Animal board invited review: Dairy cow lameness expenditures,losses and total cost

Lameness is one of the most costly dairy cow diseases, yet adoption of lameness prevention strategies remains low. Low lameness prevention adoption might be attributable to a lack of understanding regarding total lameness costs. In this review, we evaluated the contribution of different expenditures and losses to total lameness costs. Evaluated expenditures included labor for treatment, therapeutic supplies, lameness detection and lameness control and prevention. Evaluated losses included non-saleable milk, reduced milk production, reduced reproductive performance, increased animal death, increased animal culling, disease interrelationships, lameness recurrence and reduced animal welfare. The previous literature on total lameness cost estimates was also summarized. The reviewed studies indicated that previous estimates of total lameness costs are variable and inconsistent in the expenditures and losses they include. Many of the identified expenditure and loss categories require further research to accurately include in total lameness cost estimates. Future research should focus on identifying costs associated with specific lameness conditions, differing lameness severity levels, and differing stages of lactation at onset of lameness to provide better total lameness cost estimates that can be useful for decision making at both the herd and individual cow level.     

Animal board invited review: OneARK: Strengthening the links between animal production science and animal ecology

Wild and farmed animals are key elements of natural and managed ecosystems that deliver functions such as pollination, pest control and nutrient cycling within the broader roles they play in contributing to biodiversity and to every category of ecosystem services. They are subjected to global changes with a profound impact on the natural range and viability of animal species, the emergence and spatial distribution of pathogens, land use, ecosystem services and farming sustainability. We urgently need to improve our understanding of how animal populations can respond adaptively and therefore sustainably to these new selective pressures. In this context, we explored the common points between animal production science and animal ecology to identify promising avenues of synergy between communities through the transfer of concepts and/or methodologies, focusing on seven concepts that link both disciplines. Animal adaptability, animal diversity (both within and between species), selection, animal management, animal monitoring, agroecology and viability risks were identified as key concepts that should serve the cross-fertilization of both fields to improve ecosystem resilience and farming sustainability. The need for breaking down interdisciplinary barriers is illustrated by two representative examples: i) the circulation and reassortment of pathogens between wild and domestic animals and ii) the role of animals in nutrient cycles, i.e. recycling nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon through, for example, contribution to soil fertility and carbon sequestration. Our synthesis identifies the need for knowledge integration techniques supported by programmes and policy tools that reverse the fragmentation of animal research toward a unification into a single Animal Research Kinship, OneARK, which sets new objectives for future science policy. At the interface of animal ecology and animal production science, our article promotes an effective application of the agroecology concept to animals and the use of functional diversity to increase resilience in both wild and farmed systems. It also promotes the use of novel monitoring technologies to quantify animal welfare and factors affecting fitness. These measures are needed to evaluate viability risk, predict and potentially increase animal adaptability and improve the management of wild and farmed systems, thereby responding to an increasing demand of society for the development of a sustainable management of systems.     

Pig proteomics: a review of a species in the crossroad between biomedical and food sciences

The pig (Sus scrofa) is one of the most important animal species used for meat production worldwide, playing a fundamental role in numerous cultures from Southern Europe to the Pacific Islands. Additionally, it is broadly used as an experimental animal for several purposes, from physiological studies to drug testing and surgical training. Proteomics studies have covered both physiological and biomedical application studies of pig to a much greater extent than for any other farm animal. Despite this fact, no review seems to be available on the application of proteomics to production aspects in pig. The aim of this article is to provide a review on such applications of proteomics to the pig species. The article is divided in three parts. The first is dedicated to productive characterization and includes aspects related to reproduction and meat science. The second concerns the management of health and disease in production. Finally, the third part concerns the use of the pig as a model organism in biomedical research.     

