New PhD position - Milk oligosaccharides supplementation during early life of piglets for gut health

Title:
Milk oligosaccharides supplementation during early life of piglets for gut health

Research area and project description:
Proper nutrition in early life of piglets is vital for promoting gut health in the animal’s future. Before weaning, piglets are essentially consuming milk from the sow or milk replacer supplement. One important component of milk is milk oligosaccharides which are prebiotics and essential in developing the gut microbiome. Optimal consumption in milk oligosaccharides in early life can enhance neonate health, potentially leading to more robust animals that are larger in size and less prone to illness. The overall goal of this project is to determine the effects of supplementation in milk oligosaccharides during early life on piglet’s gut health and robustness against post-weaning diarrhea. The hypothesis is that feeding milk oligosaccharides to piglets in early life will contribute to the establishment of a beneficial microbiome and modulate the immune system, thusly improving the piglet’s robustness and resilience during the weaning period.

Suckling piglets will be given experimental milk replacer enriched with milk oligosaccharides. During the experimental period, pigs will be sampled (blood, feces) on individual basis, and milk replacer content in milk oligosaccharides will be put into relation with the gut microbiome and various gut health indicators. The PhD project will result in the understanding of mechanisms of action of milk oligosaccharides as prebiotics and the link to potentially reducing the susceptibility to enteric infection.

Read more and apply: https://phd.tech.au.dk/for-applicants/apply-here/saeropslag/milk-oligosaccharides-supplementation-during-early-life-of-piglets-for-gut-health