长爪沙鼠肥满度的年龄和季节特征

采用胴体重(去除内脏的体重,记为WN)替代传统计算公式中的体重(W)建立肥满度指标K′＝100WN／L^3(g／cm^3)对长爪沙鼠肥满度的年龄和季节变化特征进行研究。结果显示：该鼠肥满度年龄组间差异显,末成年个体的肥满度明显高于成年个体;各性别年龄组肥满度季节变化明显,趋势基本一致,春季高、夏季最低、秋季又行育肥。在春夏季繁殖期(8月以前),雌鼠的肥满度大于雄鼠。成年雌鼠秋季育肥时间晚于其他个体组。长爪沙鼠肥满度的年龄差异和季节变化反映了该鼠在不同生活时期对环境的生理适应特征和对策。此外,各月肥满度与当月及其后第4个月的夹捕率存在一定的相关关系,提示该指标在短期预测长爪沙鼠种群数量方面可能有其参考价值。     

Proteome changes underpin improved meat quality and yield of chickens (Gallus gallus) fed the probiotic Enterococcus faecium

Background

Supplementation of broiler chicken diets with probiotics may improve carcass characteristics and meat quality. However, the underlying molecular mechanism remains unclear. In the present study, 2D-DIGE-based proteomics was employed to investigate the proteome changes associated with improved carcass traits and meat quality of Arbor Acres broilers (Gallus gallus) fed the probiotic Enterococcus faecium.

Results

The probiotic significantly increased meat colour, water holding capacity and pH of pectoral muscle but decreased abdominal fat content. These meat quality changes were related to the altered abundance of 22 proteins in the pectoral muscle following E. faecium feeding. Of these, 17 proteins have central roles in regulating meat quality due to their biological interaction network. Altered cytoskeletal and chaperon protein expression also contribute to improved water holding capacity and colour of meat, which suggests that upregulation of chaperon proteins maintains cell integrity and prevents moisture loss by enhancing folding and recovery of the membrane and cytoskeletal proteins. The down-regulation of β-enolase and pyruvate kinase muscle isozymes suggests roles in increasing the pH of meat by decreasing the production of lactic acid. The validity of the proteomics results was further confirmed by qPCR.

Conclusions

This study reveals that improved meat quality of broilers fed probiotics is triggered by proteome alterations (especially the glycolytic proteins), and provides a new insight into the mechanism by which probiotics improve poultry production.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-1167) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

日粮添加塞曼特罗（CIM）对大鼠生长胴体组成及GH水平的影响

选用２４只２月龄ＳＤ处女鼠配对分组,实验组日粮添加１０μｇ／ｇ塞曼特罗（ＣＩＭ）,试验期３０天。与对照组比较,ＣＩＭ显著提高大鼠生长速度（２７．３０％,Ｐ＜０．０１）和胴体比率,降低腰胁部脂肪重,提高腓肠肌、比目鱼肌和趾浅屈肌的鲜重和ＲＮＡ合量及ＰＮＡ／ＤＮＡ值,同时提高大鼠垂体和血清ＧＨ水平分别达３６．７０％（Ｐ＜０．０１）和２３．７７％（Ｐ＜０．０５）,降低血清脲氮含量。表明ＣＩＭ可显著促进大鼠生长,降低体脂含量,促进肌肉肥大,促进蛋白沉积。其作用机理可能还与其促进ＧＨ的合成和分泌有关。     

The impact of betaine supplementation in quail diet on growth performance,blood chemistry,and carcass traits

