Understanding the role of rumen epithelial host-microbe interactions in cattle feed efficiency

Feed efficiency is one of the economically important traits for the cattle industry that affects profit(feed costs) and the environment(production of manure and methane). Due to that feed efficiency is driven by multi-factors, mechanisms contributing to the animal to animal variation in this trait have not been well defined, limiting the development of precision feeding strategies to improve the herd production efficiency. Rumen microbial fermentation and volatile fatty acids(VFA) production hav...     

Current status and future perspectives for sequencing livestock genomes

Only in recent years, the draft sequences for several agricultural animals have been assembled. Assembling an individual animal’s entire genome sequence or specific region(s) of interest is increasingly important for agricultural researchers to perform genetic comparisons between animals with different performance. We review the current status for several sequenced agricultural species and suggest that next generation sequencing (NGS) technology with decreased sequencing cost and increased speed of sequencing can benefit agricultural researchers. By taking advantage of advanced NGS technologies, genes and chromosomal regions that are more labile to the influence of environmental factors could be pinpointed. A more long term goal would be addressing the question of how animals respond at the molecular and cellular levels to different environmental models (e.g. nutrition). Upon revealing important genes and gene-environment interactions, the rate of genetic improvement can also be accelerated. It is clear that NGS technologies will be able to assist animal scientists to efficiently raise animals and to better prevent infectious diseases so that overall costs of animal production can be decreased.     

Board-invited review: Sensitivity and responses of functional groups to feed processing methods on a molecular basis

In complex feed structures, there exist main chemical functional groups which are associated with nutrient utilization and availability and functionality. Each functional group has unique molecular structure therefore produce unique molecular vibration spectral profile. Feed processing has been used to improve nutrient utilization for many years. However, to date, there was little study on processing-induced changes of feed intrinsic structure and functional groups on a molecular basis within intact tissue. This is because limited research technique is available to study inherent structure on a molecular basis. Recently bioanalytical techniques: such as Synchrotron Infrared Microspectroscopy as well as Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform molecular spectroscopy have been developed. These techniques enable to detect molecular structure change within intact tissues. These techniques can prevent destruction or alteration of the intrinsic protein structures during processing for analysis. However, these techniques have not been used in animal feed and nutrition research. The objective of this review was show that with the advanced technique, sensitivity and responses of functional groups to feed processing on a molecular basis could be detected in my research team. These functional groups are highly associated with nutrient utilization in animals.     

Review of human-animal interactions and their impact on animal productivity and welfare

Humans and animals are in regular and at times close contact in modern intensive farming systems.The quality of human-animal interactions can have a profound impact on the productivity and welfare of farm animals.Interactions by humans may be neutral,positive or negative in nature.Regular pleasant contact with humans may result in desirable alterations in the physiology,behaviour,health and productivity of farm animals.On the contrary,animals that were subjected to aversive human contact were highly fearful of humans and their growth and reproductive performance could be compromised.Farm animals are particularly sensitive to human stimulation that occurs early in life,while many systems of the animals are still developing.This may have long-lasting impact and could possibly modify their genetic potential.The question as to how human contact can have a positive impact on responses to stressors,and productivity is not well understood.Recent work in our laboratory suggested that pleasant human contact may alter ability to tolerate various stressors through enhanced heat shock protein（hsp） 70 expression.The induction of hsp is often associated with increased tolerance to environmental stressors and disease resistance in animals.The attitude and consequent behaviour of stockpeople affect the animals＇ fear of human which eventually influence animals＇ productivity and welfare.Other than attitude and behaviour,technical skills,knowledge,job motivation,commitment and job satisfaction are prerequisites for high job performance.     

Protein hydrolysates in animal nutrition:Industrial production,bioactive peptides,and functional significance

Recent years have witnessed growing interest in the role of peptides in animal nutrition. Chemical, enzymatic, or microbial hydrolysis of proteins in animal by-products or plant-source feedstuffs before feeding is an attractive means of generating high-quality small or large peptides that have both nutritional and physiological or regulatory functions in livestock, poultry and fish. These peptides may also be formed from ingested proteins in the gastrointestinal tract, but the types of resultant peptides can vary greatly with the physiological conditions of the animals and the composition of the diets. In the small intestine, large peptides are hydrolyzed to small peptides,which are absorbed into enterocytes faster than free amino acids(AAs) to provide a more balanced pattern of AAs in the blood circulation. Some peptides of plant or animal sources also have antimicrobial, antioxidant,antihypertensive, and immunomodulatory activities. Those peptides which confer biological functions beyond their nutritional value are called bioactive peptides. They are usually 2–20 AA residues in length but may consist of 20AA residues. Inclusion of some(e.g. 2–8%) animal-protein hydrolysates(e.g., porcine intestine, porcine mucosa,salmon viscera, or poultry tissue hydrolysates) or soybean protein hydrolysates in practical corn-and soybean mealbased diets can ensure desirable rates of growth performance and feed efficiency in weanling pigs, young calves,post-hatching poultry, and fish. Thus, protein hydrolysates hold promise in optimizing the nutrition of domestic and companion animals, as well as their health(particularly gut health) and well-being.     

