Animal Bioscience最新文献

{"title":"Effects of Intake Levels of High-Protein and High-Rumen Undegradable Protein Concentrate on Carcass Characteristics of 26-Month-Slaughtered Hanwoo Steers.","authors":"Woo Hyeong Hong, Rajaraman Bharanidharan, Jayeon Kim, Tae Hoon Kim, Jun Suk Byun, Geum Hwi Bang, Krishnaraj Thirugnanasambantham, Ridha Ibidhi, Joonpyo Oh, Jong Geun Kim, Kyoung Hoon Kim","doi":"10.5713/ab.260605","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5713/ab.260605","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Shortened 26-month feeding program in Hanwoo steers often impair intramuscular fat (IMF) accumulation and carcass marbling. Therefore, this study examined whether increasing the intake level of a high-crude protein (CP) and high-rumen undegradable protein (RUP) concentrate could overcome these marbling limitations. Thirty-two Hanwoo steers (initial body weight (BW) 217 ± 14 kg; 8 months of age) were randomly assigned to low (LI; n = 16) or high (HI; n = 16) nutrient intake groups. Both groups were fed a high-CP and high-RUP concentrate diet at differing intake levels. During the growing stage (8 to 17 months), concentrate dry matter intake was ~10% higher in the HI group (5.23 vs. 4.59 kg/d; p < 0.001), increasing intakes of CP (1.23 vs. 1.11 kg/d; p < 0.001), RUP (0.57 vs. 0.52 kg/d; p < 0.001), and total digestible nutrients (5.40 vs. 5.17 kg/d; p = 0.093). Intakes did not differ during the fattening stage (18 to 26 months). Final body weight (746.9 vs. 744.0 kg) and average daily gain were unaffected by treatment. However, steers in HI group exhibited improved carcass quality, including a trend toward larger rib-eye area (89.5 vs. 83.9 cm²; p = 0.088) and significantly greater marbling area (20.4 vs. 16.3 cm²; p = 0.031) and IMF content (19% vs. 15%; p = 0.028). Enhanced intake during growing stage increased total volatile fatty acid concentration (114.5 vs. 95.2 mM; p = 0.002). At 17 months, muscle biopsy revealed downregulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (p < 0.05) alongside upregulation of lipoprotein lipase (p < 0.01) and diacylglycerol acyltransferase-2 (p < 0.10) in HI group, indicating activated lipogenesis. These findings suggest that nutritional enhancement during the growing stage, even without sustained elevation during the fattening stage, can successfully overcome the IMF limitations of a shortened 26-month program, driving adipogenic growth.</p>","PeriodicalId":7825,"journal":{"name":"Animal Bioscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148987667","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Regulation of glucose-lipid metabolism and anti-inflammatory by bile acids.","authors":"Wenjing Liu, Feixue Hou, Jin Liu, Yike Zhu, Cuizhen Zhang, Yuting Bao, Jianhui Liang, Yuhan Chen, Guanhong Li, Hua Zhou","doi":"10.5713/ab.260521","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5713/ab.260521","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>As pleiotropic signaling molecules, bile acids not only act as emulsifiers for intestinal digestion. It is therefore not surprising that many bile acid signaling pathways have become key to regulating livestock and poultry metabolism to mitigate the negative effects of problems such as lipid deposition, metabolic disorders, and inflammatory responses. Here, we review the signaling of bile acids in lipid metabolism, glucose metabolism and inflammatory regulation. By examining the physiological characteristics of bile acids and the mechanisms of metabolic regulation, this review focuses on the development and utilization of bile acids in livestock and poultry health, and offers a theoretical foundation and perspective for further research on bile acids.</p>","PeriodicalId":7825,"journal":{"name":"Animal Bioscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148987706","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Plant bioactive compounds as functional feed additives for improving livestock and poultry production: review.","authors":"Do Thi Cat Tuong, Adhimoolam Karthikeyan, Lin Lat La Min, Sureshbabu Anjana, Masayuki Funaba, Sanggun Roh, Taesun Min","doi":"10.5713/ab.250961","DOIUrl":"10.5713/ab.250961","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The administration of antibiotics to enhance growth and prevent diseases in livestock and poultry has elicited concerns over antimicrobial resistance and its implications for public health. The escalating demands on the livestock and poultry sectors necessitate enhanced productivity, diminished economic losses, and the guarantee of food safety for human consumption. Plant bioactive compounds (PBCs) have developed as safe and sustainable alternatives to antibiotics that enhance growth, bolster animal health, and boost productivity without jeopardizing food safety. PBCs represent a diverse group of secondary metabolites-including