Correlations between mitochondrial respiration activity and residual feed intake after divergent genetic selection for high‐ and low‐ oxygen consumption in mice

The aims of the present study were to identify the differences between two mouse lines (high (H)‐ and low (L)‐oxygen consumption) in terms of mitochondrial respiratory activity when GMP (glutamate, malate, and pyruvate) and succinic acid are used as substrates and to examine the relationship between mitochondrial respiration activity and feed efficiency in both lines. The average daily feed intake, feed conversion ratio (FCR), and residual feed intake (RFI) were significantly higher in the H than the L line. The correlation between FCR and RFI was significant (r = 0.60, p < 0.05). RFI was effective as an indicator of feed efficiency. When succinic acid was used as a substrate, mitochondrial respiration states 2–4, ACR, and proton leak were significantly higher in the H than the L line. When GMP was used as a substrate, respiration states 3 and 4 in the H line were significantly higher than those in the L line, and there were significant positive correlations between FCR and RFI and mitochondrial respiration states 2–4. The results indicated that selection for high or low OC changed the basal metabolic rates estimated from liver mitochondrial respiration activity and feed efficiency.