Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) plays an important role in avian ovarian follicle development. The high mRNA expression of AMH in avian ovarian prehierarchical follicles helps prevent premature granulosa cell differentiation. Vitamin D3 was reported to downregulate AMH mRNA expression in granulosa cells of prehierarchical follicles in hens; however, the underlying molecular mechanism remains unknown. In this study, AMH mRNA expression was investigated in granulosa cells of prehierarchical follicles in geese under vitamin D3 induction. A potential vitamin D response element (VDRE) present in the goose AMH promoter was identified using luciferase activity, electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA), and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays. The results showed that AMH mRNA expressions were downregulated by vitamin D3 in granulosa cells of prehierarchical follicles in geese. A classical VDRE-like sequence was identified in the goose AMH promoter by in silico analyses. Luciferase activity assays revealed that the putative VDRE is a negative regulatory element. Vitamin D receptor (VDR) and retinoic X receptor (RXR) are necessary to decrease the AMH promoter activity induced by vitamin D3. The EMSA and ChIP assays demonstrated that the VDR/RXR complex directly binds to the putative VDRE. These results suggest that vitamin D3 downregulates AMH mRNA expression via a functional VDRE that binds the VDR/RXR heterodimer in goose ovarian prehierarchical follicles. These results provide new insights into the regulatory mechanisms of vitamin D3 in avian ovarian follicular development.

This study aims to elucidate the effects of environmental temperature on growth performance, pectoral muscle fiber structure, fatty acid composition, and gene expression in ducks. A total of 72 ducks at 21-day-old were randomly assigned to controlled environments at temperatures of 20°C (T20) and 29°C (T29) from 21 to 42 days of age. Ducks in the T20 group exhibited significantly higher body weight, body weight gain (BWG), average daily gain (ADG), and average daily feed intake (ADFI) at 42-day-old compared to those in the T29 group (P < 0.05). T20 group showed a marked reduction in muscle fiber diameter and area, with an increase in fiber density compared to those raised at T29 group (P < 0.05). The T20 group also had higher levels of various fatty acids, including saturated (SFAs), monounsaturated (MUFAs), and polyunsaturated (PUFAs) types, while T29 group had lower levels of ω-3 and ω-6 PUFAs and a higher ω-6/ω-3 PUFA (P < 0.05). Transcriptomic analysis revealed 544 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) primarily associated with the Cell Cycle, Cell Replication, and PPAR signaling pathways, with key genes cell division cycle 45 (CDC45), chromatin licensing and DNA replication factor 1 (CDT1), and others identified through protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis as crucial for temperature regulation of muscle fiber structure and fatty acid composition, particularly within the significantly enriched cell cycle pathway. These findings were validated by qPCR, confirming consistent gene expression trends. The study highlights how ambient temperature affects muscle fiber characteristics and fatty acid composition in ducks, offering insights into potential strategies for optimizing production conditions to enhance meat quality and efficiency.

Pekin ducks are an important meat duck breed, and their growth performance and health status have a direct impact on the production efficiency of the meat industry. This experiment aimed to investigate the effects of post-hatch brooding temperature on the growth performance, meat quality, and serum indicators of Pekin ducks. A total of 144 one-day-old ducks with similar initial body weight were randomly divided into 4 groups: A, B, C and D, with 3 replicates per group and 12 ducks per replicate. The initial temperature in brooding stage was 35°C (1 to 3 d), and then the 4 treatment groups were respectively reduced to temperatures of 20°C, 23°C, 26°C and 29°C (4 to 21 d). Subsequently, the ducks in each group were transferred to a conventional house and continued to feed until 42 d. At 15 d, feed conversion ratio (FCR) in group D was significantly lower than that in other groups. At 18 d, the FCR of group C was significantly lower than that of groups A and B, and that of group D was significantly lower than that of other groups. At 21 d, ADFI in group D was significantly lower than that in group A and group B (P < 0.05). At 42 d, there were no significant differences in BW, ADG, ADFI and FCR among the four treatment groups. Similarly, there was no statistical significance in growth performance, body size, meat quality and antioxidants of ducks (P > 0.05). At 42 d, triglyceride (TG) of the group A was significantly lower than that of the group C (P < 0.05). Under the conditions of this experiment, the later growth of Pekin ducks partially alleviated the effects of different chick-rearing temperatures after hatching.

