Plasma concentrations of branched-chain amino acids differ with Holstein genetic strain in pasture-based dairy systems

In pasture-based systems, there are nutritional and climatic challenges exacerbated across lactation; thus, dairy cows require an enhanced adaptive capacity compared with cows in confined systems. We aimed to evaluate the effect of lactation stage (21 vs. 180 days in milk, DIM) and Holstein genetic strain (North American Holstein, NAH, n = 8; New Zealand Holstein, NZH, n = 8) on metabolic adaptations of grazing dairy cows through plasma metabolomic profiling and its association with classical metabolites. Although 67 metabolites were affected (FDR < 0.05) by DIM, no metabolite was observed to differ between genetic strains while only alanine was affected (FDR = 0.02) by the interaction between genetic strain and DIM. However, complementary tools for time-series analysis (ASCA analysis, MEBA ranking) indicated that alanine and the branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) differed between genetic strains in a lactation-stage dependent manner. Indeed, NZH cows had lower (P-Tukey < 0.05) plasma concentrations of leucine, isoleucine and valine than NAH cows at 21 DIM, probably signaling for greater insulin sensitivity. Metabolic pathway analysis also revealed that, independently of genetic strains, AA metabolism might be structurally involved in homeorhetic changes as 40% (19/46) of metabolic pathways differentially expressed (FDR < 0.05) between 21 and 180 DIM belonged to AA metabolism.

Effects of Dietary Inclusion of Seaweed, Heat Stress and Genetic Strain on Performance, Plasma Biochemical and Hematological Parameters in Laying Hens

This study was planned to investigate the effects of seaweed supplementation, genetic strain, heat stress and their interactions on laying hen performances, blood chemistry and hematology. In a short-term trial, laying hens of the two genetic lines Lohman LSL-Lite (White) and Lohman Brown-Lite (Brown) were supplemented with Chondrus crispus (CC) at 3% for 21 days, while a control group was not. In a long-term trial, the same two strains were assigned to control (0%), 3% red seaweed Chondrus crispus (CC) or 0.5% brown seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum (AN)-supplemented diets for 41 weeks, concluding with a four-week control or heat-stress period. The White hens displayed higher egg production and a lower feed/egg ratio. The short-term inclusion of CC significantly reduced the feed intake, weight gain and feed/egg ratio. The long-term seaweed intake affected the plasma albumin and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) (p < 0.05), and there were significant strain-heat stress interactions; heat stress in the Brown birds was associated with reduced protein, globulin and glucose and increased cholesterol and GGT levels and higher heterophil-to-lymphocyte (H/L) ratios (p < 0.05) in response to heat stress (p < 0.05). In conclusion, a long-term seaweed supplementation affected the plasma protein and enzyme profiles, yet had little effect on hen leukocyte counts and the overall performance.

Impact of Woody Breast Severity on the Sensory Properties and Acceptability of Chicken Products

ObjectivesThe woody breast (WB) myopathy has caused economic losses in excess of $200 million annually to the poultry industry due to undesirable textural attributes and decreased functionality. This hardened muscle is also associated with other undesirable traits, such as white striping. This research was conducted to evaluate the impact of WB severity and genetic strain on consumer acceptability and sensory attributes of baked and fried broiler breast meat and elucidate the consumer acceptability of tumble-marinated, fajita meat made from broilers with normal (NOR), moderate (MOD) and severe (SEV) WB meat.Materials and MethodsFor descriptive analysis (n = 7 panelists, 10 panels) on baked and fried chicken, 3 × 5 factorial arrangements within randomized complete block designs with four replications were utilized to evaluate three severities of woody breast and the five different genetic strains that are most commonly used in the poultry industry. When significant differences (P < 0.05) occurred among treatments, Duncan’s multiple range test was utilized to separate treatment means. For consumer acceptability of baked chicken (n = 123 panelists), fried chicken (n = 125 panelists), and fajita meat (n = 127 panelists), randomized complete block designs with two replications were used to determine the impact of strain and severity on acceptability.ResultsFor baked chicken, SEV breasts were chewier, juicier, crunchier, and more cohesive (P < 0.05) than NOR and MOD breast samples. For fried chicken, SEV breasts were less tender and chewier (P < 0.05) than NOR breasts. In addition, SEV breasts were more cohesive and juicier, but less mushy (P < 0.05) than NOR and MOD breasts. For fried chicken samples, SEV breasts were crunchier (P < 0.05) than MOD breasts, which were crunchier (P < 0.05) than NOR breasts. The texture and overall acceptability of NOR baked breasts and fajita meat were preferred by consumers (P < 0.05) over SEV breasts. In contrast, the SEV breasts were preferred (P < 0.05) over the NOR breast meat for the fried chicken formulation. No differences existed (P > 0.05) in acceptability among genetic strains in baked or fried chicken breasts. The baked chicken consumer panelists were divided into 7 distinct clusters based on their sensory evaluation ratings. Cluster analysis indicated that 49% of panelists preferred NOR breast fillets, 21% preferred SEV, and 30% had no preference between NOR and WB (MOD, SEV) samples. The fried chicken consumer panelists were divided into 5 clusters, of which 65% preferred WB (MOD, SEV) over NOR, 29% preferred strain B over strain A, and 11% preferred strain A over strain B. The fajita chicken meat consumer panelists were divided into 5 clusters, of which 75% of panelists liked NOR breast samples, 72% liked MOD samples, and 45% liked SEV samples.ConclusionResults indicated that WB severity had a greater impact on sensory attributes and consumer acceptability than genetic strain. Higher WB severity created an undesirable texture that negatively impacted the acceptability of baked meat. However, the increased crunchiness and cohesiveness due to woodiness had a positive impact on the fried chicken acceptability. Results indicated that a large percentage of consumers rated baked, fried, and fajita samples as acceptable regardless of whether NOR or WB (MOD, SEV) meat was used, but some consumers did not like baked or fajita meat that was made from SEV WB meat.

