Determination of chlorate and chlorite and mutagenicity of seafood treated with aqueous chlorine dioxide.

The use of chlorine dioxide (ClO(2)) as a potential substitute for aqueous chlorine to improve the quality of seafood products has not been approved by regulatory agencies due to health concerns related to the production of chlorite (ClO(2)(-)) and chlorate (ClO(3)(-)) as well as possible mutagenic/carcinogenic reaction products. Cubes of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and red grouper (Epinephelus morio) were treated with 20 or 200 ppm aqueous chlorine or ClO(2) solutions for 5 min, and extracts of the treated fish cubes and test solutions were checked for mutagenicity using the Ames Salmonella/microsome assay. No mutagenic activity was detected in the treated fish samples or test solutions with ClO(2). Only the sample treated with 200 ppm chlorine showed weak mutagenic activity toward S. typhimurium TA 100. No chlorite residue was detected in sea scallops, mahi-mahi, or shrimp treated with ClO(2) at 3.9-34.9 ppm. However, low levels of chlorate residues were detected in some of the treated samples. In most cases, the increase in chlorate in treated seafood was time- and dose-related.     

Potassium fertilization improves apple fruit (Malus domestica Borkh. Cv. Fuji) development by regulating trehalose metabolism

Potassium (K) fertilization and antioxidant enzymes both positively influence plant growth and development. However, it is not known whether K treatment improves fruit development via increasing soluble sugar. In this study, K-treated apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) fruit was harvested from 60 to 150 days after full bloom and was analyzed for ROS production and trehalose metabolism. The results show that K fertilization improved fruit firmness, increased growth according to several parameters, increased soluble sugar content, and decreased ROS production. The ascorbate metabolic pathway more effectively reduced ROS production than catalase and peroxidase (POD) did under K treatment. Trehalose-treated fruit also showed higher activity of ascorbate-related enzymes (DHAR, GR, and APX) compared with non-treated fruit. The changes of antioxidant enzyme activity in trehalose-treated fruit corresponded to those in K-treated fruit. Moreover, trehalase (TREH) activity in fruit was notably reduced by K treatment. This demonstrates that K influences ROS production via regulating trehalose content and TREH activity in fruit. This study provides new insight into the K mechanism which improves fruit development, including fruit firmness and size.     

Identification of eggs from different production systems based on hyperspectra and CS-SVM

1. To identify the origin of table eggs more accurately, a method based on hyperspectral imaging technology was studied.

2. The hyperspectral data of 200 samples of intensive and extensive eggs were collected. Standard normalised variables combined with a Savitzky–Golay were used to eliminate noise, then stepwise regression (SWR) was used for feature selection. Grid search algorithm (GS), genetic search algorithm (GA), particle swarm optimisation algorithm (PSO) and cuckoo search algorithm (CS) were applied by support vector machine (SVM) methods to establish an SVM identification model with the optimal parameters. The full spectrum data and the data after feature selection were the input of the model, while egg category was the output.

3. The SWR–CS–SVM model performed better than the other models, including SWR–GS–SVM, SWR–GA–SVM, SWR–PSO–SVM and others based on full spectral data. The training and test classification accuracy of the SWR–CS–SVM model were respectively 99.3% and 96%.

4. SWR–CS–SVM proved effective for identifying egg varieties and could also be useful for the non-destructive identification of other types of egg.     

Dietary supplementation with sodium bicarbonate improves calcium absorption and eggshell quality of laying hens during peak production

1. The advantage of supplemental sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO₃) on eggshell quality in laying hens changes with age. Besides increasing calcium (Ca) secretion in the eggshell gland, it may improve Ca absorption in the intestine or kidney.

2. Hy-Line Brown layers (n = 384), 25 weeks of age, were allocated to two treatment groups in two experiments, each of which included 4 replicates of 24 hens. Hens were fed a basal diet (control) or the basal diet containing 3 g NaHCO₃ g/kg for 50 or 20 weeks in Experiment 1 or 2, respectively. A 24-h continuous lighting regimen was used to allow hens to consume the dietary supplements during the period of active eggshell formation.

3. In Experiment 1, particularly from 25 to 50 weeks of age, and in Experiment 2, NaHCO₃ supplementation favoured hen-d egg production at the expense of lower egg weight. The increased eggshell thickness should have nothing to do with the additional eggshell formation, because of the unchanged egg mass and daily eggshell calcification.

4. At 35 weeks of age in both experiments, NaHCO₃ supplementation increased duodenal expression of calbindin-d28k (CaBP-D28k) protein, contributing to higher Ca retention and balance.

5. From 50 to 75 weeks of age in Experiment 1, the hens had little response to NaHCO₃ supplementation and showed a negative trend on eggshell thickness and strength.

6. It is concluded that dietary supplementation with 3 g NaHCO₃ g/kg improves Ca absorption and eggshell quality of laying hens during the peak but not late production period, with the introduction of continuous lighting.

