Effects of Serotonin on Cell Viability, Permeability of Bovine Mammary Gland Epithelial Cells and Their Transcriptome Analysis.

Serotonin (5-HT) has been reported to play an important role in mammary gland involution that is defined as the process through which the gland returns to a nonlactating state. However, the overall picture of the regulatory mechanisms of 5-HT and the effects of serotonylation on mammary gland involution still need to be further investigated. The current study aimed to investigate the effects of 5-HT on global gene expression profiles of bovine mammary epithelial cells (MAC-T) and to preliminarily examine whether the serotonylation involved in the mammary gland involution by using Monodansylcadaverine (MDC), a competitive inhibitor of transglutaminase 2. Results showed that a high concentration of 5-HT decreased viability and transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) in MAC-T cells. Transcriptome analysis indicated that 2477 genes were differentially expressed in MAC-T cells treated with 200 µg/mL of 5-HT compared with the control group, and the Notch, p53, and PI3K-Akt signaling pathways were enriched. MDC influenced 5-HT-induced MAC-T cell death, fatty acid synthesis, and the formation and disruption of tight junctions. Overall, a high concentration of 5-HT is able to accelerate mammary gland involution, which may be regulated through the Notch, p53, and PI3K-Akt signaling pathways. Serotonylation is involved in bovine mammary gland involution.

A 1.1 Mb duplication CNV on chromosome 17 contributes to skeletal muscle development in Boer goats.

The Boer goat is one of the top meat breeds in modern animal husbandry and has attracted widespread attention for its unique growth performance. However, the genetic basis of muscle development in the Boer goat remains obscure. In this study, we identified specific structural variants in the Boer goat based on genome-wide selection signals and analyzed the basis of the molecular heredity of related candidate genes in muscle development. A total of 9 959 autosomal copy number variations (CNVs) were identified through selection signal analysis in 127 goat genomes. Specifically, we confirmed that the highest signal CNV (HSV) was a chromosomal arrangement containing an approximately 1.11 Mb (CHIR17: 60062304-61171840 bp) duplicated fragment inserted in reverse orientation and a 5 362 bp deleted region (CHIR17:60145940-60151302 bp) with overlapping genes (e.g., ARHGAP10, NR3C2, EDNRA, PRMT9, and TMEM184C). The homozygous duplicated HSV genotype (+/+) was found in 96% of Boer goats but was not detected in Eurasian goats and was only detected in 4% of indigenous African goats. The expression network of three candidate genes ( ARHGAP10, NR3C2, and EDNRA) regulating dose transcription was constructed by RNA sequencing. Results indicated that these genes were involved in the proliferation and differentiation of skeletal muscle satellite cells (SMSCs) and their overexpression significantly increased the expression of SAA3. The HSV of the Boer goat contributed to superior skeletal muscle growth via the dose effects of overlapping genes.

Effects of Mixing Garlic Skin on Fermentation Quality, Microbial Community of High-Moisture Pennisetum hydridum Silage.

Garlic skin, a by-product of garlic processing, was supposed to improve the fermentation quality of high-moisture silages because of its low moisture content and active compounds. Thus, fermentation and microbial characteristics of high-moisture Pennisetum hydridum ensiled with the addition of 0, 10, 20, and 30 wt% garlic skin (on a fresh matter basis) were analyzed during a 60-days fermentation. Results showed that the addition of garlic skin increased the dry matter content and lactic acid production, and decreased the pH and ammonia-N content of the silage. Adding garlic skin changed the relative abundance of bacterial communities with an increase in Lactobacillus and a decrease in Clostridium relative abundance. In conclusion, co-ensiling of high-moisture Pennisetum hydridum with garlic skin could be a simple approach to improve the silage quality and nutrients preservation.

Dietary inclusion of multispecies probiotics to reduce the severity of post-weaning diarrhea caused by Escherichia coli F18+ in pigs.