Muyang Looks to Set ：p Animal Feed Plant in Kenya

Chinese feed machinery company, Muyang, has expressed interest in partnering with the Bungoma County government in Kenya, inthe building of an animal feed processing company in region. Muyang Company, based in Yangzhou China, intends to set up the feed plant in the area at a cost of KES 165 million （US$1.9 million）, which will make use of sugarcane and maize waste products that are abundant in the region, if they are able to strike a deal with the county government. If the feed plant gets of the ground, it is expected to created an estimated 2,000jobs in the region, according to Bencher Yi, Muyang＇s Deputy President. Muyang intends to provide the feed machinery to set up the animal feed mill, along with providing technical support, training and guaranteeing 2 years of maintenance for all machinery. The company has been set up in Africa since 2008 and has extensive operations in Africa, with similar companies in Tanzania, South Africa and Mozambique. It plans to extend the same to Kenya and Bungoma is among one of the three selected County＇s together with Kiambu and Murang＇a Counties.     

Poultry gut health-microbiome functions,environmental impacts,microbiome engineering and advancements in characterization technologies

The gastrointestinal tract(GIT)health impacts animal productivity.The poultry microbiome has functions which range from protection against pathogens and nutrients production,to host immune system maturation.Fluctuations in the microbiome have also been linked to prevailing environmental conditions.Healthy poultry birds possess a natural resistance to infection.However,the exploration of environmental impacts and other relevant factors on poultry growth and health have been underplayed.Since good performance and growth rate are central to animal production,the host-microbiome relationship remains integral.Prior to the emergence of metagenomic techniques,conventional methods for poultry microbiome studies were used and were low-throughput and associated with insufficient genomic data and high cost of sequencing.Fortunately,the advent of high-throughput sequencing platforms have circumvented some of these shortfalls and paved the way for increased studies on the poultry gut microbiome diversity and functions.Here,we give an up-to-date review on the impact of varied environments on microbiome profile,as well as microbiome engineering and microbiome technology advancements.It is hoped that this paper will provide invaluable information that could guide and inspire further studies on the lingering pertinent questions about the poultry microbiome.     

Barley grain for ruminants: A global treasure or tragedy

Barley grain (Hordeum vulgare L.) is characterized by a thick fibrous coat, a high level of β-glucans and simply-arranged starch granules. World production of barley is about 30% of that of corn. In comparison with corn, barley has more protein, methionine, lysine, cysteine and tryptophan. For ruminants, barley is the third most readily degradable cereal behind oats and wheat. Due to its more rapid starch fermentation rate compared with corn, barley also provides a more synchronous release of energy and nitrogen, thereby improving microbial nutrient assimilation. As a result, feeding barley can reduce the need for feeding protected protein sources. However, this benefit is only realized if rumen acidity is maintained within an optimal range (e.g., >5.8 to 6.0); below this range, microbial maintenance requirements and wastage increase. With a low pH, microbial endotoxines cause pro-inflammatory responses that can weaken immunity and shorten animal longevity. Thus, mismanagement in barley processing and feeding may make a tragedy from this treasure or pearl of cereal grains. Steam-rolling of barley may improve feed efficiency and post-rumen starch digestion. However, it is doubtful if such processing can improve milk production and feed intake. Due to the need to process barley less extensively than other cereals (as long as the pericarp is broken), consistent and global standards for feeding and processing barley could be feasibly established. In high-starch diets, barley feeding reduces the need for capacious small intestinal starch assimilation, subsequently reducing hindgut starch use and fecal nutrient loss. With its nutritional exclusivities underlined, barley use will be a factual art that can either matchlessly profit or harm rumen microbes, cattle production, farm economics and the environment.     

