The redox potential of growing cultures of Streptococcus bovis Orla-Jensen compared with other facultative anaerobes.

The changes of redox potential were measured in growing cultures of three strains of Streptococcus bovis, together with three strains of Staphylococcus aureus and one strain of each of Lactobacillus plantaram, Lactobacillus casei, and Eschericia coli. It was found that both S. aureus and E. coli could reduce the redox potential of the growth medium to very low values (between —400 mv and —600 mv), whereas the streptococci and lactobacilli were able to cause only slight or insignificant changes of the redox potential. Respirometric measurements confirmed that the capacity of oxygen consumption of S. bovis was very small compared to that of E. coli and S. aureus. On this basis the authors conclude that S. bovis in all probability is unable to contribute significantly to maintenance of the low redox potential of its natural habitat, the rumen. This function must be carried out by other bacteria, such as enterobacteria or staphylococci, which are capable of performing a true, aerobic respiration.     

瘤胃液移植在反刍动物中的研究进展

瘤胃液移植是一种将健康供体动物的瘤胃液转移给受体动物的技术。目前，针对瘤胃液移植的报道还相对有限，但越来越多的研究结果显示，瘤胃液移植可以影响反刍动物的干物质采食量、产奶量等，还具有重建瘤胃菌群结构的潜力。本文综述了瘤胃液移植的方法及实践中的应用研究，分析其对反刍动物生长性能、瘤胃发酵、瘤胃微生物区系的影响以及在治疗某些疾病方面的作用，为反刍动物瘤胃液移植的研究提供参考。     

向日葵副产物的营养特性及在反刍动物中的应用

饲料资源缺乏一直以来都是制约中国畜牧业发展的主要因素。从长远看，常规饲料已不能维持中国畜牧业的可持续发展，开发新的饲料资源是解决饲料不足的重要途径之一。向日葵副产物营养价值较高、来源广、价格低，是一种非常具有开发价值的新型饲料。向日葵副产物包括向日葵饼粕、向日葵盘、向日葵秸秆及葵花籽壳：向日葵饼粕蛋白质含量高、纤维含量低，是一种优质的植物蛋白来源，可以提高奶牛乳汁的营养价值、促进肉牛生长、提高羊的瘤胃发酵效果；向日葵盘粗脂肪含量高，含有大量的膳食纤维，可以提高奶牛的产奶量和乳脂率，促进肉牛增重，提高羊瘤胃挥发性脂肪酸浓度以及粗蛋白质、粗纤维、中性洗涤纤维的消化率；向日葵秸秆富含氮、磷、钾、钙、镁等矿物质元素以及少量的蛋白质，可以为肉牛提供一些常量元素和微量元素，提高羊的日增重，降低料重比；葵花籽壳的主要成分是纤维素和木质素，含有丰富的生物活性物质，可以提高奶牛日增重、肉牛饲料转化率。作者具体介绍了向日葵副产物饼粕、葵盘、秸秆、葵花籽壳的营养价值，以及目前它们在反刍动物饲料中的应用情况，以期为今后向日葵副产物的开发利用提供理论依据。     

Of rodents and ruminants: a comparison of small noncoding RNA requirements in mouse and bovine reproduction

Ruminants are major producers of meat and milk, thus managing their reproductive potential is a key element in cost-effective, safe, and efficient food production. Of particular concern, defects in male germ cells and female germ cells may lead to significantly reduced live births relative to fertilization. However, the underlying molecular drivers of these defects are unclear. Small noncoding RNAs, such as piRNAs and miRNAs, are known to be important regulators of germ-cell physiology in mouse (the best-studied mammalian model organism) and emerging evidence suggests that this is also the case in a range of ruminant species, in particular bovine. Similarities exist between mouse and bovids, especially in the case of meiotic and postmeiotic male germ cells. However, fundamental differences in small RNA abundance and metabolism between these species have been observed in the female germ cell, differences that likely have profound impacts on their physiology. Further, parentally derived small noncoding RNAs are known to influence early embryos and significant species-specific differences in germ-cell born small noncoding RNAs have been observed. These findings demonstrate the mouse to be an imperfect model for understanding germ-cell small noncoding RNA biology in ruminants and highlight the need to increase research efforts in this underappreciated aspect of animal reproduction.     

Influence of amount and frequency of protein supplementation to ruminants consuming low-quality cool-season forages: efficiency of nitrogen utilization in lambs and performance of gestating beef cows

