Effects of enzymatic hydrolysate of locust bean gum on digestibility, intestinal morphology and microflora of broilers.

To investigate the effects of different levels of enzymatic hydrolysate of dietary locust bean gum on nutrient digestibility, intestinal morphology and microflora of broilers, a total of 768 one-day-old Arbor Acres (AA) broiler chicks were randomly divided into 6 treatments with 8 replicates per treatment and 16 birds per replicate. The treatments were as follows: (1) CON, basal diet; (2) ANT, basal diet +62.5 mg/kg flavomycin; (3) LBG, basal diet +0.1% locust bean gum; (4) ELBG-0.1, basal diet +0.1% enzymatic hydrolysate of LBG; (5) ELBG-0.2, basal diet +0.2% enzymatic hydrolysate of LBG; and (6) ELBG-0.3, basal diet +0.3% enzymatic hydrolysate of LBG. The digestibilities of ether extract, crude protein and dry matter were increased (p < .01) in broilers fed the ELBG-0.3 diet compared with the CON and LBG diets on day 21. Duodenal villus height and the ratio of the villus height to crypt depth were greater (p < .01) in broilers fed the ELBG-0.3 diet than the CON, ANT and LBG diets. Jejunum villus height was higher (p < .05) in broilers fed the ELBG-0.2 and ELBG-0.3 diets than the CON diet. The number of caecal Escherichia coli was reduced (p = .01) in broilers fed the ELBG-0.2 and ELBG-0.3 diets compared with the CON diet. The number of caecal Lactobacilli was greater (p < .05) in broilers fed the ELBG-0.3 diet than the CON and ANT diets. In summary, the addition of 0.3% locust bean enzymatic hydrolysate can increase the surface area of intestinal villi and the number of beneficial bacteria, inhibit the proliferation of harmful bacteria, maintain the balance of intestinal microflora and improve the digestibility of nutrients.

An Essential Role for miRNA167 in Maternal Control of Embryonic and Seed Development.

Maternal cells play a critical role in ensuring the normal development of embryos, endosperms, and seeds. Mutations that disrupt the maternal control of embryogenesis and seed development are difficult to identify. Here, we completely deleted four MICRORNA167 (MIR167) genes in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) using a clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein9 (Cas9) genome-editing technology. We found that plants with a deletion of MIR167A phenocopied plants overexpressing miRNA167-resistant versions of Auxin Response Factor6 (ARF6) or ARF8, two miRNA167 targets. Both the mir167a mutant and the ARF overexpression lines were defective in anther dehiscence and ovule development. Serendipitously, we found that the mir167a (♀) × wild type (♂) crosses failed to produce normal embryos and endosperms, despite the findings that embryos with either mir167a+/- or mir167a-/- genotypes developed normally when mir167a+/- plants were self-pollinated, revealing a central role of MIR167A in maternal control of seed development. The mir167a phenotype is 100% penetrant, providing a great genetic tool for studying the roles of miRNAs and auxin in maternal control. Moreover, we found that mir167a mutants flowered significantly later than wild-type plants, a phenotype that was not observed in the ARF overexpression lines. We show that the reproductive defects of mir167a mutants were suppressed by a decrease of activities of ARF6, ARF8, or both. Our results clearly demonstrate that MIR167A is the predominant MIR167 member in regulating Arabidopsis reproduction and that MIR167A acts as a maternal gene that functions largely through ARF6 and ARF8.

Non-pharmacological treatments for irritable bowel syndrome: study protocol of an umbrella review of systematic review and meta-analyses.

