Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Molecular Detection Of Pathogenic Bacteria In American Dog Ticks (Dermacentor Variabilis) In Brown County, Nebraska, Nicole Messbarger, Darby Carlson, Keith Geluso, Julie Shaffer

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

Ticks carry and transmit disease pathogens that cause many human illnesses. Many of these diseases in humans are accompanied by a wide variety of symptoms making tick-borne illnesses often difficult to diagnose. The rate of reported tick-borne illnesses in humans has increased during the past decades in the United States, alongside a rise in concern for public health and safety. In northern Nebraska, the American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis) is the primary tick encountered by humans and domestic animals in the region. This species is a known vector for spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsioses and tularemia (Francisella …

Candida Albicans Farnesol Synthesis And Secretion, Daniel J. Gutzmann

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Candida albicans is a polymorphic fungus and opportunistic commensal found primarily in the gastrointestinal and skin of healthy individuals. Several barriers prevent C. albicans from causing disease including a healthy immune system and microbiome. When these barriers become comprised, C. albicans can transition to a pathogen and disseminate through the intestinal mucosa leading to life-threatening bloodstream and invasive infections with mortality rates of up to 64%. Morphogenic plasticity is key to this transition and impacts virulence, adaptation to different host environments, and evasion of host immune responses. One regulator of morphogenesis is farnesol. Farnesol is a secondary metabolite …

Motif-Vi Loop Acts As A Nucleotide Valve In The West Nile Virus Ns3 Helicase, Priti Roy, Zachary Walter, Lauren Berish, Holly Ramage, Martin Mccullagh

Department of Microbiology and Immunology Faculty Papers

The Orthoflavivirus NS3 helicase (NS3h) is crucial in virus replication, representing a potential drug target for pathogenesis. NS3h utilizes nucleotide triphosphate (ATP) for hydrolysis energy to translocate on single-stranded nucleic acids, which is an important step in the unwinding of double-stranded nucleic acids. Intermediate states along the ATP hydrolysis cycle and conformational changes between these states, represent important yet difficult-to-identify targets for potential inhibitors. Extensive molecular dynamics simulations of West Nile virus NS3h+ssRNA in the apo, ATP, ADP+Pi and ADP bound states were used to model the conformational ensembles along this cycle. Energetic and structural clustering analyses depict a clear …

Triticale As A Source Of Resistance To Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus And Triticum Mosaic Virus, Marcos Winicius Goncalves De Souza

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV) and Triticum mosaic virus (TriMV) present a great threat to wheat production in the Great Plains area of the United States due to the loss of photosynthetic area causing reductions in crop yields. Effective control of these viruses is limited to a few available strategies including controlling volunteer wheat and using currently identified resistant genes to both the vector and viruses. While effective, these genes show temperature sensitivity and yield drag, and evidence that the vectors and viruses can overcome them has been found. Thus, new methods of genetic resistance are urgently needed. Field observations …

Investigating The Abilities Of Potentially Beneficial Bacteria For Increasing Nitrogen-Use Efficiency In Maize, Lexie R. Foster

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Global agriculture relies heavily on the use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer to meet the current global food demand. Unfortunately, the average nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE) of maize (Zea mays) is approximately 50 percent. Improving the NUE of maize is essential for meeting the growing global food demand while also decreasing the negative environmental impacts caused by losses of nitrogen fertilizer due to runoff and volatilization. Harnessing the symbiotic relationship between plants and the soil microbiome may be one method for increasing the NUE in crops such as maize. In the present study, a set of potentially beneficial bacterial species …

Assessment Of Foam Decontamination In Tomato Washing Process, Basim M. Alohali

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

The work of the dissertation investigated the efficacy of foam-based decontamination treatments to enhance microbial safety in Roma tomatoes, specifically targeting natural microflora and Salmonella contamination. Growing concerns over foodborne illnesses linked to fresh tomatoes and the limitations of conventional decontamination techniques, such as organic matter built-up and limited microbial reduction, are addressed. The primary objectives were to characterize the physiochemical properties of foams formed using various concentrations of Tween 20 (T20) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) with and without the addition of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) and peracetic acid (PAA), compare the efficacy of foam and traditional dump tank (DT) …