Stress and immunological response of heifers divergently ranked for residual feed intake following an adrenocorticotropic hormone challenge

Background: When an animal is exposed to a stressor, metabolic rate, energy consumption and utilisation increase primarily through activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal(HPA) axis. Changes to partitioning of energy by an animal are likely to influence the efficiency with which it is utilised. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the physiological stress response to an exogenous adrenocorticotropic hormone(ACTH) challenge in beef heifers divergently ranked on phenotypic residual feed intake(RFI).Results: Data were collected on 34 Simmental weaning beef heifers the progeny of a well characterized and divergently bred RFI suckler beef herd. Residual feed intake was determined on each animal during the postweaning stage over a 91-day feed intake measurement period during which they were individually offered adlibitum grass silage and 2 kg of concentrate per head once daily. The 12 highest [0.34 kg DM/d] and 12 lowest[-0.48 kg DM/d] ranking animals on RFI were selected for use in this study. For the physiological stress challenge heifers(mean age 605 ± 13 d; mean BW 518 ± 31.4 kg) were fitted aseptically with indwelling jugular catheters to facilitate intensive blood collection. The response of the adrenal cortex to a standardised dose of ACTH(1.98 IU/kg metabolic BW~(0.75)) was examined. Serial blood samples were analysed for plasma cortisol, ACTH and haematology variables. Heifers differing in RFI did not differ(P = 0.59) in ACTH concentrations. Concentration of ACTH peaked(P 0.001) in both RFI groups at 20 min post-ACTH administration, following which concentration declined to baseline levels by 150 min. Similarly, cortisol systemic profile peaked at 60 min and concentrations remained continuously elevated for 150 min. A RFI × time interaction was detected for cortisol concentrations(P = 0.06) with high RFI heifers had a greater cortisol response than Low RFI from 40 min to 150 min relative to ACTH administration. Cortisol response was positively associated with RFI status(r = 0.32; P 0.01). No effect of RFI was evident for neutrophil, lymphocytes, monocyte, eosinophils and basophil count. Plasma red blood cell number(6.07 vs. 6.23; P = 0.02) and hematocrit percentage(23.2 vs. 24.5; P = 0.02) were greater for low than high RFI animals.Conclusions: Evidence is provided that feed efficiency is associated with HPA axis function and susceptibility to stress, and responsiveness of the HPA axis is likely to contribute to appreciable variation in the efficiency feed utilisation of cattle.     

Feed-and feed additives-related aspects of gut health and development in weanling pigs

The development of new/different management and feeding strategies to stimulate gut development and health in newly-weaned pigs, in order to improve growth performance while minimizing the use of antimicrobial compounds such as antibiotic growth promotants (AGP) and heavy mineral compounds, is essential for the long-term sustainability of the pig industry. Factors including the sub-optimal intake of nutrients and energy, inappropriate microbiota biomass and (or) balance, immature and compromised immune function, and psychosomatic factors caused by weaning can compromise both the efficiency of digestion and absorption and intestinal barrier function through mucosal damage and alteration of tight junction integrity. As a consequence, pigs at weaning are highly susceptible to pathogenic enteric conditions such as post-weaning diarrhea that may be caused by serotypes of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli. Many dietary components, e.g., protein, fiber, feed additives and minerals, are known to influence microbial growth in the gastrointestinal tract that in turn can impact upon pig growth and health, although the relationships between these are sometimes not necessarily apparent or obvious. In a world climate of increased scrutiny over the use of antibiotics per se in pig production, certain feed additives are seen as alternatives/replacements to antibiotics, and have evolved in some cases to have important roles in everyday commercial pig nutrition. Nevertheless and in general, there remains inconsistency and variability in the efficacy of some feed additives and in cases of severe disease outbreaks, for example, therapeutic antibiotics and/or heavy minerals such as zinc oxide (ZnO) are generally relied upon. If feed ingredients and (or) feed additives are to be used with greater regularity and reliability, then it is necessary to better understand the mechanisms whereby antibiotics and minerals such as ZnO influence animal physiology, in conjunction with the use of appropriate challenge models and in vitro and in vivo techniques.     

GMOs in animal agriculture: time to consider both costs and benefits in regulatory evaluations

