Effects of dietary supplementation with organic selenium-enriched yeast on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality of finishing lambs.

This study was aimed to assess the impact-enriched Saccharomyces cerevisiae with organic selenium addition in finishing lambs on fatty acid composition and physicochemical meat characteristics. Eighteen five-month-old Pelibuey female lambs were fed the same diet for 60 days. Animals were assigned a completely random design of three treatments, control (Se0) without the addition of selenium-yeast or supplemented with 0.35 ppm of selenium-yeast (Se35) and with 0.60 ppm of selenium-yeast (Se60). Lambs were slaughtered at an average weight of 39.5 ± 4.41 kg. Feed intake and meat water holding capacity were decreased (P = 0.001) in Se35 lambs, whereas meat moisture and fat were decreased (P = 0.002) in Se60 lambs. However, meat carbohydrates were increased (P = 0.001) in Se60 lambs. It is concluded that consumption of selenium-yeast in lambs did not alter the productive variables nor the fatty acid composition, though, the fat content is lower, and the carbohydrates are higher in physicochemical meat characteristics.

Cattle welfare assessment at the slaughterhouse level: Integrated risk profiles based on the animal's origin, pre-slaughter logistics, and iceberg indicators.

Detection of on farm and transport animal welfare problems at slaughterhouse level is a key issue for the meat industry; however, usually, the assessments do not include basic aspects of animal health. For that reason, it is necessary to develop an assessment method that has an integrative scope and identifies the risk profiles in animals. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to detect cattle welfare indicators that can be implemented at the slaughterhouse level and to develop integrated risk profiles based on the animal's origin, pre-slaughter logistics, and animal-based indicators. We recorded the origin, commercial category, transportation details, and horn size of 1040 cattle upon arrival at the slaughterhouse. Cattle welfare was measured based on individual scores for vocalizations, stunning shots, carcass bruises, meat pH, severe hoof injuries, and organ condemnations. To characterize operational and logistic practices from the farm to the slaughterhouse, a two-step cluster analysis was applied to the aforementioned variables (production system, cattle type, horn size, journey distance, vehicle type), which identified four clusters: small feedlot and free-range profile (C1, n = 216, 20.8 %), feedlot profile (C2, n = 193, 18.6 %), culled dairy cows profile (C3, n = 262, 25.2 %), and free-range profile (C4, n = 369, 35.5 %). The animal's diet and environmental conditions might have influenced the development of hoof disorders in C1 animals (P = 0.023), the proportion of animals that were re-shot was highest in C2 animals (P = 0.033), and C3 and C4 animals were most likely to suffer injuries such as severe bruising (P = 0.001). In addition, the number of stunning shots, meat pH, carcass bruises, severe hoof injuries, and liver condemnations, explained a significant variation in the incidence of various health and welfare consequences based on an animal's origin, which confirmed their importance as 'welfare iceberg' indicators. The study provided detailed data that can be included into assessment methods for the welfare of slaughter cattle, which can be tailored to specific production systems.

Effect of low dose metronomic therapy on MCF-7 tumor cells growth and angiogenesis. Role of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors.

The non-neuronal cholinergic system refers to the presence of acetylcholine, choline acetyltransferase, acetylcholinesterase and cholinergic receptors, nicotinic and muscarinic (mAChRs) expressed in non-neuronal cells. The presence of mAChRs has been detected in different type of tumor cells and they are linked with tumorigenesis. We had previously documented the expression of mAChRs in murine and human mammary adenocarcinomas and the absence of these receptors in normal mammary cells of the same origins. We also demonstrated that mAChRs are involved in breast cancer progression, pointing to a main role for mAChRs as oncogenic proteins. Since the long term treatment of breast cancer cells with the muscarinic agonist carbachol promoted cell death, here we investigated the ability of low doses of this agonist combined with paclitaxel (PX), a taxane usually administered to treat breast cancer, to inhibit the progression of human MCF-7 tumor cells. We demonstrated that PX plus carbachol reduced cell viability and tumor growth in vitro probably due to a down-regulation in cancer stem cells population and in the expression of ATP "binding cassette" G2 drug extrusion pump; also a reduction in malignant-induced angiogenesis was produced by the in vivo administration of the mentioned combination in a metronomic schedule to MCF-7 tumor-bearing NUDE mice. Our results confirm that mAChRs could be considered as therapeutic targets for metronomic therapy in breast cancer as well as the usefulness of a muscarinic agonist as repositioning drug in the treatment of this type of tumors.