This study was aimed to determine the efficacy of multispecies probiotics in reducing the severity of post-weaning diarrhea caused by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) F18+ on newly weaned pigs. Thirty-two pigs (16 barrows and 16 gilts, BW = 6.99 ± 0.33 kg) at 21 d of age were individually allotted in a randomized complete block design with 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments. Pigs were selected from sows not infected previously and not vaccinated against ETEC. Pigs were fed experimental diets for 25 d based on 10 d phase 1 and 15 d phase 2. The factors were ETEC challenge (oral inoculation of saline solution or E. coli F18+ at 2 × 109 CFU) and probiotics (none or multispecies probiotics 0.15% and 0.10% for phase 1 and 2, respectively). Body weight and feed intake were measured on d 5, 9, 13, 19, and 25. Fecal scores were measured daily. Blood samples were taken on d 19 and 24. On d 25, all pigs were euthanized to obtain samples of digesta, intestinal tissues, and spleen. The tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), malondialdehyde (MDA), peptide YY (PYY), and neuropeptide Y (NPY) were measured in serum and intestinal tissue. Data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS. The fecal score of pigs was increased (P < 0.05) by ETEC challenge at the post-challenge period. The ETEC challenge decreased (P < 0.05) jejunal villus height and crypt depth, tended to increase (P = 0.056) jejunal TNFα, increased (P < 0.05) ileal crypt depth, and decreased (P < 0.05) serum NPY. The probiotics decreased (P < 0.05) serum TNFα, tended to reduce (P = 0.064) jejunal MDA, tended to increase (P = 0.092) serum PYY, and increased (P < 0.05) jejunal villus height, and especially villus height-to-crypt depth ratio in challenged pigs. Growth performance of pigs were not affected by ETEC challenge, whereas the probiotics increased (P < 0.05) ADG and ADFI and tended to increase (P = 0.069) G:F ratio. In conclusion, ETEC F18+ challenge caused diarrhea, intestinal inflammation and morphological damages without affecting the growth performance. The multispecies probiotics enhanced growth performance by reducing intestinal inflammation, oxidative stress, morphological damages.

Sodium Butyrate More Effectively Mitigates the Negative Effects of High-Concentrate Diet in Dairy Cows than Sodium ß-Hydroxybutyrate via Reducing Free Bacterial Cell Wall Components in Rumen Fluid and Plasma.

The present study was aimed at investigating the effects of sodium butyrate and sodium ß-hydroxybutyrate on lactation and health of dairy cows fed a high-concentrate (HC) diet. Eighty mid-lactation dairy cows with an average milk yield of 33.75 ± 5.22 kg/d were randomly allocated to four groups (n = 20 per group) and were fed either a low-concentrate (LC) diet, a HC diet, the HC diet with 1% sodium butyrate (HCSB), or the HC diet with 1% sodium ß-hydroxybutyrate (HCHB). The feeding trial lasted for 7 weeks, with a 2-week adaptation period and a 5-week measurement period, and the trial started from 96 ± 13 d in milk. Sodium butyrate supplementation delayed the decline in milk production and improved milk synthesis efficiency and milk fat content. Additionally, it decreased the proinflammatory cytokines and acute phase proteins (APPs) in plasma, the leucocytes in blood, the somatic cell count (SCC) in milk, and the gene expression of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and proinflammatory cytokines in the mammary gland, due to decreasing the contents of bacterial cell wall components (lipopolysaccharide, LPS; peptidoglycan, PGN; and lipoteichoic acid, LTA) in the rumen and plasma, compared with the HC diet. Sodium ß-hydroxybutyrate supplementation also improved milk yield, milk synthesis efficiency and milk fat content and partially reduced the adverse effects caused by the HC diet, but it had no effect on decreasing bacterial cell wall components in the rumen and plasma, compared with the HC diet. Collectively, both sodium butyrate and sodium ß-hydroxybutyrate mitigated the negative effects of HC diet on lactation and health of dairy cows, with sodium butyrate being more effective than sodium ß-hydroxybutyrate.

Dandelion Extract Alleviated Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Oxidative Stress through the Nrf2 Pathway in Bovine Mammary Epithelial Cells.