In 2012, genetically engineered (GE) crops were grown by 17.3 million farmers on over 170 million hectares. Over 70% of harvested GE biomass is fed to food producing animals, making them the major consumers of GE crops for the past 15 plus years. Prior to commercialization, GE crops go through an extensive regulatory evaluation. Over one hundred regulatory submissions have shown compositional equivalence, and comparable levels of safety, between GE crops and their conventional counterparts. One component of regulatory compliance is whole GE food/feed animal feeding studies. Both regulatory studies and independent peer-reviewed studies have shown that GE crops can be safely used in animal feed, and rDNA fragments have never been detected in products (e.g. milk, meat, eggs) derived from animals that consumed GE feed. Despite the fact that the scientific weight of evidence from these hundreds of studies have not revealed unique risks associated with GE feed, some groups are calling for more animal feeding studies, including long-term rodent studies and studies in target livestock species for the approval of GE crops. It is an opportune time to review the results of such studies as have been done to date to evaluate the value of the additional information obtained. Requiring long-term and target animal feeding studies would sharply increase regulatory compliance costs and prolong the regulatory process associated with the commercialization of GE crops. Such costs may impede the development of feed crops with enhanced nutritional characteristics and durability, particularly in the local varieties in small and poor developing countries. More generally it is time for regulatory evaluations to more explicitly consider both the reasonable and unique risks and benefits associated with the use of both GE plants and animals in agricultural systems, and weigh them against those associated with existing systems, and those of regulatory inaction. This would represent a shift away from a GE evaluation process that currently focuses only on risk assessment and identifying ever diminishing marginal hazards, to a regulatory approach that more objectively evaluates and communicates the likely impact of approving a new GE plant or animal on agricultural production systems.     

Direct Costs of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Control Measures in Germany

On 26 November 2000, the first autochthonous case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was detected in Germany. Since then, a total of 413 BSE cases have been confirmed, resulting in the culling and destruction of 17 313 heads of cattle. In view of the possible risks for human and animal health, Germany has adopted EU regulations along with some additional requirements concerning active surveillance and response measures after detecting a BSE‐positive animal. In this study, we used a stochastic model to estimate the costs incurred by the ensuing legislative amendments responding to BSE between November 2000 and December 2010. The total costs were estimated to range between 1847 and 2094 million Euros. They peaked in 2001 (about 394 million Euros) and declined since. About 54% of the costs (approximately 1000 million Euros) were incurred by the extension of the feed ban for animal protein to all farmed livestock. Active surveillance accounted for 21% (405 million Euros), the incineration of animal protein for 13% (249 million Euros) and the removal of specified risk material for 11% (225 million Euros). Only 1% of the costs was related to response measures after detecting a BSE‐positive animal, including indemnity payments for culled cattle and confiscated carcasses at the slaughterhouse.     

5-羟色氨调控动物采食的研究进展

关于5-羟色氨(5-HT)对采食量的影响已有几十年的研究历史。机体内的5-HT主要是以必需氨基酸色氨酸(Trp)作为前体物,在大脑和肠道中合成,并在机体中发挥重要的作用。5-HT无法直接透过血-脑屏障,因此中枢神经系统和外周5-HT作为两个相对独立的系统各自发挥作用。目前,已有大量的研究表明中枢5-HT的多种受体以不同的方式调控动物采食,主要有5-HT1A、5-HT1B、5-HT2A、5-HT2C、5-HT3A、5-HT4、5-HT5A、5-HT6和5-HT7。例如,现在临床上被批准使用的抗肥胖药物氯卡色林就是一种5-HT2C受体激动剂。此外,中枢5-HT还可以协同胰高血糖素样肽-1、饥饿素和胆囊收缩素等外周激素共同调控动物采食行为。外周5-HT也能够通过介导胰高血糖素样肽-1和胆囊收缩素来诱导饱腹感。畜禽生产中主要通过在饲料中添加Trp来增加动物体内5-HT的合成。但目前对于Trp对畜禽采食量的调控机制的研究尚不完善,且有研究表明,不同浓度的Trp对动物采食量的影响不同,不同畜禽饲料中最适Trp的浓度也不同。而Trp主要是通过其代谢产物5-HT来调控动物采食。作者查阅了大量国内外最新的研究成果,从中枢和外周两个途径对5-HT调控动物采食行为的研究进展作一综述,期望通过对Trp的代谢产物5-HT对动物采食调控机制的探讨,为Trp在畜禽生产中的应用提供一定的理论依据。     

Layers in aviary system: Effects of beak trimming and alternative feed formulation on technical results and egg quality

Although the transition from cage housing to alternative systems commenced more than 20 yr ago, there is still an ongoing need for information supporting system understanding, system development, and genetic selection. Cannibalism remains one of the largest problems in these housing systems. Furthermore, recent developments in feed prices have increased the price of animal feed, raising production costs of eggs. Replacing feedstuffs with cheaper self-grown crops might be a possible solution to lower feed costs. In Belgium, and more specifically, in the Kempen region, corn is a widely grown crop that is usually used for feeding dairy cows, yet a ground mix of dry corn grains and a small part of the cob, known as corn cob mix (CCM), can also be used as poultry feed. In this paper the effect of the fibrous feed CCM on the prevalence of cannibalism on hens with trimmed and untrimmed beaks is investigated. The results show a positive effect of CCM on mortality; nevertheless, the mortality in the groups of untrimmed hens was very high, indicating the importance of beak trimming. Furthermore, a positive effect of CCM on egg weight was observed.     