INTRODUCTION: Non-pharmacological treatments are used in the management of irritable bowel syndrome, and their effectiveness has been evaluated in multiple meta-analyses. The robustness of the results in the meta-analyses was not evaluated. We aimed to assess whether there is evidence of diverse biases in the meta-analyses and to identify the treatments without evidence of risk of bias. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will search MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science and CINAHL Plus for meta-analyses that evaluate the effectiveness of non-pharmacological treatments. The time of publication will be limited from inception to December 2018. The credibility of the meta-analyses will be evaluated by assessing between-study heterogeneity, small-study effect and excess significance bias. The between-study heterogeneity will be assessed using the Cochrane's Q test, and the extent of the heterogeneity will be classified using the I2 statistics. The existence of a small-study effect in a meta-analysis will be evaluated using the funnel plot method and confirmed by Egger's test. Excess significance bias will be evaluated by comparing the expected number of clinical studies with positive findings with the observed number. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: No formal ethical approval is required since we will use publicly available data. We will disseminate the findings of the umbrella review through publication in a peer-reviewed journal and conference presentations. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42018111516.

Effect of pectin oligosaccharides and zinc chelate on growth performance, zinc status, antioxidant ability, intestinal morphology and short-chain fatty acids in broilers.

A 42-day trial was conducted to investigate the effect of pectin oligosaccharides (POS) and zinc chelate (Zn-POS) on growth performance, antioxidant ability, zinc status, intestinal morphology and short-chain fatty acids in broilers. A total of 324 1-day-old Arbor Acres broilers were randomly assigned to three treatments with six cages of 18 chicks. Treatments were: (a) Control, 80 mg/kg Zn from ZnSO4 ; (b) POS, 80 mg/kg Zn from ZnSO4 + 482 mg/kg POS (the same amount of POS as treatment 3); and (c) Zn-POS, 80 mg/kg zinc from Zn-POS. Compared to the Control, both POS and Zn-POS supplementation increased average daily gain and reduced the mortality during day 22-42, and only Zn-POS supplementation decreased the ratio of feed to gain during day 22-42 and 1-42. Moreover, both POS and Zn-POS supplementation improved Zn status and gut function as evidenced by increased metallothionein concentrations in the pancreas, villus height in the duodenum and isobutyrate concentrations in the caecal digesta. Additionally, Zn-POS supplementation increased gene expressions of metallothionein, Zn transporter 1, Zn transporter 2 in the pancreas, nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 in the liver, the concentrations of acetate, propionate, butyrate and total SCFA in the caecal digesta and the villus height to crypt depth ratio in the duodenum and jejunum, whereas decreased the crypt depth in these two tissues. Altogether, our results revealed that dietary POS or Zn-POS supplementation benefited growth performance, Zn status, antioxidant ability and gut function of broilers. Supplementing Zn-POS in the form of chelate was more effective than feeding POS or ZnSO4 separately.

Effects of Different Sources and Levels of Zinc on Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility, and Fur Quality of Growing-Furring Male Mink (Mustela vison).

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of different sources and levels of zinc (Zn) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, serum biochemical parameters, and fur quality in growing-furring male mink. Animals in the control group were fed a basal diet with no Zn supplementation. Mink in the other nine treatments were fed the basal diet supplemented with Zn from either grade Zn sulfate (ZnSO4·7H2O), Zn glycinate (ZnGly), or Zn pectin oligosaccharides (ZnPOS) at concentrations of either 100, 300, or 900 mg Zn/kg dry matter. One hundred and fifty healthy 15-week-old male mink were randomly allocated to ten dietary treatments (n = 15/group) for a 60-day trial from mid-September to pelting in December. Mink in the Zn-POS groups had higher average daily gain than those in the control group (P < 0.05). Zn source slightly improved the feed/gain (P = 0.097). N retention was increased by Zn addition (P < 0.05). Mink supplemented with dietary Zn had higher (P < 0.05) pancreas Zn level than the control group. Fur length was greater (P < 0.05) in ZnGly and ZnPOS groups compared with the control. In addition, fur length and fur density increased (linear, P < 0.05) with Zn supplementation in the diet. In conclusion, our data show that dietary Zn addition improves growth performance by increasing nitrogen retention and fat digestibility in growing-furring mink and Z-POS is equally bioavailable to mink compared to ZnGly.

Effects of Dietary Zinc Pectin Oligosaccharides Chelate Supplementation on Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility and Tissue Zinc Concentrations of Broilers.

The experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of zinc pectin oligosaccharides (Zn-POS) chelate on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and tissue zinc concentrations of Arbor Acre broilers aged from 1 to 42 days. A total of 576 1-day-old broilers were randomly assigned into 4 groups with 9 replicates per group and 16 chicks per replicate. Chicks were fed either a basal diet (control) or basal diet supplemented with Zn-POS at 300 (Zn-POS-300), 600 (Zn-POS-600), or 900 mg/kg (Zn-POS-900), respectively, for 42 days. A 3-day metabolism trial was conducted during the last week of the experiment feeding. The average daily gain and the average daily feed intake of Zn-POS-600 were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than those of either the control, Zn-POS-300, or Zn-POS-900. Zn-POS-600 had the highest apparent digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, and metabolic energy among all groups. The control group had the lowest apparent digestibility of dry matter (P < 0.05), whereas the apparent digestibility of dry matter in Zn-POS-600 was higher (P < 0.05) than that of Zn-POS-300. The apparent digestibility of crude protein in Zn-POS-600 or Zn-POS-900 was higher (P < 0.05) compared to Zn-POS-300 or the control. The apparent digestibility of metabolic energy in Zn-POS-600 or Zn-POS-900 was higher (P < 0.05) than that of Zn-POS-300. Zn-POS-600 had the highest liver zinc concentrations (P < 0.05), while Zn-POS-900 had the highest pancreatic zinc concentrations (P < 0.05). Our data suggest that the supplementation of 600 mg/kg Zn-POS is optimal in improving the average daily gain and the average daily feed intake, utilization of dietary dry matter and crude protein, and increasing tissue zinc concentrations in liver and pancreas of broilers.

Effects of dietary copper on organ indexes, tissular Cu, Zn and Fe deposition and fur quality of growing-furring male mink (Mustela vison).

The objectives of this study were to study the effects of different levels of dietary copper on organ indexes, tissular Cu, Zn and Fe deposition and fur quality of mink in the growing-furring periods. One hundred and five standard dark male mink were randomly assigned to seven groups with the following dietary treatments: basal diet with no supplemental Cu (Control); basal diet supplemented with either 6, 12, 24, 48, 96 and 192 mg/kg Cu from copper sulphate, respectively. The colour intensity scores displayed a linear trend (P = 0.057). The spleen Cu concentrations responded in a linear (P < 0.05) fashion with increasing level of Cu, but copper supplementation did not affect speen concentrations of Fe or Zn. Supplemental dose of Cu linearly increased (P < 0.05) liver Cu and Fe concentrations but did not alter (P > 0.10) liver Zn. Our results indicate that Cu plays an important role in the pigmentation in growing-furring mink, and supplemental dietary Cu in growing-furring mink improve hair colour, and copper has limited effects on liver mineral deposition.

Effects of Dietary Copper and Zinc Supplementation on Growth Performance, Tissue Mineral Retention, Antioxidant Status, and Fur Quality in Growing-Furring Blue Foxes (Alopex lagopus).

