Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology最新文献

{"title":"Differential effects of dietary protein sources on nitrogen metabolism and ileal microbiota in pigs correlated with amino acid release rates.","authors":"Wenqiang Wang, Wenxuan Zhao, Long Pan, Kaifan Yu, Jing Wang, Weiyun Zhu","doi":"10.1186/s40104-026-01461-4","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40104-026-01461-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Dietary protein source is one of the primary factors influencing host nitrogen metabolism and intestinal microbiota. However, conventional diet formulations primarily focus on overall nutritional levels, overlooking the differences in amino acid release rates among various protein sources. This study investigates how different protein sources affect nitrogen metabolism and gut microbiota in finishing pigs.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The corn-soybean meal diet served as the control (SBM). Fish meal and rapeseed meal isonitrogenously replaced 50% of soybean meal to formulate FM and RPM diets. Twenty-four finishing pigs (DLY; 53.40 ± 2.53 kg) were housed individually in metabolic cages, randomly assigned to three groups (n = 8), and fed for 8 weeks.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Feeding the three diets had no significant effect on the growth performance of finishing pigs. Compared with SBM and FM, RPM diet significantly increased fecal nitrogen, but reduced urinary nitrogen, blood urea nitrogen and blood ammonia levels, reduced free amino acids in the small intestinal chyme and plasma, downregulated expressions of amino acid transporters, and showed slower in vitro amino acid release, collectively indicating less amino acid release into the small intestinal lumen and consequently less amino acids into the circulation. In addition, compared with the SBM and FM groups, RPM exhibited increased ileal microbial diversity, characterized by lower relative abundances of Streptococcus, Staphylococcus and higher relative abundances of Lactobacillus, Turicibacter. Additionally, microbial cell amino acids and microbial cell protein concentrations were significantly reduced in the RPM group. Correlation analysis showed that the amino acid release rate was negatively correlated with fecal nitrogen, the relative abundance of Lactobacillus and Turicibacter, while positively correlated with urinary nitrogen, blood urea nitrogen, the relative abundance of Streptococcus and Staphylococcus, microbial cell protein, and total microbial cell amino acid content.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Dietary protein sources altered host nitrogen metabolism and restructured the ileal microbiota, with the rate of amino acid release appearing to be a key factor associated with these changes.</p>","PeriodicalId":64067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13355349/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148426752","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Rumen-derived Prevotella and Megasphaera elsdenii mitigate methane production through functional modulation of rumen microbial metabolism.","authors":"Banglin He, Beiyi Liu, Xin Wang, Min Xia, Chenglong Ding, Mudasir Nazar, Yanfen Cheng, Dingfu Xiao","doi":"10.1186/s40104-026-01460-5","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40104-026-01460-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Enteric methane (CH₄) production represents a major energy loss in ruminant systems and contributes substantially to agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. Increasing ruminal propionate production has been proposed as a strategy to redirect metabolic hydrogen away from methanogenesis, although the underlying microbial mechanisms remain incompletely understood.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Four rumen-derived Prevotella strains and one Megasphaera elsdenii strain were isolated, genomically characterized, and evaluated using an in vitro rumen fermentation model. Distinct strain-specific responses were observed. Compared with the control, Prevotella strains RH14 and RH35 significantly reduced CH₄ accumulation at 48 h (P < 0.05), coinciding with lower total gas and carbon dioxide (CO₂) production, whereas RH3, RH27, and RH19 showed CH₄ production comparable to the control. Volatile fatty acid (VFA) profiles showed comparatively smaller differences among treatments, although RH14 maintained relatively greater total VFA and propionate concentrations at later incubation stages. Metagenomic analysis indicated that methane mitigation was associated with reduced relative abundance of methanogenesis-related pathways, particularly hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis (P < 0.05), whereas archaeal community composition remained largely unchanged. However, metagenomic data reflect gene abundance rather than activity and do not directly indicate functional regulation.