phenolics, terpenoids, polysaccharides, and organosulfur compounds-that exhibit a wide range of biological activities relevant to livestock and poultry nutrition and health. Recent studies have shown that supplementing animals with PBCs as feed additives, either as crude extracts or individual compounds, improves growth performance, nutrient utilization and modulates gut microbiota, while exerting antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and immunoregulatory effects, and thereby enhancing overall resilience of animals. The multifunctional properties of PBCs, along with the reduced risk of resistance development, position them as promising candidates for next-generation feed additives for livestock and poultry production. However, challenges remain regarding optimal concentration, variability in bioavailability, stability during feed processing, and the standardization of active components. Here, we discuss the major PBCs and their potential as functional feed additives to improve livestock and poultry production. We further highlight research gaps and outline future prospects required to promote their integration into sustainable animal production.</p>","PeriodicalId":7825,"journal":{"name":"Animal Bioscience","volume":" ","pages":"250961"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13547621/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148315294","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"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 analysis of fatty acids, amino acids, and flavor compounds in different skeletal muscles of the Tianzhu white yak.","authors":"Xiangyan Wang, Youpeng Qi, Changze Cui, Shaopeng Chen, Zhihao Luo, Meixian Zhang, Yiduo Dai, Yanbin Zhu, Jiang Hu, Bingang Shi, Shaobin Li","doi":"10.5713/ab.250878","DOIUrl":"10.5713/ab.250878","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Although yak meat is valued for its distinctive flavor profile, little is known about the mechanisms underlying flavor variation among different muscle types. This study aimed to systematically investigate the differences in flavor precursors, metabolic enzyme activities, gene expression profiles, and volatile flavor compounds among three muscles-longissimus thoracis (LT), triceps brachii (TB), and semimembranosus (SM) of the Tianzhu white yak, and to elucidate the underlying regulatory mechanisms.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A comprehensive approach was employed, integrating targeted metabolomics, untargeted metabolomics, flavoromics, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and histochemical staining to compare the biochemical characteristics of the three muscles.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The results of volatile profiles and sensory evaluation demonstrated that the TB muscle exhibited more favorable flavor-related traits. The TB muscle was enriched in key flavor precursors, including glutamic acid, glutamine, arginine, and total free amino acid content (p<0.05). Concurrently, the expression levels of key lipogenic genes (FASN, ELOVL4, SREBP1) were significantly higher in the TB muscle (p<0.05). Flavoromics analysis further revealed that the TB muscle exhibited greater diversity and higher relative abundance of key volatile compounds, such as aldehydes, ketones, and alcohols (p<0.05). Sensory evaluation further indicated that the TB muscle exhibited stronger sweet and fruity flavors. Untargeted metabolomics and pathway enrichment analysis indicated that this profile was associated with enrichment of arginine and proline metabolism and unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study demonstrates that flavor enhancement in yak meat is associated with the coordinated upregulation of lipid synthesis genes, thereby promoting the accumulation of flavor precursors. This process provides sufficient substrates for the Maillard reaction and lipid oxidation, facilitating the generation of volatile flavor compounds. These findings provide a theoretical basis for yak meat quality evaluation and precision processing.</p>","PeriodicalId":7825,"journal":{"name":"Animal Bioscience","volume":" ","pages":"250878"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13547610/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147607481","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"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":"An in vitro ileal disappearance procedure for estimating ileal digestibility of protein in weanling pigs.","authors":"Yujeong Hwang, Yoon Soo Song, Beob Gyun Kim","doi":"10.5713/ab.260517","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5713/ab.260517","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>The present experiment aimed to develop an in vitro procedure for estimating standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of crude protein (CP) in feed ingredients for weanling pigs by modifying the conventional procedure for growing pigs.