Modulation of broilers’ caecal microflora and metabolites in response to a potential probiotic Bacillus amyloliquefaciens

Studies have found that a dietary supplement of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens improved the growth performance, increased the nutrient digestibility of hosts and modulated the intestinal microflora. A total of 360 1‐day‐old Ross broilers were randomly divided into three treatments: a control group with a basal diet, an antibiotic group with a basal diet and added colistin sulphate, and a probiotics group with a basal diet and added Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. The HiSeq high‐throughput sequencing analysis of 16S rRNA was used to investigate the differences in birds’ caecal microflora, and metabolomics was used to analyse changes in caecal metabolites. Results showed that the supplementation of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens significantly improved the BW and ADG compared with the control birds. Results of sequencing indicated that (i) 645, 670, 596 unique operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were found in birds supplemented with Bacillus amyloliquefaciens on day 7, 21 and 42, separately, (ii) due to the diversity and relative abundance of the birds’ caecal microflora, the OTUs of the caecal microflora clustered according to age and treatment, except on day 42, (iii) among the six predominate families (Ruminococcaceae, Lachnospiraceae, Enterobacteriaceae, Erysipelotrichaceae, Lactobacillaceae and Rikenellaceae), the supplementation of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens significantly increased Enterobacteriaceae on day 42, (iv) Bacillus amyloliquefaciens increased the relative abundance of Faecalibacterium and Ruminococcus on day 21, increased the Faecalibacterium and Blautia and decreased the Ruminococcus on day 42. The metabolomics of caecal metabolites showed that the dietary Bacillus amyloliquefaciens changed the caecal metabolites involved of amino acid metabolism and glyceride metabolism, and the antibiotics changed the caecal metabolites that were related to carbohydrates and amino acid metabolism on day 21.     

Amino acid profiles of rumen undegradable protein: a comparison between forages including cereal straws and alfalfa and their respective total mixed rations

Optimizing the amino acid (AA) profile of rumen undegradable protein (RUP) can positively affect the amount of milk protein. This study was conducted to improve knowledge regarding the AA profile of rumen undegradable protein from corn stover, rice straw and alfalfa hay as well as the total mixed ratio diets (TMR) based on one of them as forage source [forage‐to‐concentrate ratio of 45:55 (30% of corn stover (CS), 30% of rice straw (RS), 23% of alfalfa hay (AH) and dry matter basis)]. The other ingredients in the three TMR diets were similar. The RUP of all the forages and diets was estimated by incubation for 16 hr in the rumen of three ruminally cannulated lactating cows. All residues were corrected for microbial colonization, which was necessary in determining the AA composition of RUP from feed samples using in situ method. Compared with their original AA composition, the AA pattern of forages and forage‐based diets changed drastically after rumen exposure. In addition, the extent of ruminal degradation of analysed AA was not constant among the forages. The greatest individual AA degradability of alfalfa hay and corn stover was Pro, but was His of rice straw. A remarkable difference was observed between microbial attachment corrected and uncorrected AA profiles of RUP, except for alfalfa hay and His in the three forages and TMR diets. The ruminal AA degradability of cereal straws was altered compared with alfalfa hay but not for the TMR diets. In summary, the AA composition of forages and TMR‐based diets changed significantly after ruminal exposure, indicating that the original AA profiles of the feed cannot represent its AA composition of RUP. The AA profile of RUP and ruminal AA degradability for corn stover and rice straw contributed to missing information in the field.     

Multimarker and rare variants genomewide association studies for bone weight in Simmental cattle

Bone weight, defined as the total weight of the bones in all the forequarter and hindquarter joints, can reflect somebody conformation traits and skeletal diseases. To gain a better understanding of the genetic determinants of bone weight, we used a composite strategy including multimarker and rare‐marker association to perform genomewide association studies (GWAS) for that character in Simmental cattle. Our strategy consisted of three models: (i) A traditional linear mixed model (LMM) was applied (Q+K‐LMM); (ii) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with p‐values less than .05 from the LMM were selected to undergo the least absolute shrinkage and selector operator (Lasso) in the second stage (LMM‐Lasso); (iii) genes containing two or more rare SNPs were examined by performing the sequence kernel association test (gene‐based SKAT). A total of 1,225 cattle were genotyped with an Illumina BovineHD BeadChip containing 770,000 SNPs. After the quality‐control procedures, 1,217 individuals with 608,696 common SNPs and 105,787 rare SNPs (with 0.001 < minor allele frequency [MAF] <0.05) remained in the sample for analysis. A traditional LMM successfully mapped three genes associated with bone weight, while LMM‐Lasso identified nine genes, which included all genes found by traditional LMM. Only a single gene, EPHB3, surpassed the significance threshold after Bonferroni correction in gene‐based SKAT. In conclusion, based on functional annotation and results from previous endeavours, we believe that LCORL, RIMS2, LAP3, PRKAR2B, CHSY1, MAP2K6 and EPHB3 are candidate genes for bone weight. In general, such a comprehensive strategy for GWAS may be useful for researchers seeking to probe the full genetic architecture underlying economic traits in livestock.     

