Evaluation of associative effects on ruminal digestion kinetics between pasture and grains using in vitro gas production method

In vitro gas production (GP) method was used to investigate associative effects on ruminal digestion when grains (corn or barley) were supplemented to spring pasture and autumn pasture. Pasture (75%) was incubated with 25% corn or barley and gas production was monitored up to 96 h. After incubation, the residues were used to determine dry matter and organic matter digestibility (DMD and OMD). Gas production parameters were analyzed by applying a single exponential equation. Organic matter effective degradability (OMED) was determined from GP parameters and OMD. The positive associative effects on the rate of GP, DMD, OMD and OMED were observed when spring pasture was incubated with corn. However, similar effects were not observed in a barley mixture. However, for autumn pasture, both corn and barley mixtures showed positive associative effects on rate of GP, OMD and OMED. The results of this study indicated that supplementation of corn would be better than barley for spring pasture with high water‐soluble carbohydrate contents, whereas both grain supplementations were effective to obtain positive associative effects on the rate of GP and OMED for autumn pasture with high cell wall content.     

Characteristics of PCR fragments amplified using five microsatellite markers for identifying the Nagoya breed

The Nagoya breed is a native chicken of Aichi Prefecture, Japan, a dual‐purpose breed for eggs and meat. A method for distinguishing the Nagoya breed from Aichi Prefecture from other chickens using five microsatellite markers (ABR0015, ABR0257, ABR0417, ABR0495 and ADL0262) has already been utilized in order to check the authenticity of Nagoya breed‐labeled chicken on the market. The present study was conducted to investigate nucleotide sequences and sizes of PCR fragments containing the five microsatellite regions for the Nagoya breed and to confirm that the genomic identification could continue to be applied in the future. The DNA sequencing of fragments containing the five markers showed that ABR0015, ABR0417 and ABR0495 had a single haplotype, ABR0257 had three haplotypes, and ADL0262 had two haplotypes, although all the markers exhibited one fixed fragment size each upon sequencing of the fragments and fragment analysis. The results of the fragment analysis of each marker using DNA samples of 28 Nagoya breed males (G0 generation) reared in 2000–2001 and 20 of their offspring males (G8) reared in 2008–2009 showed one fixed fragment size in both populations. Therefore, we confirmed that the five microsatellite markers are useful tools for accurately distinguishing the Nagoya breed from other chickens.     

Successful outcome after a single endoscopic fecal microbiota transplantation in a Shiba dog with non-responsive enteropathy during the treatment with chlorambucil

A 7-year 6-month-old, castrated male Shiba dog presented with a 1-month history of lethargy, anorexia, vomiting, and frequent watery diarrhea. Weight loss, hypoalbuminemia, anemia, and leukocytosis were detected at the first visit. The dog was diagnosed with non-responsive enteropathy (NRE) based on clinical and histopathological examinations. Since the dog did not respond to the immunosuppressive drugs, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) was performed during the treatment with chlorambucil. A single endoscopic FMT into the cecum and colon drastically recovered clinical signs and clinicopathological abnormalities and corrected dysbiosis in the dog. No recurrence or adverse events were observed. The present case report suggests that FMT, possibly together with chlorambucil, might be a treatment option for NRE in Shiba dogs that have poorer prognosis compared with other dog breeds.