In practical dairy production, cows are frequently subjected to inflammatory diseases, such as high-grain diet-induced subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA) as well as mastitis and metritis. Under the circumstances, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induces oxidative stress within the cow and in the mammary epithelial cells. It has implications in practical production to alleviate oxidative stress and to optimize the lactational function of the mammary epithelial cells. This study thus aimed to investigate the antioxidative effects of dandelion aqueous extract (DAE) on LPS-induced oxidative stress and the mechanism of DAE as an antioxidant to alleviate oxidative stress through the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathway in the bovine mammary epithelial cell line MAC-T cells. The cells were cultured for 48 h in six treatments including control (without LPS and DAE), LPS (100 ng/mL), DAE10 (100 ng/mL LPS and 10 µg/mL DAE), DAE50 (100 ng/mL LPS and 50 µg/mL DAE), DAE100 (100 ng/mL LPS and 100 µg/mL DAE), and DAE200 (100 ng/mL LPS and 200 µg/mL DAE), respectively. The results showed that cell viability was reduced by LPS, and the adverse effect of LPS was suppressed with the supplementation of DAE. Lipopolysaccharide-induced oxidative stress through enhancing reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, resulted in increases in oxidative damage marker concentrations, while 10 and 50 µg/mL DAE alleviated the LPS-induced oxidative stress via scavenging cellular ROS and improving antioxidant enzyme activity. The upregulation of antioxidative gene expression in DAE treatments was promoted through activating the Nrf2 signaling pathway, with DAE at a concentration of 50 µg/mL exhibiting the highest effect. Overall, DAE acted as an effective antioxidant to inhibit LPS-induced oxidative stress and as a potential inducer of the Nrf2 signaling pathway.

Effects of Peptidoglycan, Lipoteichoic Acid and Lipopolysaccharide on Inflammation, Proliferation and Milk Fat Synthesis in Bovine Mammary Epithelial Cells.

The mammary gland of the cow is particularly susceptible to infections of a wide range of pathogenic bacteria, including both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The endotoxins of these pathogenic bacteria include peptidoglycan (PGN), lipoteichoic acid (LTA) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and they are the pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) to induce mastitis. LPS can directly inhibit proliferation and milk fat synthesis of bovine mammary epithelial cells (BMECs) while inducing mastitis, but it is unclear whether PGN and LTA also have such effects. Furthermore, since the three PAMPs usually appear simultaneously in the udder of cows with mastitis, their synergistic effects on proliferation and milk fat synthesis of BMECs are worth investigating. The immortalized BMECs (MAC-T cells) were stimulated for 24 h using various concentrations of PGN, LTA and LPS, respectively, to determine the doses that could effectively cause inflammatory responses. Next, the cells were stimulated for 24 h with no endotoxins (CON), PGN, LTA, LPS, PGN + LTA, and PGN + LTA + LPS, respectively, with the predetermined doses to analyze their effects on proliferation and milk fat synthesis of BMECs. PGN, LTA and LPS successfully induced inflammatory responses of BMECs with doses of 30, 30 and 0.1 µg/mL, respectively. Although the proliferation of BMECs was significantly inhibited in the following order: LTA < PGN + LTA < PGN + LTA + LPS, there was no change in cell morphology and cell death. LTA significantly promoted the expression of fatty acid synthesis-related genes but did not change the content of intracellular triglyceride (TG), compared with the CON group. The mRNA expression of fatty acid synthesis-related genes in the LPS group was the lowest among all the groups. Meanwhile, LPS significantly decreased the content of intracellular non-esterified fatty acids (NEFAs) and TG, compared with the CON group. PGN had no effects on milk fat synthesis. Co-stimulation with PGN, LTA and LPS significantly increased the expression of fat acid synthesis-related genes and the intracellular NEFAs, but decreased intracellular TG, compared with sole LPS stimulation. Collectively, PGN, LTA and LPS showed an additive effect on inhibiting proliferation of BMECs. The promoting role of LTA in fatty acid synthesis might offset the negative effects of LPS in this regard, but co-stimulation with PGN, LTA and LPS significantly decreased intracellular TG content.