Metabolomics Analysis Reveals Metabolite Diversity Of The Rare Cliff Plant Oresitrophe Rupifraga Unge, Hao Wang, Jinjun Cao, Sheng Chang, Caifeng Yan, Guangming Zhang

Student and Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Confirmation And Inheritance Of Glufosinate Resistance In An Amaranthus Palmeri Population From North Carolina, Eric A L Jones, Jeffrey C Dunne, Charles W Cahoon, Katherine M Jennings, Ramon G Leon, Wesley J Everman

Student and Faculty Publications

A putative glufosinate‐resistant Amaranthus palmeri population was reported in 2015 in Anson County, North Carolina. The results from dose–response assays conducted in the field suggested plants were surviving lethal rates of glufosinate. Dose–response assays conducted in the glasshouse determined the Anson County accession exhibited reduced susceptibility to glufosinate compared to three glufosinate‐susceptible populations. The LD50 values (210–316 g ai ha−1) for the Anson County population were always higher than the LD50 values (118–158 g ai ha−1) for the tested susceptible populations from the dose–response assays. Anson County plants that survived lethal glufosinate rates were reciprocally crossed with susceptible plants to …

Viral Reprogramming Of Host Transcription Initiation, Nathan A. Ungerleider, Claire Roberts, Tina M. O’Grady, Trang T. Nguyen, Melody Baddoo, Jia Wang, Eman Ishaq, Monica Concha, Meggie Lam, Jordan Bass, Truong D. Nguyen, Nick Van Otterloo, Nadeeshika Wickramarachchige-Dona, Dorota Wyczechowska, Maria Morales, Tianfang Ma, Yan Dong, Erik K. Flemington

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Viruses are master remodelers of the host cell environment in support of infection and virus production. For example, viruses typically regulate cell gene expression through modulating canonical cell promoter activity. Here, we show that Epstein Barr virus (EBV) replication causes ‘de novo’ transcription initiation at 29674 new transcription start sites throughout the cell genome. De novo transcription initiation is facilitated in part by the unique properties of the viral pre-initiation complex (vPIC) that binds a TATT[T/A]AA, TATA box-like sequence and activates transcription with minimal support by additional transcription factors. Other de novo promoters are driven by the viral transcription factors, …

Delivering Crispr To The Hiv-1 Reservoirs, Theodore Gurrola, Samuel Effah, Ilker Sariyer, Will Dampier, Michael Nonnemacher, Brian Wigdahl

Kimmel Cancer Center Faculty Papers

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection is well known as one of the most complex and difficult viral infections to cure. The difficulty in developing curative strategies arises in large part from the development of latent viral reservoirs (LVRs) within anatomical and cellular compartments of a host. The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/ CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) system shows remarkable potential for the inactivation and/or elimination of integrated proviral DNA within host cells, however, delivery of the CRISPR/Cas9 system to infected cells is still a challenge. In this review, the main factors impacting delivery, the challenges for delivery …

High-Density Genetic Map Construction And Qtl Mapping Of A Zigzag-Shaped Stem Trait In Tea Plant (Camellia Sinensis), Dingding Liu, Yuanyuan Ye, Rongjin Tang, Yang Gong, Si Chen, Chenyu Zhang, Piao Mei, Jiedan Chen, Liang Chen, Chunlei Ma

Student and Faculty Publications

The highly unique zigzag-shaped stem phenotype in tea plants boasts significant ornamental value and is exceptionally rare. To investigate the genetic mechanism behind this trait, we developed BC1 artificial hybrid populations. Our genetic analysis revealed the zigzag-shaped trait as a qualitative trait. Utilizing whole-genome resequencing, we constructed a high-density genetic map from the BC1 population, incorporating 5,250 SNP markers across 15 linkage groups, covering 3,328.51 cM with an average marker interval distance of 0.68 cM. A quantitative trait locus (QTL) for the zigzag-shaped trait was identified on chromosome 4, within a 61.2 to 97.2 Mb range, accounting for a phenotypic …