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In the conventional in vitro ileal disappearance (IVID) procedure, sample solutions added with 1 mL of pepsin (10.0 g/L) are incubated for 6.0 h in step 1 to simulate digestion in the stomach followed by adding 1 mL of pancreatin (50.0 g/L) and incubating for 18.0 h in step 2 to simulate digestion in the small intestine. To develop an IVID procedure for weanling pigs, 3 incubation periods (6.0, 4.5, and 3.0 h in step 1 and 18.0, 13.5, and 9.0 h in step 2) and 3 enzyme concentrations (pepsin 10.0, 7.5, and 5.0 g/L in step 1 and pancreatin 50.0, 37.5, and 25.0 g/L in step 2) were tested in a 3×3 factorial arrangement. Test ingredients were rice, corn, wheat, rapeseed meal, soybean meal, fermented soybean meal, and soy protein concentrate.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The IVID of CP measured using the conventional procedure deviated from the weanling pig's in vivo SID of CP by 5.0% on average. Based on the quadratic response surface analysis, the use of 1 mL of pepsin at 7.6 g/L with the incubation period of 4.4 h in step 1 followed by adding 1 mL of pancreatin at 38.1 g/L with the incubation period of 13.3 h in step 2 minimized the absolute difference between IVID of CP and in vivo SID of CP to 3.6% on average for weanling pigs.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The in vitro procedure for weanling pigs was developed by lowering the incubation periods and enzyme concentrations for estimating ileal digestibility of protein in feed ingredients with greater accuracy compared with the conventional in vitro procedure.</p>","PeriodicalId":7825,"journal":{"name":"Animal Bioscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148886200","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Antioxidant properties of kiwifruit cultivars and their effects on oxidative stability of chicken breast under overwrap and modified atmosphere packaging.","authors":"Ha Eun Kim, Koo Bok Chin","doi":"10.5713/ab.260359","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5713/ab.260359","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study investigated the antioxidant properties of red kiwifruit (RK), green kiwifruit (GRK), and gold kiwifruit (GOK) powders and evaluated their effects on oxidative stability of chicken breast stored under overwrap packaging (OWP) or modified atmosphere packaging (MAP).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Kiwifruit powders prepared from red, green, and gold kiwifruit cultivars were analyzed for total phenolic content and antioxidant activity, including 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity and reducing power. Chicken breasts were injected with brine solutions containing kiwifruit powder, ascorbic acid (AA), or plain brine as a control (CTL), and stored under overwrap packaging (OWP) or modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) at 10 °C for 9 days. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and volatile basic nitrogen (VBN) were measured during storage. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way and two-way analysis of variance.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>GOK exhibited the highest total phenolic content and antioxidant activity. Under OWP, TBARS values were lower in AA, RK, and GOK than in CTL and GRK. For VBN, GOK showed a value comparable to that of AA under OWP.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Oven-dried gold kiwifruit powder showed the highest antioxidant activity among the tested kiwifruit cultivars and was effective in improving the oxidative stability of chicken breast, particularly under overwrap packaging.</p>","PeriodicalId":7825,"journal":{"name":"Animal Bioscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148886268","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Deer antler peptides attenuate inflammation, oxidative stress, and pyroptosis in Salmonella-infected macrophages and murine colonic tissues.","authors":"Deshou Zeng, Haihua Xing, Zihui Sun, Yukai Ma, Qing Wang, Fuquan Yin, Zhenhua Gao, Heping Li","doi":"10.5713/ab.260612","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5713/ab.260612","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Deer antler peptides (DAPs), have been widely reported to exhibit potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, their efficacy in alleviating pathogen-induced intestinal infections mechanisms remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the protective effects of DAPs against Salmonella-induced intestinal inflammation and associated tissue injury and elucidated the molecular mechanisms underlying these processes.