Plasma lipopolysaccharide elevations in cattle associated with early-stage infection by Fasciola hepatica

Fasciolosis is an endemic zoonotic parasitic disease with significant impacts on human health and both animal health and production. Early post-infection impacts on the host remain unclear. The objective of this study was to determine the changes, if any, to levels of endotoxin in cattle plasma in response to early-stage infection with Fasciola hepatica. Thirty-six (36) commercial bred cattle were experimentally infected with approximately 400 viable metacercariae. Plasma lipopolysaccharide (endotoxin) levels were examined on 24 occasions from 0 h before infection to 336 h after infection using the Limulus Amoebocyte Lysate chromogenic end point assay and compared with that of six (6) uninfected control animals. Peak lipopolysaccharide levels in infected animals were reached at 52 h after infection and returned to pre-infection levels at time 144 h after infection. Infected animals had significantly elevated lipopolysaccharide levels between 24 and 120 h after infection when compared to uninfected animals. The mean change in endotoxin units (EU)/mL over time after infection was statistically significant in infected animals. Elevations of lipopolysaccharide occurred in all infected animals suggesting a possible repeatable and titratable endotoxemia conducive to therapeutic agent model development.     

Effects of silvopastoral areas on milk production at dual-purpose cattle farms at the semi-humid old agricultural frontier in central Nicaragua

In extensive cattle production systems, the composition of grazing areas may significantly influence productivity. In dual-purpose cattle production systems in the lowland tropics, pasture lands with trees, so-called silvopastoral areas, are considered as being important, particularly to facilitate the management of crossbred European native cattle. The aim of the study was to quantify the effects of silvopastoral areas on production at dual-purpose cattle farms in the semi-humid lowlands of central Nicaragua. The relationships between seasonal milk production and herd data, and the proportions of land use types were examined for 74 farms by stepwise regression analysis.     

Presence of Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptors in the Cattle Tick Boophilus microplus and in Epithelial Tissue Culture Cells of Chironomus tentans

A muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) has been demonstrated and partially characterized in larvae of the cattle tick Boophilus microplus. Its properties are compared with mAChR from an epithelial cell line from the dipteran insect Chironomus tentans. Competition studies with cholinergic ligands of different specificity revealed the muscarinic nature of the cholinergic receptors investigated in both species. In homogenates from tick larvae, specific binding sites for [³H]quinuclidinyl benzilate (QNB) with high affinity (1·2±(0·13) nM ; B_max 22·5 pmol mg protein⁻¹) were detected that do not bind nicotinic compounds specifically. The estimated IC₅₀ values for nicotine, imidacloprid and α-bungarotoxin were all in the mM range. Additionally, with tick larvae, high-affinity nicotinic binding sites were detected with [³H]nicotine which could be displaced by high concentrations of imidacloprid or QNB. The estimated IC₅₀ values for nicotine, α-bungarotoxin, imidacloprid and QNB were 43(±8) nM , 0·8(±0·2) μM , 2·8(±0·6) μM and 78(±1·9) μM , respectively. With homogenates of the non-neuronal insect cell line from C. tentans, only high-affinity binding sites for [³H]QNB were found. Muscarinic antagonists selectively displaced [³H]quinuclidinyl benzilate (QNB) binding to tick larvae homogenates. The mAChR of B. microplus preferred pirenzepine (IC₅₀ 2·13(±1·02) μM ) among different subtype-specific mAChR antagonists (4-DAMP had IC₅₀ 49·9(±9·13) μM and methoctramine had IC₅₀ 121(±14·2) μM ) indicating a type of binding site similar to the vertebrate M1 mAChR subtype. The tick muscarinic receptor seems to be a G-protein-coupled receptor, as concluded from the 4·8-fold reduction in receptor affinity for binding of the muscarinic agonist oxotremorine M upon treatment with the non-hydrolysable GTP-analogue γ-S-GTP. Binding data for the agonists oxotremorine M (IC₅₀ 71·3(±19·6) μM ) and carbachol (IC₅₀ 253(±87·1) μM ) parallel the biological efficacy of these compounds, in that, while oxotremorine M showed some activity against ticks, carbachol was ineffective.     

