Journal of Animal Science and Technology最新文献

{"title":"Integrated effects of diet and probiotics on rumen microbiota and host physiology in ruminants.","authors":"Jeehwan Choe, Miri Park, Seung-Man Yu, Sooah Kim","doi":"10.5187/jast.2500468","DOIUrl":"10.5187/jast.2500468","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Rumen microbiota is essential for nutrient digestion, immune function, and metabolic health in ruminants. With growing interest in sustainable animal production, recent studies have focused on the combined use of diet and probiotics in modulating rumen microbial community and its association with host performance. This review summarizes the effects of dietary strategies on microbial composition and fermentation efficiency. This review also discusses how probiotics such as <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i>, <i>Lactobacillus</i>, <i>Lacticaseibacillus</i>, <i>Lactiplantibacillus</i>, and <i>Bacillus</i> spp. stabilize the rumen environment, enhance fiber degradation, and reduce harmful microbes. These effects are influenced by both the probiotic strain and physiological stage of the animal. Furthermore, it explores how microbial fermentation products, such as volatile fatty acids and ammonia, play an important role as functional indicators reflecting microbial activity and host physiology. Metabolomics, which enables the comprehensive analysis of rumen metabolites, has proven valuable for investigating the influence of diet and probiotics on host metabolism. Hence, the integration of dietary strategies with probiotics can synergistically enhance rumen health and overall productivity in ruminants.</p>","PeriodicalId":14923,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Technology","volume":"68 4","pages":"1002-1014"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13678320/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149224064","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dietary supplementation with coated zinc oxide enhanced growth performance by modulating systemic immunity and microbial composition in weaned pigs.","authors":"Jinuk Nam, Kyeong Il Park, Jinho Cho, Hyeun Bum Kim, Jinmu Ahn, Youngmin Park, Sheena Kim, Sangwoo Park, Yanhong Liu, Hyunjin Kyoung, Minho Song","doi":"10.5187/jast.2025.e41","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5187/jast.2025.e41","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Dietary zinc oxide (ZnO) is widely adopted in the swine industry to alleviate post-weaning diarrhea and promote the growth performance of weaned pigs. However, its low rate of absorption in the gastrointestinal tract leads to excessive excretion, which causes severe environmental pollution. To overcome this limitation, dietary coated ZnO (CZO) has been studied to enhance zinc absorption and mitigate its environmental influence. In the present study, we investigated the effects of dietary CZO on growth performance, frequency of diarrhea, nutrient digestibility, hematological and immune responses, and fecal microbiota of weaned pigs. A total of 72 weaned pigs (7.30 ± 0.01 kg of average initial body weight; 28 days old) were randomly assigned to three dietary treatments (4 pigs/pen; 6 replicates/treatment): basal weaner diet (CON), CON with 2,500 ppm of ZnO (HZO), and CON with 200 mg/kg of CZO. The experiment was conducted for 6 weeks. The CZO group increased (<i>p</i> < 0.05) average daily gain and gain to feed ratio and showed tendency to reduce (<i>p</i> = 0.094) the frequency of diarrhea compared with the CON group during the first two weeks after weaning. The CZO group showed a tendency for the lowest levels of serum tumor necrosis factor-α (<i>p</i> = 0.072) on day 7 and hematocrit (<i>p</i> = 0.083) on day 14 and the highest (<i>p</i> = 0.072) levels of the immunoglobulin M on day 14 among the treatment groups. The HZO group tended to have the lowest (<i>p</i> = 0.078) serum cortisol levels on day 7 among all treatments. At the genus level of gut microbiota analysis, the dietary CZO group showed a higher (<i>p</i> < 0.05) relative abundance of <i>Prevotella, Eubacterium</i>, and <i>Lactobacillus</i> than pigs treated with the CON diet. The HZO group showed a higher (<i>p</i> < 0.05) relative abundance of <i>Eubacterium</i> and <i>Lactobacillus</i> than the CON group. Our results demonstrated that dietary CZO supplementation enhanced growth performance and reduced the incidence of diarrhea by modulating systemic immune responses and shifting fecal microbial compositions in weaned pigs, suggesting its potential as an alternative to the high dose ZnO diets.