Yihui Huo, Taiyu Shen, Tianyin Feng, Moli Li, Wanli Zhao, Juan J. Loor, Ben Aernouts, Androniki Psifidi, Chuang Xu
{"title":"β-Hydroxybutyrate-induced mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) release mediated innate inflammatory response in bovine mammary epithelial cells by inhibiting autophagy","authors":"Yihui Huo, Taiyu Shen, Tianyin Feng, Moli Li, Wanli Zhao, Juan J. Loor, Ben Aernouts, Androniki Psifidi, Chuang Xu","doi":"10.1186/s40104-024-01143-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40104-024-01143-z","url":null,"abstract":"In perinatal dairy cows, ketosis is a prevalent metabolic disorder that lowers milk output and performance. Mitochondrial dysfunction and chronic inflammation in mammary tissue are linked to elevated blood ketone levels, particularly β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB). Recent research has linked cytosolic mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) with chronic aseptic inflammation by activating the cGAS-STING pathway during metabolic disorders, while autophagy activation effectively reverses this process. However, whether it is involved in mammary gland damage during ketosis is poorly understood. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the underlying mechanisms of mtDNA-induced inflammation under BHB stress and evaluate the potential therapeutic strategy of autophagy activation in mitigating this damage. Our study found an increased cytoplasmic mtDNA abundance in mammary gland tissues of dairy cows with ketosis and bovine mammary epithelial cell line (MAC-T) subjected to BHB stress. Further investigations revealed the activation of the cGAS-STING pathway and inflammatory response, indicated by elevated levels of cGAS and STING, along with increased phosphorylation levels of TBK1, P65, and IκB, and higher transcript levels of pro-inflammatory factors (IL-1B, IL-6, and TNF-α) in both in vivo and in vitro experiments. Notably, STING inhibition via si-STING transfection reversed BHB-induced inflammation. Additionally, autophagy activation appeared to protect against BHB stress by facilitating the removal of cytoplasmic mtDNA and preventing cGAS-STING pathway-mediated inflammation. The findings illustrate that elevated BHB levels lead to the release of cytoplasmic mtDNA, which in turn activates the cGAS-STING pathway and triggers an inflammatory response in the mammary glands during hyperketonemia. Conversely, autophagy activation has been shown to alleviate this process by promoting cytoplasmic mtDNA degradation. ","PeriodicalId":14928,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"50 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143072595","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Yeast cell wall polysaccharides accelerate yet in-feed antibiotic delays intestinal development and maturation via modulating gut microbiome in chickens","authors":"Fangshen Guo, Jianing Qiao, Zeqiong Hu, Jia Huang, Ruichen Bi, Waseem Abbas, Wenrui Zhen, Yuming Guo, Zhong Wang","doi":"10.1186/s40104-024-01145-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40104-024-01145-x","url":null,"abstract":"It is important to promote intestinal development and maturation of chicks for feed digestion and utilization, intestinal health, and disease resistance. This study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary yeast cell wall polysaccharides (YCWP) addition on intestinal development and maturation of chickens and its potential action mechanism. 180 one-day-old male Arbor Acres broilers were randomly assigned to three groups containing control (basal diets without any antibiotics or anticoccidial drug), bacitracin methylene disalicylate (BMD)-treated group (50 mg/kg) and YCWP-supplemented group (100 mg/kg). Compared with control group, in-feed antibiotic BMD continuous administration significantly decreased crypt depth (d 21) and villus height (d 42) along with mucosal maltase activity (d 42) in the ileum (P < 0.05). Also, BMD markedly downregulated gene expression levels of β-catenin, lysozyme, occludin and FABP-2 (d 21) and innate immune related genes CD83 and MHC-I mRNA levels (d 42, P < 0.05), and decreased goblet cell counts in the ileum of chickens (d 21 and d 42, P < 0.05). While, TLR-2, TLR-6 and iNOS mRNA abundances were notably upregulated by BMD treatment (d 42, P < 0.05). Nevertheless, dietary YCWP addition significantly increased the ratio of villus height to crypt depth (d 21), villus surface area (d 21 and d 42), ileal alkaline phosphatase and maltase activities as well as goblet cell (d 21 and d 42) and IgA-producing plasma cell numbers as compared to BMD treatment (d 21, P < 0.05). YCWP addition also upregulated gene expression levels of Lgr5, Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway related gene (Wnt3, β-catenin, d 21; β-catenin, d 42), intestinal cells proliferation marker Ki-67 and barrier function