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Poultry Science Feb 2020We studied the effects of restricting the access to feed on the anticipatory eating behavior, growth performance, and the development of the proximal part of the...
The length of the feed restriction period affects eating behavior, growth performance, and the development of the proximal part of the gastrointestinal tract of young broilers.
We studied the effects of restricting the access to feed on the anticipatory eating behavior, growth performance, and the development of the proximal part of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) in broilers. The experiment consisted in physical restriction of the access of broilers to feed for 0, 4, 6, or 8 h per day from 7 to 19 D of age. At 10, 13, 16, and 19 D of age, immediately before the start of the feed restriction (FR) period, 2 birds per cage were euthanized to evaluate crop and gizzard development. The experimental design was completely randomized, and the linear (L) and quadratic (Q) effects of fasting length on growth performance and GIT traits were determined. In addition, the effect of broiler age on GIT development was studied. From 7 to 19 D of age, ADFI (L, Q; P ≤ 0.05) and BW gain (L; P ≤ 0.01) decreased as the length of the FR period increased, with most of the differences observed with 6 or more hours of fasting. However, feed conversion ratio was not affected by FR length. The relative weight of the crop (% BW) and its fresh content increased (L; P ≤ 0.001) and the moisture of the digesta (%) decreased (L; P ≤ 0.001) as the FR period increased. The DM content (g) of the crop increased with FR, with most of the differences observed with 6 or more hours of fasting (L, Q; P ≤ 0.001). At 19 D of age, the Lactobacillus spp. count in the crop increased (L; P ≤ 0.05) with increase in the FR period. Fasting did not affect any gizzard trait at any age. In summary, physical restriction of the access to feed for 6 h or more reduced BW gain but did not affect feed conversion ratio in broilers from 7 to 19 D of age. Feed restriction for 4 to 8 h stimulated the anticipatory feeding behavior and crop development in broilers.
Topics: Animal Feed; Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Animals; Chickens; Crop, Avian; Diet; Feeding Behavior; Food Deprivation; Gizzard, Avian; Random Allocation; Time Factors
PubMed: 32036958
DOI: 10.1016/j.psj.2019.10.011 -
BMC Bioinformatics Mar 2020Traditional selection in livestock and crops focuses on additive genetic values or breeding values of the individuals. While traditional selection utilizes variation...
BACKGROUND
Traditional selection in livestock and crops focuses on additive genetic values or breeding values of the individuals. While traditional selection utilizes variation between individuals, differences between gametes within individuals have been less frequently exploited in selection programs. With the successful implementation of genomic selection in livestock and crops, estimation and selection for gametic variation is becoming possible.
RESULTS
The gamevar.f90 software is designed to estimate individual-level variance of genetic values of gametes for complex traits in large populations. The software estimates the (co)variances of gametic diversity as well as other diversity parameters that are useful for selection programs and mating designs. The calculation is carried out chromosome by chromosome and can be easily parallelized. The gamevar.f90 program is written in Fortran with efficient computing algorithms in a user-friendly software package with easily-handled input and output files. Finally, we applied the program to estimate gametic variance for hundreds of bulls for lifetime net merit, productive life, and livability. The RPTA (relative predicted transmitting ability), assuming a future selection intensity (i) of 1.5, showed larger variance than GEBV/2, indicating that greater future genetic gains can be obtained using an index that includes gametic variances. We also used the relative coefficient of variation to estimate with 95% confidence the sample sizes required to observe 90% variability of the progeny for lifetime net merit (or to allow at maximum 10% of change in the EBV predicted from progeny data).
CONCLUSIONS
Collectively, we develop an efficient computer program package, gamevar.f90, for estimating gametic variance for large numbers of individuals. The novel information on gametic variation will be useful in future animal and crop breeding programs.
Topics: Algorithms; Animals; Breeding; Cattle; Genetic Variation; Germ Cells; Male; User-Computer Interface
PubMed: 32143564
DOI: 10.1186/s12859-020-3417-x -
Communications Biology May 2021Birds are characterized by evolutionary specializations of both locomotion (e.g., flapping flight) and digestive system (toothless, crop, and gizzard), while the...