Rosarugosides A And D From Osa Rugosa Flower Buds: Their Potential Anti-Skin-Aging Effects In Tnf-Α-Induced Human Dermal Fibroblasts, Kang Sub Kim, So-Ri Son, Yea Jung Choi, Yejin Kim, Si-Young Ahn, Dae Sik Jang, Sullim Lee

Student and Faculty Publications

This present study investigated the anti-skin-aging properties of Rosa rugosa. Initially, phenolic compounds were isolated from a hot water extract of Rosa rugosa's flower buds. Through repeated chromatography (column chromatography, MPLC, and prep HPLC), we identified nine phenolic compounds (1-9), including a previously undescribed depside, rosarugoside D (1). The chemical structure of 1 was elucidated via NMR, HR-MS, UV, and hydrolysis. Next, in order to identify bioactive compounds that are effective against TNF-α-induced NHDF cells, we measured intracellular ROS production in samples treated with each of the isolated compounds (1- …

Analysis Of Antibiotic Sensitivity Patterns In Pasteurellaceae Family Isolates: A Microbial And Molecular Investigation, Jillian Barron

Honors Scholar Theses

Bacteria in the Pasteurellaceae family are known to cause disease in both human and animal species. Like all species of bacteria, the pathogens in the Pasteurellaceae family evolve and acquire antimicrobial-resistant traits. Antimicrobial resistance of bacteria is a significant public health concern, as treatment of resistant pathogens becomes more difficult, if not impossible, with current medical capabilities. In this project, phenotypic and genotypic analyses were performed on Pasteurellaceae family isolates sourced from the Connecticut Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory. Phenotypic antibiotic sensitivity patterns of each isolate were assessed against a panel of antibiotics through a Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion test. Disk diffusion …

Comprehensive Guidance For The Prevention Of Periprosthetic Joint Infection After Total Joint Arthroplasty And Pitfalls In The Prevention, Javad Parvizi, Yonghan Cha, Emanuele Chisari, Kangbaek Kim, Kyung-Hoi Koo

Rothman Institute Faculty Papers

Total joint arthroplasty (TJA) is a surgical procedure, in which parts of damaged joints are removed and replaced with a prosthesis. The main indication of TJA is osteoarthritis, and the volume of TJA is rising annually along with the increase of aged population. Hip and knee are the most common joints, in which TJAs are performed. The TJA prosthesis is composed of metal, plastic, or ceramic device. Even though TJA is the most successful treatment for end-stage osteoarthritis, it is associated with various complications, and periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) is the most serious complication after TJA. With the increasing volume …

An Ecological Analysis Of The Elevational Gradient Effect On Mushroom Community Diversity Near Andasibe, Madagascar, Zoe Garver

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The effect of elevational gradients on biodiversity has been widely studied in the field of ecology (Rahbek, 1995). The evidence supports a trend for highest biodiversity at mid latitudes and decreasing biodiversity as elevation increases (Rahbek, 1997; Grytnes, 2003; Hariharan and Buckley, 2022). This effect has primarily been explained by variation of temperatures and resource availability at different elevations. However, the effect that elevation plays on fungal communities is relatively underrepresented in the literature (Dahlberg, 2001). This study analyzes changes in mushroom diversity across an elevational gradient in Mitsinjo Reserve and Analamazaotra National Park found in Madagascar. Using the Braun-Blanquet …

Mushroom Composition Across An Elevational Gradient During The 2024 Wet Season In Mazumbai Forest Reserve, Tanzania, Christopher Brady

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Mushrooms are key bioindicators that contribute greatly to ecological health, and their diversity is indicative of a healthy ecosystem. However, even with the vital role they play in ecological health, there are few studies which measure the diversity of mushrooms in Mazumbai Forest Reserve (MFR), Tanzania, Africa, and none which focus on diversity along the elevational gradient within the reserve (1300-1900m). This study measures the diversity and equitability of mushrooms growing in six elevational zones within MFR during the rainy season of 2024. A species checklist of mushrooms growing in MFR during the 2024 rainy season was created, tracking the …

An Analysis Of Conventional And Modern Packaging Approaches For Cut Flowers: A Review Article, Nahed M Rashed, Saba Ambreen Memon, Saleh M Al Turki, Tarek A Shalaby, Mohamed M El-Mogy

