Effects of linseed oil and palm oil on growth performance,tibia fatty acid and biomarkers of bone metabolism in broilers

1. This study was conducted to determine the effects of different dietary fat sources on growth performance, tibia fatty acids and biomarkers of bone metabolism in broilers.

2. One-d-old commercial Arbor Acres broilers were fed with a maize–soya bean basal diet for 42 d, supplemented with oils according to the following 5 treatments: lard (lard group); linseed oil (linseed oil group); palm oil (palm oil group); linseed oil + palm oil (60:40 or 40:60 w/w, LP-1 group and LP-2 group, respectively).

3. No significant differences in weight gain, feed intake and gain/feed ratio were observed between the lard and linseed oil groups. Birds fed on palm oil had significantly greater weight gain and feed intake than those fed on lard or linseed oil. Growth performance in LP-1 and LP-2 was significantly greater than that of single-oil groups.

4. Tibia growth and bone characteristics were not influenced by supplementation with lard, linseed oil, or palm oil alone, but broilers fed on a mixture of fats had significantly greater tibia weight and length compared to broilers fed on linseed oil. Bone mineral density in tibia was significantly increased in LP-1 and LP-2 groups.

5. Supplementation of linseed oil alone or in combination with palm oil enhanced apparent digestibility of calcium, reduced serum calcium and increased tibia calcium concentrations. Moreover, supplementation with linseed oil alone or in combination with palm oil had a positive effect on biomarkers of bone growth.

6. The combination of linseed and palm oils was beneficial for growth performance, tibia growth and biomarkers of bone metabolism.     

Effects of steam-treated rice straw feeding on growth,digestibility, and plasma volatile fatty acids of goats under different housing systems

In order to use rice straw as forage in livestock feeding, the effects of steam-treated rice straw (at 15.5 kgf/cm² for 120 s) feeding on growth performance, plasma volatile fatty acid profile, and nutrient digestibility of goats were determined. Twenty male goats (18.69?±?0.34 kg) were used in an 84-day trial. The goats were divided into four groups of five goats each to receive steam-treated (STRS) or untreated (UTRS) rice straw diet under closed house (CH) and open house (OH) systems. The results revealed that the goats fed with STRS had significantly higher dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and acid detergent fiber (ADF) digestibility; similarly, the average daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio were higher for STRS groups under both CH and OH systems than those for UTRS. The plasma protein and insulin in STRS and cholesterol in UTRS groups was higher (P?P?>?0.05) at 30 days. The plasma amylase, lipase, T₃, T₄ and glucagon at 30 and 60 days were not different (P?>?0.05) among the groups. The plasma acetate, propionate, butyrate, and total volatile fatty acid were higher (P?P?>?0.05) on these parameters. It could be concluded that steam treatment of rice straw at 15.5 kgf/cm² for 120 s increased apparent nutrient digestibility, hence increased the growth and feed efficiency of growing goats.     

Characterization of culture supernatant proteins from Brucella abortus and its protection effects against murine brucellosis

In this study, we characterized the secreted proteins of Brucella abortus into the enriched media under the bacterial laboratory growth condition and investigated the pathogenic importance of culture supernatant (CS) proteins to B. abortus infection. CS proteins from stationary phase were concentrated and analyzed using 2D electrophoresis. In MALDI TOF/TOF analysis, more than 27 proteins including CuZn SOD, Dps, Tat, OMPs, Adh, LivF, Tuf, SucC, GroEL and DnaK were identified. Cytotoxic effects of CS proteins were found to increase in a dose-dependent manner in RAW 264.7 cells. Upon B. abortus challenge into phagocytes, however, CS proteins pre-treated cells exhibited lower bacterial uptake and intracellular replication compared to untreated cells. Immunization with CS proteins induced a strong humoral and cell mediated immune responses and exhibited significant higher degree of protection against virulence of B. abortus infection compared to mice immunized with Brucella broth protein (BBP). Taken together, these results indicate that B. abortus secreted a number of soluble immunogenic proteins under laboratory culture condition, which can promote antibody production resulted in enhancing host defense against to subsequently bacterial infection. Moreover, further analysis of CS proteins may help to understand the pathogenic mechanism of B. abortus infection and host–pathogen interaction.     