The Synergism of PGN, LTA and LPS in Inducing Transcriptome Changes, Inflammatory Responses and a Decrease in Lactation as Well as the Associated Epigenetic Mechanisms in Bovine Mammary Epithelial Cells.

Mastitis is usually caused by a variety of pathogenic bacteria that include both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is the pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP) of Gram-negative bacteria, and peptidoglycan (PGN) and lipoteichoic acid (LTA) are those of Gram-positive bacteria. The effects of LPS, PGN and/or LTA on inflammatory response and lactation in bovine mammary epithelial cells (BMECs) are well studied, but the epigenetic mechanisms of their effects received less attention. Furthermore, since the three PAMPs are often simultaneously present in the udder of cows with mastitis, it has implications in practice to study their additive effects. The results show that co-stimulation of bovine mammary epithelial cells with PGN, LTA, and LPS induced a higher number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and greater expressions of inflammatory factors including interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-6, IL-8, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand (CXCL)1, and CXCL6. In addition, co-stimulation further increased DNA hypomethylation compared with sole LPS stimulation. Co-stimulation greatly decreased casein expression but did not further decrease histone acetylation levels and affect the activity of histone acetyltransferase (HAT) and histone deacetylase (HDAC), compared with sole LPS stimulation. Collectively, this study demonstrated that PGN, LTA, and LPS had an additive effect on inducing transcriptome changes and inflammatory responses in BMECs, probably through inducing a greater decrease in DNA methylation. Co-stimulation with PGN, LTA, and LPS decreased casein expression to a greater degree, but it might not be linked to histone acetylation and HAT and HDAC activity.

PGN and LTA from Staphylococcus aureus Induced Inflammation and Decreased Lactation through Regulating DNA Methylation and Histone H3 Acetylation in Bovine Mammary Epithelial Cells.

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) are the most common pathogens of mastitis, and S. aureus generally causes subclinical mastitis which is more persistent and resistant to treatment. Peptidoglycan (PGN) and lipoteichoic acid (LTA) are cell wall components of S. aureus. Although the roles of PGN and LTA in causing inflammation are well studied, the epigenetic mechanisms of the effects of PGN and LTA on the inflammation and lactation remain poorly understood. This study characterized the gene expression profiling by RNA sequencing and investigated DNA methylation and histone acetylation in relation to inflammation and lactation in the immortalized bovine mammary epithelial cell line (MAC-T). The cells were cultured for 24 h with neither PGN nor LTA (CON), PGN (30 µg/mL), LTA (30 µg/mL), and PGN (30 µg/mL) + LTA (30 µg/mL), respectively. The number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and the expression of proinflammatory factors including interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-6, IL-8, chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand (CXCL)1, and CXCL6 of the treatments increased in the following order: CON < PGN < LTA < PGN + LTA, and the DEGs mainly enriched on the cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction and chemokine signaling pathway. LTA and PGN + LTA induced hypomethylation of global DNA by suppressing DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) activity. PGN and LTA, alone or combined, decreased the mRNA expression of casein genes (CSN1S1, CSN2, and CSN3) and the expression of two caseins (CSN2 and CSN3), and reduced histone H3 acetylation by suppressing histone acetyltransferase (HAT) activity and promoting histone deacetylase (HDAC) activity. Collectively, this study revealed that PGN and LTA induced inflammation probably due to decreasing DNA methylation through regulating DNMT activity, and decreased lactation possibly through reducing histone H3 acetylation by regulating HAT and HDAC activity in bovine mammary epithelial cells.