Background: In vitro findings on the biological functions of Lycium barbarum flavonoids (LBFs) as feed additives are limited. This study aimed to explore the effects of different concentrations of LBFs on the growth performance, immune function, intestinal barrier, and antioxidant capacity of meat ducks. A total of 240 one-day-old male meat ducks were randomly allocated to four groups, each receiving a basal diet supplemented with 0 (control), 250, 500, or 1000 mg/kg of LBFs for 42 d. Results: The results showed that dietary supplementation with 500 mg/kg of LBFs resulted in a significant increase in average daily feed intake, body weight, average daily gain, and feed conversion ratio. Dietary supplementation with 500 or 1000 mg/kg of LBFs resulted in significant decreases in serum levels of D-lactic acid and lipopolysaccharide. Dietary supplementation with 500 mg/kg LBFs significantly decreased diamine oxidase activity and enhanced the activities of catalase, total antioxidant capacity, and glutathione peroxidase in the jejunal mucosa, as well as the activity of total superoxide dismutase and the content of glutathione in the ileal mucosa, while significantly lowering the content of malondialdehyde in the ileal mucosa. Dietary supplementation with 500 mg/kg LBFs significantly up-regulated the mRNA expression of genes associated with intestinal barrier function and antioxidant capacity in the jejunal and ileal mucosa, as well as the protein expression of these antioxidant genes, and led to a significant reduction in the mRNA expression of pro-apoptotic and inflammatory-related genes. Conclusions: The addition of LBFs to the diet improved the growth performance, intestinal barrier function, immune response, and antioxidant capacity of the ducks, which may be closely associated with the activation of the Nrf2 signaling pathway and the inhibition of the NF-κB signaling pathway. The optimal dietary inclusion level of LBFs in ducks was 500 mg/kg.

The present study investigated the effects of temperature on growth performance, slaughtering traits, meat quality and antioxidant function of Pekin ducks from 21–42 d of age. Single factor analysis of variance was used in this experiment, 144 21 d-old Pekin ducks were randomly allotted to 4 environmentally controlled chambers: T20 (20°C), T23 (23°C), T26 (26°C) and T29 (29°C), with 3 replicates in each group (12 ducks in each replicate), the relative humidity of all groups is 74%. During the 21-day trial period, feed and water were freely available. At 42 d, the BW (body weight) and ADG (average daily gain) of T26 were significantly lower than T20 (p < 0.05), and the T29 was significantly lower than T20 and T23 (p < 0.05). The ADFI (average daily feed intake) of T26 and T29 were significantly lower than T20 and T23 (p < 0.05). Compared to the T29, the T20 showed a significant increase oblique body length and chest width, and both the keel length and thigh muscle weight significantly increased in both the T20 and T23, while the pectoral muscle weight increased significantly in other groups (p < 0.05). The cooking loss of the T29 was the lowest (p < 0.05). The T-AOC (total antioxidant capacity) of T29 was significantly higher than the other groups (p < 0.05), the SOD (superoxide dismutase) in the T29 was significantly higher than the T23 and T26 (p < 0.05). In conditions of 74% relative humidity, the BW and ADFI of Pekin ducks significantly decrease when the environmental temperature exceeds 26°C, and the development of body size and muscle weight follows this pattern. The growth development and serum redox state of Pekin ducks are more ideal and stable at temperatures of 20°C and 23°C.