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Primary peritoneal macrophages isolated from wild-type (WT) and NRF2 knockout (nrf2-/-) mice were infected with Salmonella; concurrently, we established a murine model of Salmonella-induced intestinal inflammation by infecting WT and nrf2-/- mice. Using in vitro and in vivo systems, we evaluated the immunomodulatory effects of DAPs during Salmonella infection.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In vitro, the results demonstrated that DAPs significantly inhibited the Salmonella-induced production of TNF-α and IL-6, the activation of MAPK signaling pathway, GSDMD-mediated pyroptosis, and excessive ROS accumulation. Mechanistically, DAPs activate the NRF2 signaling pathway by promoting nuclear translocation and the transcriptional upregulation of HO-1 and NQO-1. The genetic deletion of NRF2 substantially attenuated the protective effects of DAPs against inflammation, pyroptosis, and oxidative stress, confirming the mechanism's dependency on this pathway. In vivo, DAPs significantly reduced intestinal histopathological changes, epithelial barrier disruption, pyroptosis, and oxidative damage in WT mice, while these protective effects were markedly diminished in nrf2-/- mice. Notably, DAPs significantly reduced colonic bacterial loads in both WT and nrf2-/- mice while concurrently suppressing pyroptosis. Our findings indicate that DAPs may exert antibacterial effects through a mechanism independent of both NRF2 activation and the NLRP3-mediated pyroptotic pathway; however, the underlying molecular mechanism remains to be fully elucidated.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our findings identify DAPs as multi-modal regulators that coordinately suppress inflammation, pyroptosis, and oxidative stress through NRF2 activation during Salmonella infection, and provides mechanistic insights and a translational basis for the application of animal-derived peptides in the treatment of infectious intestinal disorders.</p>","PeriodicalId":7825,"journal":{"name":"Animal Bioscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148886316","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Stage-specific prediction of body weight in Hanwoo steers using body measurements and nutrient intake variables.","authors":"Myungsun Park, Sun-Sik Jang, Youl-Chang Baek","doi":"10.5713/ab.260453","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5713/ab.260453","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Accurate body weight (BW) prediction is important for growth management and nutrient utilization in Hanwoo steers. However, prediction performance may vary across growth stages and input variables. Therefore, this study evaluated stage-specific machine learning models for BW prediction using body measurements and nutrient intake variables.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Data from 136 Hanwoo steers were collected during the growing (6-12 months), early fattening (13-21 months), and late fattening (22-31 months) periods. Body size traits and nutrient intake variables were used to develop prediction models using Random Forest (RF), Linear Regression (LR), K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). To minimize repeated-measurement bias, datasets were divided into training and testing sets based on individual animal identification. Prediction performance was evaluated using coefficient of determination (R²), root mean square error (RMSE), and mean absolute error (MAE).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>BW showed strong associations with skeletal-related body traits during the growing period, whereas nutrient intake variables became more strongly associated with average daily gain (ADG) during fattening. Among the evaluated ML models, RF generally demonstrated robust predictive performance across growth stages. For BW prediction, RF achieved the highest accuracy during the growing period (R² = 0.952), whereas LR achieved the highest accuracy during the early-fattening period (R² = 0.947). ADG prediction performance was generally lower than that for BW. Variable importance analysis indicated that skeletal-related body traits contributed most to BW prediction, whereas nutrient intake variables contributed more to ADG prediction during fattening.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Factors associated with BW and ADG differed according to production stage. Skeletal-related body traits were more strongly associated with BW during the growing period, whereas nutrient intake variables became increasingly important during fattening. Integrating body measurements and nutritional information may support stage-specific growth monitoring and provide preliminary information for nutritional management in Hanwoo production systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":7825,"journal":{"name":"Animal Bioscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148886326","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effect of exogenous glucoamylase on ruminal in situ and in vitro dry matter and starch degradability of cereal grains in beef cattle.","authors":"Lin Mu, Kleves V Almeida, Carlos A NinodeGuzman, Ignacio F Marenchino, Kathy G Arriola, Halima Sultana, Nicolas DiLorenzo, Wenting Li, Diwakar Vyas","doi":"10.5713/ab.25.0328","DOIUrl":"10.5713/ab.25.0328","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>To evaluate the effects of glucoamylase on ruminal in situ and in vitro dry matter degradability (IVDMD), in vitro starch degradability (IVSD), volatile fatty acids (VFA), gas production and methane production using cereal grains as substrates in beef cattle.