Epidermal growth factor-expressing Lactococcus lactis enhances growth performance of early-weaned pigs fed diets devoid of blood plasma.
The effect of supplementing Lactococcus lactis (L. lactis) that was engineered to express epidermal growth factor (EGF-LL) to early-weaned pigs fed diets with typical levels of blood plasma (5%) or diets without blood plasma [blood plasma was substituted with soybean (Glycine max) meal and fish meal, based on amino acid supply] was examined. A total of 108 weaned piglets (19-26 d of age; mean initial BW 6.58 kg; 9 pigs per pen) were fed ad libitum according to a 2-phase feeding program without growth promoters. Three pens were assigned to each of 4 treatments: i) blood plasma-containing diet with blank bacterial growth medium (BP-Con), ii) blood plasma-containing diet with fermented EGF-LL (BP-EGF), iii) blood plasma-free diet with blank bacterial growth medium (BPF-Con), and iv) blood plasma-free diet with fermented EGF-LL (BPF-EGF). The amount of epidermal growth factor (EGF) was determined in the fermentation product and pigs were allotted 60 μg EGF/kg BW/d for 3 wk postweaning. There were no differences in overall growth performance between BP-Con and BP-EGF pigs and no differences in overall growth performance between LoCon and BPF-EGF pigs. Pigs fed BPF-EGF showed increased daily BW gain (410 vs. 260 g/d; P < 0.01) and gain:feed (0.67 vs. 0.58; P < 0.05) compared to BPF-Con pigs in wk 3 postweaning; this was comparable to values for the BP-Con group (400 g/d and 0.64). These results indicate that supplementation with EGF-LL can be effective in enhancing the performance of early-weaned piglets fed a low complexity diet and reduces the need for feeding high-quality animal proteins and antibiotics.
Department of Animal and Poultry Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
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A
Bedford
Z
Z
Li
M
M
Li
S
S
Ji
W
W
Liu
Y
Y
Huai
C F M
CF
de Lange
J
J
Li
D000821:Animal Feed / Q000032:analysis*; D000818:Animals; D004032:Diet / Q000662:veterinary*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D013294:Lactococcus lactis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D010949:Plasma / Q000737:chemistry*; D019936:Probiotics; D013552:Swine / Q000254:growth & development*; D015430:Weight Gain
D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor