Modulation of intestinal morphology and microbiota by dietary Macleaya cordata extract supplementation in Xuefeng Black-boned Chicken.

Antibiotics are commonly overused to prevent livestock from diseases and to increase production performance. As potential substitutes of antibiotics, plant extracts have attracted the attention of researchers. It was known to all that addition of Macleaya cordata extract (MCE) to the food could advance immunity, intestinal health and animal performance. Thus, it was conducted to investigate the influence of MCE (0, 100, 150 and 200 mg/kg, with six replicate pens/treatment and 24 hens/pen) on intestinal morphology and microbial diversity in different intestinal segments in Xuefeng black-boned chicken in this study. The results showed that MCE supplement (100, 150 and 200 mg/kg) significantly diminished (P < 0.05) the crypt depth of the jejunum as compared to basal diet group. The 100 mg/kg group displayed a marked increase (P < 0.05), compared with 0 and 200 mg/kg group, in ileum microbial diversity as represented by the Shannon's index. In the cecum, treatment of MCE significantly decreased (P < 0.01) the Firmicutes, but Deferribacteres in 200 mg/kg MCE group were significantly raised (P < 0.05). In conclusion, we found that MCE improved intestinal morphology and reduced the crypt depth in jejunum. Together, addition of 200 mg/kg MCE modulated intestinal microbiota, increased beneficial bacteria such as Lactobacillus. Adding 100 mg/kg MCE to diet increased bacterial community diversity and relative abundance in jejunum and ileum, but had no effect on cecum microbial diversity.

Effects of Macleaya cordata extract on laying performance, egg quality, and serum indices in Xuefeng black-bone chicken.

The abuse of antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) in feed has led to drug resistance and ecological damage would threaten human health eventually. Natural plants have become a hotspot in the research and application of substituting AGPs because of their advantages of safety, efficiency, and availability. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of Macleaya cordata extract (MCE) in the diet of Xuefeng black-bone chicken on laying performance, egg quality, and serum indices. In this study, 576 birds (47-week-old) were evenly distributed between 4 treatments with 6 replicates of 24 hens each. The control group was fed a basal diet without MCE and the remaining groups received 100, 150, or 200 mg/kg MCE for 84 d. Results revealed that the strength and thickness of the eggshell increased significantly with the dietary addition of MCE (P < 0.05). The serum concentrations of glutathione peroxidase increased in the MCE groups (P < 0.01). Simultaneously, progesterone, follicle stimulating hormone, estradiol as well as serum luteinizing hormone levels also increased with the addition of MCE (P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, supplementation of MCE significantly decreased the tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6 levels (P < 0.01). In summary, it was concluded that diet addition of 200 mg/kg MCE ameliorated egg quality, enhanced anti-oxidation and immune activity, and regulated hormone secretion of Xuefeng black-bone chicken.

A time delay predator-prey system with three-stage-structure.

A predator-prey system was studied that has a discrete delay, stage-structure, and Beddington-DeAngelis functional response, where predator species has three stages, immature, mature, and old age stages. By using of Mawhin's continuous theorem of coincidence degree theory, a sufficient condition is obtained for the existence of a positive periodic solution.