Characterization of betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase (BetB) as an essential virulence factor of Brucella abortus

The pathogenic mechanisms of Brucellosis used to adapt to the harsh intracellular environment of the host cell are not fully understood. The present study investigated the in vitro and in vivo characteristics of B. abortus betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase (BetB) (Gene Bank ID: 006932) using a betB deletion mutant constructed from virulent B. abortus 544. In test under stress conditions, including osmotic- and acid stress-resistance, the betB mutant had a lower osmotic-resistance than B. abortus wild-type. In addition, the betB mutant showed higher internalization rates compared to the wild-type strain; however, it also displayed replication failures in HeLa cells and RAW 264.7 macrophages. During internalization, compared to the wild-type strain, the betB mutant was more adherent to the host surface and showed enhanced phosphorylation of protein kinases, two processes that promote phagocytic activity, in host cells. During intracellular trafficking, colocalization of B. abortus-containing phagosomes with LAMP-1 was elevated in betB mutant-infected cells compared to the wild-type cells. In mice, the betB mutant was predominantly cleared from spleens compared to the wild-type strain after 2 weeks post-infection, and the vaccination test with the live betB mutant showed effective protection against challenge infection with the virulent wild-type strain. These findings suggested that the B. abortus betB gene substantially affects the phagocytic pathway in human phagocytes and in host cells in mice. Furthermore, this study highlights the potential use of the B. abortus betB mutant as a live vaccine for the control of brucellosis.     

Evaluation of cross-protection against three topotypes of serotype O foot-and-mouth disease virus in pigs vaccinated with multi-epitope protein vaccine incorporated with poly(I:C)

Epitope-based vaccines are always questioned for their cross-protection against the antigenically variable foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV). In this study, we proved the cross-protection effect of a multi-epitope vaccine incorporated with poly(I:C) against three topotypes of O type FMDV. A total of 45 naïve pigs were vaccinated with different doses of multi-epitope protein vaccine incorporated with poly(I:C). At 28 days post-vaccination, 45 vaccinated and 6 unvaccinated control pigs (two pigs for each group) were challenged with three topotypes of virulent O type FMDV, namely, O/Mya/98 (Southeast Asia topotype), O/HN/CHA/93 (Cathay topotype) and O/Tibet/CHA/99 (PanAsia topotype) strains. All unvaccinated pigs developed generalised FMD clinical signs. Results showed that all pigs (n = 15) conferred complete protection against the O/Mya/98 and O/HN/CHA/93 FMDV strains, 11 of which were protected against the O/Tibet/CHA/99 FMDV strain. The 50% protective dose values of the vaccine against the O/Mya/98, O/HN/CHA/93 and O/Tibet/CHA/99 FMDV strains were 15.59, 15.59 and 7.05, respectively. Contact challenge experiment showed that transmission occurred from the donors to the unvaccinated but not to vaccinated pigs. These results showed that vaccination with multi-epitope protein vaccine incorporated with poly(I:C) can efficiently prevent FMD in pigs.     

HPLC-PDAD法检测3种中兽药散剂中违规添加4种喹诺酮类药物的研究

为了建立检测中兽药散剂中违规添加氧氟沙星、诺氟沙星、环丙沙星、恩诺沙星4种喹诺酮类药物的反相高效液相色谱法（HPLC-PDAD）,采用Atlantis T3（十八烷基硅烷键合硅胶．4．6min×250mm,5μm）色谱柱,流动相为磷酸溶液：乙腈：甲醇（85．5：7.0：7．5）,流速为1．0mL／min。检测波长为283nm。4种喹诺酮类药物检查方法的线性关系良好,r〉0．9999;回收率均在98．4％～104．6％范围内,RSD均在0．9％～2．3％之间;4种喹诺酮类药物在肥猪散、健胃散、银翘散3种中兽药散剂中的检出限均为200mg／kg。该方法可用于中兽药散剂中违规添加喹诺酮类药物的检测。     