The relationship between pigmentations of pupae and insecticide resistance of adults of Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel)

The oriental fruit fly Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) is a worldwide pest leading to crop production. The management of B. dorsalis is becoming more and more difficult because of the emerging insecticide resistance. Searching for new and effective methods in managing this pest has become an urgent task. Here, we explored the relationship between pigmentation and insecticide resistance through conducting studies on 5 strains of B. dorsalis (CK, CZ, CB, LC and LX) with various traits of pigmentation and insecticide resistance. Strain CK was a wild strain with brown pupae coloration while strain CZ was a beta-cypermethrin-resistant strain with pupae coloration was brown. Strain CB was a pigmentation mutation strain with white pupae coloration. Strain LC was the female of pigmentation sex genetic strain whose pupae coloration was white. Strain LX was the male of pigmentation sex genetic strain whose pupae coloration was brown. Efficacy tests were employed to evaluate the resistance performance of the 5 trains, transcriptome sequencing and gene quantifications were used to explore the potential genes in both pigmentation and detoxification pathway. The brief of results were as follow: Results of efficacy tests of the 5 strains with beta-cypermethrin, abamectin and trichlorfon respectively showed that resistances to these three insecticide of strains LX and LC were very low. The corrective mortalities of strains LX and LC in 128 ug/ml of abamectin were 49.48±3.01%, 59.06±1.89% respectively while that of strain CK was 11.80%±1.37. The corrective mortality of strain CZ were lowest in all concentrations level of all test reagent. The resistance of strain CK was similar to CB. Transcriptomic analysis showed that 24 genes and 165 genes were associated with pigmentation and detoxification. Gene expression pattern of strain CK was similar to strain CB while these two strains were different to strains LC and LX, and the gene expression pattern of strain CZ was more similar to strains LC and LX. Results of gene quantifications in B. dorsalis pupae showed that the relative expressions of yellow gene MK529913, DDC gene MK515141, laccase2 gene MK515143 and PO gene MK515140 in brown pupae (CK, CZ, LX) were significantly higher than those in white pupae (CB, LC) while the relative expressions of AANAT gene MK515144 in white pupae were significantly higher than those in yellow pupae. In summary, analyses of gene quantifications and efficacy tests indicated that high expressions of P450 gene, AANAT gene might contribute to resistances of adults of B. dorsalis to beta-cypermethrin and a bamectin; high expression of yellow gene might contribute to resistances of adults which emergenced from brown pupae to beta-cypermethrin and abamectin; high expressions of yellow genes, laccase2 gene, PO gene and DDC gene might contribute to the resistance of B. dorsalis to trichlorfon.

The relationship between pigmentations of pupae and insecticide resistance of adults of Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel)

The oriental fruit fly Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) is a worldwide pest leading to crop production. The management of B. dorsalis is becoming more and more difficult because of the emerging insecticide resistance. Searching for new and effective methods in managing this pest has become an urgent task. Here, we explored the relationship between pigmentation and insecticide resistance through conducting studies on 5 strains of B. dorsalis (CK, CZ, CB, LC and LX) with various traits of pigmentation and insecticide resistance. Strain CK was a wild strain with brown pupae coloration while strain CZ was a beta-cypermethrin-resistant strain with pupae coloration was brown. Strain CB was a pigmentation mutation strain with white pupae coloration. Strain LC was the female of pigmentation sex genetic strain whose pupae coloration was white. Strain LX was the male of pigmentation sex genetic strain whose pupae coloration was brown. Efficacy tests were employed to evaluate the resistance performance of the 5 trains, transcriptome sequencing and gene quantifications were used to explore the potential genes in both pigmentation and detoxification pathway. The brief of results were as follow: Results of efficacy tests of the 5 strains with beta-cypermethrin, abamectin and trichlorfon respectively showed that resistances to these three insecticide of strains LX and LC were very low. The corrective mortalities of strains LX and LC in 128 ug/ml of abamectin were 49.48±3.01%, 59.06±1.89% respectively while that of strain CK was 11.80%±1.37. The corrective mortality of strain CZ were lowest in all concentrations level of all test reagent. The resistance of strain CK was similar to CB. Transcriptomic analysis showed that 24 genes and 165 genes were associated with pigmentation and detoxification. Gene expression pattern of strain CK was similar to strain CB while these two strains were different to strains LC and LX, and the gene expression pattern of strain CZ was more similar to strains LC and LX. Results of gene quantifications in B. dorsalis pupae showed that the relative expressions of yellow gene MK529913, DDC gene MK515141, laccase2 gene MK515143 and PO gene MK515140 in brown pupae (CK, CZ, LX) were significantly higher than those in white pupae (CB, LC) while the relative expressions of AANAT gene MK515144 in white pupae were significantly higher than those in yellow pupae. In summary, analyses of gene quantifications and efficacy tests indicated that high expressions of P450 gene, AANAT gene might contribute to resistances of adults of B. dorsalis to beta-cypermethrin and a bamectin; high expression of yellow gene might contribute to resistances of adults which emergenced from brown pupae to beta-cypermethrin and abamectin; high expressions of yellow genes, laccase2 gene, PO gene and DDC gene might contribute to the resistance of B. dorsalis to trichlorfon.