Animal board invited review: Grassland-based livestock farming and biodiversity

Grasslands dominate land cover nationally and globally, and their composition, structure and habitat value are strongly influenced by the actions of domestic and wild grazing animals that feed on them. Different pastures are characterised by varying opportunities for selective feeding by livestock; agronomically improved, sown swards generally consist of a limited range of plant species whereas longer-term leys and semi-natural grasslands are characterised by a more diverse mixture of plants. In the case of botanically diverse permanent pastures/grazing lands, the dietary preferences of different grazers have a more pronounced effect on the botanical composition of the sward in the longer term. Selection of a dominant species within the sward can give less abundant components a chance to compete, increasing community evenness and species richness. Conversely, the selection of minor components reduces sward compositional heterogeneity and hence plant species richness and evenness. Body size, gut type (foregut vs hindgut fermentation), physiological status (growing, pregnant, lactating), metabolic status (extent of body reserves) and environmental conditions all influence the nutrient requirements of a given animal and related foraging priorities. The diet selected is also strongly influenced by the availability of preferred food items, and their vertical and horizontal distribution within the sward. In general, larger animals, such as cattle and horses, are less selective grazers than smaller animals, such as sheep and goats. They are quicker to switch to consuming less-preferred sward components as the availability of preferred resources declines due to their greater forage demands, and as a result can be very effective in controlling competitive plant species consistently avoided by more selective grazers. As a result, low-intensity mixed grazing of cattle and sheep has been shown to improve the diversity and abundance of a range of taxa within grazed ecosystems. Mixed/co-species grazing with different animals exploiting different grassland resources is also associated with increased pasture use efficiency in terms of the use of different sward components and related improvements in nutritional value. In situations where cattle are not available, for example if they are not considered commercially viable, alternative species such as goats, ponies or South American camelids may offer an opportunity to diversify income streams and maintain productive and biodiverse pastures/grazing lands. Stocking rate and timing of grazing also have a considerable role in determining the impact of grazing. Regardless of the species grazing or the pasture grazed, grazing systems are dynamic since selective grazing impacts the future availability of sward components and subsequently dietary choices. New technologies under development provide opportunities to monitor plant/animal interactions more closely and in real time, which will in future support active management to deliver targeted biodiversity gains from specific sites.     

Animal board invited review: Germplasm technologies for use with poultry

Over the last century, several reproductive biotechnologies beyond the artificial incubation of eggs were developed to improve poultry breeding stocks and conserve their genetic diversity. These include artificial insemination (AI), semen storage, diploid primordial germ cell (PGC) methodologies, and gonad tissue storage and transplantation. Currently, AI is widely used for selection purposes in the poultry industry, in the breeding of turkeys and guinea fowl, and to solve fertility problems in duck interspecies crosses for the production of mule ducklings. The decline in some wild game species has also raised interest in reproductive technologies as a means of increasing the production of fertile eggs, and ultimately the number of birds that can be raised. AI requires viable sperm to be preserved in vitro for either short (fresh) or longer periods (chilling or freezing). Since spermatozoa are the most easily accessed sex cells, they are the cell type most commonly preserved by genetic resource banks. However, the cryopreservation of sperm only preserves half of the genome, and it cannot preserve the W chromosome. For avian species, the problem of preserving oocytes and zygotes may be solved via the cryopreservation and transplantation of PGCs and gonad tissue. The present review describes all these procedures and discusses how combining these different technologies allows poultry populations to be conserved and even rapidly reconstituted.     

Animal board invited review: Genomic-based improvement of cattle in response to climate change

Climate change brings challenges to cattle production, such as the need to adapt to new climates and pressure to reduce greenhouse emissions (GHG). In general, the improvement of traits in current breeding goals is favourably correlated with the reduction of GHG. Current breeding goals and tools for increasing cattle production efficiency have reduced GHG. The same amount of production can be achieved by a much smaller number of animals. Genomic selection (GS) may offer a cost-effective way of using an efficient breeding approach, even in low- and middle-income countries. As climate change increases the intensity of heatwaves, adaptation to heat stress leads to lower efficiency of production and, thus, is unfavourable to the goal of reducing GHG. Furthermore, there is evidence that heat stress during cow pregnancy can have many generation-long lowering effects on milk production. Both adaptation and reduction of GHG are among the difficult-to-measure traits for which GS is more efficient and suitable than the traditional non-genomic breeding evaluation approach. Nevertheless, the commonly used within-breed selection may be insufficient to meet the new challenges; thus, cross-breeding based on selecting highly efficient and highly adaptive breeds may be needed. Genomic introgression offers an efficient approach for cross-breeding that is expected to provide high genetic progress with a low rate of inbreeding. However, well-adapted breeds may have a small number of animals, which is a source of concern from a genetic biodiversity point of view. Furthermore, low animal numbers also limit the efficiency of genomic introgression. Sustainable cattle production in countries that have already intensified production is likely to emphasise better health, reproduction, feed efficiency, heat stress and other adaptation traits instead of higher production. This may require the application of innovative technologies for phenotyping and further use of new big data techniques to extract information for breeding.     