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These findings demonstrate strain-specific effects of rumen-derived bacteria on rumen fermentation and methane production. In particular, Prevotella strains RH14 and RH35 showed potential to mitigate methane formation through functional modulation of microbial metabolism, partially displacing rather than completely eliminating methanogens. These results provide a functional basis for the future development of rumen microbial interventions aimed at improving rumen fermentation efficiency and mitigating enteric methane emissions.</p>","PeriodicalId":64067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13352736/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148426895","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Metabolomic and transcriptomic landscape of the bovine uterine lumen during the second week of the estrous cycle.","authors":"Abdul Waheed, Cecilia Constantino Rocha, Alexandra Bennett Bastien, Mariangela Bueno Cordeiro Maldonado, Nadia Ashrafi, Romana A Mimi, Stewart F Graham, Francisco Peñagaricano, Mario Binelli","doi":"10.1186/s40104-026-01466-z","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40104-026-01466-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>In cattle, the second week after estrus encompasses critical changes in uterine function. The endometrium will either prepare for the release of luteolytic pulses of prostaglandin-F2 alpha or for the support of an eventual pregnancy. We hypothesized that concentrations of amino acids and lipids in the uterine luminal fluid (ULF), and the gene expression in luminal epithelial cells (LE), change across the second week of the estrous cycle. The objective was to compare amino acid and lipid concentrations in ULF and target gene expression in LE 7 (D7), 10 and 14 d after estrus. The ULF and LE samples were collected from the uterine body of five primiparous, non-lactating, cyclic Bos indicus-influenced crossbred cows using a cytological brush on each day after synchronized estrus. Targeted metabolomics of ULF was performed using mass spectrometry, and gene expression in LE was assessed using RNA sequencing. Data were analyzed by uni- and multivariate statistics.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Multivariate analyses separated D7, D10, and D14, with amino acid metabolism and lipid biosynthesis as enriched pathways. Luminal concentrations of amino acids (e.g., arginine, histidine) and lipids (e.g., CE(17:1), PC aa C34:1) increased from D7 to D10, but from D10 to D14 concentrations of amino acids (e.g., glutamine, glutamic acid) decreased while that of lipids (e.g., CE(18:2), SM C16:0) continued to increase. Transcriptomic profiling revealed temporal regulation of 186 amino acid-related and 133 lipid-related genes. Between D7 and D10, there was increased expression of genes for oxidative phosphorylation and extracellular secretion pathways supporting secretory capacity, while decreased expression of genes in arginine-proline metabolism and solute carrier-mediated transport pathways promoted luminal metabolite accumulation. From D10 to D14, there was increased expression of genes in fatty acid elongation and sphingolipid metabolism pathways likely driving lipid synthesis and amino acid catabolism, while decreased expression of genes in protein digestion/absorption and PI3K/AKT signaling pathways reduced nutrient export to the lumen.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>ULF composition and LE gene expression changed markedly during the second week of the estrous cycle. It is plausible that the dynamic shifts in amino acid and lipid metabolites in the uterine lumen reflect changing responses to sex steroids. The influence of such changes on embryo development and pregnancy success in cattle warrants investigation.</p>","PeriodicalId":64067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13348268/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148426788","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Systems metabolic engineering of Corynebacterium glutamicum for efficient production of L-isoleucine.","authors":"Junkun Cao, Ming Huang, Qi Sheng, Landong Zhang, Gang Meng, Chunguang Zhao, Aiying Wei, Jia Liu, Liming Liu","doi":"10.1186/s40104-026-01459-y","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40104-026-01459-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>L-Isoleucine is an essential branched-chain amino acid for livestock and poultry, supporting protein accretion and regulating energy metabolism, immune function, and stress resilience.