The study aimed to investigate the effect of various doses of betaine supplemented dietary on Japanese quail performance, carcass characteristics, and blood chemistry. Therefore, 400 seven days old Japanese quails were classified randomly into four equal groups. Each group was subdivided into five replicates of 20 birds each. Four rations were formulated using four different betaine levels (0, 0.75, 1.5 and 2.25 g/kg, respectively) for five successive weeks. All groups received feed and clean water ad-libitum. The results of this trial indicated that the feed intake was lowered in groups fed with betaine (p ≤ 0.05) when compared with the control one. The highest weight gain (p ≤ 0.05) was noticed in groups fed diets BS4 (betaine supplementation at the rate of 2.25 g/kg). No difference among groups was observed in body length, shank length, shank diameter, and keel bone length or breast width. Also, the carcass weight and breast yield were highest (p ≤ 0.05) in the group reared on the BS4 diet. In addition, intestinal length and weight were significantly higher (p ≤ 0.05) in groups fed betaine with a concentration of 2.25 g/kg. Fat weight was lower in the group fed BS4 than in the untreated group. Significantly higher values of high-density lipoprotein (p ≤ 0.05) were observed in the group fed BS4. All groups fed a ration containing betaine showed lower levels of liver enzymes such as alanine amino transferase, alkaline phosphatase, and aspartate amino transferase (p ≤ 0.05) and lowered low-density lipoprotein level. The quails fed BS4 had the greatest growth hormones and insulin (p ≤ 0.05) and the lowest thyroxin level. We concluded that dietary betaine supplementation positively impacts Japanese quail growth performance, carcass traits, and blood chemistry.     

Wind turbine fatalities approach a level of concern in a raptor population

Mortality from collisions with increasing numbers of wind turbines is a potential hazard to raptor populations, but the actual effects on a population scale have rarely been studied based on field data. We estimated annual collision numbers for Red Kites Milvus milvus in the German federal state of Brandenburg (29,483 km²). A hierarchical model considering carcass persistence rate, searcher efficiency and the probability that a killed animal falls into a searched area was applied to results of carcass searches at 617 turbines. Collision risk varied significantly with season. The model estimated 308 (95% CrI 159–488) Red Kite fatalities at 3044 turbines operating during 2012, representing 3.1% of the estimated post-breeding population of 9972 individuals. Using the potential biological removal (PBR) method, mortality thresholds of 4.0% were obtained for migratory Red Kite populations. This level of mortality may be reached when turbine numbers increase within a few years. Since wind turbine collisions may affect Red Kites throughout the global range, a more detailed assessment of the actual impacts on populations is needed, especially because the PBR does not account for the predominance of adult birds among the collision victims.     

典型草原区达乌尔鼠兔年龄划分标准

年龄鉴定是研究动物种群生态学的重要基础.作者于2009 ～2010年间在内蒙古典型草原区采用整洞群夹捕的取样方法捕获了198只达乌尔鼠兔(Ochotona dauurica,116只雌鼠,82只雄鼠).在对样本进行常规解剖和数据记录后,根据样本的胴体重频次分布特征并参照繁殖特征,对达乌尔鼠兔进行年龄划分.分析结果表明,达乌尔鼠兔胴体重存在显著的性别差异,据此本文按照性别将达乌尔鼠兔划分如下3个年龄组,雌性:幼年组(胴体重≤55 g)、亚成年组(55 g＜胴体重＜75 g)、成年组(胴体重≥75g);雄鼠:幼年组(胴体重≤55 g)、亚成年组(55 g＜胴体重＜85 g)、成年组(胴体重≥85 g).并根据达乌尔鼠兔体重与胴体重之间的相互关系,建立了利用体重鉴定达乌尔鼠兔年龄的依据.本方法可为野外达乌尔鼠兔的年龄划分和种群结构动态研究提供参考依据.     

Improvement in overall performance of Catla catla fingerlings fed phytase included low cost plant by products-based diet