Small animal positron emission tomography in food sciences

Summary. Positron emission tomography (PET) is a 3-dimensional imaging technique that has undergone tremendous developments during the last decade. Non-invasive tracing of molecular pathways in vivo is the key capability of PET. It has become an important tool in the diagnosis of human diseases as well as in biomedical and pharmaceutical research. In contrast to other imaging modalities, radiotracer concentrations can be determined quantitatively. By application of appropriate tracer kinetic models, the rate constants of numerous different biological processes can be determined. Rapid progress in PET radiochemistry has significantly increased the number of biologically important molecules labelled with PET nuclides to target a broader range of physiologic, metabolic, and molecular pathways. Progress in PET physics and technology strongly contributed to better scanners and image processing. In this context, dedicated high resolution scanners for dynamic PET studies in small laboratory animals are now available. These developments represent the driving force for the expansion of PET methodology into new areas of life sciences including food sciences. Small animal PET has a high potential to depict physiologic processes like absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination and interactions of biologically significant substances, including nutrients, ‘nutriceuticals’, functional food ingredients, and foodborne toxicants. Based on present data, potential applications of small animal PET in food sciences are discussed.     

Animal board invited review: genetic possibilities to reduce enteric methane emissions from ruminants

Measuring and mitigating methane (CH₄) emissions from livestock is of increasing importance for the environment and for policy making. Potentially, the most sustainable way of reducing enteric CH₄ emission from ruminants is through the estimation of genomic breeding values to facilitate genetic selection. There is potential for adopting genetic selection and in the future genomic selection, for reduced CH₄ emissions from ruminants. From this review it has been observed that both CH₄ emissions and production (g/day) are a heritable and repeatable trait. CH₄ emissions are strongly related to feed intake both in the short term (minutes to several hours) and over the medium term (days). When measured over the medium term, CH₄ yield (MY, g CH₄/kg dry matter intake) is a heritable and repeatable trait albeit with less genetic variation than for CH₄ emissions. CH₄ emissions of individual animals are moderately repeatable across diets, and across feeding levels, when measured in respiration chambers. Repeatability is lower when short term measurements are used, possibly due to variation in time and amount of feed ingested prior to the measurement. However, while repeated measurements add value; it is preferable the measures be separated by at least 3 to 14 days. This temporal separation of measurements needs to be investigated further. Given the above issue can be resolved, short term (over minutes to hours) measurements of CH₄ emissions show promise, especially on systems where animals are fed ad libitum and frequency of meals is high. However, we believe that for short-term measurements to be useful for genetic evaluation, a number (between 3 and 20) of measurements will be required over an extended period of time (weeks to months). There are opportunities for using short-term measurements in standardised feeding situations such as breath ‘sniffers’ attached to milking parlours or total mixed ration feeding bins, to measure CH₄. Genomic selection has the potential to reduce both CH₄ emissions and MY, but measurements on thousands of individuals will be required. This includes the need for combined resources across countries in an international effort, emphasising the need to acknowledge the impact of animal and production systems on measurement of the CH₄ trait during design of experiments.     

Animal board invited review: precision livestock farming for dairy cows with a focus on oestrus detection

Dairy cows are high value farm animals requiring careful management to achieve the best results. Since the advent of robotic and high throughput milking, the traditional few minutes available for individual human attention daily has disappeared and new automated technologies have been applied to improve monitoring of dairy cow production, nutrition, fertility, health and welfare. Cows milked by robots must meet legal requirements to detect healthy milk. This review focuses on emerging technical approaches in those areas of high cost to the farmer (fertility, metabolic disorders, mastitis, lameness and calving). The availability of low cost tri-axial accelerometers and wireless telemetry has allowed accurate models of behaviour to be developed and sometimes combined with rumination activity detected by acoustic sensors to detect oestrus; other measures (milk and skin temperature, electronic noses, milk yield) have been abandoned. In-line biosensors have been developed to detect markers for ovulation, pregnancy, lactose, mastitis and metabolic changes. Wireless telemetry has been applied to develop boluses for monitoring the rumen pH and temperature to detect metabolic disorders. Udder health requires a multisensing approach due to the varying inflammatory responses collectively described as mastitis. Lameness can be detected by walk over weigh cells, but also by various types of video image analysis and speed measurement. Prediction and detection of calving time is an area of active research mostly focused on behavioural change.     

养殖动物及其相关环境耐药组的研究进展

畜牧养殖业中大量抗生素的使用,导致养殖动物及其相关环境中存在大量的耐药基因/耐药细菌。这些耐药基因可以借助基因水平转移等方式在环境中进一步扩散,甚至进入食品动物随食物链传播,对生态环境、食品安全和人类健康造成极大的威胁。随着基因组学研究手段的不断进步,养殖动物及其相关环境中耐药基因的多样性和生态学分布规律被广泛揭示。文中综述了相关领域耐药基因的研究进展,探讨了其对人体健康的潜在影响,并对未来的研究方向进行了展望。     

