Acetyi-CoA carboxylase activity and belly fat of gilts housed conventionally or on deep litter

Lipid accretion, or the storage of fat, is characterised by the formation of triglycerides, primarily from free fatty acids (FFA) and glycerol-3-phosphate. In pigs, FFA formation occurs when glucose is metabolised via glycolysis and the citrate cleavage pathway to form acetyl-CoA in the cytoplasm where it can act as a substrate for acetyl-CoA carboxylase, the rate-limiting step of lipogenesis (Dunshea and D'Souza 2003). Trezona et al. (2005) reported that pigs housed conventionally had more belly fat than pigs housed on deep litter. In this study, we hypothesised that acetylCoA carboxylase activity in the belly fat of pigs housed conventionally would be higher than in deep litter pigs