Anfang Liu

Prolonged exposure to high temperatures and humidity can trigger heat stress in animals, leading to subsequent immune suppression. Lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) act as upstream regulators closely linked to heat stress, contributing to their immunosuppressive effects. After an initial examination of transcriptome sequencing data from individual samples, 48 genes displaying interactions were found to potentially be associated with heat stress. Subsequently, to delve deeper into this association, we gathered chicken bone marrow dendritic cells (BMDCs). We combined heat stress with lipopolysaccharides and utilized a 48 × 48 Fluidigm IFC quantitative microarray to analyze the patterns of gene changes under various treatment conditions. The results of the study revealed that the combination of heat stress and LPSs in a coinfection led to reduced expressions of CRHR1, MEOX1, and MOV10L1. These differentially expressed genes triggered a pro-inflammatory response within cells via the MAPK and IL-17 signaling pathways. This response, in turn, affected the intensity and duration of inflammation when experiencing synergistic stimulation. Therefore, LPSs exacerbate the immunosuppressive effects of heat stress and prolong cellular adaptation to stress. The combination of heat stress and LPS stimulation induced a cellular inflammatory response through pathways involving cAMP, IL-17, MAPK, and others, consequently leading to decreased expression levels of CRHR1, MEOX1, and MOV10L1.

Air source heat pump (ASHP) is a good new energy heating system. To explore the effect of ASHP on the production of yellow-feather broiler chicks, 31,500 one-day-old yellow broiler chicks were divided into three chicken houses with the same building structure but different heating methods (ASHP, CCF, CB). During the experiment, the parameters of heating time, temperature uniformity, gas concentration, weight gain, survival rate and production benefit were analyzed and evaluated. Results showed that the difference in NH₃, CO₂, and H₂S concentrations was not significant in all test groups (p > 0.05). Only group II detected the CO gas. In winter and spring, the weight of the chickens in group II were weighed the least at 35 days of age, and were significantly different from the ASHP and CB system (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in body weight between ASHP and CB (p > 0.05). Group II had the lowest evenness and survival, the slowest warming, the worst uniformity of temperature distribution, and the highest cost. It is concluded that the ASHP was very environmentally friendly and has the highest economy, which is worth promoting and using.

It is well accepted that the gut microbiota of breast-fed (BF) and formula-fed (FF) infants are significantly different. However, there is still a limited number of studies comparing the gut microbiota of BF and FF piglets, despite increasing numbers of FF piglets in the modern pig industry. The present study identified the differences in gut microbiota composition between BF- and FF-weaned Rongchang piglets at 30 days old, using pair-end sequencing on the Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform. The BF piglets had lower microbiota diversities than FF piglets (p < 0.05), and the community structures were well clustered as a result of each feeding pattern. Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes represented the most dominant phyla, and Ruminococcus, Prevotella, and Gemmiger were prominent genera in all piglets. Ruminococcus, Prevotella, Oscillospira, Eubacterium, Gemmiger, Dorea, and Lactobacillus populations were significantly higher, while Treponema and Coprococcus were significantly lower in BF piglets compared to FF piglets (p < 0.05). The metabolism pathways in the BF piglets were significantly different from FF piglets, which included carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism (p < 0.05). In addition, the top 10 abundance of microbiota were more or less significantly associated with the two phenotypes (p < 0.05). Collectively, these findings provide probable explanations for the importance of BF in neonates and support a theoretical basis for feeding regimes in indigenous Chinese piglets.

Embryonic muscle development determines the state of muscle development and muscle morphological structure size. Recent studies have found that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) could influence numerous cellular processes and regulated growth and development of flora and fauna. A total of 1056 differentially expressed lncRNAs were identified by comparing the different time points during embryonic muscle development, which included 874 new lncRNAs. Here, we found that there were different gene expression patterns on the 12th day of embryo development (E12). Herein, WGCNA and correlation analyses were used to predict lncRNA function on E12 through the screening and identification of lncRNAs related to muscle development in the embryo leg muscles of Chengkou mountain chickens at different times. GO and KEGG functional enrichment analysis was performed on target genes involved in cis-regulation and trans-regulation. An interaction network diagram was constructed based on the muscle development pathways, such as Wnt, FoxO, and PI3K-AKT signaling pathways, to determine the interaction between mRNAs and lncRNAs. This study preliminarily determined the lncRNA expression pattern of muscle development during the middle and late embryonic stages of Chengkou mountain chickens, and provided a basis to analyze the molecular mechanism of muscle development.

Pennisetum sinese (syn. Cenchrus flaccidus) is a hybrid of Pennisetum americanum and Pennisetum purpureum, and has been wildly used as forage and biofuel crop in South China due to its vigorous bio...

This study investigated the effects of in ovo ornithine-á-ketoglutarate feeding on body weight and pectoral muscle development of chicks. On day 18 of incubation, 198 hatching eggs were randomly divided into three treatment groups each with three replicates of 22 eggs each. The treatment groups consisted of a non-injected control group and two treatments with 1 ml of saline each, containing either 0.2% (treatment group I) or 0.4% ornithine-á-ketoglutarate (treatment group II). The chicks were fed after hatching for seven days. Hatchability was reduced due to in ovo feeding of 0.4% ornithine-á-ketoglutarate. However, in ovo feeding of different levels of ornithine-á-ketoglutarate increased the daily gain, the body weight, the diameter and cross-sectional area of the pectoral muscle fibers, the cross-sectional area of the pectoral muscle fiber bundles, the proportion of proliferating cells in the pectoral muscle. It is concluded that, in ovo ornithine-á-ketoglutarate feeding can promote early growth and development of pectoral muscles in chicks.

We report here the results of the sequence and structure analysis of mitochondrial tRNApro and tRNAthr genes in domestic goose breeds by sequencing the mitochondrial DNA from a total of 25 samples from 6 breeds of Chinese geese and 2 breeds of domestic Europe geese. Sequences and the cloverleaf structure of tRNApro (69 bp) and tRNAthr (68 bp) in domestic goose breeds were described and analysed They were compared amongst the three domestic goose breeds as well as between Anseriformes (Anser cygnoides) and Galliformes (Gallus gallus domesticus, Genbank accession number NC001323). Both goose tRNApro and tRNAthr genes have normal cloverleaf secondary structures. The amino acid arm and the anticodon loop of the cloverleaf structure of tRNApro and tRNAthr are very conservative among Anser albifrons, Anser anser and Anser cygnoides. The gene sequences in this study were deposited to GenBank under accession numbers AY427800-AY427805 and AY427812-AY427814.