{
  "abstract": "Whole sweet sorghum silage (WSS) is a locally available forage resource with potential application in sustainable swine production, yet its biological effects on the intestinal environment and production-related traits of heavy finishing pigs (defined here as pigs entering the trial at approximately 132 kg BW) remain unclear. This study evaluated the effects of replacing 20 percentage units of corn with WSS (on an as-fed basis) on growth performance, meat quality, jejunal morphology, and cecal bacterial composition. Seventy-two Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire pigs were fed the corn-based control diet (CON) or the WSS diet for 30 d. Compared with CON, WSS reduced average daily gain and feed intake and increased the feed-to-gain ratio. It also decreased backfat thickness while increasing loin-eye area and marbling score. WSS reduced 48-h drip loss and increased inosine monophosphate concentrations in both the longissimus dorsi and psoas major muscles. Jejunal villus height and the villus-height-to-crypt-depth ratio were increased in WSS-fed pigs. No significant differences were detected in alpha-diversity indices or unweighted UniFrac community structure between diets, whereas an exploratory linear discriminant analysis effect size procedure identified Streptosporangium , Kribbella , Oxalobacter , and Planifilum as taxa associated with WSS and Bacteroides -related features as associated with CON. Because the diets were not nutrient-matched, these responses reflect the complete dietary contrast. Overall, WSS was associated with a pattern of reduced growth performance accompanied by selected changes in carcass and meat-quality traits, concurrent jejunal morphological adaptation, and exploratory cecal bacterial signals that warrant mechanistic validation.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Non-Grain Feed Resources (Co-construction by Ministry and Province), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Animal Science and Technology, Shandong Agricultural University",
    "College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University",
    "Qingdao Huanshan Biotechnology Co., Ltd.",
    "College of Life Sciences, Shandong Agricultural University",
    "Jiangji Town Animal Husbandry Station, Ningyang",
    "Zhongcheng Feed Technology Co., Ltd.",
    "College of Agricultural Science and Technology, Shandong Agriculture and Engineering University"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 11,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Shaoyang Shi"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Jiandong Wei"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Yonggang Zhang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Xuejun Yuan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Xianglan Shang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Xiao Li"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Huajie Zhou"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Yanping Jiang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Weiren Yang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        6
      ],
      "name": "Min Zhou"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Shuzhen Jiang"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bbyzqfar7ryra.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/fmicb.2026.1971504",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13713666",
  "id": "bbyzqfar7ryra",
  "issns": [
    "1664-302X"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1971504/full",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Original Research"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1103|Animal Nutrition and Physiology"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221760961",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1971504/pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13713666",
  "pmid": "42952709",
  "published": "2026-10-14",
  "publisher": "Frontiers Media SA",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bbyzqfar7ryra.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:12Z",
      "native_id": "10.3389/fmicb.2026.1971504",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1971504/full"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T00:20:41Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42952709",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42952709"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T12:24:10Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13713666",
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      "url": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1971504"
    }
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  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "openalex:1103|Animal Nutrition and Physiology",
      "subfield": "zoology-behaviour"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Dietary whole sweet sorghum silage alters jejunal morphology, selected cecal bacterial taxa, and meat quality in heavy finishing pigs",
  "title_text": "Dietary whole sweet sorghum silage alters jejunal morphology, selected cecal bacterial taxa, and meat quality in heavy finishing pigs",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-01T12:21:18Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bbyzqfar7ryra",
  "venue": "Frontiers in Microbiology",
  "versions": []
}