土壤动物食物网研究方法

长期以来关于陆地生态系统的研究都集中在地上部分,而对于地下部分知之甚少。地下生态系统营养关系是生态系统中各生物成员之间最重要的联系,是物质循环、能量流动的重要载体。研究土壤动物食物网已成为现代地下/土壤生态学研究的热点与前沿。由于土壤动物的个体小、食性复杂、栖息环境隐蔽等原因,使得对土壤动物食物网的研究困难重重,所以选择合适的研究方法尤为重要。本文总结了国际上近几十年来土壤动物食物网研究方法,将其分为传统方法(野外直接观察法、室内培养实验观察法、显微镜下肠容物分析法)、常用方法(消化酶分析法、脂肪酸分析法、稳定同位素技术、特定化合物分子的稳定同位素分析技术)和现代分子方法(DNA分子跟踪食物链网络技术、单克隆抗体技术)3大类,具体介绍了每一种方法的发展历史和应用现状。根据土壤动物自身特性及对各方法的优势与劣势的比较,脂肪酸分析法和稳定同位素分析法是当前土壤动物食物网研究的常用方法;随着未来物种分子鉴定技术的改进和数据库的积累,DNA分子跟踪食物链网络技术将会成为未来的主流发展方向。     

Animal board invited review: Risks of zoonotic disease emergence at the interface of wildlife and livestock systems

The ongoing coronavirus disease 19s pandemic has yet again demonstrated the importance of the human-animal interface in the emergence of zoonotic diseases, and in particular the role of wildlife and livestock species as potential hosts and virus reservoirs. As most diseases emerge out of the human-animal interface, a better understanding of the specific drivers and mechanisms involved is crucial to prepare for future disease outbreaks. Interactions between wildlife and livestock systems contribute to the emergence of zoonotic diseases, especially in the face of globalization, habitat fragmentation and destruction and climate change. As several groups of viruses and bacteria are more likely to emerge, we focus on pathogenic viruses of the Bunyavirales, Coronaviridae, Flaviviridae, Orthomyxoviridae, and Paramyxoviridae, as well as bacterial species including Mycobacterium sp., Brucella sp., Bacillus anthracis and Coxiella burnetii. Noteworthy, it was difficult to predict the drivers of disease emergence in the past, even for well-known pathogens. Thus, an improved surveillance in hotspot areas and the availability of fast, effective, and adaptable control measures would definitely contribute to preparedness. We here propose strategies to mitigate the risk of emergence and/or re-emergence of prioritized pathogens to prevent future epidemics.     

Shotgun proteomics of bacterial pathogens: advances,challenges and clinical implications

Mass spectrometry-based proteomics is increasingly used in analysis of bacterial pathogens. Simple experimental set-ups based on high accuracy mass spectrometry and powerful biochemical and bioinformatics tools are capable of reliably quantifying levels of several thousand bacterial proteins in a single experiment, reaching the analytical capacity to completely map whole proteomes. Here the authors present the state-of-the-art in bacterial pathogen proteomics and discuss challenges that the field is facing, especially in analysis of low abundant, modified proteins from organisms that are difficult to culture. Constant improvements in speed and sensitivity of mass spectrometers, as well as in bioinformatic and biochemical workflows will soon allow for comprehensive analysis of regulatory mechanisms of pathogenicity and enable routine application of proteomics in the clinical setting.     

畜尿排泄特征及其对草地植被和家畜选择采食的作用

综述了畜尿特征及其对草地植被和家畜选择采食的作用.畜尿主要成分为尿素,尿斑N浓度一般为20～80 g N/m2.家畜排尿量和尿斑大小与家畜种类、饮水次数和放牧季节有关.畜尿空间分布表现为数量和浓度的不同,常呈线形函数形式随机分布于家畜采食路线周围,尿斑中心与边缘的尿N浓度差别很大.通常,畜尿对草地植物的影响限于尿斑区域,约为尿斑面积的2倍,作用时间可持续6～12个月;对草地植物生长具长期促进和短期灼烧作用,其效应大小与尿N浓度和施尿时期有关.一般畜尿促进禾草生长,抑制豆科草的生长和固氮作用.尿斑处植物的N成分比非施尿斑块高,植物吸收的N量随家畜年排泄N不同而异,尿排泄对植物生长的正效应发生于≤250 kg N/(hm2·a)情况下.畜尿排泄增加草地植物多度、丰富度和群落多样性,并受放牧、培育措施的影响.不同植物对畜尿的响应不同,放牧家畜对尿斑不同植物的选食性和补偿性生长差异,是引起和维持草地异质性的重要因素之一.放牧家畜具优先选食和反复采食尿斑植物或高营养斑块的特点,亦经常在远离高营养植被斑块的地方采食.具体草地管理与生产实践中,可通过在草地采食不足的地方设置饮水点、补饲料及搭荫棚等措施,提高家畜对整个草地的利用,以降低家畜对尿排泄物密集区高N植被斑块的过度采食.     