Using a stand-level model to predict light absorption in stands with vertically and horizontally heterogeneous canopies

Background： Forest ecosystem functioning is strongly influenced by the absorption of photosynthetically active radiation （APAR）, and therefore, accurate predictions of APAR are critical for many process-based forest growth models. The Lambert-Beer law can be applied to estimate APAR for simple homogeneous canopies composed of one layer, one species, and no canopy gaps. However, the vertical and horizontal structure of forest canopies is rarely homogeneous. Detailed tree-level models can account for this heterogeneity but these often have high input and computational demands and work on finer temporal and spatial resolutions than required by stand-level growth models. The aim of this study was to test a stand-level light absorption model that can estimate APAR by individual species in mixed-species and multi-layered stands with any degree of canopy openness including open-grown trees to closed canopies. Methods： The stand-level model was compared with a detailed tree-level model that has already been tested in mixed-species stands using empirical data. Both models were parameterised for five different forests, including a wide range of species compositions, species proportions, stand densities, crown architectures and canopy structures. Results： The stand-level model performed well in all stands except in the stand where extinction coefficients were unusually variable and it appears unlikely that APAR could be predicted in such stands using （tree- or stand-level） models that do not allow individuals of a given species to have different extinction coefficients, leaf-area density or analogous parameters. Conclusion： This model is parameterised with species-specific information about extinction coefficients and mean crown length, diameter, height and leaf area. It could be used to examine light dynamics in complex canopies and in stand-level growth models.     

A new approach for tracking seed dispersal of large plants: soaking seeds with 15N-urea

Context

Although various tracking methods have been used in many ecosystems to investigate seed dispersal and seedling recruitment, it is still difficult to measure seed dispersal patterns due to methodological challenges in tracking seed movement away from parent trees and in finding the locations of seedlings.

Aim

Here, we aimed to develop a new approach to track seed dispersal by animals in the field.

Methods

Our approach involves soaking seeds directly into ¹⁵N-urea solutions with different dosages to enrich them isotopically. This new method is expected to create a reliable differentiation between the enriched seeds and natural ones and consequently between the corresponding seedlings.

Results

We showed that acorns of Quercus variabilis and Cyclobalanopsis glauca and seeds of Pinus koraiensis soaked in ¹⁵N-urea solutions were successfully enriched. We did not find that δ ¹⁵N value of seeds was a linear function of ¹⁵N-urea soaking duration. However, with high urea dosage and extending soaking duration, the δ ¹⁵N values in seedlings of Q. variabilis and P. koraiensis were higher than those of normal plants. As expected, ¹⁵N isotope was significantly diluted in the growing seedlings germinated from ¹⁵N-enriched seeds. Using the ¹⁵N-urea soaking method, we successfully located five seedlings of Q. variabilis germinated from the enriched acorns in the field.

Discussion

The ¹⁵N-urea soaking technique is powerful in tracking seed dispersal and seedling recruitment. This new method solves some of the problems inherent in traditional methods for tracking secondary seed dispersal and could further improve the study of seed dispersal ecology.     

使樱花赏花期延长的日本引种品种的选育搭配研究

对武汉法雅园林集团有限公司从日本引进的39个樱花品种的成活率和花期进行了观测研究,筛选出了23个成活率在80%以上的花期不同的品种,为园林绿化工程中延长樱花赏花期的品种搭配设计提供参考依据。     

烟草茎叶连接强度试验研究

为了降低烟叶机械采收破损率,推进烟草田间生产机械化采收进程,以中烟100为试验材料,在万能试验机上利用自制的烟叶装夹装置对烟草的茎叶连接强度进行了研究,分析了烟叶成熟度、加载速度对茎叶连接强度的影响。结果表明：未熟期烟叶茎叶连接处界面结合强度较大,属于强界面连接;成熟期烟叶茎叶连接处界面结合强度较未熟期下降约29％,属于弱界面连接,此时机械采收易于降低烟叶破损程度;对成熟烟叶的加载速度越大,所需要的茎叶分离力越小,但速度与力不呈线性关系。