A 4×2 factorial experiment with four supplemental levels of copper (0, 20, 40, or 60 mg copper per kg dry matter) from copper sulfate and two supplemental levels of zinc (40 or 200 mg zinc per kg dry matter) from zinc sulfate was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary copper and zinc supplementation on growth performance, tissue mineral retention, antioxidant status, and fur quality in growing-furring blue foxes. One hundred and twenty healthy 15-week-old male blue foxes were randomly allocated to eight dietary treatments with 15 replicates per treatment for a 70-day trial from mid-September to pelting in December. The average daily gain and feed conversion ratio were increased with copper supplementation in the first 35 days as well as the overall period (P<0.05). In addition, copper supplementation tended to increase feed intake during the first 35 days (P<0.10). Diets supplemented with 200 mg/kg zinc did not affect body gain (P>0.10) and feed intake (P>0.10) but improved feed conversion (P<0.05) compared with those supplemented 40 mg/kg zinc throughout the experiment. No copper×zinc interaction was observed for growth performance except that a tendency (P=0.09) was found for feed intake in the first 35 days. Supplementation of copper or zinc improved crude fat digestibility (P<0.01) but had no effects on the digestibility of other nutrients. Fecal copper was increased with both copper (P<0.01) and zinc addition (P<0.05). However, fecal zinc was affected only by dietary zinc addition (P<0.01). Mineral contents in serum and kidney were not affected by dietary treatments (P>0.05). However, the level of copper in the liver was increased with copper supplementation (P<0.05) and tended to decrease with zinc supplementation (P=0.08). Dietary zinc addition tended to increase the activity of alkaline phosphatase (P=0.07). The activities of copper-zinc superoxide dismutase and catalase tended to increase by copper (P=0.08) and zinc addition (P=0.05). Moreover, a copper×zinc interaction was observed for catalase in the experiment (P<0.05). Serum malondialdehyde concentration decreased with the increasing of dietary copper and zinc levels (P<0.05). The activity of glutathione peroxidase tended to increase by copper addition (P=0.09). For fur quality, foxes fed diets supplemented with high copper had larger skin length and darker pelts than those fed the basal diet without copper addition (P<0.05). In conclusion, this study demonstrated that dietary copper and zinc supplementation can improve growth by increasing feed intake and improving fat digestibility. Additionally, copper and zinc can enhance the antioxidant capacity of blue foxes. This study also indicates that additional zinc up to 200 mg/kg did not exert significant adverse effects on the copper metabolism of growing-furring blue foxes.

Influence of dietary zinc and copper on apparent mineral retention and serum biochemical indicators in young male mink (Mustela vison).

An experiment was conducted in a 3 × 3 (Cu × Zn) factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design to evaluate the effects of dietary copper and zinc on apparent mineral retention and serum biochemical indicators in young male mink on a corn-fish meal based diet. Animals were fed basal diets supplemented with Cu from copper sulfate (CuSO4) and Zn from zinc sulfate (ZnSO4). Supplemental Cu levels were 0, 15, and 30 mg/kg copper, respectively, while supplemental Zn levels were 0, 150, and 300 mg/kg, respectively. A metabolism trial of 4 days was conducted during the last week of experimental feeding. Blood samples were collected via the toe clip to determine blood hematology and blood metabolites. Copper excretion, retention, and digestibility were influenced by dietary copper (P < 0.05), however, there was also a zinc-copper interaction. Copper digestibility and retention were substantially reduced when zinc was added to the low copper diet but showed little change with zinc supplementation of the high copper diet. Both plasma Cu and plasma Zn were influenced by dietary level of the respective mineral (P < 0.05). There was no influence of dietary copper on plasma zinc; however, high Zn in the diet reduced plasma Cu concentrations. There was a zinc-copper interaction for plasma Cu (P = 0.053). Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase (Cu-Zn SOD) activity tended to be influenced by dietary zinc (P = 0.065) and dietary copper (P = 0.035). Dietary copper had a significant effect on ceruloplasmin (CER) and triglyceride (TG) concentrations (P < 0.05). Our results show that moderately high Zn in the diet (Zn:Cu ratio of 40:1) significantly reduce the apparent Cu digestibility. Our results also show that moderately high Cu in the diet increases Cu retention, but not reduces Zn absorption, and moderately high Zn in the diet reduced plasma Cu concentrations and CER activity.

Effects of dietary copper on elemental balance, plasma minerals and serum biochemical parameters of growing-furring male mink (Mustela vison).