Animal board invited review: Factors affecting the early growth and development of gilt progeny compared to sow progeny

Progeny born to primiparous sows farrowing their first litter, often called gilt progeny (GP), are typically characterised by their poorer overall production performance than progeny from multiparous sows (sow progeny; SP). Gilt progeny consistently grow slower, are born and weaned lighter, and have higher postweaning illness and mortality rates than SP. Collectively, their poorer performance culminates in a long time to reach market weight and, ultimately, reduced revenue. Due to the high replacement rates of sows, the primiparous sow and her progeny represent a large proportion of the herd resulting in a significant loss for the pig industry. While the reasons for poorer performance are complex and multifaceted, they may largely be attributed to the immature age at which gilts are often mated and the significant impact of this on their metabolism during gestation and lactation. As a result, this can have negative consequences on the piglet itself. To improve GP performance, it is crucial to understand the biological basis for differences between GP and SP. The purpose of this review is to summarise published literature investigating differences in growth performance and health status between GP and SP. It also examines the primiparous sow during gestation and lactation and how the young sow must support her own growth while supporting the metabolic demands of her pregnancy and the growth and development of her litter. Finally, the underlying physiology of GP is discussed in terms of growth and development in utero, the neonatal period, and the early development of the gastrointestinal tract. The present review concludes that there are a number of interplaying factors relating to the anatomy and physiology of the primiparous sow and of GP themselves. The studies presented herein strongly suggest that poor support of piglet growth in utero and reduced colostrum and milk production and consumption are largely responsible for the underperformance of GP. It is therefore recommended that future management strategies focus on supporting the primiparous sow during gestation and lactation, increasing the preweaning growth of GP to improve their ability to cope with the stressors of weaning, selection of reproductive traits such as uterine capacity to improve birth weights and ultimately GP performance, and finally, increase the longevity of sows to reduce the proportion of GP entering the herd.     

Animal board invited review: Widespread adoption of genetic technologies is key to sustainable expansion of global aquaculture

Aquaculture production comprises a diverse range of species, geographies, and farming systems. The application of genetics and breeding technologies towards improved production is highly variable, ranging from the use of wild-sourced seed through to advanced family breeding programmes augmented by genomic techniques. This technical variation exists across some of the most highly produced species globally, with several of the top ten global species by volume generally lacking well-managed breeding programmes. Given the well-documented incremental and cumulative benefits of genetic improvement on production, this is a major missed opportunity. This short review focusses on (i) the status of application of selective breeding in the world’s most produced aquaculture species, (ii) the range of genetic technologies available and the opportunities they present, and (iii) a future outlook towards realising the potential contribution of genetic technologies to aquaculture sustainability and global food security.     

我国疾病动物模型的研究现状和展望

由于医学科学研究的需要,各类疾病动物模型被广泛用来研究人类疾病的发生发展机制、药物筛选以及治疗评价等.本文全面梳理了我国疾病动物模型的研究和发展现状,分析了我国在这方面的特色优势以及与国际上的差距,内容涵盖了肿瘤、神经及精神疾病、感染及免疫性疾病、心血管与代谢性疾病、药物筛选等不同领域.简要介绍了国家自然科学基金对疾病动物模型项目的资助情况,同时指出了我国疾病模型今后的主要发展方向.     

Animal Hoarding in Victoria,Australia: An Exploratory Study

Animal hoarding not only presents significant welfare issues for the animals involved, but also for the hoarders and people in the surrounding community. Existing studies on the issue have primarily been undertaken in the USA and little is known about animal hoarding in other countries, including Australia. It has been estimated that the per-capita prevalence of animal hoarding in Victoria, Australia, is similar to that in the USA, but in order to design effective intervention strategies, the extent of the issue and its characteristics need to be identified. This study analyzes data from 22 recent cases of animal hoarding from a number of agencies in Victoria. The demographics and living conditions of animal hoarders in Victoria and the USA were found to be similar. In contrast, the animals involved in hoarding cases in Victoria were in a better condition than the animals in the USA, with behavioral issues being the leading animal welfare concern in Australia. Behavioral problems resulted in euthanasia of the animals in 45% of the cases studied. All of the agencies included in this study call for a greater involvement or support from human mental health services to fully address the root of the problem. The information from this study can be used to help identify groups at risk to develop effective and appropriate means of prevention of, and intervention in, animal hoarding cases.