We evaluated the influence of amount and crude protein (CP) supplementation frequency (SF) on nitrogen (N) use by wethers and the performance of late-gestation beef cows. In exp. 1, seven Western whiteface wethers (31.8 ± 1.4 kg) were used in an incomplete 7 × 4 Latin square to evaluate intake and N use. Wethers received one of the seven treatments in a 2 × 3 factorial design containing two levels of supplemental soybean meal offered at a rate of 100% (F) or 50% (H; 50% of F) of the estimated CP requirement daily, once every 5, or once every 10 d, plus a non-supplemented control (CON). Low-quality cool-season forage (4.9 % CP; dry matter [DM] basis) was provided daily for ad libitum intake. Experimental periods lasted 30 d. In exp. 2, 84 Angus × Hereford cows (560 ± 35 kg) were stratified by age, body condition score (BCS), and expected calving date and allocated to 1 of the 21 feedlot pens (three pens per treatment). Pens were randomly assigned to receive the same treatments as in exp. 1 and cows had free access to low-quality cool-season forage (2.9% CP; DM basis). Cow body weight (BW) and BCS were measured every 14 d until calving and within 24 h after calving. In exp. 1, supplementation did not alter total DM and organic matter (OM) intake (P ≥ 0.26), but both parameters linearly decreased as SF decreased (P = 0.02). Supplementation increased DM, OM, and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) digestibility (P ≤ 0.02). Additionally, F feeding linearly increased DM, OM, and NDF digestibility as SF decreased (P ≤ 0.04). Digestibility of N, N balance, and digested N retained were greater with supplementation (P < 0.01), and N digestibility linearly increased as SF decreased (P = 0.01). Mean plasma urea-N concentration was not only greater (P < 0.01) for supplemented vs. CON wethers but also greater (P = 0.03) for F vs. H. In exp. 2, pre-calving BCS change was greater (P = 0.03) for supplemented cows. A linear effect of SF × supplementation rate for pre-calving BCS change was noted (P = 0.05), as F-supplemented cows lost more BCS compared with H as SF decreased. When considering supplementation intervals greater than 5 d, reducing the quantity of supplement provided, compared with daily supplementation, may be a feasible management strategy to maintain acceptable nutrient use and animal performance while reducing supplement and labor costs.     

Pharmacokinetic comparison of six anthelmintics in sheep,goats, and cattle

This study was initiated to determine whether a comparative pharmacokinetic (PK) approach could be used to expand the pool of approved anthelmintics for minor ruminant species. Accordingly, the PK profiles of six anthelmintics (levamisole, albendazole, fenbendazole, moxidectin, doramectin, and ivermectin) in sheep, goats, and cattle were determined. The PK values determined for each anthelmintic included T_max, T_last, C_max, AUC, AUC/dose, and C_max/dose. The results of this study demonstrate that a comparative PK approach does not show commonality in the way these six anthelmintics are individually processed by these three ruminants. While some drugs demonstrated identical PK profiles between sheep and goats, none of these drugs demonstrated PK profiles in sheep and goats comparable to the PK profiles found in cattle. The results from this study suggest drug approval across these three ruminants is not a viable concept. However, the resulting PK profiles for each combination of drug and ruminant species represents a new dataset that can be used to support the US FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine's Minor Use/Minor Species indexing process for drug approvals in minor species such as sheep and goats.     

Use of Akaike information criteria for model selection and inference. An application to assess prevention of gastrointestinal parasitism and respiratory mortality of Guinean goats in Kolda,Senegal

A field experiment was carried out in Kolda (southern Senegal) from July 1986 to July 1988. Its goals were to: (1) describe the patterns of mortality of female Guinean goats by age, season and year; (2) assess preventive measures against respiratory diseases and gastrointestinal parasitism in reducing mortality; and (3) estimate the overall impact of these measures on survival to 1 year of age. Preventive measures for respiratory disease included vaccination against peste des petits ruminants (PPR) and pneumonic pasteurellosis (Pasteurella multocida types A and D). Control of gastrointestinal parasites was by deworming does with morantel (7.5 mg kg⁻¹, three times during the rainy season). The effects of vaccines and deworming were tested in a randomised factorial field experiment with villages being the experimental units. A total of 19 villages, 113 goat herds and 1458 goats were included in the study.

Generalised linear models of survival for five cohorts of goats (defined by five different birth seasons) used a binomial assumption for the response distribution and a complementary log–log link. Explanatory variables included age, season, year, vaccination, deworming and their interactions. A complex a priori model was built on the basis of previous epidemiological knowledge; a purposively selected set of simpler models was compared to this full model by the Akaike information criterion (AIC) and derived statistics. Inference on 1-year survival and treatment effects accounted for model-selection uncertainty. It was carried out with a bootstrap procedure and used information from the whole set of selected models.

Large variations in mortality by year and season were observed but no regular seasonal pattern was apparent. Mortality probabilities of kids in dewormed groups decreased quickly after birth, but remained elevated up to 9 months of age in the non-dewormed groups. Deworming lowered the risk of mortality. Vaccination alone was not protective (except during an observed outbreak of PPR).     

单宁对反刍动物养分利用的营养机制

植物饲料中适量的单宁含量对反刍动物养分利用有其积极作用。本文从分析单宁的理化性质入手,详细综述了植物饲料中单宁的营养作用机制、抗营养作用、去除措施以及研究展望,以期为有效利用含单宁的植物饲料提供理论参考。     

一步法实时定量RT-PCR检测小反刍兽疫病毒方法的建立

建立了检测小反刍兽疫病毒的快速、特异的基于Taqman的一步法实时定量RT-PCR方法。通过对GenBank已公布的小反刍兽疫病毒N基因序列进行序列比较分析,设计了一对特异性引物和一条Taqman探针。利用这对引物和探针对来自不同疫源地的小反刍兽疫病毒RNA样本进行检测,都获得了特异性扩增,但是,不与牛瘟病毒、海豚麻疹病毒等其他种的麻疹病毒属病毒发生交叉反应。本方法具有高度灵敏性,最低可检测到810拷贝的RNA模板。在模板浓度为8.1×102到8.1×108拷贝范围内,都呈现良好的线性关系,而且无论是组内和或组间重复的变异系数都很低。