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Six substrates (4 mm; 0.70 g per F57 bag) including sorghum (micronized and whole), barley (whole and steam-flaked), and corn (dry-rolled and steam-flaked); were incubated with exogenous glucoamylase (from Trichoderma reesei; 0.25 mg/g substrate dry matter [DM]) and buffered rumen fluid in six replicates per run in 3 independent runs. IVDMD, IVSD, in situ DMD (ISDMD), VFA, and methane production was measured after 7, and 12 h of incubation. ISDMD was measured after 0, 1, 3, 7, and 12 h of ruminal incubation in beef cattle fed high grain diets.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Exogenous glucoamylase increased IVDMD and gas production for all substrates except whole sorghum and barley while ISDMD was increased for all substrates except whole barley. Glucoamylase increased IVSD for steam flaked barley and corn. Glucoamylase supplementation increased molar proportion of propionate and decreased acetate-to-propionate ratio, regardless of substrates used. Similarly, glucoamylase supplementation increased methane production with steam-flaked corn.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Glucoamylase supplementation can potentially improve DM and starch degradability in cereal grains commonly used as ingredients in beef cattle diets.</p>","PeriodicalId":7825,"journal":{"name":"Animal Bioscience","volume":" ","pages":"250328"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13547619/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145353387","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"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":"Integrating rumen microbiome and host metabolome to investigate feed conversion ratio across different fattening stages in Hu sheep.","authors":"Quanzhong Xu, Xiaoxue Zhang, Huibin Tian, Xiaobin Yang, Jian Zhang, Hongjian Li, Zongwu Ma, Deyin Zhang, Kai Huang, Yukun Zhang, Yuan Zhao, Xiaolong Li, Liming Zhao, Jiangbo Cheng, Dan Xu, Fadi Li, Xiuxiu Weng, Weiwei Wu, Weimin Wang","doi":"10.5713/ab.260317","DOIUrl":"10.5713/ab.260317","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Feed conversion ratio (FCR) is a crucial economic trait in animal breeding and management and is also important for environmental sustainability. This study aimed to investigate the putative regulatory mechanisms of FCR in sheep by integrating rumen microbiota and host metabolome through multi-omics analysis.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>FCR data were collected from 127 male Hu sheep. Extreme individuals were selected for rumen metagenomic and serum metabolomic analyses to identify key factors driving FCR across early and late fattening stages.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Bacteroides, Prevotella, and other genera were identified as dominant taxa in the rumen across both stages, suggesting their ipotential role in FCR regulation. Notably, Nocardia tengcongensis differed significantly between the highest FCR values (HF) and lowest FCR values (LF) groups at different stages, indicating its potential as a predictive biomarker of feed efficiency. Functional analysis revealed that the pentose phosphate pathway (M00004) and lysine biosynthesis via the succinyl-DAP pathway (M00016) were enriched in the LF group, whereas the methanogenesis pathway (M00357) was significantly enriched in the HF group, indicating increased methane production. Thirteen metabolites consistently differed between HF and LF across fattening stages and they may be used as predictive biomarkers. Furthermore, the abundance of Prevotella and Bacteroides increased over time and showed significant correlations with key metabolites.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>These findings suggest strong interactions between rumen microbiota and host metabolites that may collectively influence FCR, providing new insights into microbial and metabolic regulation of feed efficiency and a theoretical basis for optimizing feeding strategies in sheep.</p>","PeriodicalId":7825,"journal":{"name":"Animal Bioscience","volume":" ","pages":"260317"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13547752/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148142267","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}