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A genetically stable L-isoleucine producer, Corynebacterium glutamicum cgl-Ile0, was obtained via biosensor-assisted ARTP mutagenesis, and produced 11.52 g/L L-isoleucine in a 5-L fermenter, with a yield of 0.11 g/g and a productivity of 0.24 g/L/h. Whole-genome resequencing revealed four mutations associated with the phenotype, including aspB^V346I, asd^P27E, brnE^L87S, and brnF^R28P. Structure-guided protein engineering of two rate-limiting enzymes-threonine dehydratase (TD) and acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS)-generated strain cgl-Ile1, increasing titer, yield, and productivity by 39.50%, 27.27%, and 37.50%, respectively, relative to strain cgl-Ile0. Subsequent modular optimization of L-isoleucine biosynthesis, oxaloacetate supply module, cofactor-supply module, and transport/export module yielded the final strain cgl-Ile8. Through optimization pH and dissolved oxygen, the titer, yield and productivity of L-isoleucine produced by strain cgl-Ile8 in a 5-L fermenter were 48.49 g/L, 0.31 g/g and 1.01 g/L/h, which were 4.21-, 2.82-, and 4.21-fold those of strain cgl-Ile0, respectively. Scale-up to a 50-L fermenter further increased the titer, yield and productivity to 50.12 g/L, 0.32 g/g and 1.04 g/L/h, respectively, representing the highest reported L-isoleucine titer in C. glutamicum to date.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>We developed an industrial L-isoleucine-producing C. glutamicum strain by integrating biosensor-guided ARTP mutagenesis, structure-guided protein engineering, and modular pathway rewiring, providing a practical and transferable framework for constructing GRAS amino-acid producers for animal nutrition.</p>","PeriodicalId":64067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13343988/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148407019","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Substituting maize and soybean meal with non-conventional feed ingredients: environmental trade-offs and resource-saving potential in China's pig production.","authors":"Qile Hu, Xue Bao, Nuo Xiao, Yuansen Yang, Changhua Lai, Lu Wang, Shuai Zhang","doi":"10.1186/s40104-026-01458-z","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40104-026-01458-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>China produces approximately one-quarter of the world's grain with less than 9% of global arable land; however, more than half of this production is used for animal feed. Meanwhile, the feed system in China has long been highly dependent on conventional ingredients such as maize and soybean meal, resulting in a relatively homogeneous feed structure. Under the dual objectives of developing a diversified feed supply system and promoting sustainable livestock production, expanding the utilization of non-conventional feed ingredients (NCFIs) has become an important pathway. In this context, systematically quantifying their potential for greenhouse gas mitigation is essential for advancing the green and low-carbon transition of agriculture. Taking 1 kg live-weight gain in growing-finishing pigs as the functional unit (FU), three scenarios were designed to evaluate the life-cycle carbon footprint, nitrogen footprint, land use, and grain-saving effects of substituting maize and soybean meal with ten NCFIs in diets for 25-120 kg pigs across the complete \"crop-pig-manure\" chain.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Marked inter-type variability in environmental profiles was observed among the ten NCFIs: carbon footprint ranged from 2.46 to 2.84 kg CO₂-eq/FU, nitrogen footprint from 60.49 to 82.02 g Nr/FU, and land use from 5.43 to 8.42 m²/FU. Substituting maize with rice bran and cassava reduced the carbon footprint, while cassava substitution additionally decreased nitrogen emissions and land use. All six NCFIs contributed to reductions in carbon footprint to varying extents, with peanut meal and palm kernel meal also leading to concurrent reductions in nitrogen footprint. Meanwhile, scenario-based simulations indicated that large-scale adoption of NCFI substitution could annually spare 27-90 million tons of maize or 15.84-30.98 million tons of soybean meal.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Collectively, the NCFI strategy exhibits environmental trade-offs: while generally favorable for carbon reduction, the mitigation efficacy is feed ingredients-dependent, and adverse impacts on nitrogen emissions and land use must be managed. Cassava exhibits the greatest mitigation potential, whereas sorghum requires more careful formulation and supply chain management. These findings corroborate the substantial resource-replacement capacity of NCFIs and provide a quantitative basis for developing low-carbon, resource-efficient livestock systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":64067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13340116/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148400089","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cichorium intybus L. polysaccharide improves growth performance and colonic barrier function in weaned piglets via the microbiota-HDCA-TGR5-Akt-NF-κB signaling axis: validation by FMT and in vitro models.","authors":"Li Cao, Ge Zhang, Gang Zhang, Fudong Zhang, Wenhan Li, Qian Song, Junhong He, Jinbiao Zhao, Zeyu Zhang","doi":"10.1186/s40104-026-01449-0","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40104-026-01449-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Weaning stress predisposes piglets to intestinal barrier disruption and gut dysbiosis, which contribute to post-weaning diarrhea and poor feed efficiency. Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) polysaccharide (CLP) is a fructan-rich prebiotic candidate; however, how CLP reshapes the microbiota-metabolite network to protect the colon remains unclear.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In Exp. 1, 96 weaned piglets [Duroc × (Landrace × Yorkshire), 28 days old, 8.03 ± 0.2 kg] were fed a basal diet (CON group) or a 0.5% CLP supplemented diet (CLP group). In Exp. 2, fecal microbiota from piglets were transplanted into dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced mice to confirm the causal role of the CLP-remodeled microbiota. Metagenomic and untargeted metabolomic analyses were employed to identify key microbial species and functional metabolites. In Exp. 3, Caco-2 cells were treated with varying concentrations of hyodeoxycholic acid (HDCA) for 24 h to functionally validate the regulatory effects on TGR5 and FXR expression levels.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The results showed that dietary CLP significantly decreased the feed to gain ratio, diarrhea rate and histology index (P < 0.05), but increased goblet cell numbers (P < 0.05). Metagenomic sequencing revealed that CLP significantly increased microbial α-diversity and remodeled the community structure, specifically enriching beneficial microbes, such as Blautia sp., Eubacterium sp., and Ruminococcus sp. To test microbiota causality, fecal microbiota from CON or CLP piglets was transplanted into antibiotic treated mice followed by DSS challenge. The CLP modified microbiota alleviates DSS induced colitis, upregulated Occludin and ZO-1 expression, and reduced colonic IL-1β and TNF-α levels. Mechanistically, the CLP remodeled microbiota promoted the accumulation of HDCA, which functioned as a signaling ligand to activate the colonic TGR5 receptor. This activation subsequently suppressed the phosphorylation of Akt (P < 0.05), leading to the inhibition of the NF-κB signaling pathway through the reduced phosphorylation of IκBα and the p65 subunit (P < 0.05), thereby effectively abrogating the inflammatory response.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Dietary CLP supplementation mitigates weaning induced intestinal injury and inflammation by remodeling the colonic microbiota, specifically enriching HDCA-producing species. The subsequent activation of the HDCA-TGR5-Akt signaling axis inhibits the NF-κB pathway, thereby improving host immune responses and intestinal barrier function.</p>","PeriodicalId":64067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13335359/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148392584","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Se-enriched yeast improves meat quality through glycerophospholipid metabolism in finishing pigs: insights from a multi-omics analysis.","authors":"Xiangqi Qiu, Panpan Lu, Mingfei Xiao, Sumei Zeng, Li Li, Haitao Yu, Aihua Deng, Min Zhu, E Xu, Xiangfang Zeng","doi":"10.1186/s40104-026-01446-3","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40104-026-01446-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The improvement of meat quality by selenium (Se) supplementation has been well documented; however, the effects and underlying mechanisms by which Se-enriched yeast modulates meat quality remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effects of Se-enriched yeast on meat quality and its molecular characteristics in finishing pigs. All pigs were fed a Se-deficient diet (SeD) or the same diet supplemented with 0.3, 1, 3, or 5 mg Se/kg (CT, SY1, SY3, and SY5).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Compared with SeD, Se-enriched yeast supplementation, especially SY3, improved marbling score, intramuscular fat content, antioxidant capacity, and fatty acid composition in the LD muscle (P < 0.05). Lipidomic analysis revealed that Se-enriched yeast supplementation altered the abundances of multiple lipid species, while transcriptomic analysis showed significant enrichment of pathways related to unsaturated fatty acid and glycerophospholipid metabolism (P < 0.05). Integrated analyses further identified glycerophospholipid metabolism as a key pathway associated with major lipids, including phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), along with regulatory genes glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase 3 (GPAT3) and phosphatidylserine decarboxylase (PISD). Correlation analysis indicated that stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD), elongation of very long chain fatty acids protein 4 (ELOVL4), and GPAT3 play crucial roles in lipid synthesis.