</p>","PeriodicalId":14923,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Technology","volume":"68 4","pages":"1148-1163"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13678368/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149223859","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Egg fertility assessment system using deep learning technology.","authors":"Jin-Hyun Park, Sea Hwan Sohn, Hee-Mun Park, Sang-Hyon Oh","doi":"10.5187/jast.2600100","DOIUrl":"10.5187/jast.2600100","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In the poultry industry, accurate distinction between fertilized, unfertilized, and hatching failure eggs is a key factor for improving hatching efficiency and reducing resource waste. This study comprehensively evaluated 12 CNN architectures for non-destructive egg fertility classification based on candling-style images captured on days 5-6 of incubation, under four experimental scenarios: Case A (image-level random split, three classes), Case B (egg-level separation, three classes), Case C (image-level random split, two classes), and Case D (egg-level separation, two classes). In Cases A and B, overall accuracy ranged from 93.65%-98.65% and 90.82%-95.79%, respectively. Per-class recall for fertilized eggs exceeded 98% across all models, while hatching failure egg recall was highly variable (5.88%-76.47% in Case A; 0%-27.78% in Case B), reflecting severe class imbalance and visual ambiguity. In Cases C and D (fertilized vs. unfertilized only), overall accuracy improved to 97.02%-99.80% and 95.84%-98.81%, respectively, with unfertilized egg recall ranging from 74.47%-97.87% (Case C) and 58.33%-87.50% (Case D). Egg-level evaluation (Cases B and D) consistently yielded lower accuracy than image-level splitting (Cases A and C), confirming that image-level splitting overestimates real-world generalization performance. CNN selection should be guided by the balance between computational resources and required accuracy: lightweight models (SqueezeNet: 4.7 MB; ShuffleNet: 5.5 MB) suit resource-constrained deployments, while larger models (Inception-v3, VGG-16, VGG-19) offer superior accuracy for high-performance applications. Classification of hatching failure eggs remains challenging due to their visual similarity to both fertilized and unfertilized eggs depending on the timing of developmental arrest, and represents an important direction for future research.</p>","PeriodicalId":14923,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Technology","volume":"68 4","pages":"1272-1293"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13678357/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149224013","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Complete genome sequence of <i>Enterococcus faecium</i> strain GB_C_05 with potential characteristics applicable as a bacteriocin-producing probiotic feed additive.","authors":"Juyoun Kang, Hyunok Doo, Jinok Kwak, Eun Sol Kim, Gi Beom Keum, Yejin Choi, Haram Kim, Yeongjae Chae, Sheena Kim, Hyeun Bum Kim, Ju-Hoon Lee","doi":"10.5187/jast.2025.e40","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5187/jast.2025.e40","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The whole genome of <i>Enterococcus faecium</i> GB_C_05, a strain isolated from Sikhye, a traditional Korean rice beverage, was successfully sequenced and analyzed using Oxford Nanopore Technologies. The complete genome sequence of GB_C_05 contains a circular chromosome with a total length of 2,575,440 base pairs (bp) and a guanine + cytosine (GC) content of 38.2%, along with one circular plasmid, which has a length of 230,283 bp and a GC content of 35.2%. Annotation of the GB_C_05 genome revealed 2,756 protein-coding sequences (CDSs), 70 tRNAs, and 18 rRNAs on the chromosome. Notably, CDSs related to bacteriocin synthesis (Enterocin) and carbohydrate metabolism (α-galactosidase, β-glucosidase, and α-L-arabinofuranosidase), as well as genes potentially involved in probiotic-associated functions such as adhesion and colonization, were identified. This comprehensive study presents the complete genome sequence of <i>E. faecium</i> GB_C_05, providing insight into the diverse additives utilized in animal farming to enhance nutritional quality and livestock productivity.</p>","PeriodicalId":14923,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Technology","volume":"68 4","pages":"1333-1338"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13678359/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149227910","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparative effects of deoxynivalenol and deepoxy-deoxynivalenol on porcine oocyte maturation and embryonic development, and the partial protective role of resveratrol.","authors":"Hoyong Choi, Jaehyeok Yoon, Junghui Jo, Xiang Zhang, Kukbin Ji, Inchul Choi, Jeongwoong Lee, Min Kyu Kim","doi":"10.5187/jast.2600045","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5187/jast.2600045","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Mycotoxin contamination of animal feed is a major threat to livestock reproduction. Deoxynivalenol (DON), a trichothecene mycotoxin, disrupts cellular function by binding to ribosomes and inducing ribotoxic stress, oxidative imbalance, and apoptosis. Its primary microbial metabolite, deepoxy-deoxynivalenol (DOM-1), is thought to be less toxic. However, its reproductive effects remain unclear. DON contamination is widely reported in cereal grains used in animal feed, and pigs exposed to contaminated diets have been shown to exhibit detectable DON and DOM-1 levels