The objectives of this study were to study the effects of different levels of dietary copper on copper and zinc balance, plasma minerals and serum biochemical parameters of mink in the growing-furring periods. One hundred and five standard dark male mink were randomly assigned to seven groups with the following dietary treatments: basal diet with no supplemental Cu (Control); basal diet supplemented with either 6, 12, 24, 48, 96, or 192 mg/kg Cu from copper sulfate, respectively. The average daily gain (ADG) linearly (P = 0.0026, P = 0.0006) responded to increasing levels of Cu; maximal growth was seen in the Cu24 group. Feed efficiency tended to improve with the increase of dietary copper level (linear P = 0.0010, quad, P = 0.0011). Fecal copper, urinary copper, retention copper responded in a linear (P < 0.05) fashion with increasing level of Cu. The effect of level of Cu was linear (P < 0.001) for plasma Cu concentration. The serum glutamic-oxalacetic transaminase (GOT) and glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (GPT) activities were increased linearly (P < 0.05) with dose of Cu, but serum total protein (TP) and albumin (ALB) concentrations decreased linearly (P < 0.05) as dietary copper levels increased. Effect of level of Cu was linear (P < 0.001) for serum ceruloplasmin (CER) concentration or Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase (Cu-Zn SOD) activity. Supplemental dose of Cu linearly decreased serum triglyceride (TG) (P = 0.011) and total cholesterol (TC) (P = 0.007). Our results indicated that the activity of Cu-dependent enzymes was enhanced by increasing dietary Cu concentration and that supplementation of Cu in the diet of mink could alter the plasma lipid profile and copper concentration.

Effects of different sources and levels of copper on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and elemental balance in young female mink (Mustela vison).

An experiment was conducted in a 3 × 3 + 1 factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design to evaluate the effects of different sources of copper on growth performance, nutrient digestibility and elemental balance in young female mink on a corn-fishmeal-based diet. Animals in the control group were fed a basal diet (containing 8.05 mg Cu/kg DM; control), which mainly consisted of corn, fish meal, meat bone meal, and soybean oil, with no copper supplementation. Minks in other nine treatments were fed basal diets supplemented with Cu from reagent-grade copper sulfate, tribasic copper chloride (TBCC) and copper methionate. Cu concentrations of experiment diets were 10, 25, and 40 mg/kg copper. A metabolism trial of 4 days was conducted during the last week of experimental feeding. Final body weight and average daily gain increased (linear and quadratic, P < 0.05) as Cu increased in the diet; maximal growth was seen in the Cu25 group. Cu supplementation slightly improved the feed conversion rate (P = 0.095). Apparent fat digestibility was increased by copper level (P = 0.020). Retention nitrogen was increased by copper level (linear, P = 0.003). Copper source had a significant effect on copper retention with Cu-Met and copper sulfate treatments retention more than TBCC treatments (P < 0.05). Our results indicate that mink can efficiently utilize added dietary fat and that Cu plays an important role in the digestion of dietary fat in mink, and mink can efficiently utilize Cu-Met and CuSO4.

Effects of dietary copper on nutrient digestibility, tissular copper deposition and fur quality of growing-furring mink (Mustela vison).

The present study investigated the effects of dietary copper (Cu) on growth performance and fur quality in growing-furring minks. One hundred and five standard dark female minks were randomly assigned to seven groups with the following dietary treatments: basal diet with no supplemental Cu (control) and basal diet supplemented with either 6, 12, 24, 48, 96 or 192 mg/kg Cu from copper sulphate, respectively. Our data showed that final body weight (P = 0.033), daily gain (P = 0.029) and fat digestibility (P = 0.0006) responded to increasing levels of Cu. The activity of glutamic-oxalacetic transaminase (GOT) and glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (GPT) in serum increased (linear and quadratic, P < 0.05) as Cu increased in the diet. Increasing Cu improved total protein (TP) and albumin (ALB) (quadratic, P < 0.05). The level of ceruloplasmin (CER) responded in a linear (P < 0.0001) and quadratic (P < 0.0001) form with increasing level of Cu. Colour intensity of those minks pelted suggested that relatively high levels of supplemental Cu have a beneficial effect on intensifying hair colour of dark mink but did not affect leather thickness. Liver Cu and plasma Cu concentrations of the mink linearly (P < 0.0001) responded to increasing levels of Cu. Our results indicate that growing-furring mink can efficiently utilize added dietary fat and that Cu plays an important role in the digestion of dietary fat in growing-furring mink, and supplemental dietary Cu in growing-furring mink promotes fat digestion and improve hair colour.