benefits the ion transport and charge transfer at the PANI/electrolyte interface.Multi-functional PANI coating ensures an outstanding comprehensive performance for sodium-ion storage.The latest view suggests the inactive core, surface pulverization, and polysulfide shuttling effect of metal sulfides are responsible for their low capacity and poor cycling performance in sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). Whereas overcoming the above problems based on conventional nanoengineering is not efficient enough. In this work, erythrocyte-like CuS microspheres with an elastic buffering layer of ultrathin polyaniline (PANI) were synthesized through one-step self-assembly growth, followed by in situ polymerization of aniline. When CuS@PANI is used as anode electrode in SIBs, it delivers high capacity, ultrahigh rate capability (500 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1, and 214.5 mAh g−1 at 40 A g−1), and superior cycling life of over 7500 cycles at 20 A g−1. A series of in/ex situ characterization techniques were applied to investigate the structural evolution and sodium-ion storage mechanism. The PANI swollen with electrolyte can stabilize solid electrolyte interface layer, benefit the ion transport/charge transfer at the PANI/electrolyte interface, and restrain the size growth of Cu particles in confined space. Moreover, finite element analyses and density functional simulations confirm that the PANI film effectively buffers the volume expansion, suppresses the surface pulverization, and traps the polysulfide.

Chemical doping is a powerful method to intrinsically tailor the electrochemical properties of electrode materials. Here, an interstitial boron‐doped tunnel‐type VO2(B) is constructed via a facile hydrothermal method. Various analysis techniques demonstrate that boron resides in the interstitial site of VO2(B) and such interstitial doping can boost the zinc storage kinetics and structural stability of VO2(B) cathode during cycling. Interestingly, we found that the boron doping level has a saturation limit peculiarity as proved by the quantitative analysis. Notably, the 2 at.% boron‐doped VO2(B) shows enhanced zinc ion storage performance with a high storage capacity of 281.7 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1, excellent rate performance of 142.2 mAh g−1 at 20 A g−1, and long cycle stability up to 1000 cycles with the capacity retention of 133.3 mAh g−1 at 5 A g−1. Additionally, the successful preparation of the boron‐doped tunnel‐type α‐MnO2 further indicates that the interstitial boron doping approach is a general strategy, which supplies a new chance to design other types of functional electrode materials for multivalence batteries. An interstitial boron‐doped tunnel‐type VO2(B) is constructed via a facile hydrothermal method. Such interstitial doping can boost the zinc storage kinetics and structural stability of VO2(B) cathode during cycling. Interestingly, the saturation limit peculiarity of the boron doping level has been determined by the quantitative analysis.

Background The epididymis is a highly regionalized tubular organ possesses vectorial functions of sperm concentration, maturation, transport, and storage. The epididymis-expressed genes and proteins are characterized by regional and developmental dependent pattern. However, a systematic and comprehensive insight into the postnatal development dependent changes in gene and protein expressions of porcine epididymis is still lacking. Here, the RNA and protein of epididymis of Duroc pigs at different postnatal development stages were extracted by using commercial RNeasy Midi kit and extraction buffer (7 M Urea, 2 M thiourea, 3% CHAPS, and 1 mM PMSF) combined with sonication, respectively, which were further subjected to transcriptomic and proteomic profiling. Results Transcriptome analysis indicated that 198 and 163 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were continuously up-regulated and down-regulated along with postnatal development stage changes, respectively. Most of the up-regulated DEGs linked to functions of endoplasmic reticulum and lysosome, while the down-regulated DEGs mainly related to molecular process of extracellular matrix. Moreover, the following key genes INSIG1 , PGRMC1 , NPC2 , GBA , MMP2 , MMP14 , SFRP1 , ELN , WNT-2 , COL3A1 , and SPARC were highlighted. A total of 49 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) corresponding to postnatal development stages changes were uncovered by the proteome analysis. Several key proteins ACSL3 and ACADM, VDAC1 and VDAC2, and KNG1, SERPINB1, C3, and TF implicated in fatty acid metabolism, voltage-gated ion channel assembly, and apoptotic and immune processes were emphasized. In the integrative network, the key genes and proteins formed different clusters and showed strong interactions. Additionally, NPC2 , COL3A1 , C3, and VDAC1 are located at the hub position in each cluster. Conclusions The identified postnatal development dependent genes and proteins in the present study will pave the way for shedding light on the molecular basis of porcine epididymis functions and are useful for further studies on the specific regulation mechanisms responsible for epididymal sperm maturation.

Au nanoparticles confined within the mesopores of the modified SBA-15 were obtained through adsorption-reduction method and firstly employed as chemoselective catalyst for quinoline hydrogenation. The effects of Au loadings, calcination temperature as well as structure of support on catalytic performances of Au catalysts were explored. The as-obtained 1.2%Au@SBA-15-500 catalyst exhibited high activity, excellent selectivity towards 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline and extraordinary sintering-resistant property as high as 800 °C, which is sharp contrast to the 1.3%Au/SiO 2 -500 catalyst. It also showed good recyclability and versatility for quinoline derivatives. The observed properties were assigned to small-sized Au nanoparticles and mesopores of SBA-15. Our work provides a facile and promising approach to construct metal nanocatalysts with high catalytic performance by the use of mesoporous materials. Graphic Abstract

Background The gut microbiota impacts on a range of host biological processes, and the imbalances in its composition are associated with pathology. Though the understanding of contribution of the many factors, e.g. gender, diet and age, in the development of gut microbiota has been well established, the dynamic changes of the phylogenetic composition and the interaction networks along with the age remain unclear in pigs. Results Here we applied 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing, enterotype-like clustering (Classification of the gut microbiome into distinct types) and phylogenetic co-occurrence network to explore the dynamic changes of pig gut microbiome following the ages with a successive investigation at four ages in a cohort of 953 pigs. We found that Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes are two predominant phyla throughout the experimental period. The richness of gut microbiota was significantly increased from 25 to 240 days of age. Principal coordinates analysis showed a clear difference in the gut microbial community compositions between pre-weaning piglets and the pigs at the other three age groups. The gut microbiota of pre-weaning piglets was clearly classified into two enterotypes, which were dominated by Fusobacterium and p-75-a5 , respectively. However, Prevotella and Treponema were the main drivers of the enterotypes for pigs at the age of 80, 120 and 240 days. Besides the piglets, even some adult pigs switched putative enterotypes between ages. We confirmed that the topological features of phylogenetic co-occurrence networks, including scale, stability and complexity were increased along with the age. The biological significance for modules in the network of piglets were mainly associated with the utilization of simple carbohydrate and lactose, whereas the sub-networks identified at the ages of 80, 120 and 240 days may be involved in the digestion of complex dietary polysaccharide. The modules related to the metabolism of protein and amino acids could be identified in the networks at 120 and 240 days. This dynamic change of the functional capacities of gut microbiome was further supported by functional prediction analysis. Conclusions The present study provided meaningful biological insights into the age-based dynamic shifts of ecological community of porcine gut microbiota.