Effects of in ovo feeding with glycerol for broilers

The objective was to evaluate the effect of in ovo feeding with glycerol on post‐hatch development in broiler chicks. A total of 408 fertile eggs were divided into six experimental groups consisting of five 0.9% saline solutions containing various concentrations of glycerol (12.5, 25.0, 37.5 and 50.0 nmol/ml), and a placebo group (inoculation with saline only) and a control group (without inoculation). Inoculations were performed at 17 days of incubation for the evaluation of hatchability, embryo mortality, body and viscera weights, intestinal epithelium morphometry, blood glucose and liver glycerol kinase activity of chicks at hatching. Inoculation of solutions containing glycerol did not influence body weight at hatching and relative weights of liver, pancreas, intestine and breast. There was a quadratic effect of glycerol levels on the weights of yolk residue and gizzard and on blood glucose, and an increasing linear effect on spleen and heart weights. Higher duodenum and ileum villous height and deeper jejunum and ileum crypts were obtained with 50.0 nmol/ml of glycerol. A linear increasing effect was also observed in liver glycerol kinase activity; however, lower blood glucose was observed with 37.5 and 50 nmol/ml of glycerol. It is therefore concluded that glycerol may be used at doses of 25 nmol/ml as a substrate in in ovo feeding of broiler chickens. However, further studies must be conducted not only to establish an optimal dose but also to evaluate the combination of this substrate with other nutrients used in the in ovo feeding.     

Ovarian follicle development and genital tract characteristics in different birthweight gilts at 150 days of age

In the last decades, selection for improved prolificacy has resulted in higher litter sizes and has thereby increased the proportion of low birthweight (LW) piglets. It is well documented that LW piglets have lower growth performance, muscle accretion and poor carcass quality. However, little is known about the relations of birthweight with subsequent reproductive performance in gilts. This study investigated the effects of birthweight on reproductive tract and ovarian follicle development in 150‐day‐old gilts. Twenty eight female pigs of different birthweight ranges (high‐HW: 1.8–2.2 kg; low‐LW: 0.8–1.2 kg) from higher parity commercial sows were reared until 150 days of age, and their body weights were recorded at weaning, end of nursery and end of the grower‐finisher phase. The animals were killed and their reproductive tracts collected for biometrical and histomorphometrical analysis. LW gilts showed significantly lower body weights and growth rates during all phases of production compared to their HW counterparts (p < .01). Most biometrical measurements of the reproductive tract were similar between the experimental groups, except vaginal length and the gonadossomatic index (relative ovarian weight), which were affected by birthweight class (p < .05). LW females also showed fewer medium size (3–5 mm; p < .01) ovarian follicles, pre‐antral follicles (p < .07) and more atretic follicles per ovarian cortex area (p < .05). Therefore, besides the effects on post‐natal growth performance, birthweight affects vaginal length and the follicular dynamics process, which may impair the reproductive performance of replacement gilts.     

Feeding behavior of finishing goats fed diets containing detoxified castor meal,co-product of the biodiesel industry

An investigation was made into the feeding behavior of goats to evaluate the effects of a detoxified castor bean meal in the diet of goats. Thirty-six ½ crossbred Boer goats were used, with an average weight of 20?±?3.2 kg. A completely randomized design was used with four treatments (diets with of 0, 100, 200, and 300 g detoxified castor bean meals/kg dry matter) and nine replicates. Castor bean meal was detoxified using calcium oxide. Diets were formulated to be isonitrogenous, and the forage:concentrate ratio was 50:50. The feeding behavior was observed on the 17th, 45th, and 70th days of the experiment. For the evaluation of feeding behavior (feeding, idle, and rumination times), the animals were observed in 5-min intervals for 24 h. The addition of detoxified castor bean meal did not change (P?>?0.05) the evaluated behavioral variables. Linear reduction was observed (P?<?0.05) in the efficiencies of feeding and rumination, expressed in g dry matter/h. The variables related to the time series discretization of the feeding behavior of goats did not change (P?>?0.05) with the inclusion of detoxified castor bean meal. The inclusion of detoxified castor bean meal in growing goats’ diets does not change the feeding, rumination, and idle times, however, decreases intake, feeding, and rumination efficiencies of dry matter.