Effect of suckling intensity of primiparous sows on production performance during current and subsequent parities1.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of suckling intensity (litter size and lactation length) to primiparious sows on production performance during current and subsequent parities. Upon farrowing, 115 primiparous sows (farrowing weight: 222.7 ± 20.0 kg) were initially allotted to 4 treatments in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement with 2 litter sizes: 10 and 13 piglets (LS10 vs. LS13), and 2 lactation lengths: 21 and 27 d (LL21 vs. LL27). Upon weaning, sows were rebred and those farrowed successfully (n = 66) kept 10 piglets and weaned at 21 d in the second parity. Sows were fed ad libitum during lactation in both parities. Feed intake, BW loss, backfat loss, litter size, and litter weight gain during lactation in both parities were determined. Litter weight gain in LS13 was greater (P < 0.05) than that in LS10 (54.4 vs. 47.7 kg) during the first lactation. Sows in LS13 had a greater (P < 0.05) BW loss than sows in LS10 (24.1 vs. 17.4 kg). Body weight loss was not different between LL27 and LL21. Sows in LS13 tended to have a greater (P = 0.075) removal rate than those in LS10 (47.5 vs. 32.2%). Sows in LL27 had a smaller (P < 0.05) removal rate than those in LL21 (28.0 vs. 51.7%). In the second parity, gestation BW gain in LL27 tended to be greater (P = 0.098) than that in LL21 when the previous litter size was 10 piglets (56.1 vs. 33.2 kg). Litter performance and feed intake of sows were not affected by previous litter size, lactation length, and their interaction. The farrowing weight, farrowing body protein and lipid, body weight loss was not different between LS13 and LS10, whereas backfat loss in LS13 was smaller (P < 0.05) than that in LS10 during the second lactation (0.9 vs. 2.4 mm). The predicted body lipid loss in LS13 was also smaller than that in LS10 (2.3 vs. 5.3 kg) during the second lactation. Sows in LL27 had a smaller (P < 0.05) BW loss and body lipid loss during the second lactation than sows in LL21 (4.0 vs. 9.0 kg; 2.3 vs. 4.8 kg). The concentration of milk fat in LL27 was smaller (P < 0.05) than that in LL21 (7.9 vs. 9.1%). In conclusion, increasing suckling intensity to primiparous sows increased litter weight gain but increasing litter size reduced piglet ADG. Sow performance in the second lactation was not negatively affected by increasing suckling intensity of the first lactation. Interestingly, sows with an increased suckling intensity in the first lactation had reduced loss of body reserves in the second lactation.

Bacterial endotoxin decreased histone H3 acetylation of bovine mammary epithelial cells and the adverse effect was suppressed by sodium butyrate.

BACKGROUND: In practical production, dairy cows are frequently exposed to bacterial endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) when they are subjected to high-concentrate diets, poor hygienic environments, as well as mastitis and metritis. Histone acetylation is an important epigenetic control of DNA transcription and a higher histone acetylation is associated with facilitated transcription. LPS might reduce histone acetylation in the mammary epithelial cells, resulting in lower transcription and mRNA expression of lactation-related genes. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of LPS on histone acetylation in bovine mammary epithelial cells and the efficacy of sodium butyrate (SB) in suppressing the endotoxin-induced adverse effect. Firstly, the bovine mammary epithelial cell line MAC-T cells were treated for 48 h with LPS at different doses of 0, 1, 10, 100, and 1000 endotoxin units (EU)/mL (1 EU = 0.1 ng), and the acetylation levels of histones H3 and H4 as well as the histone deacetylase (HDAC) activity were measured. Secondly, the MAC-T cells were treated for 48 h as follows: control, LPS (100 EU/mL), and LPS (100 EU/mL) plus SB (10 mmol/L), and the acetylation levels of histones H3 and H4 as well as milk gene mRNA expressions were determined. RESULTS: The results showed that HDAC activity increased linearly with increasing LPS doses (P < 0.01). The histone H3 acetylation levels were significantly reduced by LPS, while the histone H4 acetylation levels were not affected by LPS (P > 0.05). Sodium butyrate, an inhibitor of HDAC, effectively suppressed the endotoxin-induced decline of histone H3 acetylation (P < 0.05). As a result, SB significantly enhanced the mRNA expression of lactation-related genes (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest one of the adverse effects of LPS on the lactation of bovine mammary gland epithelial cells was due to decreasing histone H3 acetylation through increasing HDAC activity, whereas the endotoxin-induced adverse effects were effectively suppressed by SB.