Student and Faculty Publications

Fresh-cut flowers are considered to be one of the most delicate and challenging commercial crops. It is important to take into consideration how to minimize loss during storage and transportation when preserving cut flowers. Many impinging (bad effect) forces can interact to shorten the flowers' vase life. In the flower industry, effective methods need to be developed to extend freshly cut flowers' life. Fresh-cut flowers' vase life can be shortened by a variety of interlocking causes. The flower industry must develop new techniques to extend the flowers' vase lifespan. This review provides comprehensive, up-to-date information on classical, modified atmosphere packaging …

Dopamine Lesions Alter The Striatal Encoding Of Single-Limb Gait, Long Yang, Deepak Singla, Alexander K Wu, Katy A Cross, Sotiris C Masmanidis

Student and Faculty Publications

The striatum serves an important role in motor control, and neurons in this area encode the body's initiation, cessation, and speed of locomotion. However, it remains unclear whether the same neurons also encode the step-by-step rhythmic motor patterns of individual limbs that characterize gait. By combining high-speed video tracking, electrophysiology, and optogenetic tagging, we found that a sizable population of both D1 and D2 receptor expressing medium spiny projection neurons (MSNs) were phase-locked to the gait cycle of individual limbs in mice. Healthy animals showed balanced limb phase-locking between D1 and D2 MSNs, while dopamine depletion led to stronger phase-locking …

Assessing Pattern Of The Pediatric Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (Pmis) In Children During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Experience From The Emergency Department Of Tertiary Care Center Of A Low-Middle-Income Country, Saleem Akhtar, Iqra Anis, Kumar Nirdosh, Muhammad Ihsan Tayyab Ihsan, Ahmed Raheem Buksh, Surraiya Bano

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Background: Pediatric Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (PMIS) is a hyperinflammatory condition affecting multiple organs in children, often resembling incomplete Kawasaki Disease during later phases of COVID-19 infection. Data on PMIS in low-middle-income countries, particularly in emergency department settings, is limited.
Objectives: This prospective observational study at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, aimed to determine the frequency, clinical presentation patterns, and laboratory parameters of children with PMIS visiting the emergency department during the COVID-19 pandemic. Secondary objectives included assessing factors associated with in-hospital mortality.
Methods: From March 2020 to September 2021, patients meeting World Health Organization PMIS criteria were enrolled. COVID-19 testing …

The Influence Of Incubation Temperature On Offspring Traits Varies Across Northern And Southern Populations Of The American Alligator (Alligator Mississippiensis), Christopher R Smaga, Samantha L Bock, Josiah M Johnson, Thomas Rainwater, Randeep Singh, Vincent Deem, Andrew Letter, Arnold Brunell, Benjamin B Parrott

Student and Faculty Publications

Maternal provisioning and the developmental environment are fundamental determinants of offspring traits, particularly in oviparous species. However, the extent to which embryonic responses to these factors differ across populations to drive phenotypic variation is not well understood. Here, we examine the contributions of maternal provisioning and incubation temperature to hatchling morphological and metabolic traits across four populations of the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis), encompassing a large portion of the species' latitudinal range. Our results show that whereas the influence of egg mass is generally consistent across populations, responses to incubation temperature show population-level variation in several traits, including …

Comparison Of Energy Budget Of Cockroach Nymph (Hemimetabolous) And Hornworm (Holometabolous) Under Food Restriction, Charles J Green, Chen Hou

Student and Faculty Publications

Animals with different life histories budget their intake energy differently when food availability is low. It has been shown previously that hornworm (larva of Manduca sexta), a holometabolous insect species with a short development stage, prioritizes growth at the price of metabolism under food restriction, but it is unclear how hemimetabolous insect species with a relatively long development period budget their intake energy under food scarcity. Here, we use orange head cockroaches (Eublaberus posticus) to investigate this question. We found that for both species under food restriction, rates of metabolism and growth were suppressed, but the degree …