Egg turning in incubation is crucial to the development of embryos and hatching performance. We aimed to develop a high performance duck egg incubation technique by enlarging and changing egg turning angles. Increasing turning angle from 45 to 75° did not affect the embryo early mortality during the first 15 d of incubation, which ranged from 3.5 to 4.0%, but accelerated chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) development by 17 h, and significantly (P < 0.01) reduced the late mortality from 9.4 ± 0.98% to 5.31 ± 0.63%. As the result, fertile egg hatchability increased from 91.03 ± 0.97% to 94.64 ± 0.61% (P < 0.05), so was healthy duckling rate from 87.24 ± 1.17% to 92.08 ± 0.55% (P < 0.05), and duckling live weight from 60.74 ± 0.63 g to 63.15 ± 0.35 g (P < 0.05). Changing turning angle from 75°to 60°during incubation d 15 to 25 further reduced late embryo mortality to 3.88 ± 0.47 and increased hatchability to 96.58 ± 0.68%. This changing angle turning hatched ducklings exhibited the highest growth performance during rearing than those hatched by 45 and 75° egg turning. The enhanced growth rate was paralleled by upregulations of somatotropic axis genes mRNA expression levels of the hypothalamus GHRH, liver GHR and IGF-1 during embryo incubation and duckling rearing. In conclusion, a changing angle egg turning incubation technique, 75°in the first 15 d and 60°thereafter, can enhance CAM development, upregulate somatotropic axis genes expressions, and can maximally improve embryo livability, duckling hatchability and growth performance.

This study aims to investigate the effects of different relative humidity (RH) during 4-21d of Beijing ducks on their condition at 42 d. A total of 48 Pekin duck were randomly allotted into 4 treatments (A:RH60 %, B:RH67 %,C:RH74 %,D:RH81 %), each having 3 replicates of 4 ducks. Different humidity treatments were applied from 4 to 21 days. At 42 d, there were no significant differences (P > 0.05) in body weight (BW), average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) among the 4 groups. Oblique body length in D was significantly higher than that in A (P < 0.05). Compared with A, the chest depth of the other groups was significantly increased, and the abdominal fat weight of B and C was significantly increased (p < 0.05). Liver weight and liver index in C and D significantly higher than that in B (p < 0.05). Abdominal fat ratio in B was significantly higher than that in A (P < 0.05). Cholesterol (CHOL) in D was significantly higher than that in A and C (P < 0.05), triglyceride (TG) in C was significantly higher than that in A and B (P < 0.05), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in B was significantly higher than that in A, C, and D (P < 0.05). pH in B was significantly higher than that in A (P < 0.05), brightness (L*) in A was significantly higher than that in B and C (P < 0.05), redness (a*) in B and C was significantly higher than that in A and D (P < 0.05), and yellowness (b*) in C was significantly lower than that in A and D (P < 0.05).The results indicate that the RH of environment during the brooding period has no impact on duck production performance but induces some oxidative stress damage and changes in meat quality. Additionally, ducks subjected to different RH treatments during the brooding period exhibit varying adaptability to the same environment as they mature.

试验旨在研究免疫抑制素结合同期发情对奶牛受胎率的影响,并形成基于抑制素免疫的奶牛繁殖新技术.本研究以不同剂量抑制素α亚基(inhibin α,INHα)抗原结合CIDR-同期发情(CIDR-ovsynch,CO)和双同期(double-ovsynch,DO)2种同期发情方案处理奶牛,同时设立对照组开展3个批次试验:①1mg抑制素抗原+DO(n=147);②1 mg抑制素抗原+CO(n=252);③不同剂量(1mg和1.5mg)抑制素抗原+CO(n=104).结果显示,免疫抑制素显著提高了 CO奶牛的配种受胎率(对照组为38.4％,免疫组为52.1％),P＜0.05,对DO奶牛的受胎率无显著影响(对照组为41.9％,免疫组为34.2％),P=0.19.对于CO的奶牛,妊娠奶牛的受胎数与免疫剂量显著性相关(P＜0.05),1.5 mg免疫组受胎率71.1％,显著高于1mg免疫组47.1％,P＜0.05,1.5mg组发生15.6％的双胎.上述结果表明,免疫抑制素可以显著提高CO奶牛配种受胎率;在奶牛生产中,可采用1 mg抑制素免疫与CO联用,达到有效提高奶牛配种受胎率同时避免双胎发生的目的.