Bacterial Lipopolysaccharide Induced Alterations of Genome-Wide DNA Methylation and Promoter Methylation of Lactation-Related Genes in Bovine Mammary Epithelial Cells.

Bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) could result in poor lactation performance in dairy cows. High methylation of DNA is associated with gene repression. However, it is unclear whether LPS could suppress the expression of lactation-related genes by inducing DNA methylation. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the impact of LPS on genome-wide DNA methylation, using methylated DNA immunoprecipitation with high-throughput sequencing (MeDIP-seq) and on the promoter methylation of lactation-related genes using MassArray analysis in bovine mammary epithelial cells. The bovine mammary epithelial cell line MAC-T cells were treated for 48 h with LPS at different doses of 0, 1, 10, 100, and 1000 endotoxin units (EU)/mL (1 EU = 0.1 ng). The results showed that the genomic methylation levels and the number of methylated genes in the genome as well as the promoter methylation levels of milk genes increased when the LPS dose was raised from 0 to 10 EU/mL, but decreased after further increasing the LPS dose. The milk gene mRNA expression levels of the 10 EU/mL LPS treatment were significantly lower than these of untreated cells. The results also showed that the number of hypermethylated genes was greater than that of hypomethylated genes in lipid and amino acid metabolic pathways following 1 and 10 EU/mL LPS treatments as compared with control. By contrast, in the immune response pathway the number of hypomethylated genes increased with increasing LPS doses. The results indicate LPS at lower doses induced hypermethylation of the genome and promoters of lactation-related genes, affecting milk gene mRNA expression. However, LPS at higher doses induced hypomethylation of genes involved in the immune response pathway probably in favor of immune responses.

Intestinal challenge with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in pigs, and nutritional intervention to prevent postweaning diarrhea.

Gut health of nursery pigs immediately after weaning is tightly associated with their growth performance and economic values. Postweaning diarrhea (PWD) is one of the major concerns related to gut health of nursery pigs which often is caused by infections of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), mainly including F4 (K88)+ and F18+E. coli. The main virulence factors of ETEC are adhesins (fimbriae or pili) and enterotoxins. The common types of fimbriae on ETEC from PWD pigs are F18+ and F4+. Typically, PWD in pigs is associated with both F18+ and F4+ ETEC infections whereas pre-weaning diarrhea in pigs is associated with F4+ ETEC infection. Enterotoxins including heat-labile enterotoxins (LT) and heat-stable peptide toxins (ST) are associated with causing diarrhea in pigs. At least 109 to 1010 ETEC are required to induce diarrhea in nursery pigs typically lasting 1 to 5 days after ETEC infection. Antibiotics used to be the most effective way to prevent PWD, however, with the increased bacterial resistance to antibiotics, alternatives to the use of antibiotics are urgently needed to prevent PWD. Immunopropylaxis and nutritional intervention of antimicrobial minerals (such as zinc oxide and copper sulfate), organic acids, functional feedstuffs (such as blood plasma and egg yolk antibodies), direct fed microbials, phytobiotics, and bacteriophage can potentially prevent PWD associated with ETEC. Some other feed additives such as nucleotides, feed enzymes, prebiotic oligosaccharides, and clay minerals can enhance intestinal health and thus indirectly help with preventing PWD. Numerous papers show that nutritional intervention using selected feed additives can effectively prevent PWD.

A complete mitochondrial genome of Youzhou black-skin goat.

The Youzhou black-skin goat (Capra hircus), an indigenous breed of Chinese southwest. Here, we describe the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Hechuan white goat. The mitogenome is 16,640 nt in length, consisting of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, 2 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes and a control region. As in other mammals, most mitochondrial genes are encoded on the heavy strand, except for ND6 and eight tRNA genes, which are encoded on the light strand. Its overall base composition is A: 33.5%, T: 27.3%, C: 26.1% and G: 13.1%. The complete mitogenome of the local subspecies of Hechuan white goat could provide an important data to further breed improvement and animal genetics resource conservation in China.

A complete mitochondrial genome of Dazu Black goat.