Tail-Tape-Fused Virion And Non-Virion Rna Polymerases Of A Thermophilic Virus With An Extremely Long Tail, Anastasiia Chaban, Leonid Minakhin, Ekaterina Goldobina, Brain Bae, Yue Hao, Sergei Borukhov, Leena Putzeys, Maarten Boon, Florian Kabinger, Rob Lavigne, Kira S Makarova, Eugene V Koonin, Satish K Nair, Shunsuke Tagami, Konstantin Severinov, Maria L Sokolova

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

Thermus thermophilus bacteriophage P23-45 encodes a giant 5,002-residue tail tape measure protein (TMP) that defines the length of its extraordinarily long tail. Here, we show that the N-terminal portion of P23-45 TMP is an unusual RNA polymerase (RNAP) homologous to cellular RNAPs. The TMP-fused virion RNAP transcribes pre-early phage genes, including a gene that encodes another, non-virion RNAP, that transcribes early and some middle phage genes. We report the crystal structures of both P23-45 RNAPs. The non-virion RNAP has a crab-claw-like architecture. By contrast, the virion RNAP adopts a unique flat structure without a clamp. Structure and sequence comparisons of …

Exploration Of Potential Broad-Spectrum Antiviral Targets In The Enterovirus Replication Element: Identification Of Six Distinct 5' Cloverleaves, Morgan G. Daniels, Meagan E. Werner, Rockwell T. Li, Steven M. Pascal

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Enterovirus genomic replication initiates at a predicted RNA cloverleaf (5′CL) at the 5′ end of the RNA genome. The 5′CL contains one stem (SA) and three stem-loops (SLB, SLC, SLD). Here, we present an analysis of 5′CL conservation and divergence for 209 human health-related serotypes from the enterovirus genus, including enterovirus and rhinovirus species. Phylogenetic analysis indicates six distinct 5′CL serotypes that only partially correlate with the species definition. Additional findings include that 5′CL sequence conservation is higher between the EV species than between the RV species, the 5′CL of EVA and EVB are nearly identical, and RVC has the …

Resilience And Associated Factors In Orphaned And Separated Adolescents In Kenya: Understanding The Relationship With Care Environment And Hiv Risks., Sarah Sutherland, Harry Shannon, David Ayuku, David Kleiner, Olli Saarela, Lukoye Atwoli, Joseph Hogan, Paula Braitstein

Internal Medicine, East Africa

Orphans are at higher risk of HIV infection and several important HIV risk factors than non-orphans; however, this may be due to a combination of related social, psychological, and economic factors, as well as care environment, rather than orphan status alone. Understanding these complex relationships may aid policy makers in supporting evidence-based, cost-effective programming for this vulnerable population. This longitudinal study uses a causal effect model to examine, through decomposition, the relationship between care environment and HIV risk factors in orphaned and separated adolescents and youths (OSAY) in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya; considering resilience, social, peer, or family support, volunteering, …

Intra-Decadal Increase In Globally-Spread Magallana Gigas In Southern California Estuaries, Marah L Wolfe, Chelsea M Bowers-Doerning, Anabell Espinosa, Ty Frantz, William J Hoese, Joann G Lam, Kailee R Lamp, Rachael A Lyons, Justin K Nguyen, Bryce D Keyes, Jada Smith, Holly L Suther, Meaghan Swintek, Juliann C Vannordstrand, Danielle C Zacherl

Student and Faculty Publications

Introduction and establishment of non-indigenous species (NIS) has been accelerated on a global scale by climate change. NIS Magallana gigas' (formerly Crassostrea gigas') global spread over the past several decades has been linked to warming waters, specifically during summer months, raising the specter of more spread due to predicted warming. We tracked changes in density and size distribution of M. gigas in two southern California, USA bays over the decade spanning 2010-2020 using randomly placed quadrats across multiple intertidal habitats (e.g., cobble, seawalls, riprap) and documented density increases by 2.2 to 32.8 times at 7 of the 8 sites surveyed …

Nanosecond Pulsed Electric Fields Increase Antibiotic Susceptibility In Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, Alexandra E. Chittams-Miles, Areej Malik, Erin B. Purcell, Claudia Muratori