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Se-enriched yeast supplementation at 3 mg/kg improved meat quality, primarily through the regulation of glycerophospholipid metabolism, enhancement of membrane stability, and lipid homeostasis. These findings offer mechanistic insights into the role of Se-enriched yeast and highlight its potential as an effective feed additive for improving meat quality in finishing pigs.</p>","PeriodicalId":64067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13333091/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148388440","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Yeast β-glucan selenium nanoparticles enhance meat quality in heat-stressed broilers via SelO-mediated mitochondrial biogenesis and oxidative myofiber remodeling.","authors":"Weiguang Yang, Chengkun Fang, Jiani Yang, Jing Lv, Guanyu Shang, Xinhao Song, Yujing Tang, Shusong Wu, Rejun Fang","doi":"10.1186/s40104-026-01437-4","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40104-026-01437-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Heat stress (HS) markedly impairs broiler growth, muscle function, and meat quality. In this study, broilers were subjected to a 2 × 2 factorial design with sodium selenite or yeast β-glucan selenium nanoparticles (yeast β-Glu-SeNPs) as the selenium source (0.3 mg/kg total selenium) under thermoneutral or HS conditions. We aimed to investigate the protective effects and underlying mechanisms of yeast β-Glu-SeNPs against HS-induced muscle damage.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>HS markedly impaired growth performance and induced systemic oxidative stress and inflammation, while also compromising meat quality and disrupting postmortem glycolysis, as evidenced by reduced glycogen availability and excessive lactate accumulation. Yeast β-Glu-SeNPs significantly improved growth performance, mitigated oxidative stress and inflammation, and restored meat quality in both breast and thigh muscles. Postmortem energy metabolism was preserved, as reflected by increased muscle glycogen and glycolytic potential, reduced lactate accumulation and glycolytic enzyme activities, and a stabilized pH decline. Meanwhile, skeletal muscle Se deposition, glutathione peroxidase activity, and key selenoprotein expression were markedly enhanced. Notably, HS promoted a phenotypic shift toward fast glycolytic muscle fibers, as evidenced by increased expression of MYHC2b and Fast-MyHC (P < 0.05), accompanied by reduced levels of MYHC1, MYHC2a, and Slow-MyHC (P < 0.05). This maladaptive transition was effectively reversed by yeast β-Glu-SeNPs, which favored oxidative fiber formation, characterized by the upregulation of MYHC1 and MYHC2a, along with the suppression of MYHC2b (P < 0.05). At the mitochondrial level, yeast β-Glu-SeNPs preserved ultrastructural integrity and enhanced mitochondrial function, as reflected by increased ATP content, elevated mtDNA copy number, and the upregulation of mitochondrial biogenesis-related genes, including AMPK, PGC-1α, NRF1, and TFAM (P < 0.05). Correlation analysis, molecular docking, and co-immunoprecipitation demonstrated that SelO interacts with AMPK, supporting a SelO-dependent AMPK/PGC-1α axis that drives mitochondrial biogenesis and oxidative fiber remodeling.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Overall, yeast β-Glu-SeNPs mitigated HS-induced muscle metabolic dysfunction and meat quality deterioration via SelO-mediated mitochondrial and myofiber reprogramming.</p>","PeriodicalId":64067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13332611/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148383322","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"L-Ornithine-L-aspartate enhances growth performance and nitrogen metabolism via modulation of intestinal amino acid transporters and microbiota in broilers.","authors":"Xiaodan Zhang, Guangzhi Ma, Jinping Wang, Bin Wang, Zengpeng Lv, Yuming Guo","doi":"10.1186/s40104-026-01450-7","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40104-026-01450-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>L-Ornithine-L-aspartate (OA) is a stable salt formed by the ionic bonding of ornithine and aspartic acid. While OA is known to regulate nitrogen metabolism and ammonia (NH₃) detoxification more effectively than its individual components in clinical settings, their specific effects and mechanisms in broiler chickens remain unexplored. Crucially, it is unknown whether OA exerts superior biological effects compared to a physical mixture of ornithine and aspartic acid in broiler chickens. Therefore, this study selected white-feathered broilers to investigate the comparative effects of dietary supplementation with OA versus a mixture of ornithine and aspartic acid on growth performance, nitrogen metabolism, and intestinal health. The objective of this study was to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the potential superiority of the salt form (OA) over the mixture.