in blood, urine, and fetal tissues (approximately 8-9 ng/g), highlighting the biological relevance of DON exposure during reproduction. Here, we evaluated the effects of DON (250, 500, and 1,000 ng/mL) and DOM-1 (250, 500, and 1,000 ng/mL) on porcine oocyte maturation and embryonic development <i>in vitro</i>, and examined whether resveratrol (Res, 2 μM) could mitigate DON-induced toxicity. Exposure to DON inhibited cumulus cell expansion, maturation rates and impaired developmental competence, at a concentration of 1,000 ng/mL, developmental arrest was complete. DON-treated oocytes showed increased ROS, decreased GSH, upregulated ER stress and apoptosis-related gene levels (ATF4, XBP1, CHOP, BAX), with downregulated anti-apoptosis gene levels (BCL2). In contrast, DOM-1 had no significant effects compared with those of the controls, except for a modest reduction in the blastocyst rate at the highest concentration. Although Res did not show restorative effects on cumulus cell expansion and nuclear maturation, Res supplementation reduced DON-induced ER stress markers, increased BCL2 levels, and induced blastocyst development in DON-exposed embryos. These findings demonstrate that DON exerts dose-dependent toxicity in porcine oocytes via oxidative stress and ER stress-mediated apoptosis, whereas DOM-1 is largely nontoxic. Res partially protected against DON-induced oocyte damage and confirms its potential as a supplement to combat mycotoxins.</p>","PeriodicalId":14923,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Technology","volume":"68 4","pages":"1099-1116"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13678329/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149224061","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"CowPainCheck: AI-based facial expression analysis for dairy cow welfare.","authors":"Shivam Patel, Suresh Neethirajan","doi":"10.5187/jast.2500286","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5187/jast.2500286","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Pain management in dairy cattle remains a persistent challenge, hindered by subjective assessments and inherent observer biases that compromise animal welfare and impose significant economic burdens due to conditions such as mastitis and lameness. Emerging AI technologies, integrated with computer vision and mobile platforms, now offer transformative solutions through objective, automated facial expression analysis. Advancements in neurobiological research have elucidated the mechanisms underlying bovine pain expression, enabling the development of robust grimace scales validated by high sensitivity and specificity (e.g., UCAPS, sensitivity/specificity: 0.78-0.85). Recent AI models employing advanced architectures such as YOLOv8-Pose (achieving 96.9% mAP in landmark detection) and transformer-based frameworks (demonstrating 98.36% accuracy in facial recognition tasks) significantly surpass conventional methodologies in accuracy, reliability, and scalability. Moreover, multimodal approaches fusing RGB and thermal imaging have demonstrated remarkable efficacy (81%-95% accuracy) in capturing nuanced physiological indicators of pain. Edge-optimized deployment strategies now enable real-time, field-level applications, delivering rapid classifications at up to 24 frames per second with classification accuracies of 94.2%. Yet, substantial challenges persist, particularly in accounting for breed-specific variability and environmental interferences that limit universal applicability. Critical future research avenues include transfer learning for improved crossbreed adaptability, multimodal integration for chronic pain detection, and the advancement of longitudinal monitoring frameworks within precision livestock farming. The practical implications of these technologies are profound, promising significant welfare improvements through timely interventions, reduced economic losses, and the broader ethical advancement of AI-driven veterinary partnerships. The integration of automated facial expression-based pain detection in dairy operations thus holds immense potential to redefine standards in animal welfare and establish a new paradigm for sustainable and ethically aligned global dairy production.</p>","PeriodicalId":14923,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Technology","volume":"68 4","pages":"959-1001"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13678361/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149224100","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Association between indoor air pollutants and pig productivity index by on-site application of air cleaner.","authors":"Ki Youn Kim, Jung-Kon Kim","doi":"10.5187/jast.2500087","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5187/jast.2500087","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Chronic wasting diseases of pigs and respiratory diseases of farm workers by exposure to various air pollutants in pig building are hygienic problems for contemporary pig production industry to solve urgently. This study was performed to evaluate