牛卵巢活动对超数排卵影响研究进展

超数排卵在实际生产中提高了胚胎移植技术对单胎动物的繁殖率,但是,超数排卵的结果存在很大的差异性。影响超数排卵结果的因素有很多,如牛的自身因素,超数排卵方法的选择,所使用促性腺激素的种类,激素的质量,环境因素等。文章以牛自身卵巢活动对超数排卵的影响为出发点,综述了牛正常卵巢活动及卵泡活动对超数排卵影响的研究进展,包括卵泡波动力学,卵泡波发育过程中促性腺激素的作用;分析了卵巢对促卵泡素(FSH)及促黄体素(LH)的特异应答性机制,对各个卵泡波进行了比较,根据卵泡波动力学理论列举了几种切实可行的同步卵泡波的超排方法,对超数排卵结果差异性的原因做了补充说明。     

浅谈云南省奶牛业

阐述了云南省奶牛业的现状,论述了云南奶牛业发展中存在的五个问题,并针对性地提出了云南省奶牛业发展的六条应对措施。总结认为首先应制定发展目标,做好发展规划,其次政府应加强宏观调控,加大对奶牛业的扶持力度,积极开拓市场,可使云南奶牛业迅速发展。     

复合蛋白对肉牛生产性能和血液指标的影响

西门塔尔杂交公牛36头,随机分为3组,每组12头。对照组使用牛场原有的预混料及其推荐配方,试验组使用复合蛋白替代蛋白质饲料,比例分别为试验1组6%、试验2组10%。分别测定日增重、饲料转化率,血液指标,消化率并进行饲喂效益分析。结果表明:试验1组和试验2组日增重比对照组分别提高2.1%和11.6%,且差异显著(P<0.05);试验1组和试验2组料肉比比对照组分别降低1.9%(P>0.05)和显著降低10.4%(P<0.05);血液指标和养分消化率变化不大,差异不显著(P>0.05);饲喂净效益试验2组比对照组提高71%。说明合理剂量复合蛋白替代日粮中豆粕等蛋白饲料,不但不降低肉牛生产性能,而且还可以提高日增重,降低料肉比,增长效益。     

皮南牛新品种培育现状、存在问题与对策

南阳牛是我国五大良种黄牛品种之一,近些年国家越来越重视通过杂交改良的方法产生新品种培育工作,1986年引进了皮埃蒙特牛,与南阳牛进行杂交改良,通过30多年来的持续选育,横交固定形成了皮南牛新类群,它保持了南阳牛适应性好、耐粗饲的优点,同时继承了皮埃蒙特牛生长发育快、瘦肉率高的特点,但在皮南牛新品种培育过程中,仍存在核心...     

Embryo-mediated genome editing for accelerated genetic improvement of livestock

Selecting beneficial DNA variants is the main goal of animal breeding. However, this process is inherently inefficient because each animal only carries a fraction of all desirable variants. Genome editing technology with its ability to directly introduce beneficial sequence variants offers new opportunities to modernize animal breeding by overcoming this biological limitation and accelerating genetic gains. To realize rapid genetic gain, precise edits need to be introduced into genomically-selected embryos, which minimizes the genetic lag. However, embryo-mediated precision editing by homology-directed repair (HDR) mechanisms is currently an inefficient process that often produces mosaic embryos and greatly limits the numbers of available edited embryos. This review provides a summary of genome editing in bovine embryos and proposes an embryo-mediated accelerated breeding scheme that overcomes the present efficiency limitations of HDR editing in bovine embryos. It integrates embryo-based genomic selection with precise multi-editing and uses embryonic cloning with elite edited blastomeres or embryonic pluripotent stem cells to resolve mosaicism, enable multiplex editing and multiply rare elite genotypes. Such a breeding strategy would enable a more targeted, accelerated approach for livestock improvement that allows stacking of beneficial variants, even including novel traits from outside the breeding population, in the most recent elite genetic background, essentially within a single generation.     