两用（粮食和饲料）作物研究现状及发展前景

随着经济发展和收入水平的提高，居民对粮食消费量出现降低和对畜产品需求量出现增加的现象并存，但优质饲料的缺乏阻碍了畜牧业的发展。两用（粮用和饲用）作物增加了冬季饲料供应，其已成为一些国家或地区农业生产系统中的重要组成部分（主要分布于农牧交错区）。梳理近年来国内外关于两用作物生产和利用的现状及发展趋势，重点概述的内容有：1）两用作物的利用背景；2）两用作物的概念；3）代表性地区；4）饲草、籽粒产量和经济收益；5）动物利用和畜产品等。同时，对当前两用作物生产系统中面临的问题和应对举措进行了展望，包括：1）播种时间和播种量的选择；2）放牧或刈割后的氮肥管理；3）作物放牧或刈割的适宜生育期；4）种质资源的选择等。总体而言，两用作物生产管理（包括放牧时间、施氮量、播种量和放牧强度等）不当增加了籽粒产量降低的风险，但基于农业生产系统的综合效益，作物以两用的形式进行生产和利用是有利可图的。     

益生菌在反刍动物生产中应用的研究进展

益生菌可以作为一种绿色添加剂应用于反刍动物饲料中,逐渐替代抗生素、激素、农用化学物质。大量研究表明,其一有益微生物菌剂可以调节动物体肠道内正常的微生物关系,并提高动物体的代谢水平和其对营养物质的利用率;其二有益微生物菌剂能够增强机体的免疫功能,进而提高机体的免疫和抗病能力;其三有益微生物菌剂可以起到减少污染和净化环境的作用。研究主要针对有益微生物的主要功能和其作用机理,以及近年来其在反刍动物营养和饲料中的应用研究进展进行综述。     

An Evaluation of Microbial Health Risks to Livestock Fed with Wastewater‐Irrigated Forage Crops

This paper presents the results of five experiments in which animal health risks associated with the consumption of crops irrigated with domestic wastewater were evaluated. Forage maize and Tanner grass were irrigated with treated wastewater and used in goats and calves feeding trials. The irrigated crops presented high levels of surface contamination with E. coli (10⁴–10⁷ 25 g^?1) and salmonellae (up to 1.6 × 10⁴ 25 g^?1), but none of the animals showed signs of infection or of disease. Further, the microbiological quality of animal products always complied with the Brazilian and European Union standards for food safety. It is suggested that the WHO guideline values for restricted irrigation (≤10⁴ E. coli 100 ml^?1 and ≤1 helminth egg l^?1), which were developed to protect the health of agricultural field workers, would be equally protective of the health of both animals fed with wastewater‐irrigated crops and humans consuming products from such animals.     

动物饲养试验的关键环节及考核要素

动物饲养试验是动物营养与饲料科学研究的重要方法之一,常用来评价饲料的营养价值、筛选最佳饲粮配方、研究营养代谢及营养需要等,是目前多数农业院校动物营养与饲料科学课程的实践教学内容,其中涉及多个关键环节,包括考查因素、水平、试验动物、试验日粮、试验设计、考查指标、数据收集与整理、数据统计等,正确把握这些环节是动物饲养试验取得良好效果的关键,也是该课程中需要考核的要素。对动物饲养试验的多个关键环节进行了讨论和总结,供实践教学课程参考和借鉴,以期提高教学效果和推进实践教学改革。     

Proposed changes in living conditions for broilers under the National Organic Program will have limited economic effects

In the current paper, we estimate the costs and benefits of implementing the proposed rule for changes in living conditions for organic broilers. In contrast to the effects of the proposed rule for changes in living conditions for laying hens, the effects of the rule on organic broilers is anticipated to be relatively limited. All producers are already in compliance with option 2 of the rule, and changes required under option 3 are minimal for most producers. Using the per-farm estimated regulatory costs and the estimates of production volumes and actual prices, the total estimated annual industry cost under option 3 is $2.4 million, which represents 0.1% of total industry revenue. The estimated benefits associated with this type of perceived animal welfare improvement are high enough to cover the anticipated cost, and the proposed option easily passes the benefit-to-cost ratio test.