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Candidate blood biomarkers linked with feed intake efficiency and weight gain in sheep
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  • Published: 06 March 2026

Candidate blood biomarkers linked with feed intake efficiency and weight gain in sheep

  • Olufemi Osonowo1,
  • Seyed Ali Goldansaz2,3,
  • Yaogeng Lei2,
  • Desiree Gellatly2,
  • Hamza Jawad1,
  • Shima Borzouie1,
  • Susan Markus4,
  • Younes Miar1,
  • Sean Thompson2 &
  • …
  • Ghader Manafiazar1 

Scientific Reports , Article number:  (2026) Cite this article

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We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.

Subjects

  • Biochemistry
  • Biological techniques
  • Biomarkers
  • Zoology

Abstract

Feed consumption and weight gain critically influence sheep production profitability. Therefore, selecting animals that maintain growth while reducing feed intake is desirable. However, measuring residual intake gain (RIG) is resource-intensive, requiring extended monitoring of both feed intake and weight gain. Candidate blood metabolites linked to RIG may provide a practical tool for early selection. We assessed feed efficiency (FE) in 62 Rideau Arcott ewe lambs over 64 days, categorizing animals into efficient and inefficient groups using RIG. Serum metabolites were analyzed via direct injection liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry with a reverse-phase DI/LC–MS/MS custom assay, and associations with FE classifications were explored using multivariate and univariate statistical analyses. Candidate metabolites differentiating efficiency groups included citric acid, PC aa C32:2, and SM(OH) C22:1 (AUC = 0.82) at day 0, LysoPC a C18:1, SM C20:2, C7DC at day 28 (AUC = 0.84) and SM C16:1.1, PC ae C40:6.1 at day 64 (AUC = 0.77). Pathway analysis highlighted glycerophospholipid and arachidonic acid metabolism as consistently enriched across timepoints. Temporal kinetics analysis identified SM C20:2, LysoPC a C18:1, and butyric acid (p < 0.05) as varying between groups over the feeding period. Seven previously unreported metabolites in the Livestock Metabolome Database were detected in sheep serum. This exploratory study identifies metabolites and pathways associated with divergent RIG phenotypes in ewe lambs and suggests that blood metabolomics could complement performance records in FE improvement programs.

Data availability

The metabolomics datasets generated and analyzed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information file. Additional data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors appreciate the staff (Alison Neale, Emilie Edgar, and Lyndsey Smith) at the Technology Access Center for Livestock Production, Olds College of Agriculture and Technology, Alberta. We also appreciate the students (Wing Hin Cheng and Jocelyn LeClaire) from Olds College for assistance with data collection.

Funding

This study was financed by Mathematics Information Technology Applied Computer Science (MITACS) Canada [IT28650 and IT40885], Results Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR) [2022N057R], Alberta Lamb Producers, Ontario Sheep Farmers, and Nova Scotia Purebred Sheep Associations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Science and Aquaculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Dalhousie University, Truro, NS, B2N 5E3, Canada

    Olufemi Osonowo, Hamza Jawad, Shima Borzouie, Younes Miar & Ghader Manafiazar

  2. Technology Access Centre for Livestock Production, Olds College of Agriculture & Technology, Olds, AB, T4H 1R6, Canada

    Seyed Ali Goldansaz, Yaogeng Lei, Desiree Gellatly & Sean Thompson

  3. Sustainable Livestock Systems Branch, Sustainable Agri-Food Sciences Division, Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute, Hillsborough, BT26 6DR, UK

    Seyed Ali Goldansaz

  4. Applied Livestock Research, Lakeland College, Vermilion, AB, T9X 1K5, Canada

    Susan Markus

Authors
  1. Olufemi Osonowo
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  2. Seyed Ali Goldansaz
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Contributions

G.M., S.A.G., and O.O. conceptualized the study. G.M., O.O., Y.L., D.G., H.J., and S.T. curated and collected data. O.O., S.B., and S.A.G. conducted the formal analyses. G.M., S.A.G., and S.T. secured funding. G.M., O.O., S.B., and S.A.G. carried out the investigations and developed the methodology. G.M. supervised the project. O.O. drafted the original manuscript. O.O., S.A.G., S.M., Y.M., Y.L., S.B., and H.J. revised and edited the manuscript, with G.M. providing final approval. All authors reviewed and approved the final version.

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Correspondence to Ghader Manafiazar.

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Osonowo, O., Goldansaz, S.A., Lei, Y. et al. Candidate blood biomarkers linked with feed intake efficiency and weight gain in sheep. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-40850-7

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  • Received: 17 September 2025

  • Accepted: 16 February 2026

  • Published: 06 March 2026

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-40850-7

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Keywords

  • Feed efficiency
  • Serum metabolites
  • Ewe lambs
  • Residual intake gain, Candidate biomarkers
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