Birds are characterized by evolutionary specializations of both locomotion (e.g., flapping flight) and digestive system (toothless, crop, and gizzard), while the potential selection pressures responsible for these evolutionary specializations remain unclear. Here we used a recently developed molecular phyloecological method to reconstruct the diets of the ancestral archosaur and of the common ancestor of living birds (CALB). Our results suggest a trophic shift from carnivory to herbivory (fruit, seed, and/or nut eater) at the archosaur-to-bird transition. The evolutionary shift of the CALB to herbivory may have essentially made them become a low-level consumer and, consequently, subject to relatively high predation risk from potential predators such as gliding non-avian maniraptorans, from which birds descended. Under the relatively high predation pressure, ancestral birds with gliding capability may have then evolved not only flapping flight as a possible anti-predator strategy against gliding predatory non-avian maniraptorans but also the specialized digestive system as an evolutionary tradeoff of maximizing foraging efficiency and minimizing predation risk. Our results suggest that the powered flight and specialized digestive system of birds may have evolved as a result of their tropic shift-associated predation pressure.
Topics: Animals; Biological Evolution; Birds; Carnivory; Diet; Dinosaurs; Ecology; Ecosystem; Evolution, Molecular; Herbivory; Phylogeny; Predatory Behavior
PubMed: 33986452
DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02067-4 -
Frontiers in Physiology 2022The nutrient availability and supplementation of dietary phosphorus (P) and calcium (Ca) in avian feed, especially in laying hens, plays a vital role in phytase...
The nutrient availability and supplementation of dietary phosphorus (P) and calcium (Ca) in avian feed, especially in laying hens, plays a vital role in phytase degradation and mineral utilization during the laying phase. The required concentration of P and Ca peaks during the laying phase, and the direct interaction between Ca and P concentration shrinks the availability of both supplements in the feed. Our goal was to characterize the active microbiota of the entire gastrointestinal tract (GIT) (crop, gizzard, duodenum, ileum, caeca), including digesta- and mucosa-associated communities of two contrasting high-yielding breeds of laying hens (Lohmann Brown Classic, LB; Lohmann LSL-Classic, LSL) under different P and Ca supplementation levels. Statistical significances were observed for breed, GIT section, Ca, and the interaction of GIT section x breed, P x Ca, Ca x breed and P x Ca x breed ( < 0.05). A core microbiota of five species was detected in more than 97% of all samples. They were represented by an uncl. (average relative abundance (av. abu.) 12.1%), (av. abu. 10.8%), (av. abu. 6.8%), (av. abu. 4.5%), and an uncl. (av. abu. 1.1%). Our findings indicated that Ca and P supplementation levels 20% below the recommendation have a minor effect on the microbiota compared to the strong impact of the bird's genetic background. Moreover, a core active microbiota across the GIT of two high-yielding laying hen breeds was revealed for the first time.
PubMed: 36213242
DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.951350 -
Toxicologic Pathology Jun 2016The 2015 Annual National Toxicology Program Satellite Symposium, entitled "Pathology Potpourri" was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at the American College of Veterinary...
The 2015 Annual National Toxicology Program Satellite Symposium, entitled "Pathology Potpourri" was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at the American College of Veterinary Pathologists/American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology/Society of Toxicologic Pathology combined meeting. The goal of this symposium is to present and discuss diagnostic pathology challenges or nomenclature issues. Because of the combined meeting, both laboratory and domestic animal cases were presented. This article presents summaries of the speakers' talks, including challenging diagnostic cases or nomenclature issues that were presented, along with select images that were used for audience voting and discussion. Some lesions and topics covered during the symposium included hepatocellular lesions, a proposed harmonized diagnostic approach to rat cardiomyopathy, crop milk in a bird, avian feeding accoutrement, heat exchanger in a tuna, metastasis of a tobacco carcinogen-induced pulmonary carcinoma, neurocytoma in a rat, pituicytoma in a rat, rodent mammary gland whole mounts, dog and rat alveolar macrophage ultrastructure, dog and rat pulmonary phospholipidosis, alveolar macrophage aggregation in a dog, degenerating yeast in a cat liver aspirate, myeloid leukemia in lymph node aspirates from a dog, Trypanosoma cruzi in a dog, solanum toxicity in a cow, bovine astrovirus, malignant microglial tumor, and nomenclature challenges from the Special Senses International Harmonization of Nomenclature and Diagnostic Criteria Organ Working Group.
Topics: Animals; Toxicology; Veterinary Medicine
PubMed: 27075180
DOI: 10.1177/0192623316631844 -
Cell Stress & Chaperones Jan 2021Heat shock protein 60 (HSP60) is a well-recognized multifunctional protein, playing a substantial role in protecting organisms from environmental stress. The domestic...