气候变化对通辽草甸草原草本植物物候期的影响

植物物候期的变化直接反映气候变化,并成为全球变化研究的重点。基于通辽市巴雅尔吐胡硕牧业气象试验站1981-2016年主要植物羊草(Leymus chinensis)、冰草(Agropyron cristatum)、委陵菜(Potentilla chinensis)、车前(Plantago asiatica)物候观测数据和同期气象观测数据,研究了气候变化对草本植物返青期、黄枯期和生长季的影响,结果表明:1)研究区近36年来年均气温上升0.35℃·10 a-1(P0.01),年均降水量减少22.73 mm·10 a-1,气候暖干化特征明显。2)草本植物返青期呈一致性延迟趋势,平均每10年延迟1.16~7.60 d。羊草、车前返青推迟主要受2-3月累计降水量减少的影响,冰草、委陵菜返青推迟主要受2-4月、3-4月累计降水量减少的影响。3)草本植物黄枯期变化趋势不同,羊草、冰草黄枯期延迟主要受夏季、初秋累计降水量影响,委陵菜黄枯期提前主要受夏季、初秋的累计降水量和日照时数共同影响,车前草黄枯期延迟主要受夏季、初秋平均气温影响。4)草本植物生长季长度主要受气温和降水量影响。气候变暖后,研究区夏季、生长季平均气温显著上升,降水量逐渐减少,导致羊草、冰草、委陵菜生长季缩短;而车前对气温反应比较敏感,气温升高有利于车前生长季延长。     

旱、盐胁迫下黄芪种子萌发及其对水杨酸的响应

通过测定不同浓度聚乙二醇(PEG)和NaCl胁迫下膜荚黄芪(Astragalus membranaceus)和蒙古黄芪(A.membranaceus var.mongholicus)种子的最终发芽率、发芽势、简化活力指数、苗长、根长、苗干重、根干重等指标,以及不同施用方式和浓度的水杨酸(SA)对重度PEG和NaCl胁迫下两种黄芪种子最终发芽率的影响,旨在研究两种黄芪种子对PEG和NaCl胁迫响应方式的异同及SA对两种黄芪种子在重度PEG和NaCl胁迫下保护效果的差异。结果表明,低浓度PEG和NaCl只能促进膜荚黄芪种子萌发。在-0.5 MPa PEG和-0.7 MPa NaCl处理下,蒙古黄芪种子的活力指数显著优于膜荚黄芪种子(P0.05)。SA浸种能促进重度PEG和NaCl胁迫下两种黄芪种子的最终发芽率。蒙古黄芪种子的耐胁迫性高于膜荚黄芪种子。两种黄芪种子对SA的响应方式有区别。SA浸种处理优于拌种处理。     

黄花苜蓿花药培养再生体系的建立与单倍体鉴定

花药组织培养再生体系的构建是单倍体育种的重要途径之一。本研究对呼伦贝尔黄花苜蓿(Medicago falcate‘Hulunbeier’)进行了花药组织培养研究并建立了花药组培再生体系。结果显示,液体悬浮培养基比固体培养基更适合呼伦贝尔黄花苜蓿花药愈伤组织的培养,其愈伤形成的培养条件为B5培养基+0.5 mg·L~(-1) 2,4-D+0.25 mg·L~(-1) 6-BA+0.4mg·L~(-1) NAA+3.0mg·L~(-1) KT;分化培养基为MS+1.0mg·L~(-1) 2,4-D+0.5mg·L~(-1) 6-BA+2%蔗糖+0.7%琼脂;生根培养基为1/2MS+0.1mg·L~(-1) NAA+2%蔗糖+0.7%琼脂;获得的再生植株经流式细胞仪鉴定,其单倍体比例高达27%。     

