Biotechnology — the possibilities

1993 ◽  
Vol 57 (03) ◽  
pp. 335-352
Author(s):  
J. J. Robinson ◽  
T. G. McEvoy
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acid ◽  
Nutritive Value ◽  
Recombinant Dna ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Genetic Selection ◽  
Animal Production ◽  
Genetically Engineered ◽  
Primary Role ◽  
Animal Science

AbstractA review of recent trends in animal science is used to provide a flavour of how, from a purely technical viewpoint, evolving biotechnology may influence animal production systems in the foreseeable future. The areas considered are: the nutritive value of foods and forages, animal health and welfare, the temporary alteration of production traits to meet an immediate goal, and the permanent alteration of traits to meet an immediate goal, and the permanent alteration of traits by genetic selection or by the production of transgenic animals. In improving the nutritive value of foods, modern biotechnology has produced food grade enzymes and amino acid supplements. Genetically engineered cereals, grasses and legumes, rich in essential amino acids, are on the horizon. In disease prevention, genetically engineered vaccines may be preferable to conventional ones in that they have a defined composition, with a degree of control during manufacture which allows amino acid substitution within the peptide to confer specificity to a particular serotype.Modern techniques with the potential to promote a transitory alteration in a production trait involve either immunization against an inhibitory biochemical pathway or active promotion of a stimulatory pathway by the administration of recombinant-derived hormones and proteins. Strategies for permanent alteration of traits by gene transfer, initially directed to enhancing growth, are now shifting in emphasis towards the transfer of genes for enhanced nutrient digestion, disease resistance, and improved product quality. The role of recombinant DNA technology in the development of diagnostic probes for use in genetic selection programmes and in the monitoring of disease is also expanding rapidly.In all areas of animal science, molecular biology is promoting a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms that control production. By so doing it should ensure that science fulfils its primary rôle of providing animal production industries with a range of options from which to choose the most acceptable way forward.

Valuing forages for genetic selection: what traits should we focus on?

2015 ◽  
Vol 55 (7) ◽  
pp. 869 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. F. Chapman ◽  
G. R. Edwards ◽  
A. V. Stewart ◽  
M. McEvoy ◽  
M. O'Donovan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Perennial Ryegrass ◽  
Nutritive Value ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Genetic Selection ◽  
Livestock Production ◽  
Animal Production ◽  
Yield Data ◽  
Feeding Value

Failure over the past two to three decades to implement industry-led, systematic forage evaluation systems that translate forage performance data to animal production and economics means that the livestock industries are poorly positioned to judge how much economic benefit they are gaining from forage plant improvement and to propose future priorities and targets. The present paper identifies several knowledge gaps that must be filled to enable the value being delivered to pasture-based livestock industries by forage improvement to be determined, demonstrated to farmers and increased in the future. Seasonal yield, total annual yield, nutritive value and feeding value of pasture are all important traits for driving the productivity of pasture-based livestock production systems. From a farm systems perspective, persistence of the yield or quality advantage of new cultivars is also economically important. However, this is the least well defined of the productivity traits considered in the paper. Contrary to anecdotal reports, evidence indicates that the genetic potential of modern ryegrass cultivars to survive in grazed pastures is at least equivalent to that of older cultivars. Plant breeding in Europe and New Zealand has changed the seasonal yield, quality and intake potential of perennial ryegrass. On the basis of dry matter (DM) yield data from small-plot evaluation trials, the New Zealand forage value index indicates that the top-ranked perennial ryegrass cultivars offer between NZ$280 and NZ $650/ha per year potential additional operating profit to dairy businesses (depending on region), compared with a historical genetic base of cultivars that were first entered into yield testing programs between 1991 and 1996. The equivalent figure in Ireland (including nutritive value effects) is about €325/ha per year. These estimates are yet to be confirmed in animal production studies. In intensive dairy systems, current rates of genetic gain in DM yield lag well behind realised rates of gain in animal genetics and associated increases in feed demand per animal. Genetic gains in yield need to double from current rates (estimated at 0.5% per year); but, it is not known whether this is possible in an outcrossing species such as perennial ryegrass, which is normally grown in a mixture with other species, especially white clover. Improvements in DM yield in seasons where extra DM has greatest economic value in grazing systems should dominate breeding objectives, but this must now be augmented by consideration of the environmental impacts of intensive pasture-based livestock production systems and opportunities to mitigate this through germplasm selection. There is less evidence that nutritive or feeding value of ryegrass cultivars significantly limits animal production and profitability and useful improvements have already been made using tetraploids and later heading material.

scholarly journals Food and feed, mycotoxins and the perpetual pentagram in a changing animal production environment

2012 ◽  
Vol 52 (7) ◽  
pp. 383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne L. Bryden
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Animal Production ◽  
World Food ◽  
Production Environment ◽  
Rapid Population Growth ◽  
Food And Feed ◽  
Fungal Secondary Metabolites

G. L. McClymont developed a unique paradigm in which to consider the challenges that confront agriculture and it is based on an understanding of the interrelationships of plants, animals, soils and water within an economic and social framework. The major changes in our environment are the consequence of rapid population growth and the need to increase world food supplies. Within this context, this paper provides an overview of the link between agriculture, especially animal production and population health and how mycotoxins, fungal secondary metabolites, can perturb this link. Examples from New Zealand and Australian animal agriculture are described. The underlying premise of this paper is that agriculture is a major determinant of human health through the supply of food derived from both plant and animal sources. In other words, nutrition is the conduit between agriculture and human health. Against this backdrop the potential role of mycotoxins in determining food and feed supplies is discussed. Globally, mycotoxins have significant human and animal health, economic and international trade implications.

