Research
The scientific aim of the SFB 852 is to characterize the influence of nutritional factors on the functionings of the intestines and on animal health in the pig using innovative, experimental, analytical and bioinformatic methods. In the 1. funding period, research efforts are focussed on feed additives, and in particular, on mechanistic studies on the effects of probiotics as well as the trace mineral zinc. The integrative concept of the SFB enables the characterization of the intestinal microbiota and its metabolic activity, the reaction of the host organism and the interactions between both. This is reflected in two of the project areas of the SFB, which examine the intestinal microbiota and physiological and pathohistological processes in the gastrointestinal tract. The research program of the SFB consists of four central project areas, whose cross-disciplinary functions are organizational, analytical, experimental, as well as the promotion of young researchers in an integrated Post-Graduate Program. The project areas build on findings obtained by the Research Group 438 (Integrative Analysis of Probiotics in the Pig), which was funded by the DFG for a period of over 6 years, and further this knowledge in specific regard to the functional aspects of the effects of nutritional factors (“mode of action”). The projects contribute substantially to the understanding of the biology of nutrition in the pig, and provide new insights into the field of nutrition-host-interactions as well as into their modulations.