Heat shock protein 60 (HSP60) is a well-recognized multifunctional protein, playing a substantial role in protecting organisms from environmental stress. The domestic pigeon (Columba livia) is a promising model organism, with important economic and ecological value, and its health is susceptible to temperature stress. To explore the molecular characteristics, tissue expression profile, and response to temperature stress for HSP60 of Columba livia (ClHSP60), we firstly cloned and characterized the complete cDNA sequence and investigated its expression profile under optimal conditions and acute temperature stress. The cDNA of ClHSP60 contained 2257 nucleotides, consisting of 12 exons with length ranging from 65 to 590 bp. The open reading frame (ORF) encoded 573 amino acids with calculated molecular weight of 60.97 kDa that contained a number of structurally prominent domains or motifs. Under optimal temperature conditions, levels of ClHSP60 expression differed between all the tested tissues (the highest was noted in liver and the lowest in pectoralis major muscle). Under acute temperature stress, five patterns of change were detected in the tested tissues, suggesting that different tissues in domestic pigeons differentially responded to various temperature stress conditions. Upregulation of ClHSP60 expression was highest in the lung and pectoralis major muscle, reflecting the crucial role of these two tissues in temperature regulation. However, the crop, cerebrum, and heart showed little change or decreased ClHSP60 expression. The results indicate that ClHSP60 may be sensitive to and play pivotal roles in responding to acute temperature stress.
Topics: Animals; Avian Proteins; Chaperonin 60; Cloning, Molecular; Cold-Shock Response; Columbidae; Heat-Shock Response; Models, Molecular; Phylogeny; Transcriptome
PubMed: 32880058
DOI: 10.1007/s12192-020-01160-7 -
Frontiers in Microbiology 2018is a leading cause of bacterial foodborne illness in humans worldwide. However, naturally colonizes poultry without causing pathology where it resides deep within...
is a leading cause of bacterial foodborne illness in humans worldwide. However, naturally colonizes poultry without causing pathology where it resides deep within mucus of the cecal crypts. Mucus may modulate the pathogenicity of in a species-specific manner, where it is pathogenic in humans and asymptomatic in poultry. Little is known about how intestinal mucus from different host species affects gene expression. In this study we characterized the growth and transcriptome of NCTC11168 cultured in defined media supplemented with or without mucus isolated from avian (chicken or turkey) or mammalian (cow, pig, or sheep) sources. showed substantially improved growth over defined media, with mucus from all species, showing that intestinal mucus was an energy source for . Seventy-three genes were differentially expressed when was cultured in avian vs. mammalian mucus. Genes associated with iron acquisition and resistance to oxidative stress were significantly increased in avian mucus. Many of the differentially expressed genes were flanked by differentially expressed antisense RNA asRNA, suggesting a role in gene regulation. This study highlights the interactions between and host mucus and the impact on gene expression, growth and invasion of host cells, suggesting important responses to environmental cues that facilitate intestinal colonization. infection of humans is an important health problem world-wide and is the leading bacterial cause of foodborne illnesses in U.S. The main route for exposure for humans is consumption of poultry meat contaminated during processing. is frequently found in poultry, residing within the mucus of the intestinal tract without causing disease. It is not clear why causes disease in some animals and humans, while leaving birds without symptoms. To understand its activity in birds, we characterized responses to poultry mucus to identify genes turned on in the intestinal tract of birds. We identified genes important for colonization and persistence within the poultry gut, turned on when was exposed to poultry mucus. Our findings are an important step in understanding how responds and interacts in the poultry gut, and may identify ways to reduce in birds.
PubMed: 30687245
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.03215 -
Genome Research Apr 2020Recent progress has been made in identifying genomic regions implicated in trait evolution on a microevolutionary scale in many species, but whether these are relevant...
Recent progress has been made in identifying genomic regions implicated in trait evolution on a microevolutionary scale in many species, but whether these are relevant over macroevolutionary time remains unclear. Here, we directly address this fundamental question using bird beak shape, a key evolutionary innovation linked to patterns of resource use, divergence, and speciation, as a model trait. We integrate class-wide geometric-morphometric analyses with evolutionary sequence analyses of 10,322 protein-coding genes as well as 229,001 genomic regions spanning 72 species. We identify 1434 protein-coding genes and 39,806 noncoding regions for which molecular rates were significantly related to rates of bill shape evolution. We show that homologs of the identified protein-coding genes as well as genes in close proximity to the identified noncoding regions are involved in craniofacial embryo development in mammals. They are associated with embryonic stem cell pathways, including BMP and Wnt signaling, both of which have repeatedly been implicated in the morphological development of avian beaks. This suggests that identifying genotype-phenotype association on a genome-wide scale over macroevolutionary time is feasible. Although the coding and noncoding gene sets are associated with similar pathways, the actual genes are highly distinct, with significantly reduced overlap between them and bill-related phenotype associations specific to noncoding loci. Evidence for signatures of recent diversifying selection on our identified noncoding loci in Darwin finch populations further suggests that regulatory rather than coding changes are major drivers of morphological diversification over macroevolutionary times.