related genes (occludin, d 21 and d 42, P < 0.05). Moreover, YCWP significantly increased antigen presenting cell marker related genes (MHC-II, d 21; CD83 and MHC-I, d 42), TLR-1, TLR-2 and TLR-6 mRNA levels (d 21, P < 0.05). Cecal microbiome analysis showed that YCWP addition obviously improved cecal microbial composition, as indicated by increasing relative abundance of Fournierella, Psychrobacter and Ruminiclostridium on d 21, and Alistipes and Lactobacillus on d 42, which were positively related with gut development and maturation related indexes (P < 0.05). Collectively, YCWP promoted yet antibiotic BMD delayed intestinal morphological and immunological development linked with modulating gut microbiome in chickens.","PeriodicalId":14928,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"58 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143031100","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hannah M. Bailey, Natalia S. Fanelli, Joy M. Campbell, Hans H. Stein
{"title":"Effects of spray dried plasma on litter growth performance and oxidative stress and inflammation of sows kept in a hot environment","authors":"Hannah M. Bailey, Natalia S. Fanelli, Joy M. Campbell, Hans H. Stein","doi":"10.1186/s40104-024-01139-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40104-024-01139-9","url":null,"abstract":"Feeding spray dried plasma (SDP) to weanling pigs improves growth, but there is a lack of research on how SDP impacts oxidative stress and inflammatory response in lactating sows, and performance of their piglets after weaning. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that sows fed a diet with SDP in late gestation and lactation have improved reproductive performance and reduced inflammation compared with sows fed no SDP. The second hypothesis was that pigs weaned from sows fed 0.5% SDP in lactation have reduced diarrhea incidence and improved growth performance during the initial 14 d of the nursery period regardless of dietary SDP. The percent of low vitality or starved pigs during lactation was less (P < 0.05) from sows fed 0.5% dietary SDP compared with sows fed the diet without SDP. Dietary SDP did not influence oxidative stress markers in the plasma of sows, but serum cytokines increased (P < 0.05) in sows fed the diet with 0.5% SDP compared with sows fed the diet without SDP. Pigs weaned from young sows fed no SDP or from mature sows fed 0 or 0.5% SDP had a greater gain to feed ratio when fed a phase 1 diet containing 6% SDP compared with pigs fed a diet without SDP, but the gain to feed ratio of pigs weaned from young sows fed 0.5% dietary SDP was not affected by dietary SDP in phase 1 (interaction, P < 0.05). Regardless of sow treatment, pigs fed a phase 1 diet with 6% SDP had greater (P < 0.05) growth performance than pigs fed a phase 1 diet without SDP, and pigs fed the phase 1 diet with 6% SDP had reduced (P < 0.05) diarrhea incidence in phase 1. Feeding 0.5% dietary SDP to sows may reduce the number of mummified pigs and increase pig vitality during lactation, but adding 0.5% SDP to sow diets during lactation did not improve post-weaning performance of pigs fed a starter diet with 6% SDP.","PeriodicalId":14928,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"38 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143027264","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Slowly digestible starch impairs growth performance of broiler chickens offered low-protein diet supplemental higher amino acid densities by inhibiting the utilization of intestinal amino acid","authors":"Caiwei Luo, Yao Yu, Gang Meng, Jianmin Yuan","doi":"10.1186/s40104-024-01142-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40104-024-01142-0","url":null,"abstract":"The synchronized absorption of amino acids (AAs) and glucose in the gut is crucial for effective AA utilization and protein synthesis in the body. The study investigated how the starch digestion rate and AA levels impact intestinal AA digestion, transport and metabolism, breast muscle protein metabolism, and growth in grower broilers. A total of 720 21-day-old healthy male Arbor Acres Plus broilers were randomly assigned to 12 treatments, each with 6 replicates of 10 birds. The treatments comprised 3 different starch [corn: control, cassava: rapidly digestible starch (RDS), and pea: slowly digestible starch (SDS)] with 4 different AA levels [based on standardized ileal digestible lysine (SID Lys), 0.92%, 1.02% (as the standard), 1.12% and 1.22%]. An interaction between dietary starch sources and SID Lys levels significantly affected breast muscle yield (P = 0.033). RDS and SDS diets, or SID Lys levels of 0.92%, 1.02%, or 1.22%, significantly decreased the breast muscle yield of broilers in contrast to the corn starch diet with 1.12% SID Lys (P = 0.033). The SID Lys levels of 1.12% and 1.22% markedly improved body weight (BW), body weight gain (BWG) from 