Role of dose-dependent Lactobacillus farciminis on ruminal microflora biogases and fermentation activities of three silage-based rations.

AIMS: The influence of Lactobacillus farciminis on ruminal fermentation characteristics was elucidated in this study. METHODS AND RESULTS: Ruminal fermentation was conducted using maize silage ration (R) and concentrate (C) as 75R:25C, 50R:50C and 25R:75C, supplemented with lactic acid bacteria (LB) at 0, 20 and 30 mg g-1 dry matter substrate and their interaction (1st experiment). The same LB product was used at 0, 20, 40 and 60 mg g-1 dry matter of the mixture (1 : 1) of oat straw and concentrate for 48 h of incubation (2nd experiment). At 24 and 48 h of incubation, LB0 produced the highest biogas and LB20 produced the lowest, whereas at 48 h of incubation LB40 produced the lowest. In ration x LB, LB40 resulted in the highest biogas production, while LB0 had the lowest (P < 0·001) at 8, 10 and 12 h of incubation. Inclusions of LB0, 20, 40 and 60 mg g-1 dry matter resulted in a linear increase (P < 0·003) in the asymptotic biogas production and fermentation parameters in a dose-dependent manner, except in pH which decreased (P = 0·029). CONCLUSIONS: The use of L. farciminis in diet with high level of concentrate without any adverse effect on the pH of rumen fluid to the point of acidosis. Furthermore, in high forage diet, the use of L. farciminis would help to improve the ruminal fermentation digestibility and mitigate ruminal biogas production. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Using Lactobacillus as a feed additive can improve ruminal fermentation activities by maintaining the stability of pH in the rumen and improving the feed utilization through manipulation of the microbial ecosystem.

Corrigendum Morphological and sequence-related amplified polymorphism-based molecular diversity of local and exotic wheat genotypes - Genet. Mol. Res. 15 (2): gmr.15027484.

The correction is only in the name of the species studied and should be Triticum aestivum, instead of Triticum sativum.

Morphological and sequence-related amplified polymorphism-based molecular diversity of local and exotic wheat genotypes.

Assessing genetic diversity is a prerequisite for the genetic improvement of wheat. Molecular markers offer accurate and reproducible means for assessing genetic diversity. Field performance and sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP)-based assessment of molecular diversity was carried out on a set of 10 local and introduced bread wheat (Triticum sativum L.) genotypes grown in the middle arid region of Saudi Arabia. The results revealed highly significant differences among the studied phenological traits and revealed a significant amount of genetic diversity across the tested genotypes. The overall performance revealed the superiority of KSU 102 in terms of yield and its components, with a yield potential of 8.7 tons/ha. Highly significant and positive correlations were observed among grain yield and biological yield, and also, spike length and spike weight. Thirteen SRAP primer combinations successfully amplified 954 fragments. The total number of genetic loci analyzed was 312. The overall polymorphism ratio was 99.67%, ranging from 98 to 100%. The polymorphic information content values ranged from 0.67 for ME11 x EM5 to 0.97 for ME9 x EM4 and ME11 x EM6, respectively. The wheat genotypes were clustered based on their genetic constitution and origin. The results demonstrate the power of SRAP primers for detecting molecular diversity and for varietal discrimination. The results show that high levels of genetic diversity exist, and suggest the potential of the tested materials for wheat crop improvement in the arid central region of Saudi Arabia.