Bioelectrics Publications

Staphylococcus aureus is the leading cause of skin and soft-tissue infections (SSTIs). SSTIs caused by bacteria resistant to antimicrobials, such as methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), are increasing in incidence and have led to higher rates of hospitalization. In this study, we measured MRSA inactivation by nanosecond pulsed electric fields (nsPEF), a promising new cell ablation technology. Our results show that treatment with 120 pulses of 600 ns duration (28 kV/cm, 1 Hz), caused modest inactivation, indicating cellular damage. We anticipated that the perturbation created by nsPEF could increase antibiotic efficacy if nsPEF were applied as a co-treatment. To test this …

Determinants Of Immunization In Polio Super High-Risk Union Councils Of Pakistan, Ahmad Khan, Imtiaz Hussain, Dale A. Rhoda, Muhammad Umer, Uzair Ansari, Imran Ahmed, Caitlin Clary, Rana Muhammad Safdar, Sajid Bashir Soofi

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

Background: The current polio epidemiology in Pakistan poses a unique challenge for global eradication as the country is affected by ongoing endemic poliovirus transmission. Across the country, 40 union councils (UCs) which serve as core reservoirs for poliovirus with continuous incidences of polio cases are categorized as super-high-risk union councils (SHRUCs).
Methodology: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 39 SHRUCs using a two-stage stratified cluster sampling technique. 6,976 children aged 12-23 months were covered. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were analyzed using STATA version 17.
Results: Based on both vaccination records and recall, 48.3% of children …

How Megadrought Causes Extensive Mortality In A Deep-Rooted Shrub Species Normally Resistant To Drought-Induced Dieback: The Role Of A Biotic Mortality Agent, Natalie M. Aguirre, Marissa E. Ochoa, Helen I. Holmlund, Gabriella N. Palmeri, Emily R. Lancaster, Gina S. Gilderman, Shaquetta R. Taylor, Kaitlyn E. Sauer, Adriana J. Borges, Avery N.D. Lamb, Sarah B. Jacques, Frank W. Ewers, Stephen D. Davis

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Southern California experienced unprecedented megadrought between 2012 and 2018. During this time, Malosma laurina, a chaparral species normally resilient to single-year intense drought, developed extensive mortality exceeding 60% throughout low-elevation coastal populations of the Santa Monica Mountains. We assessed the physiological mechanisms by which the advent of megadrought predisposed M. laurina to extensive shoot dieback and whole-plant death. We found that hydraulic conductance of stem xylem (Ks, native) was reduced seven to 11-fold in dieback adult and resprout branches, respectively. Staining of stem xylem vessels revealed that dieback plants experienced 68% solid-blockage, explaining the reduction in water transport. Following Koch's …

Bilateral Interstitial Keratitis Following Covid-19: A Case Report, Nathalie D. Daher, Zeba A. Syed

Wills Eye Hospital Papers

BACKGROUND: Although the primary target of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is the respiratory tract, the expression of the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor in other tissues facilitates viral entry in others parts of the body, including ocular structures. Ocular manifestations may occur before, during, or after systemic infection.

CASE PRESENTATION: We report the case of a 60-year-old male who presented with bilateral interstitial keratitis after the onset of COVID-19, with ocular symptoms starting within 7 days after systemic symptoms. Laboratory investigation did not identify any alternative etiology for his disease, although the possibility of Epstein-Barr virus or herpes simpex …

Influence Of Sex On Meat And Fat Quality From Heavy Alentejano Pigs Finished Outdoors On Commercial And High Fiber Diets, José Manuel Martins, Rui Charneca, Nicolás Garrido, André Albuquerque, Eliana Jerónimo, Olinda Guerreiro, Patrícia Lage, Carla Marmelo, Filipa Costa, Amélia Ramos, Luísa Martin

Student and Faculty Publications

This work aimed to examine the effects of sex on meat and fat quality traits from thirty Portuguese Alentejano (AL) pigs reared in outdoor conditions. These pigs were divided into three groups and fed ad libitum. From ~40 to 130 kg LW, castrated (C group) and intact animals (I and IExp) consumed commercial diets. Until slaughter (~160 kg), C and I pigs remained on commercial diets, and IExp changed to a more sustainable experimental diet with locally produced pulses and byproducts. Samples were collected from the Longissimus lumborum (LL), Psoas major (PM), and dorsal subcutaneous fat (DSF). At ~160 …