Effect of transportation on fecal bacterial communities and fermentative activities in horses: impact of Saccharomyces cerevisiae CNCM I-1077 supplementation.

This study evaluated the effect of transportation on fecal bacterial communities and activities in horses with or without supplementation of live yeast and attempted to link those effects with changes in blood stress markers. Four mature horses were assigned to a crossover design and fed a basal diet (60:40 forage to concentrate; 1.45% BW on a DM basis), with or without supplementation, of 2 × 10(10) cfu/d of Saccharomyces cerevisiae CNCM I-1077. After a 14-d adaptation to dietary treatments, the 5-d experiment started 1 d before transportation (d -1). At d 0, horses were simultaneously transported in a truck for 2 h. Feces were sampled 4 h after the morning meal of concentrate at d -1, 0 (immediately after transportation), and 3 for enumeration of the main functional bacterial groups and determination of fermentative variables. Within each dietary treatment, feces were pooled before DNA extraction and molecular analysis of the bacterial communities, using temporal temperature gradient electrophoreses (TTGE). Blood samples were collected at the same time for determination of white blood cells (WBC) counts and glucose and total protein concentrations. Regardless of dietary treatment, the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio increased during transportation (P < 0.01), indicating that horses were stressed. In both treatments, TTGE profiles were clearly different before and 3 d after transportation, and the percentage of similarity between profiles at d -1 and 3 was greater in supplemented horses compared with the controls. From d 0 to 3, the molar percentage of propionate increased and total concentration of VFA and the acetate + butyrate to propionate ratio decreased, regardless of dietary treatment (P < 0.01, P = 0.02, and P < 0.01, respectively), whereas pH decreased only in control horses (P = 0.03). Regardless of day of sampling, fecal concentrations of lactate-utilizing bacteria and cellulolytic bacteria were greater in supplemented horses than in control horses (P = 0.04 and 0.08, respectively). Our results indicate that transportation for 2 h disturbed the fecal bacterial ecosystem in horses that could increase the risk of triggering microbial dysbiosis on a longer term in the equine large intestine. Supplementing Saccharomyces cerevisiae CNCM I-1077 could help reduce the negative impact of transportation on the fecal bacterial ecosystem.

Strong hydrogen-bonded amino acid dimers in L-alanine alaninium nitrate.

The title compound, C3H7NO2*C3H8NO2+*NO3-, contains L-alanine-alaninium dimers bonded via the carboxyl groups by a strong asymmetric hydrogen bond with an O...O distance of 2.4547 (19) A. The neutral alanine molecule exists as a zwitterion, where the carboxyl group is dissociated and the amino group is protonated. The alaninium cation has both groups in their acidic form. The alanine molecule and the alaninium cation differ only slightly in their conformation, having an N-C(alpha)-C=O torsion angle close to -25 degrees. The dimers and the nitrate anion are joined through a three-dimensional hydrogen-bond network, in which the full hydrogen-bonding capabilities of the amino groups of the two alanine moieties are realised.

An oxo-centred trinuclear FeIII complex: triaquahexakis(mu2-betaine-O:O')-mu3-oxo-triiron(III) bis(tetrachloromanganate) trichloride hexahydrate.

The title compound, [Fe(3)(C(5)H(11)NO(2))(6)O(H(2)O)(3)](MnCl(4))(2)Cl(3).6H(2)O, contains a triiron core linked by a mu(3)-bridging oxide ion. Each of the iron(III) ions has a distorted octahedral environment, being coordinated, in addition to the oxide ion, by four neutral betaine molecules and one water molecule. The N-alkylated alpha-amino acid betaine is present in the dipolar zwitterionic form and chelates pairs of Fe atoms at the vertices of the triangular [Fe(3)O](7+) ionic core. The Fe complex has a crystallographically imposed D3 symmetry. The water molecules fully exhaust their potential as hydrogen donors, forming a two-dimensional hydrogen-bond network in planes parallel to (001).

N-[tris(hydroxymethyl)methyl]glycine(tricine).