Dazu Black goat is an indigenous goat genetic resource in Southwest of China. Here, we describe its complete mitochondrial genome sequence. The mitogenome is 16,641 bp in length, consisting of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, 2 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes and a control region. As in other mammals, most mitochondrial genes are encoded on the heavy strand, except for ND6 and eight tRNA genes, which are encoded on the light strand. Its overall base composition is A: 33.5%, T: 27.3%, C: 26.1% and G: 13.1%. The complete mitogenome of the indigenous goat could provide important data to further explore the taxonomic status of the subspecies and also provide a starting point for further phylogenetic studies.

Complete mitochondrial genome of Chuanzhong black goat in southwest of China (Capra hircus).

The Chuanzhong black goat (Capra hircus) is a breed native to southwest of China. Its complete mitochondrial genome is 16,641 nt in length, consisting of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, two ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, and a non-coding control region. As in other mammals, most mitochondrial genes are encoded on the heavy strand, except for ND6 and eight tRNA genes, which are encoded on the light strand. Its overall base composition is A: 33.5%, T: 27.3%, C: 26.1%, and G: 13.1%. The complete mitogenome of the Chinese indigenous breed of goat could provide a basic data for further phylogenetics analysis.

Characteristics of the mitochondrial genome of four native goats in China (Capra hircus).

Here, we describe the complete mitochondrial genome sequences of Jining Gray goat, Fushun black goat, Youzhou black-skin goat, and Hechuan white goat. The mitogenome of those four goats consisted of 16,640 nt, consisting of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, 2 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes and a control region. As in other mammals, most mitochondrial genes are encoded on the heavy strand, except for ND6 and eight tRNA genes, which are encoded on the light strand. The complete mitogenome of these four local breeds of Chinese native goats could provide an important data to further breed improvement and animal genetics resource conservation in China.

Impacts of low level aflatoxin in feed and the use of modified yeast cell wall extract on growth and health of nursery pigs.

This study was to investigate the effect of corn naturally contaminated with aflatoxins (AF) under the regulatory level on the growth performance and health of nursery pigs, and the efficiency of yeast cell wall based feed additive (YC) mainly composed of ß-glucans and mannan oligosaccharide (MOS) (Integral A+, Alltech, Lexington, KY) in prevention of mycotoxicosis. Pigs (60 barrows and 60 gilts at 6.02 ± 0.83 kg BW) were randomly allotted to 4 treatments in a randomized complete block design based on a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement with 10 pens (5 barrow and 5 gilt pens) per treatment and 3 pigs per pen. Pigs were fed experimental diets for 5 wk. First factor was AF (0 or 20 µg/kg in feed) and the second factor was YC (0 or 2 g/kg in feed). Feed intake and body weight were measured weekly, and blood samples were used to measure blood cell counts, immunoglobulin G (IgG), tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a), oxidative damage status, and serological evaluation related to liver health. Aflatoxin decreased (P < 0.05) the number of platelet count (247.4 to 193.5 × 103/µL), and it also tended to increase the level of albumin (P = 0.055, 3.46 to 3.63 g/dL), albumin:globulin ratio (P = 0.050, 2.09 to 2.37), and Ca (P = 0.080, 10.79 to 10.97 mg/dL). Yeast cell wall based feed additive increased (P < 0.05) ADG (493 to 524 g/d), and ADFI (796 to 846 g/d) of pigs whereas G:F was not affected, and it also tended to increase (P = 0.055) albumin level (3.46 to 3.63 g/dL). Interactions (P < 0.05) on hemoglobin, hematocrit, and platelet count indicated that YC further increased their levels when pigs were eating AF contaminated feed. Interactions (P < 0.05) on urea nitrogen and blood urea N to creatinine ratio indicated that YC further decreased their levels when feed were contaminated with AF. In conclusion, low level of 20 µg AF/kg under the regulatory level had minor effects on hematology without affecting growth performance, however the supplementation of 2 g/kg YC as a source of ß-glucans and MOS in feed can improve feed intake and therefore the growth of pigs.