Work Package 8 - Animal Well-Being

Rationale: Stress responses play a critical role in the sustainability of animal breeding, affecting welfare, growth, quality and safety of products. All aspects of stress responses are highly variable among individuals and influenced by genetic factors. Molecular mechanisms involved in genetic variation of stress responses and correlated traits are under investigation, with the objective of finding gene polymorphisms that will be used for animal selection, as successfully demonstrated with the discovery of a major stress sensitivity gene in pigs. Phenotypes of interest include behavioural traits (emotional reactivity, fear responses, aggressive behaviours, and reactions to humans), biological responses (mainly HPA axis and SNS), as well as their related traits (welfare, product quality and safety).

Objectives

·       Determine gene expression responses to stress in pigs and poultry

·       Detect polymorphisms in candidate genes associated with stress responses

WP Leader: Dr Pierre Mormede (Institute National de la Recherche Agronomique)

Partners involved:

Institute National de la Recherche Agronomique

Genus International plc

Research Institute for the Biology of Farm Animals, FBN - Dummerstorf

Scottish Agricultural College

University of Medical Sciences Poznan