22 to 42 days of age, and mRNA expression of y+LAT1 and mTOR while reducing feed intake (FI) and feed/gain ratio (F/G) compared to the 0.92% SID Lys level (P < 0.05). The SDS diet significantly decreased BW and BWG of broilers from 22 to 42 days of age, distal ileal starch digestibility, jejunal amylase and chymotrypsin activities, and mRNA expression of GLUT2 and y+LAT1 compared to the corn starch diet (P < 0.05). The RDS diet suppressed the breast muscle mass by down-regulating expression of mTOR, S6K1, and eIF4E and up-regulating expression of MuRF, CathepsinB, Atrogin-1, and M-calpain compared to the corn starch diet (P < 0.05). Targeted metabolomics analysis revealed that the SDS diet significantly increased acetyl-CoA and α-ketoglutaric acid levels in the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle (P < 0.05) but decreased the ileal digestibility of Lys, Tyr, Leu, Asp, Ser, Gly, Pro, Arg, Ile, and Val compared to the corn starch group (P < 0.05). The SDS diet impaired broiler growth by reducing intestinal starch digestibility, which inhibited intestinal AA and glucose absorption and utilization, increased AA oxidation for energy supply, and lowered the efficiency of protein synthesis. Although the RDS diet resulted in growth performance similar to the corn starch diet, it reduced breast muscle mass by inhibiting protein synthesis and promoting degradation. ","PeriodicalId":14928,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"74 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143020659","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sangwoo Park, Shuhan Sun, Supatirada Wongchanla, Ying Chen, Xunde Li, Yanhong Liu
{"title":"Dietary supplementation of blend of organic acids and monoglycerides alleviated diarrhea and systemic inflammation of weaned pigs experimentally infected with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli F18","authors":"Sangwoo Park, Shuhan Sun, Supatirada Wongchanla, Ying Chen, Xunde Li, Yanhong Liu","doi":"10.1186/s40104-024-01148-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40104-024-01148-8","url":null,"abstract":"The emergence of antibiotic resistant microorganisms associated with conventional swine production practices has increased interest in acid-based compounds having antimicrobial properties and other biological functions as nutritional interventions. Despite the interest in organic acids and monoglycerides, few studies have examined the effects of the combination of these acid-based additives in weaned pigs under disease challenge conditions. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation with blend of organic acids and/or medium-chain fatty acid monoglycerides on intestinal health and systemic immunity of weaned pigs experimentally infected with an enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) F18 at 4-week of age. Dietary supplementation of organic acids, monoglycerides, or both organic acids and monoglycerides (combination) reduced (P < 0.05) the diarrhea frequency of ETEC F18-infected pigs throughout the experimental period (d −7 to 21 post-inoculation). This is consistent with the reduced (P < 0.05) proportion of β-hemolytic coliforms in feces observed for the organic acid and combination treatments on d 10 post-inoculation. Supplementation of organic acids, monoglycerides, or combination also reduced (P < 0.05) bacterial translocation in mesenteric lymph nodes on d 21 post-inoculation. Pigs fed with monoglycerides or combination had lower (P < 0.05) white blood cells on d 5 post-inoculation, and pigs fed the combination also had lower (P < 0.05) lymphocytes than pigs in control group. Monoglyceride supplementation increased (P < 0.05) white blood cells and neutrophils compared with control group on d 14 post-inoculation. However, supplementation with organic acid blend, monoglyceride blend, or combination did not affect growth performance in this experiment. Supplementation with monoglycerides or organic acids alone or in combination improves the detrimental effects of ETEC F18 infection in weaned pigs, as indicated by reduced diarrhea, fecal shedding of β-hemolytic coliforms, and bacterial translocation, and thus enhancing disease resistance. Monoglycerides reduced the inflammatory response during peak infection, but their immunomodulatory and possible synergistic effects with organic acids need to be further investigated.","PeriodicalId":14928,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142992765","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ezequias Castillo-Lopez, Patrick Biber, Arife Sener-Aydemir, Karin Hummel, Ebrahim Razzazi-Fazeli, Nicole Reisinger, Qendrim Zebeli, Susanne Kreuzer-Redmer, Thomas Hartinger