ABSTRACT 1. Growth performance of Yangzhou geese hatched from eggs with turning angles of 50° or 70° was evaluated in association with serum hormones and somatotrophic gene mRNA expression. 2. Egg turning at 70° significantly (P< 0.05) increased hatchability, gosling quality and hatching weight. Gosling post-hatch body weight, leg and breast muscle weight in the 70° turning group was significantly heavier until 50 d of age. 3. Serum concentrations of GH were significantly higher until 30 d of age in the 70° turning group goslings, and those of IGF-I and T3 were higher from hatching to 50 d of age. 4. The mRNA expression of GHRH, pituitary GH, liver and leg muscle IGF-I were all significantly higher at 1 and 30 d of age after hatch, but not at 70 d after hatch, in the 70° turning group. 5. Egg turning at 70° during incubation improves embryo and gosling quality and growth performance through up-regulation of gene expression and secretion of somatotrophic axis hormones, GHRH, GH and IGF-I, as well as T3.

Protein palmitoylation, with more than 5000 substrates, is the most prevalent form of protein lipidation. Palmitoylated proteins participate in almost all areas of cellular physiology and have been linked to several human diseases. Twenty-three zDHHC enzymes catalyze protein palmitoylation with extensive overlap among the substrates of each zDHHC member. Currently, there is no global strategy to delineate the physiological substrates of individual zDHHC enzymes without perturbing the natural cellular pool. Here, we outline a general approach to accomplish this on the basis of synthetic orthogonal substrates that are only compatible with engineered zDHHC enzymes. We demonstrate the utility of this strategy by validating known substrates and use it to identify novel substrates of two human zDHHC enzymes. Finally, we employ this method to discover and explore conserved palmitoylation in a family of host restriction factors against pathogenic viruses, including SARS-CoV-2.

Very-long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (VLCPUFAs; C24-38) constitute a unique class of PUFA that have important biological roles, but the lack of a suitable dietary source has limited research in this field. We produced an n-3 C24-28-rich VLCPUFA-oil concentrated from fish oil to study its bioavailability and physiological functions in C57BL/6J mice. The serum and retinal C24:5 levels increased significantly compared to control after a single-dose gavage, and VLCPUFAs were incorporated into the liver, brain, and eyes after 8-week supplementation. Dietary VLCPUFAs resulted in favorable cardiometabolic changes, and improved electroretinography responses and visual performance. VLCPUFA supplementation changed the expression of genes involved in PPAR signaling pathways. Further in vitro studies demonstrated that the VLCPUFA-oil and chemically synthesized C24:5 are potent agonists for PPARs. The multiple potential beneficial effects of fish oil-derived VLCPUFAs on cardiometabolic risk and eye health in mice support future efforts to develop VLCPUFA-oil into a supplemental therapy.

平坝灰鹅是贵州省传统生产和消费的一个地方特色优良鹅种.针对制约平坝灰鹅产业发展的产业化程度低、未实现全年均衡生产、技术技能人才紧缺、品种资源保护和开发利用工作滞后等瓶颈问题,提出加强龙头企业培育、鹅产业化关键技术研究和推广、人才培养、品种资源保护和开发利用、品牌建设与推广等解决对策,为推进平坝灰鹅产业快速发展助力乡村振兴战略实施和种业振兴行动提供参考.

The current study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different administration routes of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on intestinal mucosal morphological, immunological, and microbial barrier functions in goslings. First, we compared intestinal villi morphology of goslings under intraperitoneal or oral LPS treatment through hematoxylin and eosin staining. Then, we determined the signatures of the microbiome in the ileum mucosa of goslings subjected to oral LPS treatment at 0, 2, 4, and 8 mg/kg BW by 16S sequencing, and analyzed the changes in intestinal barrier functions and permeability, levels of LPS in the ileum mucosa, plasma, and liver tissue, and the induced inflammatory response of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). As a result, intraperitoneal LPS injection resulted in a thicker intestinal wall in the ileum within a short time, whereas villus height was less affected; in contrast, oral LPS treatment exerted a stronger influence on villus height but not on intestinal wall thickness. We also found that oral LPS treatment affected the structure of the intestinal microbiome, reflected by changes in the clustering of intestinal microbiota. The average abundance of Muribaculaceae showed an increasing trend with increasing LPS levels, and that of the genus Bacteroides decreased, compared with the control group. In addition, oral LPS treatment with 8 mg/kg BW affected the intestinal epithelial morphology, damage the mucosal immune barrier, downregulated the expression of tight junction proteins, increased circulating D-lactate levels, and stimulated the secretion of various inflammatory mediators and activation of the TLR4/MyD88/NFκB pathway. This study presented the injuries of intestinal mucosal barrier function induced by LPS challenges in goslings and provided a scientific model for searching the novel strategies to attenuate the immunological stress and gut injury caused by LPS.