The title compound, C(6)H(13)NO(5), adopts a zwitterionic form where the carboxylic acid H atom is transferred to the amino group. The methyl-glycine backbone is planar. The tris(hydroxymethyl)methyl group is rotated as a rigid group around the amino-methyl bond by 22 (1) degrees and the carboxylic acid plane is rotated by 19.76 (12) degrees from the plane of the main skeleton. Apart from their H atoms, the three hydroxymethyl groups adopt a propeller-like conformation around the amino-methyl bond, close to C(3) symmetry.

2,4-Dibromo-3-methoxy-6-nitrobenzaldeyde: effect of substituents on ring geometry

In the title compound, C(8)H(5)Br(2)NO(4), the endocyclic angles of the ring deviate significantly from the ideal value of 120 degrees. The substituents deviate from the plane of the ring, with large twist angles for the aldehyde, nitro and methoxy groups. The geometry of the molecule in the crystal is compared with that of the isolated molecule, as given by a self-consistent field molecular-orbital Hartree-Fock calculation. Only weak hydrogen bonds of the C-H.Br and C-H.O types are present in the crystal structure.

3-Hydroxybenzaldehyde.

The title compound, C(7)H(6)O(2), forms infinite chains where the molecules are hydrogen bonded via the hydroxyl and aldehyde groups, with an O.O distance of 2.719 (3) A. Interchain interactions are weak. The geometry of the ring differs from the ideal form due to the effect of the substituents. Ab initio (Hartree-Fock self-consistent field-molecular orbital and density functional theory) calculations for the free molecule reproduce well the observed small distortions of the ring. In the crystal, the geometry deviates from the ideal C(s) symmetry of the free molecule, as given by the ab initio calculations. The aldehyde and hydroxyl groups are twisted around the single bonds which join them to the ring as a result of the intermolecular hydrogen-bond interactions. These are also responsible for an elongation of the hydroxy C-OH bond compared with that calculated for the free molecule.

Benzyl 5-carboxy-4-ethyl-3-methylpyrrole-2-carboxylate.

In the title compound, C(16)H(17)NO(4), the benzyloxycarbonyl group is anti to the pyrrolic N atom. The molecules are joined into head-to-head dimers by hydrogen bonds involving the carboxylic acid groups. There is orientational disorder of these groups over two positions with approximately equal occupancy. A weaker hydrogen bond between the pyrrolic N atom and the carbonyl O atom of the benzyloxycarbonyl group joins the dimers into chains running parallel to the [110] direction.

C-H.pi interactions in 9-(n-dodecylaminomethyl)anthracene

The title compound, C(27)H(37)N, which is intended to be included in the structure of a sulfonamide porphyrin for the preparation of Langmuir-Blodgett films, consists of a dodecyl chain linked to an anthracene molecule through an aminomethyl group. The angle between the least-squares plane of the anthracene and the dodecyl chain is 11.44 (8) degrees. The molecules are arranged in zigzag layers head-to-head, with the hydrocarbon chains side-by-side. The structure is stabilized by C-H.pi interactions, the strongest having an H.centroid distance of 2.63 A.

Generation of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) in perfused lungs of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Comparison to Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and Wistar (W) rat strains.

1. Lungs can take up from the vasculature, circulating forms of atrial natriuretic peptide (Turrin and Gillis, 1986, 1987) and also to synthesize ANP. 2. The lung peptide directly delivered by lungs into the lung vasculature could play a role in the local water/electrolytic balance. 3. Using Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats (SHR), isogenic normotensive controls, the Wistar-Kyoto strain (WKY), and the regular Wistar strain as second control (W), and using a highly sensitive RIA, we measured the immunoreactive IR-ANP content of extracted plasma, lung homogenate and lung perfusate, since there are references of altered ANP levels in this kind of hypertension. 4. The IR-ANP measured in the lung vasculature effluent collected throughout 32 min of Krebs perfusion, was significantly different in all of the three analyzed strains (SHR > WKY > W). 5. The results support the idea of a local function for the peptide hormone directly delivered into the lung vasculature of SHR, which could represent a local adaptation to haemodynamics SHR characteristics besides a genetic characteristic distinguishing WKY from W strains.