contributions of air cleaner to air pollutants and pig productivity under on-site situation of commercial pig building. Air pollutants concentration and pig's productivity index between the control room and the treatment room has been monitored for six months according to pig's rearing stage: 0 day (farrowing), 21st day (farrowing-weaning), 70th day (weaning-nursery), 140th day (nursery-growing) and 180th day (growing-fattening). Generally mean concentrations of air pollutants derived from pig building were relatively higher in the control room than in the treatment room. The reduction efficiencies of air cleaner for air pollutants were 5%-10% for 0 day, 10%-20% for 21st day, 15%-25% for 70th day, 20%-35% for 140th day and 30%-45% for 180th day, respectively. Furthermore, application of air cleaner had a positive effect on pig's body weight gain, feed conversion, pig activity index and mortality rate through all the pig's rearing steps. The pig's body weight gain and pig activity index showed significant correlations with total suspended particle (TSP) and particulate matter (PM)_2.5, and TSP and airborne fungi, respectively.</p>","PeriodicalId":14923,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Technology","volume":"68 4","pages":"1294-1305"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13678347/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149227894","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluation of mineral digestibility and physiological status in adult dogs fed an organic mineral-based diet.","authors":"Seyeon Chang, Kangmin Seo, Han Tae Bang, Kyoung-Min So, Min Young Lee, Sang-Yeob Lee, Woo-Do Lee, Hyun-Woo Cho, Won Yong Jung, Ki Hyun Kim, Ju Lan Chun","doi":"10.5187/jast.2500344","DOIUrl":"10.5187/jast.2500344","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The daily requirement for minerals is minor; nevertheless, they are essential for the metabolism, growth, and reproduction of dogs. Therefore, European Pet Food Industry Federation, Nutrient Research Council, and Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) recommend minimum levels of essential minerals in pet food. This study examined the potential availability and safety of organic minerals in adult dogs. Five-year-old, neutered female beagle dogs were fed an inorganic (IMD) or organic (OMD) mineral-based diet twice daily for two weeks each in a crossover design. The IMD included Ca(IO₃)₂, FeSO₄, MnSO₄, ZnSO₄, and CuSO₄; the OMD included Ca(IO₃)₂, glycine-chelated Fe (Fe-Gly), Mn (Mn-Gly), Zn (Zn-Gly), and Cu (Cu-Gly). The experimental diets were provided in an amount individually estimated by the maintenance energy requirement equation proposed by AAFCO, and water was provided <i>ad libitum</i>. No significant differences in food and energy intake, body weight, body condition score, and fecal score were observed between the IMD and OMD groups. The OMD group had significantly higher mineral (K, P, Na, Ca, Fe, Zn, Cu, and Mn) and nutrient (organic matter, dry matter, and nitrogen-free extract) digestibility than the IMD group. All parameters of complete blood count remained within the normal physiological range, despite significant differences in some parameters between these two groups. Therefore, OMD may positively influence nutritional metabolism by improving mineral and nutrient digestibility without negatively affecting body weight, body condition score, and digestive and physiological parameters in adult dogs.</p>","PeriodicalId":14923,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Technology","volume":"68 4","pages":"1306-1321"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13678307/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149224140","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"MIT-001 mitigates vitrification-induced mitochondrial stress and regulates filamentous actin reorganization, enhancing the survival and development of vitrified-warmed bovine blastocysts.","authors":"Dae-Wook Kim, Hyo-Jin Park, Seul-Gi Yang, Jae-Ho Lee, Deog-Bon Koo","doi":"10.5187/jast.2500079","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5187/jast.2500079","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In this study, we investigated whether MIT-001, a small-molecule reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger, improves the re-expansion and viability of bovine blastocysts in response to vitrification-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and stress. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the protective effects of MIT-001 on the mitochondrial function of bovine blastocysts following vitrification warming. In this experiment, MIT-001 (0.1 μM) was allocated to three culture conditions based on treatment period: (I) warming only (WARM); (II) vitrification only (VITR); and (III) both vitrification and warming (VITR-WARM), compared with the control (Non-treated). Survival analysis of cryopreserved bovine blastocysts revealed that MIT-001 supplementation during the warming period (WARM group) significantly improved (<i>p</i> < 0.01; Non-treated: 57.3 ± 2.3% vs WARM: 74.2 ± 7.3%) post-warm survival rates. It is noteworthy that surviving blastocysts in the WARM groups demonstrated significantly (<i>p</i> < 0.05) lower TUNEL positive cells (%) and a higher ratio of expanded blastocyst development compared to the other groups. Intracellular ROS, as well as mitochondrial and nuclear superoxide levels, were significantly reduced (<i>p</i> < 0.001) in the MIT-001-treated WARM group, accompanied by enhanced mitochondrial activation (MitoTracker Orange staining). Simultaneously, mitochondrial membrane potential, assessed using JC-1 staining, was elevated, whereas a reduction in mitochondrial fission marker dynamin-related protein 1 (DRP1) expression was observed in surviving blastocysts from the MIT-001-supplemented WARM group (<i>p</i> < 0.01). In addition, MIT-001 improved cytoskeletal stability by decreasing the aggregation thickness of filamentous actin (F-actin, <i>p</i> < 0.001; Non-treated: 10.73 μm vs. WARM: 6.03 μm) in bovine blastocyst of the WARM group. Finally, the enhanced developmental potential of vitrified-warmed blastocysts was linked to increased phospho-p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) expression exclusively in the WARM group compared to the other groups. Consequently, MIT-001 mitigates cryopreservation-induced cellular stress by improving mitochondrial function and regulates F-actin stabilization to enhance the viability and developmental potential of vitrified-warmed bovine blastocysts. These findings highlight the potential of MIT-001 to support cellular recovery and developmental capacity during cryopreservation, suggesting that it may play an effective protective role in bovine blastocyst cryopreservation.</p>","PeriodicalId":14923,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Technology","volume":"68 4","pages":"1066-1082"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13678346/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149224113","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Genome-scale metabolic modeling-driven design of synbiotics for methane mitigation and quality improvement in fermented total mixed ration.","authors":"Tae-Yong Kim, Gayeon Seo, Hyung-Pil Jun, Myunghoo Kim, Jong Nam Kim","doi":"10.5187/jast.2600013","DOIUrl":"10.5187/jast.2600013","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Methane is a major greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 28 times greater than that of carbon dioxide, making reduction of livestock emissions a critical challenge. Current mitigation strategies, such as feed management, chemical additives, and algae supplementation, face limitations related to safety, supply instability, and economic feasibility. To address these issues, we investigated the development of methane-reducing feeds utilizing synbiotics. In a preliminary study, we evaluated the methane reduction potential of <i>Komagataeibacter intermedius</i> and <i>Zygosaccharomyces parabailii</i> (KZ), two SCOBY-derived strains, and identified prebiotics that promote their colonization. Genome-scale metabolic (GSM) models were constructed for three hydrogen-producing bacteria, five methanogens, and the KZ strain, and their metabolic networks were compared. Five prebiotics (glycerol, oleic acid, menaquinone-7, Gly-Leu, and Gly-Asn-L) were identified as substrates utilized by KZ but not by hydrogen-producing bacteria or methanogens. Coculture experiments confirmed that combined prebiotic treatment significantly enhanced KZ growth. <i>In vitro</i> rumen fermentation assays demonstrated reduced methane emissions in synbiotic-treated groups, with the combined prebiotic treatment resulting in the strongest inhibition. Based on these findings, a synbiotic-based fermented total mixed ration (FTMR) was developed. Synbiotic supplementation alleviated acidification, increased acetic acid production, and enriched bacterial and fungal populations. Microbial community analysis revealed higher abundance of lactic acid bacteria and non-<i>Saccharomyces</i> yeasts, indicating improved fermentation and enhanced feed quality. In conclusion, the synbiotic-based FTMR stabilized pH, altered organic acid profiles, and reshaped microbial communities, with synergistic interactions between lactic acid bacteria and yeast supporting a more stable fermentation environment. These results demonstrate that GSM modeling is effective for designing synbiotic-based feeds and that the newly developed synbiotic FTMR improves fermentation quality. Notably, this study focused on prebiotic identification, synbiotic formulation, are fermentation characterization; direct evaluation of the methane reduction efficacy of FTMR under <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i> conditions remains a subject for future investigation.</p>","PeriodicalId":14923,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Technology","volume":"68 4","pages":"1239-1260"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13678354/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149224143","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}