     

Effect of triple superphosphate and biowaste compost on mycorrhizal colonization and enzymatic P mobilization under maize in a long‐term field experiment

Phosphorus (P) fertilizers and mycorrhiza formation can both significantly improve the P supply of plants, but P fertilizers might inhibit mycorrhiza formation and change the microbial P cycling. To test the dimension and consequences of P fertilizer impacts under maize (Zea mays L.), three fertilizer treatments (1) triple superphosphate (TSP, 21–30 kg P ha^?1 annually), biowaste compost (ORG, 30 Mg ha^?1 wet weight every third year) and a combination of both (OMI) were compared to a non‐P‐fertilized control (C) in 2015 and 2016. The test site was a long‐term field experiment on a Stagnic Cambisol in Rostock (NE Germany). Soil microbial biomass P (P_mic) and soil enzyme activities involved in P mobilization (phosphatases and ß‐glucosidase), plant‐available P content (double lactate‐extract; P_DL), mycorrhizal colonization, shoot biomass, and shoot P concentrations were determined. P deficiency led to decreased P immobilization in microbial biomass, but the maize growth was not affected. TSP application alone promoted the P uptake by the microbial biomass but reduced the mycorrhizal colonization of maize compared to the control by more than one third. Biowaste compost increased soil enzyme activities in the P cycling, increased P_mic and slightly decreased the mycorrhizal colonization of maize. Addition of TSP to biowaste compost increased the content of P_DL in soil to the level of optimal plant supply. Single TSP supply decreased the ratio of P_DL:P_mic to 1:1 from about 4:1 in the control. Decreased plant‐benefits from mycorrhizal symbiosis were assumed from decreased mycorrhizal colonization of maize with TSP supply. The undesirable side effects of TSP supply on the microbial P cycling can be alleviated by the use of compost. Thus, it can be concluded that the plant‐availability of P from soil amendments is controlled by the amendment‐specific microbial P cycling and, likely, P transfer to plants.     

The first Canadian indigenous case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has molecular characteristics for prion protein that are similar to those of BSE in the United Kingdom but differ from those of chronic wasting disease in captive elk and deer

Brain tissue from a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) from Alberta was subjected to a Western immunoblotting technique to ascertain the molecular profile of any disease-specific, abnormal prion protein, that is, prion protein that is protease-resistant (PrP(res)). This technique can discriminate between isolates from BSE, ovine scrapie, and sheep experimentally infected with BSE. Isolates of brain tissue from the BSE case in Alberta, 3 farmed elk with chronic wasting disease (CWD) from different parts of Saskatchewan, and 1 farmed white-tailed deer with CWD from Edmonton, Alberta, were examined alongside isolates of brain tissue from BSE, ovine scrapie, and sheep experimentally infected with BSE from the United Kingdom (UK). The molecular weights of PrP(res) and the cross reactions to 2 specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were determined for each sample. The BSE isolates from Canada and the UK had very similar PrP(res) molecular weights and reacted with only 1 of the 2 mAbs. The PrP(res) isolated from both elk and white-tailed deer with CWD had a higher molecular weight profile than did the corresponding PrP(res) from the scrapie and BSE isolates. The PrP(res) from CWD cases cross reacted with both mAbs, a property shared with PrP(res) in isolates from scrapie but not with PrP(res) isolates from BSE or sheep experimentally infected with BSE. The results from this study seem to confirm that the PrP(res) isolated from the BSE case in Alberta has similar molecular properties to the PrP(res) isolated from a BSE case in the UK, and that it differs in its molecular and immunological characteristics from the CWD and scrapie cases studied.     

Synthesis of new aliphatic and aromatic phytotoxic derivatives of 2alpha,4alpha-dimethyl-8-oxabicyclo[3.2.1]oct-6-en-3-one

Several new compounds with potential herbicidal activity were synthesized from 2alpha,4alpha-dimethyl-6,7-exo-isopropylidenedioxy-8-oxabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-3-one (4). Seven aromatic alcohols were prepared by reaction of (4) with aryllithium reagents, where the aryl groups were 4-ethoxyphenyl (5, 70% yield), 4-ethylphenyl (6, 82% yield), 4-butylphenyl (7, 78% yield), 4-tert-butylphenyl (8, 81% yield), 2,4-dimethoxyphenyl (9, 75% yield), 2-ethylphenyl (10, 12% yield) and para-(4-bromophenoxy)phenyl (11, 24% yield). Reaction of the acetonide (4) with Grignard reagents formed also four aliphatic alcohols where the alkyl groups are ethyl (13, 78%), butyl (14, 85%), hexyl (15, 81%) and octyl (25, 92%). The alcohols (5), (6), (7), (8), (13), (14), (15) and (25) were reacted with thionyl chloride in pyridine, forming their respective alkenes (17, 76%), (18, 74%), (19, 83%), (20, 73%), (22, 78%), (26, 62%), (23, 77%) and (24, 66%). The effect of these compounds, at the concentration of 5.5 microg g(-1), on the development of radicle and aerial parts of Sorghum bicolor (L) Moench, Euphorbia heterophylla L, Brachiaria decumbens and Desmodium tortuosum DC was evaluated.