DELINEATING THE INTERACTION AMONG LOW FEED INTAKE, SULFUR AMINO ACID METABOLISM, AND GUT FUNCTION IN NEWLY WEANED PIGS

Our long-term goal is to improve the efficiency and sustainability of pork production in the U.S. by minimizing the postabsorptive inefficiency of protein and amino acid utilization in pigs. The overall objective of this project is to determine how low feed intake after weaning affects sulfur amino acid metabolism in pigs. Our central hypothesis is that low feed intake at weaning increases whole-body cysteine availability but reduces cysteine utilization for glutathione production. The specific objectives of this project are: 1) to identify the extent to which feed intake impacts the abundance of key enzymes and metabolites related to sulfur amino acid metabolism in newly weaned pigs and 2) to determine how reductions in feed intake affect cysteine utilization for gut glutathione production and protein synthesis in pigs after weaning.