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Compared to the basal diet, both supplementation groups improved growth performance and slaughter performance by promoting glutamine (Gln) synthesis and NH₃ detoxification, thereby enhancing protein deposition. Specifically, supplementation significantly reduced the feed conversion ratio from d 1 to 21 and increased body weight and breast muscle percentage at d 42 (P < 0.05). Notably, OA demonstrated superior efficacy compared to the mixture. Mechanistically, OA significantly increased hepatic ornithine aminotransferase (OAT) activity at d 21, facilitating ornithine transamination for Gln synthesis. In the gut, OA uniquely reduced duodenal crypt depth (CD) and up-regulated the mRNA expression of key amino acid (AA) transporters (SLC1A5, SLC25A15, and SLC38A2) in the jejunum, leading to significantly higher apparent ileal digestibility of AAs (P < 0.05). Metabolomic and microbiomic analyses revealed that, compared to the mixture, OA significantly modulated arginine biosynthesis pathways (gga00220) and down-regulated L-ornithine (C00077) abundance in ileal chyme. Furthermore, OA improved the cecal microbiota by increasing the relative abundance of butyrate-producing Agathobaculum, reducing pathogenic Escherichia, and up-regulating energy metabolism pathways.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In summary, while both forms are beneficial, OA is superior to the physical mixture of ornithine and aspartic acid in improving broiler performance. This advantage of the OA was correlated with the up-regulated intestinal AA transporters, improved the digestibility of nutrients such as ornithine, and the modulated gut microbiota towards a butyrate-producing profile, coupled with increased hepatic OAT activity.</p>","PeriodicalId":64067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13330389/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148378338","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"DNA methylation clock in bull sperm cells reveals the epigenetic aging characteristics and impact on fertility.","authors":"Wenlong Li, Yongjie Tang, Songyan An, Jiahao Wang, Xia Feng, Siqian Chen, Ying Yu","doi":"10.1186/s40104-026-01444-5","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40104-026-01444-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Aging is a crucial factor influencing semen quality and fertility in bulls, with potential implications for reproductive management and genetic improvement programs. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying sperm cell aging is essential for assessing reproductive potential and improving livestock productivity.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In this study, we developed an epigenetic clock for bull sperm cells using whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) and reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS) on samples from Holstein stud bulls of different ages. Our analysis identified age-specific CpG sites and revealed distinct DNA methylation patterns associated with different age stages. The developed epigenetic clock demonstrated high accuracy in predicting the biological age of bull sperm cells, with significant correlations between epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) and semen quality traits such as fresh semen motility, frozen semen abnormality rate, and testicular circumference. Furthermore, we explored the involvement of transmembrane transport and other pathways in sperm cell aging, providing insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying semen quality changes. The study also established a cross-species human-bull sperm cell epigenetic clock, highlighting the potential for comparative studies on paternal biological aging.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our findings highlight the important role of DNA methylation regulation in sperm cell aging, providing a novel tool to evaluate reproductive potential in livestock. The creation of the bull sperm cell DNA methylation clock and the discovery of key molecular pathways linked to aging enhance our comprehension of sperm cell biology and provide insight into reproductive management and extending production longevity in cattle.</p>","PeriodicalId":64067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13326238/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148371053","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}