Topics: Animals; Beak; Biological Evolution; Birds; Conserved Sequence; Evolution, Molecular; Genetic Association Studies; Genetic Heterogeneity; Morphogenesis; Open Reading Frames; Quantitative Trait Loci; Selection, Genetic; Untranslated Regions
PubMed: 32269134
DOI: 10.1101/gr.255752.119 -
Poultry Science Oct 2018The pendulous crop is characterized by excessive distension of the crop musculature, compromising the bird's productivity and welfare. The etiology is still unknown, but...
The pendulous crop is characterized by excessive distension of the crop musculature, compromising the bird's productivity and welfare. The etiology is still unknown, but it is believed that factors related to the birds' handling might be related to its incidence. The study was conducted in 2 environmental chambers. One was maintained at a comfortable temperature, while the other was set at a much lower temperature. In each chamber, animals were divided into 16 experimental pens (8 received mash feed and the others received pelletized feed) with a density of 12 birds/m2 (an expected stocking density of 32-36 kg/m2 after 42 d). The effects of rearing temperatures were evaluated in terms of broiler performance, specifically weight gain (kg), feed intake (kg), weekly feed intake (kg/wk), and feed conversion (kgfeed/kggrowth). The occurrences of pendulous crop were quantified every 2 d after the 14th day of rearing. Birds grown in thermal comfort and fed a pelletized ration were most susceptible (12%) to pendulous crop, followed by birds fed pelletized feed and reared in cold conditions (6.8%), and birds given mashed feed and reared at either temperature (about 3%). We concluded that feeding pelleted feed combined with warmer rearing temperatures may have caused some alteration of the gastrointestinal system of birds, which caused pendulous crop to be more prevalent.
Topics: Animal Feed; Animals; Chickens; Crop, Avian; Diet; Male; Temperature
PubMed: 29850856
DOI: 10.3382/ps/pey221 -
Poultry Science Feb 2005Feed deprivation is used in the layer industry to induce molting and stimulate multiple egg-laying cycles in laying hens. Unfortunately, the stress involved increases... (Clinical Trial)
Clinical Trial Comparative Study Randomized Controlled Trial
Feed deprivation is used in the layer industry to induce molting and stimulate multiple egg-laying cycles in laying hens. Unfortunately, the stress involved increases susceptibility to Salmonella enteritidis (SE), the risk of SE-positive eggs, and incidence of SE in internal organs. Leghorn hens over 50 wk of age were divided into 4 treatment groups of 12 hens each in experiment 1 and 3 treatment groups of 12 hens in experiments 2 and 3; hens were placed in individual laying hen cages. Treatment groups were 1) nonmolted (NM) and received feed and distilled water for 9 d, 2) force molted by feed removal for 9 d and received distilled water, 3) force molted by feed removal for 9 d and received 0.5% lactic acid (LA) in distilled water. An additional group (4) in experiment 1 only was force molted by feed removal for 9 d and received 0.5% acetic acid in distilled water. Seven days before feed removal hens were exposed to an 8L:16D photoperiod, which was continued throughout the experiment. Individual hens among all treatments were challenged orally with 10(4) SE on d 4 of feed removal. When compared with the NM treatments, weight losses were significantly higher in the M treatments, regardless of water treatments. When compared with NM treatments, crop pH was significantly higher in the M treatment receiving distilled water. Crop pH was reduced to that of the NM controls by 0.5% acetic acid in the drinking water. No consistent significant changes were observed for volatile fatty acids. The number of hens positive for SE in crop and ceca after culture and the number of SE per crop and per gram of cecal contents were higher in the M treatments, when compared with the NM treatments, but there was no effect of addition of either of the acids to the drinking water. Additional research using different acid treatment regimens may provide a tool for reducing the incidence of SE in eggs and internal organs during and following molting of laying hens.
Topics: Acetic Acid; Animals; Body Weight; Cecum; Chickens; Crop, Avian; Fatty Acids, Volatile; Female; Food Deprivation; Lactic Acid; Molting; Organ Size; Poultry Diseases; Salmonella Infections, Animal; Salmonella enteritidis; Water
PubMed: 15742955
DOI: 10.1093/ps/84.2.204