In vitro gas production of foliage from three browse tree species treated with different dose levels of exogenous fibrolytic enzymes.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different dose levels of exogenous fibrolytic enzymes (EFE) on in vitro ruminal fermentation kinetics and energy utilization of foliages from three browse trees (Pithecellobium dulce, Heliocarpus velutinus and Guazuma ulmifolia). Mixture of EFE product was added to the leaves of the three browse tree species at three dose levels: 0 (control), 3.5 and 7.0 mg/g of DM. Chemical composition of the foliages, including plant secondary metabolites such as total phenolics (TP), saponins (SAP) and aqueous fraction (AF), was determined. In addition, in vitro assaying of ruminal gas production kinetics was determined for the three browse three foliages treated with EFE. P. dulce had the highest crude protein content (p < 0.05), whereas G. ulmifolia had the highest content of neutral detergent fibre and SAP (p < 0.05) and H. velutinus had the lowest content of TP (p < 0.05). The interaction between tree species and dose level of EFE was significant (p < 0.05) for gas production (GP) at 24 h of incubation, parameters b and c of the accumulated GP curve, short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and metabolizable energy (ME). The lowest (p < 0.01) extent of accumulated GP as well as the b and c values occurred in G. ulmifolia at 0 mg EFE/g DM. P. dulce had the highest (p < 0.05) values for ME and SCFA at the highest dose of EFE. Tree species and dose level had significant (p < 0.05) effects on all parameters describing in vitro ruminal fermentation kinetics and energy utilization. Addition of EFE improved the fermentation kinetics of the browse species considered in this study.

Oral administration of Sauce llorón extract to growing lambs to control gastrointestinal nematodes and Moniezia spp.

OBJECTIVE: To explore anthelmintic effects of oral administration of aqueous extract of Sauce llorón (Salix babylonica; SB) against gastrointestinal nematodes and Moniezia spp. METHODS: Sixteen Pelibuey male lambs of 3-4 months of age and (23.7 ± 3.3) kg body weight were used in a completely randomized design to be fed a total mixed ration (Control; SB0), or Control plus SB extract using 20 (SB20), 40 (SB40) and 60 (SB60) mL/lamb(/)day for 45 days. Lambs had a natural gastrointestinal nematodes and Moniezia spp. infection and had never been treated with chemical anthelmintic drugs. Individual faecal samples were collected for ova counting using McMaster procedure after 0, 7, 14, 21, 30 and 45 days post extract administration. RESULTS: No extract dose × day interactions for both gastrointestinal nematodes and Moniezia spp. egg count were found. Administration of SB extract had a higher effect (quadratic effect, P = 0.006 4) at dose of 20 mL SB/lamb/day for gastrointestinal nematode eggs during the first 21 days; however, the dose of SB40 tended (linear effect, P = 0.089 7) to be more effective than the others for Moniezia spp. egg during the first 7 days. Sampling day had a linear (P = 0.043 6) effect on Moniezia spp. egg count. CONCLUSIONS: The aqueous extract of SB could be more effective against nematodes at 20 and at 40 mL/lamb/day for Moniezia spp. The use of the SB extract could represent a promising alternative to synthetic anthelmintics for the treatment of gastrointestinal nematodes and Moniezia spp. in small ruminants from organic and conventional production systems.

Identity by descent and DNA sequence variation of human SINE and LINE elements.

To test the hypothesis that Alu and L1 elements are genetic characters that are essentially homoplasy-free, we sequenced a total of five human L1 elements and eleven recently integrated Alu elements from 160 chromosomes (80 individuals representing four diverse human populations). Analysis of worldwide samples at L1 loci revealed 292 segregating sites and a nucleotide diversity of 0.0050. For Ya5 Alu loci, there were 129 segregating sites and nucleotide diversity was estimated at 0.0045. The Alu and L1 sequence diversity varied element to element. No completely or partially deleted Alu or L1 alleles were identified during the analysis. These data suggest that mobile element insertions are identical by descent characters for the study of human population genetics.