     

Dosage assessment of valnemulin in pigs based on population pharmacokinetic and Monte Carlo simulation

To estimate the valnemulin pharmacokinetic profile in a swine population and to assess a dosage regimen for increasing the likelihood of optimization. This study was, respectively, performed in 22 sows culled by p.o. administration and in 80 growing‐finishing pigs by i.v. administration at a single dose of 10 mg/kg to develop a population pharmacokinetic model and Monte Carlo simulation. The relationships among the plasma concentration, dose, and time of valnemulin in pigs were illustrated as C_i,v = X₀(8.4191 × 10^‐4 × e^?0.2371t + 1.2788 × 10^?5 × e^?0.0069t) after i.v. and C_p.o = X₀(?8.4964 × 10^?4 × e^?0.5840t + 8.4195 × e^?0.2371t + 7.6869 × 10^?6 × e^?0.0069t) after p.o. Monte Carlo simulation showed that T_>MIC was more than 24 h when a single daily dosage at 13.5 mg/kg BW in pigs was administrated by p.o., and MIC was 0.031 mg/L. It was concluded that the current dosage regimen at 10–12 mg/kg BW led to valnemulin underexposure if the MIC was more than 0.031 mg/L and could increase the risk of treatment failure and/or drug resistance.     

Quantitative analysis of the optic nerve of the horse (Thoroughbred)

Three optic nerves (L1, R2, R3) 12-18 mm behind the eyeball of the horse (Thoroughbred) were investigated quantitatively under light and electron microscopes. Thin sections at the thickness of 0.35 microm were cut, stained by toluidine blue and observed under the light microscope. The areas of the optic nerve and the axon bundles were 20.03 +/- 1.04 and 16.59 +/- 0.79 mm2 (mean +/- SD, n=3), respectively. The axon numbers for optic nerve L1, R2 and R3, estimated from light micrographs, were about 481 x 10(3), 543 x 10(3), and 494 x 10(3), respectively. Axons of optic nerve L1 were also counted from electron micrographs and the total number of 488 x 10(3) was received. Furthemore, axon diameters of optic nerve L1 were also measured from electron micrographs. The diameter of a circle with the same peripheral length as an axon, was regarded as its diameter. The medullary sheath of the axon was not included during measuring. Altogether 5,744 axons were measured and axon diameters were in a range of 0.23-12.69 microm, with a mean of 2.56 +/- 1.45 microm (mean +/- SD). A regional difference of axonal diameters was found across the optic nerve: the mean diameter of axons in the centrodorsal region (2.28 microm) was the smallest, and had significant difference with those in several peripheral regions (P<0.05).     

A pig–human comparative RH map comprising 20 genes on pig chromosome 13q41 that harbours the ETEC F4ac receptor locus

The enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) F4ac is a major cause of diarrhoea in newborn and young pigs. The locus for the intestinal ETEC F4ac receptor (F4acR) has been mapped to pig chromosome (SSC) 13q41 with known homology to human chromosome (HSA) 3q21 and q29. However, the causative gene and mutation(s) remain unknown. The aim of this study was to characterize gene-derived markers on SSC13q41 for fine mapping of the F4acR locus, and construct a high-resolution pig–human comparative map to select positional candidate genes for F4acR. Pig-specific sequence-tagged site markers were developed for 20 genes that are located in a 6.8-Mb region on HSA3q21 and q29, and a total of 34 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified in 14 of 20 markers developed. Eighteen markers were mapped to SSC13q41, while the other two markers ( PLXNA1 and KLF15 ) were assigned to SSC13q32 and SSC7q13, respectively, by radiation hybrid mapping. This result showed that there was a small conserved segment on SSC7 corresponding to HSA3q21. A framework map comprising 18 markers on SSC13q41 was established, refining the synteny breakpoint on SSC13q41 to a region of 12.3 centiRay. The comparative radiation hybrid (RH) map revealed three interesting candidate genes for F4acR from the human genome, viz. MUC4 , MUC13 and MUC20 . Linkage analysis with six marker polymorphisms revealed that MUC4 had the most significant linkage with the F4acR locus.     

Fine mapping of a calving QTL on Bos taurus autosome 18 in Holstein cattle

Decreased calving performance not only directly impacts the economic efficiency of dairy cattle farming but also influences public concern for animal welfare. Previous studies have revealed a QTL on Bos taurus autosome (BTA) 18 that has a large effect on calving traits in Holstein cattle. In this study, fine mapping of this QTL was performed using imputed high‐density SNP chip (HD) genotypes followed by imputed next‐generation sequencing (NGS) variants. BTA18 was scanned for seven direct calving traits in 6113 bulls with imputed HD genotypes. SNP rs136283363 (BTA18: 57 548 213) was consistently the most significantly associated SNP across all seven traits [e.g. p‐value = 2.04 × 10^?59 for birth index (BI)]. To finely map the QTL region and to explore pleiotropic effects, we studied NGS variants within the targeted region (BTA18: 57 321 450–57 625 355) for associations with direct calving traits and with three conformation traits. Significant variants were prioritized, and their biological relevance to the traits was interpreted. Considering their functional relationships with direct calving traits, SIGLEC12, CD33 and CEACAM18 were proposed as candidate genes. In addition, pleiotropic effects of this QTL region on direct calving traits and conformation traits were observed. However, the extent of linkage disequilibrium combined with the lack of complete annotation and potential errors in the Bos taurus genome assembly hampered our efforts to pinpoint the causal mutation.