Phytic acid’s presence in low-cost Moringa by-products effect the availability of important nutrients, diminishing the fish quality and blood composition in fish. Phytate having chelating effects with nutrients and minerals, can be reduced by the supplementation of phytase enzyme. Without the use of enzyme, plant meal may cause water pollution and decrease the fish health that results in higher culture cost. Therefore, current study was designed to check improvement in overall performance of Catla catla fingerlings fed Moringa by product-based diets supplemented with phytase (0, 300, 600, 900, 1200 and 1500, FTU/kg). All diets were integrated with non-digestible marker (Cr₂O₃) at the rate of 1%. The fingerlings were fed couple of times a day (4% of live wet weight). Results showed significant (p < 0.05) improvement in nutrient digestibility (i.e. EE, CP and GE), carcass composition and hematological parameters (i.e. RBCs, PLT and Hb) at 900, FTU/kg of phytase in contrast with other treatments. Moreover, phytase addition improves the water quality by reducing the nutrients leaching through feces at low cost. Current results indicated that, using mixture of Moringa seed meal and Moringa leaf meal based diet supplemented with phytase at 900, FTU/kg concentration is the most optimum level to develop a cost-effective as well as eco-friendly fish feed with maximum absorption of important nutrients and minerals in fish body resultantly high higher fish performance.     

Can livestock carrion availability influence diet of wintering red kites? Implications of sanitary policies in ecosystem services and conservation

The diet of wintering red kites Milvus milvus over the last decade in central Spain was recorded to evaluate the influence of sanitary policies on carcasses use. The results show major differences in diet composition of red kites wintering in areas with and without availability of livestock carcasses. In the area without livestock carcasses (north-western Madrid province), red kites fed on a similarly large proportion of wild lagomorphs across the study period. In the area with livestock farming (Segovia province), red kites exploited carcasses from different livestock schemes (stabled livestock—primarily swine—versus free-ranging ruminants) depending on changing sanitary regulations as consequence of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy or ‘mad cow’ crisis initiated in 2001. During the period of restrictive sanitary legislation (after the ‘mad cow’ crisis) that greatly limited the use of animal by-products from ruminants as food for avian scavengers, kites mostly predated on common voles and scavenged on swine carcasses. After the implementation of the less restrictive regulations (since 2011; regulations CE1069/2009, CE142/2011) that again permitted the abandonment of extensive livestock remains in the countryside and in feeding stations, the proportion of ruminants in the kites’ diet increased while the proportion of swine carrion decreased. Carcass dumps acted as temporally and spatially predictable sources of abundant food from stabled livestock before and even just after the mad-cow crisis, but become relatively unpredictable foraging places afterwards due to the generalized carrion destruction in authorized plants, primarily of swine considered as non-risk for the transmission of the bovine encephalopathy. This illustrates the deep and sometimes unexpected consequences that sanitary policies can impose on the composition and availability of food resources for scavenger wildlife. Much effort is still required to reconcile sanitary and environmental policies in order to ensure the conservation of avian scavengers and the provision of ecosystem services.     

A comparative study among dietary supplementations of antibiotic,grape seed and chamomile oils on growth performance and carcass properties of growing rabbits

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of chamomile oil (Ch), grape seed oil (GS), their mixture and antibiotic (colistin) (AN) as feed addetives on the productivity of growing rabbits as well as in vitro study to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of both Ch and GS oils. To achive this objective, a total of 96 New Zealand (NZW) weaned rabbits, 5 weeks-old were randomly allotted into eight groups. Rabbits were kept under observation for eight weeks and the trial ended at thirteen weeks-old. The experimental treatments were: 1) Basal diet (BD); 2) BD + antibiotic; 3) BD + 0.5 ml GS/ kg diet; 4) BD + 1.0 ml GS/ kg diet; 5) BD + 1.5 ml GS/ kg diet; 6) BD + 0.5 ml Ch/ kg diet; 7) BD + 1.0 ml Ch/ kg diet and 8) BD + 1.5 Ch/ kg diet. Live body weight (LBW) was markedly elevated (p < 0.05) in groups fed on ration included feed additives compared with the control at weeks 9 and 13 of age. Cumulative body weight gain (BWG) and feed intake (FI) increased (p < 0.05) throughout 5–9 and 5–13 weeks of age in rabbits fed rations plus the studied additives. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) was insignificantly altered by dietary feed additives. Spleen and intestine relative weights reduced (p < 0.05) in groups treated with different studied additives. In view of the experiment finings, it could be concluded that dietary supplementation of GS and Ch have a positive impact on the productivity of growing rabbits than that of the control and antibiotic-treated groups.