稻草与牛粪混合腐解的最佳配比筛选

【目的】以腐殖质组成特征为评价依据,筛选稻草与牛粪混合腐解的最佳配比,为两类农业固体废弃物的资源化应用提供参考。【方法】以稻草和牛粪为材料,采用室内培养法,研究稻草与牛粪质量比为10∶0(Rs),9∶1(Rd1),7∶3(Rd2),5∶5(Rd3),3∶7(Rd4),1∶9(Rd5)和0∶10(Dm)混合腐解90 d,各处理水溶性物质(WSS)、可提取腐殖酸(HE)、胡敏酸(HA)、胡敏素(Hu)组分的有机碳含量(依次表述为C_(WSS)、C_(HE)、C_(HA)、C_(Hu)),以及胡敏酸碱溶液E_4/E_6、腐殖化系数(C_(HA)/C_(FA))的动态变化,筛选稻草与牛粪腐解的最佳配比。【结果】与0 d相比,在腐解完成(90 d)后,各处理C_(WSS)含量均有不同程度降低,相比于稻草,牛粪腐解后更易促进微生物对C_(WSS)的利用,使其下降86.2%;Rd2和Rd5处理使物料C_(HE)含量分别增加10.2%和28.6%,其余处理C_(HE)均有不同程度消耗;与0 d相比,腐解完成后,Rd1、Rd3和Dm处理均有助于C_(HA)的积累,其中牛粪腐解更易促进C_(HA)的形成,使其增加30.5%。在各处理下,物料HA分子均先发生降解、脂族化,而后逐渐缩合、芳香化,但HA分子结构仍趋于简单;在促进HA分子脂族化方面,Rd4处理的优势最大,而Dm处理更有利于HA结构的稳定。Rd3处理在促进腐殖质品质方面的贡献最大,其次为Rd1处理,Dm和Rs处理次之,但Rd2和Rd5处理不利于腐殖质品质的改善;Rs、Rd1、Rd2、Rd3和Rd4处理在腐解过程中更有利于C_(Hu)的分解,且Rd3处理的优势最大,使C_(Hu)含量下降91.0%,而牛粪比例≥90%更有助于C_(Hu)的累积。【结论】稻草与牛粪按照质量比5∶5混合腐解,易促进C_(Hu)的分解和C_(HA)的积累,利于腐殖质品质提升。     

Proteomic profiling of plasma-derived small extracellular vesicles: a novel tool for understanding the systemic effects of tick burden in cattle

Cattle ticks pose a significant threat to the health and profitability of cattle herds globally. The investigation of factors leading to natural tick resistance in cattle is directed toward targeted breeding strategies that may combat cattle tick infestation on the genetic level. Exosomes (EXs), small extracellular vesicles (EVs) of 50 to 150 nm diameter, are released from all cell types into biofluids such as blood plasma and milk, have been successfully used in diagnostic and prognostic studies in humans, and can provide essential information regarding the overall health state of animals. Mass spectrometry (MS) is a highly sensitive proteomics application that can be used to identify proteins in a complex mixture and is particularly useful for biomarker development. In this proof of principle study, EXs were isolated from the blood plasma of cattle (Bos taurus) with high (HTR) and low tick resistance (LTR) (n = 3/group). Cattle were classified as HTR or LTR using a tick scoring system, and EXs isolated from the cattle blood plasma using an established protocol. EXs were subjected to MS analysis in data-dependent acquisition mode and protein search performed using Protein Pilot against the B. taurus proteome. A total of 490 unique proteins were identified across all samples. Of these, proteins present in all replicates from each group were selected for further analysis (HTR = 121; LTR = 130). Gene ontology analysis was performed using PANTHER GO online software tool. Proteins unique to HTR and LTR cattle were divided by protein class, of which 50% were associated with immunity/defense in the HTR group, whereas this protein class was not detected in EXs from LTR cattle. Similarly, unique proteins in HTR cattle were associated with B-cell activation, immunoglobins, immune response, and cellular iron ion homeostasis. In LTR cattle, unique exosomal proteins were associated with actin filament binding, purine nucleotide binding, plasma membrane protein complex, and carbohydrate derivative binding. This is the first study to demonstrate that MS analysis of EXs derived from the blood plasma of HTR and LTR cattle can be successfully applied to profile the systemic effects of tick burden.