The role of biotechnology in enhancing the digestion of forage cell walls by ruminants (jerry hughes scholarship)

1995 ◽  
Vol 1995 ◽  
pp. 73-73
Author(s):  
E. R. Deaville
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Engineering ◽  
Nutritive Value ◽  
Genetic Manipulation ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Livestock Production ◽  
Service Industries ◽  
Animal Nutrition ◽  
Rumen Microbes

The term biotechnology has been defined as the application of biological organisms, systems or processes to manufacture and service industries (Anon, 1980) and is, therefore, more than the application of ‘genetic engineering’ techniques alone. The potential application of biotechnology to the agricultural livestock industry includes many wide ranging areas: animal health; breeding; livestock production; livestock nutrition and the nutritive value of feeds. The role of biotechnology in animal nutrition and feeding is of particular importance since feed costs account for a significant proportion of the total variable costs in any livestock production system (e.g. milk, meat). The potential implications of biotechnology in animal nutrition has been reviewed by Armstrong (1986) and includes references to the improvement of the nutritive value of feeds through, for example, genetic manipulation of feed sources (cereals), appropriate supplementation and the use of biological inoculants with or without enzymes as silage additives and to improvements in the ability of the animal to obtain nutrients from feeds through the addition of enzymes to feeds and modification of rumen microbes through genetic engineering.

BIOTECHNOLOGY IN ANIMAL SCIENCE: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

1985 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 525-526
Author(s):  
JAN S. GAVORA
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Engineering ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Livestock Production ◽  
Living Cells ◽  
Animal Production ◽  
Animal Science ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Production Research ◽  
Rumen Microflora

Several new, powerful techniques for the manipulation of living cells and their components are globally referred to as biotechnology. They have the potential to bring about dramatic improvements in livestock production. The Symposium papers that follow review the relevant advances and consider the role of biotechnology in future animal production research. Key words: Biotechnology, animal science, genetic engineering, rumen microflora, embryo manipulation

A note on the substitution of sorghum for barley in diets for fattening pigs

1967 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. A. Lodge
Keyword(s):  
Economic Efficiency ◽  
Lower Energy ◽  
Nutritive Value ◽  
Nutrient Content ◽  
Primary Role ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Reliable Assessment ◽  
Nutritive Values ◽  
Fattening Pigs

Changes in prices of the basic cereals make it necessary to have a reliable assessment of their relative nutritive values if maximum economic efficiency of pig production is to be attained. As the primary role of cereals in pig feeds is as a source of energy, it is on this basis that comparison should be made but with due allowance for any major differences in nutrient content which may necessitate differential supplementation.Sorghum, or milo, is a cereal imported into the United Kingdom which, at times, may be competitive with other cereals for price per ton but about whose nutritive value there is some confusion. Sorghum has not often been compared with barley as a cereal for pigs, but its value relative to that of maize seems to vary widely, between 80 and 100% (Braude, Mitchell and Robinson, 1950; Hillier, MacVicar and Pond, 1954; Aubel, 1956; Loeffel, 1957; Peo and Hudman, 1958; Schruben, 1959; Vanschoubroek, Spaendonk and Nauwynck, 1964). Estimates of relative digestible energy values (DE) are equally variable; the DE value of sorghum has been assessed as 94·5% (Diggs, Becker, Terrill and Jensen, 1959) and 96·2% (Robinson and Lewis, 1962) that of maize, whereas the TDN value given by Evans (1960) is greater than that of maize. Robinson and Lewis (1962) consider the DE value of sorghum to be 140% ofthat of barley, but Evans (1960) quotes a TDN value for sorghum which is 111% of that of barley. While variation in the type of sorghum used may account for some of this discrepancy, Dammers and Djikstra (1961) found little difference between the varieties milocorn, kaffir corn, granifero and white dari, and only guinea corn differed in having a lower energy value.

scholarly journals Red Chittagong Cattle: An Indigenous Breed to Help Tackle the Challenges of Modern Animal Production Systems

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nani Gopal Das ◽  
Mohammed R. Islam ◽  
Nathu Ram Sarker ◽  
Md. Abdul Jalil ◽  
Cameron E. F. Clark
Keyword(s):  
Milk Protein ◽  
Nutritive Value ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Genetic Selection ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Animal Production ◽  
Indigenous Cattle ◽  
Indigenous Breed ◽  
Animal Production Systems