{"title":"Characterization of the colostrum proteome of primiparous Holstein cows and its association with colostrum immunoglobulin G concentrations","authors":"Ezequias Castillo-Lopez, Patrick Biber, Arife Sener-Aydemir, Karin Hummel, Ebrahim Razzazi-Fazeli, Nicole Reisinger, Qendrim Zebeli, Susanne Kreuzer-Redmer, Thomas Hartinger","doi":"10.1186/s40104-024-01144-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40104-024-01144-y","url":null,"abstract":"The objective was to characterize the colostrum proteome of primiparous Holstein cows in association with immunoglobulin G (IgG) content. Immediately after calving, colostrum samples were collected from 18 cows to measure IgG concentration. Based on colostrum IgG content, samples were classified through cluster analysis and were identified as poor, average, and excellent quality. The proteome was assessed with quantitative shotgun proteomics; abundance data were compared among the colostrum types; enrichment analysis of metabolic processes and proteins classes was performed as well. We also tested correlations between this proteome and blood globulin level of cows and passive immunity level of calves. On average, 428 proteins were identified per sample, which belonged mainly to cellular process, biological regulation, response to stimulus, metabolic process, and immune system process. Most abundant proteins were complement C3 (Q2UVX4), alpha-S1-casein (P02662), Ig-like domain-containing protein (A0A3Q1M032), albumin (A0A140T897), polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (P81265), lactotransferrrin (P24627), and IGHG1*01 (X16701_4). Colostrum of excellent quality had greater (P < 0.05) abundance of serpin A3-7 (A2I7N3), complement factor I (A0A3Q1MIF4), lipocalin/cytosolic fatty-acid binding domain-containing protein (A0A3Q1MRQ2), complement C3 (E1B805), complement component 4 binding protein alpha (A0AAF6ZHP5), and complement component C6 (F1MM86). However, colostrum of excellent quality had lower (P < 0.05) abundance of HGF activator (E1BCW0), alpha-S1-casein (P02662), and xanthine dehydrogenase/oxidase (P80457). This resulted in enrichment of the biological processes predominantly for complement activation alternative pathway, complement activation, complement activation classical pathway, humoral immune response, leukocyte mediated immunity, and negative regulation of endopeptidase activity in excellent-quality colostrum. Additionally, some colostrum proteins were found to be correlated with the blood globulin level of cows and with the passive immunity level of calves (P < 0.05; r ≥ 0.57). This study provides new insights into the bovine colostrum proteome, demonstrating associations between IgG levels and the abundance of other proteins, as well as the enrichment of metabolic processes related to innate immune response. Thus, results suggest that the colostrum proteomic profile is associated with the content of IgG. Future research should deeply explore the association of these findings with pre-calving nutrition status and blood composition of the cow, and with passive immunity transfer to the calf.","PeriodicalId":14928,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142990657","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Near telomere-to-telomere genome assemblies of Silkie Gallus gallus and Mallard Anas platyrhynchos restored the structure of chromosomes and “missing” genes in birds","authors":"Qiangsen Zhao, Zhongtao Yin, Zhuocheng Hou","doi":"10.1186/s40104-024-01141-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40104-024-01141-1","url":null,"abstract":"Chickens and ducks are vital sources of animal protein for humans. Recent pangenome studies suggest that a single genome is insufficient to represent the genetic information of a species, highlighting the need for more comprehensive genomes. The bird genome has more than tens of microchromosomes, but comparative genomics, annotations, and the discovery of variations are hindered by inadequate telomere-to-telomere level assemblies. We aim to complete the chicken and duck genomes, recover missing genes, and reveal common and unique chromosomal features between birds. The near telomere-to-telomere genomes of Silkie Gallus gallus and Mallard Anas platyrhynchos were successfully assembled via multiple high-coverage complementary technologies, with quality values of 36.65 and 44.17 for Silkie and Mallard, respectively; and BUSCO scores of 96.55% and 96.97% for Silkie and Mallard, respectively; the mapping rates reached over 99.52% for both assembled genomes, these evaluation results ensured high completeness and accuracy. We successfully annotated 20,253 and 19,621 protein-coding genes for Silkie and Mallard, respectively, and assembled gap-free sex chromosomes in Mallard for the first time. Comparative analysis revealed that microchromosomes differ from macrochromosomes in terms of GC content, repetitive sequence abundance, gene density, and levels of 5mC methylation. Different types of arrangements of centromeric repeat sequence centromeres exist in both Silkie and the Mallard genomes, with