狮头鹅粉肝是潮汕人民因地制宜发明的特色美食.粉肝的生产是在约 1 d的时间内,用大米饭密集填饲 120 日龄左右的狮头鹅,使其肝脏重量迅速增长 3～4 倍至约 450 g.新鲜粉肝卤制后咸香嫩滑不油腻,备受消费者喜爱,同时粉肝生产亦为鹅产业带来了产值增加,促使粉肝产业展现强劲发展势头.本文通过实地调研狮头鹅粉肝生产情况,总结梳理了粉肝产业发展现状、生产工艺,并分析了其经济效益,旨在为粉肝产业的推广提供理论和经济学指导.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of different humidity levels on the growth performance, slaughter performance, and meat quality of Pekin ducks through the artificial control of humidity, and to identify the suitable environmental humidity for Pekin duck growth. A completely randomized single-factor design was employed, selecting 144 newly hatched male Pekin ducks with healthy and similar BW (body weight) (60.92 g ± 4.38). These ducks were randomly assigned to four groups (A (RH (relative humidity) = 60%), B (RH = 67%), C (RH = 74%), D (RH = 81%)), with 12 ducks and 3 replicates in each group. The ducks were raised in a climate-controlled room for 42 days with ad libitum access to feed and water. BW and feed intake were measured every 3 days, and slaughter performance and meat quality were assessed at 42 days. There was no significant difference in the ADG (average daily gain) from 1 to 21 days (p > 0.05). The ADFI (average daily feed intake) of Group D was significantly lower than that of Groups A, B, and C (p < 0.05), with no significant differences between Groups A, B, and C (p > 0.05). At 42 days, the BW, ADG, and ADFI of Groups A and C were significantly higher than those of Group D (p < 0.05), with no significant differences among Groups A, B, and C (p > 0.05). Group C had a significantly higher breast muscle weight, breast muscle ratio, liver weight, and liver index than Groups B and D (p < 0.05), with no significant differences between Groups A, B, and D (p > 0.05). The meat shear force in Group C was significantly lower than that in Groups A, B, and D (p < 0.05). The L* (brightness) of Group C was significantly lower than that of Group A (p < 0.05), and the a* (redness) value of Group C was significantly higher than that of Groups A and B (p < 0.05), with no significant difference compared to Group D (p > 0.05). Group B had a significantly higher cooking loss than Groups A, C, and D (p < 0.05), with no significant differences among Groups A, C, and D (p > 0.05). Under 26 °C conditions, Pekin ducks perform best in terms of the production performance and feed efficiency, with high-quality meat, especially when reared at 74% humidity.

Huntington's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by a CAG expansion in the first exon of the HTT gene, resulting in an extended polyglutamine (poly-Q) tract in huntingtin (httex1). The structural changes occurring to the poly-Q when increasing its length remain poorly understood due to its intrinsic flexibility and the strong compositional bias. The systematic application of site-specific isotopic labeling has enabled residue-specific NMR investigations of the poly-Q tract of pathogenic httex1 variants with 46 and 66 consecutive glutamines. Integrative data analysis reveals that the poly-Q tract adopts long α-helical conformations propagated and stabilized by glutamine side chain to backbone hydrogen bonds. We show that α-helical stability is a stronger signature in defining aggregation kinetics and the structure of the resulting fibrils than the number of glutamines. Our observations provide a structural perspective of the pathogenicity of expanded httex1 and pave the way to a deeper understanding of poly-Q-related diseases.

