Improving growth performance and blood profile by feeding autolyzed yeast to improve pork carcass and meat quality.

The 63 commercial pigs were divided into three groups consisting of seven replicates of three piglets each. The experimental diets were (1) control diet, (2) diet with autolyzed yeast (AY) 0.5%, and (3) diet with AY 1.0%. Compared to the control group, using AY 0.5% in the diet reduced average daily feed intake (ADFI) and improved feed conversion ratio (FCR) (p < 0.05). The blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (N/L) in blood decreased with the addition of AY 0.5% (p < 0.05). The pH at 6-h postmortem of meat in the 0.5% AY diet group was higher than for the control group (p < 0.05). Backfat thickness (p = 0.09) and P2-backfat thickness (p = 0.07) tended to decrease, while the fat free index (FFI; p = 0.07) tended to increase with 0.5% AY supplementation. The protein percentage (p = 0.07) and the a* value (redness) (p = 0.08) in the meat tended to increase, and the springiness increased with 0.5% AY supplementation (p < 0.05). An appropriate level of AY supplementation can impact positively on the physiological functions in swine with a consequent seems to improve in qualitative traits of the meat quality.

Effect of prebiotic and synbiotic supplementation in diet on growth performance, small intestinal morphology, stress, and bacterial population under high stocking density condition of broiler chickens.

The current study investigated the effect of prebiotic mannan-oligosaccharide (MOS) and synbiotic (MOS mixed with Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis) on growth performance and bacterial population under high stocking density (HSD) conditions in broilers. A total of 605 one-day-old male Arbor Acres broiler chickens were randomly assigned to 4 treatments: normal stocking density (NSD; 30 kg/m2 fed basal diets), HSD (40 kg/m2 fed basal diets), HSD chickens fed 0.1% prebiotic (HSDp), and HSD fed 0.1% synbiotic (HSDs). At 35 D of age, the body weight of HSD and HSDp were poorer than NSD group (P < 0.01), whereas the feed conversion ratio (FCR) of the HSDs) group was better than the NSD group (P < 0.01). The HSDp and HSDs groups improved FCR (P < 0.01) and has cheaper feed cost per gain compared to the HSD group. Moreover, the body weight of HSDs group was heavier than the HSDp group (P < 0.05). The level of corticosterone and the heterophil to lymphocyte ratio were highest in the HSD group, whereas these indexes were reduced in both HSDp and HSDs groups (P < 0.05). Duodenal, jejunal, and ileal villus heights were shortest in the HSD group (P < 0.01), and the lowest ileal segment goblet cell counts were also observed in this group (P < 0.05). The HSDp and HSDs groups improved the morphology of gastrointestinal (GI) tract (P < 0.05). The Lactobacillus sp. and Clostridium sp. count in the GI tract of HSD group were low (P < 0.01), whereas Escherichia coli was high (P < 0.01), and Salmonella spp. in jejunum and cecum were detectable when compared with NSD group. Conversely, Bacillus sp., Lactobacillus sp., and Clostridium sp. in HSDp and HSDs groups were increased, and E. coli was reduced in the HSDs group (P < 0.01). Therefore, it is clear that stress from HSD negatively affected growth performance, gut morphology, and microbial population, whereas the supplementation of prebiotic or synbiotic can mitigate the effect of stress and microbial dysbiosis in gut of broiler chickens under HSD condition. Comparatively, under this condition, using synbiotic appears to have more beneficial effects than using the prebiotic.

Isolation and functional characterization of a new shrimp ovarian peritrophin with antimicrobial activity from Fenneropenaeus merguiensis.

Shrimp ovarian peritrophin (SOP), a major protein in jelly layer (JL) and cortical rods (CRs), is proposed to play a role in the protection of spawned eggs. The full sequence of SOP cDNA from Fenneropenaeus merguiensis (Fm-SOP) shares approximately 50% identity with other SOP sequences and contains several putative chitin-binding or peritrophin-A domains. Interestingly, Fm-SOP contains a putative 61-amino acid propeptide located at the N-terminal end, downstream of a 19-amino acid signal peptide, which is unique among penaeid SOP sequences described so far. This 61-amino-acid sequence constitutes a putative chitin-binding domain with six conserved cysteines, and is cleaved at a dibasic recognition site for a furin (subtilisin-like endoprotease). Expression analyses indicated that Fm-SOP mRNA is abundant in early vitellogenic ovaries and scarce in late-vitellogenic ovaries. Conversely, Fm-SOP protein is the most abundant at the end of vitellogenesis. To investigate its biological function, a recombinant Fm-SOP was expressed to generate a glycosylated protein in Spodoptera frugiperda Sf9 cells (rSOP-Sf9) and a nonglycosylated protein (rSOP-Ec) in Escherichia coli. rSOP-Sf9 and rSOP-Ec were found to bind to chitin, similarly to the native protein extracted from F. merguiensis ovaries. Most interestingly, rSOP-Ec displayed a chitinase activity and efficiently inhibited the growth of Vibrio harveyi and Staphylococcus aureus, with minimum inhibitory concentrations of 2.4 and 15.7 microM, respectively. This first report shows that a major component of CR and JL is biologically active against known pathogens and predicts a significant role of JL in the protection of the spawned eggs against pathogens.

Characterization and biological activity of the ribosomal protein L10a of the white shrimp: Fenneropenaeus merguiensis De Man during vitellogenesis.

The molecular events in the ovaries of Fenneropenaeus merguiensis De Man during vitellogenesis were investigated. The ribosomal protein L10a (RPL10a) was characterized and cloned. It consisted of 669 bp and the deduced polypeptide had 217 amino acids (GeneBank/EBI accession number FJ623402). The calculated molecular mass and pI were 25.7 kDa and 10.06, respectively. An immunohistochemical technique showed that RPL10a was located in the cytoplasm and nucleus of developing oocytes and follicle cells. Treatment of undeveloped ovarian explant cultures with recombinant histidine (His)-RPL10a stimulated the expression of translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP), heat shock protein 70 (HSP70), and shrimp ovarian peritrophin (SOP) genes, previously shown to be involved in ovarian maturation. The transcripts of all three genes in the ovarian explants showed their highest expression after 4 h incubation with the His-RPL10a at 37 degrees C. The TCTP and HSP70 transcripts declined after 12 h, while the transcript of SOP remained high until 24 h. The His-RPL10a did not stimulate the expression of the TCTP, SOP, and HSP70 genes in shrimp muscle tissue. The information on the molecular behavior of the RPL10a in this study may, in the future, lead to new methods to stimulate ovarian development in shrimp.