Mallard centromeres being invaded by CR1. The highly heterochromatic W chromosome, which serves as a refuge for ERVs, contains disproportionately long ERVs. Both Silkie and the Mallard genomes presented relatively high 5mC methylation levels on sex chromosomes and microchromosomes, and the telomeres and centromeres presented significantly higher 5mC methylation levels than the whole genome. Finally, we recovered 325 missing genes via our new genomes and annotated TNFA in Mallard for the first time, revealing conserved protein structures and tissue-specific expression. The near telomere-to-telomere assemblies in Mallard and Silkie, with the first gap-free sex chromosomes in ducks, significantly enhanced our understanding of genetic structures in birds, specifically highlighting the distinctive chromosome features between the chicken and duck genomes. This foundational work also provides a series of newly identified missing genes for further investigation.","PeriodicalId":14928,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142989767","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mila M. Y. Meijer, Henry van den Brand, Shahram Niknafs, Eugeni Roura
{"title":"In ovo delivery of carvacrol triggers expression of chemotactic factors, antimicrobial peptides and pro-inflammatory pathways in the yolk sac of broiler chicken embryos","authors":"Mila M. Y. Meijer, Henry van den Brand, Shahram Niknafs, Eugeni Roura","doi":"10.1186/s40104-024-01131-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40104-024-01131-3","url":null,"abstract":"Broiler chickens are most vulnerable immediately after hatching due to their immature immune systems, making them susceptible to infectious diseases. The yolk plays an important role in early immune defence by showing relevant antioxidant and passive immunity capabilities during broiler embryonic development. The immunomodulatory effects of phytogenic compound carvacrol have been widely reported. After in ovo delivery in the amniotic fluid during embryonic development carvacrol is known to migrate to the yolk sac. However, it is unknown whether carvacrol in the yolk could enhance defence responsiveness in the yolk sac. Therefore, the aim of this study was to improve early immune function in chicken embryos, and it was hypothesized that in ovo delivery of carvacrol would result in immunomodulatory effects in the yolk sac, potentially improving post-hatch resilience. On embryonic day (E)17.5, either a saline (control) or carvacrol solution was injected into the amniotic fluid. Yolk sac tissue samples were collected at E19.5, and transcriptomic analyses using RNA sequencing were performed, following functional enrichment analyses comparing the control (saline) and carvacrol-injected groups. The results showed that 268 genes were upregulated and 174 downregulated in the carvacrol group compared to the control (P < 0.05; logFC < −0.5 or log FC > 0.5). Functional analyses of these differentially expressed genes, using KEGG, REACTOME, and Gene Ontology databases, showed enrichment of several immune-related pathways. This included the pathways ‘Antimicrobial peptides’ (P = 0.001) and ‘Chemoattractant activity’ (P = 0.004), amongst others. Moreover, the ‘NOD-like receptor signaling’ pathway was enriched (P = 0.002). Antimicrobial peptides are part of the innate immune defence and are amongst the molecules produced after the nucleotide oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor pathway activation. While these responses may be associated with an inflammatory reaction to an exogenous threat, they could also indicate that in ovo delivery of carvacrol could prepare the newly hatched chick against bacterial pathogens by potentially promoting antimicrobial peptide production through activation of NOD-like receptor signaling in the yolk sac. In conclusion, these findings suggest that in ovo delivery of carvacrol has the potential to enhance anti-pathogenic and pro-inflammatory responses in the yolk sac via upregulation of antimicrobial peptides, and NOD-like receptor pathways.","PeriodicalId":14928,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"44 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142989045","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Impact of dietary lysophospholipids supplementation on growth performance, meat quality, and lipid metabolism in finishing bulls fed diets varying in fatty acid saturation","authors":"Meimei Zhang, Haixin Bai, Ruixue Wang, Yufan Zhao, Wenzhu Yang, Jincheng Liu, Yonggen Zhang, Peixin Jiao","doi":"10.1186/s40104-024-01138-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40104-024-01138-w","url":null,"abstract":"The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary fatty acids (FA) saturation and lysophospholipids supplementation on growth, meat quality, oxidative stability, FA profiles, and lipid metabolism of finishing beef