The circulation of progesterone (P4) concentrations of recipients has positive correlations with embryo survival and pregnancy success of embryo transfer (ET) in dairy cows. One strategy to improve P4 concentration is the administration of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) or human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), thereby inducing the formation of accessory corpus luteum (CL). This study aimed at determining the efficacy of GnRH or hCG treatment regarding embryo transfer (ET) and providing a better clinical veterinary practice guidance. A meta-analysis was conducted on the data from 2048 treated recipient cows and 1546 untreated cows. By inducing the formation of accessory CL with GnRH (100 µg), GnRH analogue Buserelin (8–10 µg), or hCG (≥1500 IU) 5–11 days after synchronized ovulation, hCG alone achieved an improvement (RR = 1.39, p < 0.05), while GnRH and GnRH analogue did not result in significant changes (RR = 1.04, p = 0.26). Treatment with GnRH or hCG 5–7 days after synchronized ovulation was associated with increased chances of pregnancy compared with later treatment (11–14 days). Owing to the treatment, the pregnancy rate of cows with very poor fertility (<40%) was improved, while that of cows with good fertility (≥40%) was not affected. Treatment with GnRH or hCG greatly improved pregnancy rates of parous lactating cows (RR = 1.32, p < 0.05) compared with heifers (RR = 1.02, p > 0.05). Additionally, as indicated by pregnancy loss analysis, the treatment had no benefit on late embryo/early fetus survival at days 28–81. In conclusion, the induction of accessory CL with GnRH or hCG may benefit fertility and have important implications for the management of reproductive performance in the dairy industry.

The use of radiolabeled glucose for PET imaging resulted in the most commonly used tracer in the clinic, 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoroglucose (FDG). More recently, other radiolabeled sugars have been reported for various applications, including imaging tumors and infections. Therefore, in this study, we developed a series of fluorine-18-labeled L-rhamnose derivatives as potential PET tracers of various fungal and bacterial strains. Acetyl-protected triflate precursors of rhamnose were prepared and radiolabeled with fluorine-18 followed by hydrolysis to produce L-deoxy [18F]fluororhamnose. The overall radiochemical yield was 7–27% in a 90 min synthesis time with a radiochemical purity of 95%. In vivo biodistribution of the ligands using PET imaging showed that 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-L-rhamnose is stable for at least up to 60 min in mice and eliminated via renal clearance. The tracer also exhibited minimal tissue or skeletal uptake in healthy mice resulting in a low background signal.

鹅蛋孵化是种鹅繁殖效率提升和优质鹅苗生产的关键环节.文章根据数年来鹅种蛋孵化技术的研究进展和实践应用效果,特别是在炎热夏季大规模高效孵化反季节种蛋的基础上,全面总结提高鹅种蛋孵化性能的孵化场设计、建设及最新孵化设备选择与运行要点,为提高种鹅生产性能和当前的鹅业规模化、现代化发展提供关键技术支撑.

为解决群养种鹅个体产蛋信息监测难度大的问题,提出一种基于射频识别技术(radio frequency identification,RFID)与目标检测算法的种鹅个体产蛋信息监测方法.首先,使用134.2 kHz低频RFID实现无接触获取产蛋种鹅身份信息.其次,引入目标检测算法实时获取种鹅与鹅蛋的位置与数量信息,采用微调训练的方法分阶段训练目标检测模型,以增加模型在小数据集情况下的收敛速度与精度.利用种鹅定点产蛋的行为特点,将图像中每个独立产蛋区域提取为感兴趣区域,实现对每个产蛋区域的独立监测.最后,设计目标计数算法减小计数结果的误差,通过判断种鹅与鹅蛋的数量变化情况,获得种鹅个体开始产蛋时间、结束产蛋时间及产蛋结果.试验结果表明,YOLOv4目标检测模型检测种鹅与鹅蛋的平均精度均值(mAP)为93.59％,种鹅个体身份信息的监测准确率为98.5％,产蛋行为信息的监测准确率为91.3％,符合产蛋信息监测的要求.