过量表达甘菊CBF1基因提高拟南芥抗旱耐盐能力

CBF是一类植物特异性、具有多种功能的转录因子。本研究将从甘菊(Chrysanthemum lavandulifolium)中分离的ClCBF1基因构建到植物表达载体pBI121上,并采用农杆菌介导的花序浸染法对拟南芥(Arabidopsis thaliana)进行遗传转化,共获得4个转基因株系经过抗性筛选和RT-PCR验证,对其中表达量较高的3个转基因株系进行研究,结果表明:在150mmol·L~(-1)甘露醇培养基中转基因拟南芥的种子萌发率和根长平均为野生型的2.0倍和1.2倍,在150mmol·L~(-1) NaCl培养基中转基因拟南芥种子萌发率和根长平均为野生型的1.1倍和1.4倍;在干旱和盐胁迫条件下,转基因拟南芥幼苗的成活率高于野生型,并且超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)和过氧化物酶(POD)活性显著高于野生型(P0.05),丙二醛(MDA)含量及相对电导率显著低于野生型植株(P0.05)。说明ClCBF1基因在拟南芥受到干旱和盐胁迫过程中发挥一定作用。     

Impact of cold-season grazing and supplementary feeding on rumen metabolic parameters and micro-organisms in the ewes of Gansu Alpine Fine Wool Sheep北大核心CSCD

An experiment was conducted to scientifically identify the appropriate feed for Gansu Alpine Fine Wool ewes in order to change the animals' breeding mode, which currently can only be mated at the age of 2.5 years due to insufficient nutritional supply. The experiment selected 48 12-month-old ewes and randomly divided them into group a (Diet 1), group b (Diet 2), group c (Diet 3), and a control group with no supplementary feeding. The feed test was run for 90 days. The rumen pH of groups a and b were very significantly higher (P<0.01) or group c significantly lower (P<0.05) than control group. The rumen ammonia nitrogen, protein nitrogen and total nitrogen of groups a, b and c were all higher than control group (P<0.01). The total volatile fatty acids of group a and b were all higher than the control group (P<0.01), group b significantly higher than group c (P<0.05). The molar ratio of acetic acid and propionic acid in group a was very significantly higher than control group (P<0.01), group b and c were significantly higher than control group (P<0.05). The molar ratio of butyric acid in group a was very significantly higher than group c (P<0.01). The ratio of acetic acid and propionic acid in group b was significantly lower than control group (P<0.05). The number of several rumen fiber-degrading bacteria and protozoa in groups a, b and c were very significantly (P<0.01) or significantly (P<0.05) higher than the control. In conclusion, this study shows that supplementary feeding can positively affect the rumen metabolic parameters and the number of several rumen microorganisms in Gansu Alpine Fine Wool ewes. In general, the effects of Diet 1 were the strongest, while Diet 2 also produced notable improvements. © 2018, Editorial Office of Acta Prataculturae Sinica. All rights reserved.     

陕西省榆林市某鸡场家禽H7N9流感紧急流行病学调查

2017年5月21日,陕西省榆林市某养殖场的蛋鸡出现异常死亡。经国家参考实验室确诊,该起疫情为H7N9流感疫情。为找出引发疫情的可能原因,采用描述性流行病学方法,描述疫情的三间分布,分析发病的风险因素。调查结果显示:该场饲养规模较大,共有8栋鸡舍,饲养4.5万只蛋鸡;疫情暴发突然,病程仅为5 d;蛋鸡死亡2.2万只,死亡率为48.9%;疫情具有明显的场内传播规律,从靠近鸡场入口的鸡舍逐渐向内蔓延;产蛋高峰期蛋鸡的发病风险是雏鸡的37.458倍,差异显著(P0.05);所分离毒株的HA基因裂解位点有4个氨基酸插入,为变异株;该起疫情可能是通过运输淘汰蛋鸡的车辆、野鸟、饲料和饮水,以及调入雏鸡等途径引入的。疫情发生后,当地政府按照《高致病性禽流感防治技术规范》,发布了封锁令,划定了疫点、疫区和受威胁区;在疫区采取了扑杀、无害化处理、关闭疫区内所有禽类产品交易市场等控制措施。采取以上处置措施后,疫情得以快速有效控制。