bulls. Thirty-two Angus bulls (initial body weight: 623 ± 22.6 kg; 21 ± 0.5 months of age) were used. The experiment was a completely randomized block design with a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments: 2 diets with FA of different degree of unsaturation [high saturated FA diet (HSFA) vs. high unsaturated FA diet (HUFA)] combined with (0.075%, dry matter basis) and without lysophospholipids supplementation. The bulls were fed a high-concentrate diet (forage to concentrate, 15:85) for 104 d including a 14-d adaptation period and a 90-d data and sample collection period. No interactions were observed between dietary FA and lysophospholipids supplementation for growth and meat quality parameters. A greater dietary ratio of unsaturated FA (UFA) to saturated FA (SFA) from 1:2 to 1:1 led to lower DM intake and backfat thickness, but did not affect growth performance and other carcass traits. Compared with HSFA, bulls fed HUFA had greater shear force in Longissimus thoracis (LT) muscle, but had lower intramuscular fat (IMF) content and SOD content in LT muscle. Compared with HUFA, feeding the HSFA diet up-regulated expression of ACC, FAS, PPARγ, and SCD1, but down-regulated expression of CPT1B. Compared with feeding HSFA, the HUFA diet led to greater concentrations of c9-C18:1 and other monounsaturated FA in LT muscle. Feeding HUFA also led to lower plasma concentrations of cholesterol, but there were no interactions between FA and lysophospholipids detected. Feeding lysophospholipids improved growth and feed conversion ratio and altered meat quality by increasing muscle pH24h, redness values (24 h), IMF content, and concentrations of C18:3, C20:5 and total polyunsaturated fatty acids. Furthermore, lysophospholipids supplementation led to lower malondialdehyde content and up-regulated the expression of ACC, FAS, and LPL in LT muscle. Results indicated that supplementing a high-concentrate diet with lysophospholipids to beef bulls can enhance growth rate, feed efficiency, meat quality, and beneficial FA. Increasing the dietary ratio of UFA to SFA reduced DM intake and backfat thickness without compromising growth, suggesting potential improvements in feed efficiency.","PeriodicalId":14928,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"13 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142937088","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ziyu Liu, Tsungcheng Tsai, Bin Zuo, Samantha Howe, Jason E. Farrar, Christopher E. Randolph, Charles V. Maxwell, Jiangchao Zhao
{"title":"The sow vaginal and gut microbiota associated with longevity and reproductive performance","authors":"Ziyu Liu, Tsungcheng Tsai, Bin Zuo, Samantha Howe, Jason E. Farrar, Christopher E. Randolph, Charles V. Maxwell, Jiangchao Zhao","doi":"10.1186/s40104-024-01140-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40104-024-01140-2","url":null,"abstract":"Sow longevity and reproductivity are essential in the modern swine industry. Although many studies have focused on the genetic and genomic factors for selection, little is known about the associations between the microbiome and sows with longevity in reproduction. In this study, we collected and sequenced rectal and vaginal swabs from 48 sows, nine of which completed up to four parities (U4P group), exhibiting reproductive longevity. We first identified predictors of sow longevity in the rectum (e.g., Akkermansia) and vagina (e.g., Lactobacillus) of the U4P group using RandomForest in the early breeding stage of the first parity. Interestingly, these bacteria in the U4P group showed decreased predicted KEGG gene abundance involved in the biosynthesis of amino acids. Then, we tracked the longitudinal changes of the microbiome over four parities in the U4P sows. LEfSe analysis revealed parity-associated bacteria that existed in both the rectum and vagina (e.g., Streptococcus in Parity 1, Lactobacillus in Parity 2, Veillonella in Parity 4). We also identified patterns of bacterial change between the early breeding stage (d 0) and d 110, such as Streptococcus, which was decreased in all four parties. Furthermore, sows in the U4P group with longevity potential also showed better reproductive performance. Finally, we discovered bacterial predictors (e.g., Prevotellaceae NK3B31 group) for the total number of piglets born throughout the four parities in both the rectum and vagina. This study highlights how the rectal and vaginal microbiome in sows with longevity in reproduction changes within four parities. The identification of parity-associated, pregnancy-related, and reproductive performance-correlated bacteria provides the foundation for targeted microbiome modulation to improve animal production.","PeriodicalId":14928,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"36 3 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142935036","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}