Integrated microbiota-host-metabolome approaches reveal adaptive ruminal changes to prolonged high-grain feeding and phytogenic supplementation in cattle.

Diets rich in readily fermentable carbohydrates primarily impact microbial composition and activity, but can also impair the ruminal epithelium barrier function. By combining microbiota, metabolome, and gene expression analysis, we evaluated the impact of feeding a 65% concentrate diet for 4 weeks, with or without a phytogenic feed additive (PFA), on the rumen ecosystem of cattle. The breaking point for rumen health seemed to be the second week of high grain (HG) diet, with a dysbiosis characterized by reduced alpha diversity. While we did not find changes in histological evaluations, genes related with epithelial proliferation (IGF-1, IGF-1R, EGFR, and TBP) and ZO-1 were affected by the HG feeding. Integrative analyses allowed us to define the main drivers of difference for the rumen ecosystem in response to a HG diet, identified as ZO-1, MyD88, and genus Prevotella 1. PFA supplementation reduced the concentration of potentially harmful compounds in the rumen (e.g. dopamine and 5-aminovaleric acid) and increased the tolerance of the epithelium toward the microbiota by altering the expression of TLR-2, IL-6, and IL-10. The particle-associated rumen liquid microbiota showed a quicker adaptation potential to prolonged HG feeding compared to the other microenvironments investigated, especially by the end of the experiment.

Extender Supplementation with Glutathione (GSH) and Taurine Improves In Vitro Sperm Quality and Antioxidant Status of New Zealand Rabbits during Chilled Storage for up to 72 hours.

This study assessed the influence of supplementing the rabbit semen extender with various concentrations of glutathione (GSH) and taurine at 24, 48, and 72 h postchilling at 5°C. Semen samples were collected from 20 New Zealand bucks, and ejaculates with standard color, motility (>85%), about 0.5 mL volume, and ∼400 × 106/mL concentration were used and diluted with extenders supplemented with 0.5, 1, and 2 mM of GSH and 1, 5, and 10 mM of taurine and chilled at 5°C. Nonsupplemented samples were used as a control. Sperm's progressive motility, acrosome reaction, and extracellular oxidative stress biomarkers such as MDA contents and GPx, SOD, and CAT concentrations and intracellular transcriptomic levels of SOD and CAT genes were assessed. GSH and taurine supplementation improved the sperm's kinetics by reducing cooling-associated stress, which was ascertained by lowering MDA concentration and increasing SOD, CAT, and GPx concentrations (P < 0.05). Increasing the levels of antioxidant enzymes in the extender was due to the increasing mRNA copies of the SOD and CAT genes (P < 0.05). Furthermore, GSH and taurine maintained the fructose levels in the extender and lowered the GPT levels, which implies sperm membrane stability is maintained through GSH and taurine supplementation. GSH and taurine supplementation to the extender had protective influences on the in vitro rabbit semen quality during chilled storage for up to 72 h, which were remarkable with increasing supplementation dose and cooling time at 5°C.

Growing and laying performance of two different-plumage color Japanese quail varieties supplemented with corn silk in their diet.

The current study aimed to investigate the dietary supplementation effect of corn silk (CS) on performance and blood chemistry of brown and white-feathered quails during the grower and layer periods. Japanese quails of brown and white-feathered color (180 birds/variety at 2 wks old) were randomly allotted into three groups with 3 replicates each (n = 20 birds/replicate). Corn silk powder (CS) was supplemented to the basal diet at 0, 1, and 2% of the diet for each quail variety for 1-month growing period, then continued for another 6-wk laying period to assess the egg production and egg quality characteristics. CS supplementation at 1% and 2% for brown and white-feathered quails respectively improved their growth performance (body weight and weight gain), carcass yield, and intestinal villi length with increasing feed consumption but without changes in feed conversion ratio. In both quail varieties, CS addition had a hypolipidemic effect, confirmed by lowering serum triglyceride (TG), cholesterol (CHO), and low density lipoprotein (LDL) while increased high density lipoprotein (HDL) concentrations (P < 0.05) with a clear response observed in white quails than the brown ones. Besides, CS supplementation increased (P = 0.002) hen day egg production in brown feathered quails, while reducing it in the white-feathered quails compared with the CS-free diet. The increased egg production was not significantly (P > 0.05) correlated with lower content of TG and CHO, while significantly increased the antioxidant content in both quail varieties (P < 0.05). Moreover, CS dietary supplementation significantly enhanced (P = 0.003) the yolk color, especially in brown-feathered quail. In conclusion, CS can be safely supplemented to the Japanese quail diet (1% and 2% for brown-feathered and white-feathered quails respectively) to improve growth performance, and egg quality characteristics.