👤 Mirella Luciani

Genetically modified soybean is largely used in animal feed and its massive cultivation affects the environmental sustainability of livestock and the dependency for the import in the European market. The aim of this study was to evaluate the partial substitution of soybean meal with an innovative common bean genotype (Phaseolus vulgaris lec-lpa) with reduced content of anti-nutritional factors on zootechnical performance, gut microbiota modulation and faecal minerals in post-weaning piglets. Fourteen piglets were divided into a control group fed with a basal diet and a treatment group fed with a commercial diet in which 7.3% of soybean meal and 0.8% of soybean oil were replaced with 10% of P. vulgaris lec- lpa for 28 days. BW, ADG, ADFI and FCR were evaluated, and diarrhoea incidence was recorded. Evaluation of pH, nitrogen content, protein digestibility and mineral content was performed on faecal samples. Microbiota was analysed by rectal swabs samples. Blood serum metabolic profile was evaluated. The treatment group showed lower BW and ADG during the trial (p < 0.05), but the health status of the animals was preserved. The treatment group released lower levels of minerals in faeces when compared with the control group after 28 days (p < 0.05) suggesting a lower dispersion of faecal minerals in the environment. Significant Beta diversity index was observed at 14 and 28 days (p < 0.05). Roseburia and Butyricicoccus increased in treatment group at day 28 (p < 0.05). These genera are associated with SCFA production, contributing to the maintenance of intestinal integrity, promoting positive bacterial populations and limiting inflammatory phenomena. In conclusion, P. vulgaris lec- lpa could be a viable and sustainable alternative protein source to reduce the European protein gap, playing a potential role in microbiota modulation and faecal minerals release. Show less

During meiosis in male mammals, the X and Y chromosomes become heterochromatic and transcriptionally silent, and form the XY body. Although the HP1 proteins are known to be involved in the packaging of chromosomal DNA into repressive heterochromatin domains, their involvement in facultative heterochromatinization has not been precisely determined. Here, we analyse, for the first time in humans, the subcellular distribution of the heterochromatin protein HP1alpha, HP1beta and HP1gamma isoforms, in male pachytene spermatocytes, and the XY body facultative heterochromatin in particular. Our results demonstrate that HP1beta and HP1gamma, but not the HP1alpha isoforms, decorate the entire XY body in half the pachytene nuclei observed. In some nuclei, the XY body appears to be only partially labelled. In these cases, the HP1beta and HP1gamma signals are adjacent to the Yq12 constitutive heterochromatin and signal appears to originate in this region before spreading over the entire XY body. This distribution suggests that HP1beta and HP1gamma proteins, which are components of the constitutive heterochromatin, may also be involved in the facultative heterochromatinization of the XY body. Nevertheless, their absence from the early pachytene substage, even though the XY body is already condensed, suggests that these proteins are not involved in the initiation of this process. Show less