Modern livestock selection is rapidly condensing the indigenous cattle gene pool. This trend limits the options for future genetic selection to benefit both animal well-being and farmer challenges. Here we reveal the potential of Red Chittagong cattle (RCC), a native genotype of Bangladesh, for tackling these current and pending challenges. Red Chittagong cattle are reddish in color and small in size with mature bulls and cows weighing 342 and 180 kg from birth weights of 16 and 14 kg, respectively. Whilst low mean levels of milk production of 618 L across a 228-day lactation are recorded so are high levels of milk protein (3.8%) and fat (4.8%) with offered feed types typically low in nutritive value, particularly crude protein. However, one in five cows under farm condition yield >1,000 L/lactation. Alongside high levels of milk protein and fat, other key features of this breed include resistance to common diseases and parasites with a high level of adaptation to agro-ecological conditions. As opposed to other indigenous breeds, there is currently high genetic variation in the RCC population, and associated variation in productive and reproductive traits highlighting the opportunity for development through long-term breeding programs alongside improved management conditions. Such efforts would enable this breed to become a global resource for tackling the challenges of modern animal production systems. In addition, further work is required to reveal the demographic distribution of the breed, potential production levels through the provision of improved diets and the mechanisms enabling disease resistance and digestibility of feeds.

The role of biotechnology in enhancing the digestion of forage cell walls by ruminants (jerry hughes scholarship)

1995 ◽  
Vol 1995 ◽  
pp. 73-73
Author(s):  
E. R. Deaville
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Engineering ◽  
Nutritive Value ◽  
Genetic Manipulation ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Livestock Production ◽  
Service Industries ◽  
Animal Nutrition ◽  
Rumen Microbes

The term biotechnology has been defined as the application of biological organisms, systems or processes to manufacture and service industries (Anon, 1980) and is, therefore, more than the application of ‘genetic engineering’ techniques alone. The potential application of biotechnology to the agricultural livestock industry includes many wide ranging areas: animal health; breeding; livestock production; livestock nutrition and the nutritive value of feeds. The role of biotechnology in animal nutrition and feeding is of particular importance since feed costs account for a significant proportion of the total variable costs in any livestock production system (e.g. milk, meat). The potential implications of biotechnology in animal nutrition has been reviewed by Armstrong (1986) and includes references to the improvement of the nutritive value of feeds through, for example, genetic manipulation of feed sources (cereals), appropriate supplementation and the use of biological inoculants with or without enzymes as silage additives and to improvements in the ability of the animal to obtain nutrients from feeds through the addition of enzymes to feeds and modification of rumen microbes through genetic engineering.

scholarly journals 45 Opportunity with functional role of supplemental amino acids

2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 24-24
Author(s):  
Yanbin Shen ◽  
Sung Woo Kim
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Functional Role ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Animal Production ◽  
The Body ◽  
Technological Advancement ◽  
Crystalline Amino Acids

Abstract The technological advancement in production of crystalline amino acids has driven the cost of crystalline amino acids down significantly and facilitated the wide use of crystalline amino acids in food animal production. The primary reason of use of crystalline amino acids in am animal’s diet is to provide dietary essential nutrients for protein synthesis and to balance the diet and reduce dietary cost. Extensive researches with amino acids have greatly enabled such use. As a result, most swine diets today are formulated with 3 or 4 supplemental amino acids. However, the economical return on including beyond 4 supplemental amino acids becomes low and thus discourages the use of more than 4 supplemental amino acids for dietary saving purpose. The use of the functional role of amino acids might bear the new opportunity for amino acids. Tryptophan has unique physiological functions involving synthesize serotonin in the body. Increasing tryptophan intake is shown to elevate serotonin synthesis in the brain of pigs and reduce stress and improve performance of pigs under social stress. Research shows that methionine is used as a precursor of glutathione to protect intestinal mucosa from oxidative damages during weaning stress. Arginine, glutamine, and glutamate are shown to have functions in cell proliferation, potentially improving intestinal and immune function of nursery pigs and preventing loss of lean body mass in the sow. Leucine is a ketogenic amino acid. The carbon skeleton of leucine is converted to acetylCoA, which could be used for fatty acid synthesis in muscle tissue. Research showed that intramuscular fat was increased by feeding high dietary leucine levels. Overall, the different functions of individual AA beyond their roles as the building blocks for proteins give additional opportunities of amino acid application in animal production.

Agriculture

2003 ◽  
Vol 07 (21) ◽  
pp. 1339-1345
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Transgenic Rice ◽  
Genetic Selection ◽  
Animal Production ◽  
Mercury Contamination ◽  
Golden Rice

AusBiotech 2003 Key Session: Genetic Selection and Improved Nutrition in Animal Production. Japan Approves Transgenic Rice Commercial Planting. Golden Rice Shows Promise in Philippines. Brazil Reverses Ruling on GM Soybeans. GM Cottonwood Offer Remediation for Mercury Contamination. United Nations Highlights the Role of New Biotechnology.

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