Assessment of H-β zeolite as an ochratoxin binder for poultry.

Most of the cereal-based ingredients used in poultry feed are contaminated with ochratoxin-A (OTA). We have investigated H-β zeolite (HBZ) as a new OTA binder for poultry, along with widely used clay mineral-based product (CM), using in vitro and in vivo methods. In vitro binding experiment was carried out using a biphasic assay, consisting of adsorption at pH 3.

Influence of chromium propionate on the carcass characteristics and immune response of commercial broiler birds under normal rearing conditions.

The study investigated the effect of supplementation of chromium propionate at different dosage levels (100 to 3,200 µg/kg of elemental chromium in feed) on the performance, carcass characteristics, and immune response of broiler birds. The study was conducted on male broiler chickens (Cobb 400) for a period of 42 d as per the completely randomized design. Seven hundred 1-d-old birds were randomly segregated into 7 treatment groups, each with 10 replicates, and each replicate having 10 birds.

Inheritance of Cry1F resistance, cross-resistance and frequency of resistant alleles in Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).

Transgenic maize, Zea maize L., expressing the Cry1F protein from Bacillus thuringiensis has been registered for Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E.

Bacillus subtilis PB6 improves intestinal health of broiler chickens challenged with Clostridium perfringens-induced necrotic enteritis.

Necrotic enteritis (NE) is an enterotoxemic disease caused by Clostridium perfringens that results in significant economic losses, averaging damage of $0.05 per bird. The present study investigated the influence of a dietary supplement, Bacillus subtilis PB6, on performance, intestinal health, and gut integrity against C.

Butyrate suppresses expression of neuropilin I in colorectal cell lines through inhibition of Sp1 transactivation.

Background: Neuropilin is a transmembrane receptor for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and is expressed in normal endothelial cells and upregulated in cancer cells. Neuropilin-1 (NRP-1) has been shown to promote tumour cell migration and survival in colon cancer in response to VEGF binding. The expression profiles of neuropilins, associated co-receptors and known ligands have been mapped in three colorectal cell lines: Caco-2, HCT116 & HT29.

Sp1 acetylation is associated with loss of DNA binding at promoters associated with cell cycle arrest and cell death in a colon cell line.

Butyrate, a known histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi) and product of fibre fermentation, is postulated to mediate the protective effect of dietary fibre against colon cancer. The transcription factor Sp1 is a target of acetylation and is known to be associated with class I HDACs, including HDAC1. Sp1 is a ubiquitous transcription factor and Sp1-regulated genes include those involved in cell cycle regulation, apoptosis and lipogenesis: all major pathways in cancer development.

Short- and long-term population response to changes in vital rates: implications for population viability analysis.

Conservation practitioners use demographic population viability analysis (PVA) to understand long-term effects of changing demographic rates on population growth rate. Sensitivities and elasticities of stage-specific survival and fertility rates provide managers with guidelines on the relative contributions of various life-history stages to long-term population growth. However, short-term patterns, especially single-year effects, of elasticity may be dramatically different from long-term effects, calling for caution in implementing management policies focusing entirely on only long- or short-term elasticities.

Upregulation of BAK by butyrate in the colon is associated with increased Sp3 binding.

Butyrate is a key bioactive product of dietary fibre fermentation thought to play a key role in cancer prevention. One contributory mechanism in this role is the regulation of apoptosis by butyrate. As butyrate shows low levels of toxicity, the mechanisms by which it triggers or regulates apoptosis are of great interest.

Kv1.3 potassium channels in human alveolar macrophages.

Human alveolar macrophages were obtained from macroscopically normal lung tissue obtained at surgical resections, isolated by adherence, and identified by morphology. Whole cell recordings were made from cells 1-3 h in culture, using electrodes containing potassium chloride. From a holding potential of -100 mV, depolarizing pulses to -40 mV or greater activated an outward current.

Analysis of spore cortex lytic enzymes and related proteins in Bacillus subtilis endospore germination.

The location and function of recognized cortex-lytic enzymes of Bacillus subtilis have been explored, and the involvement in germination of a number of related proteins tested. The SleB and CwlJ proteins are cortex-lytic enzymes, partially redundant in function, that are required together for effective cortex hydrolysis during B. subtilis spore germination.

Analysis of a conserved hydrophobic pocket important for the thermostability of Bacillus pumilus chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT-86).

Site-directed mutagenesis was carried out on Bacillus pumilus chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT-86) to determine the effects of substitution at a conserved hydrophobic pocket identified earlier as important for thermostability. Mutations were introduced that would substitute residues at consensus positions 33, 191 and 203 in the enzyme, both individually and in combination. Two mutants, SDM1 (CAT-86 Y33F, A203V) and SDM5 (CAT-86 A203I), were more thermostable than wild-type and two mutants, SDM4 (CAT-86 I191V) and SDM7 (CAT-86 A203G), were less stable.

Mutations in the gerP locus of Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus cereus affect access of germinants to their targets in spores.

The gerP1 transposon insertion mutation of Bacillus cereus is responsible for a defect in the germination response of spores to both L-alanine and inosine. The mutant is blocked at an early stage, before loss of heat resistance or release of dipicolinate, and the efficiency of colony formation on nutrient agar from spores is reduced fivefold. The protein profiles of alkaline-extracted spore coats and the spore cortex composition are unchanged in the mutant.

Complete spore-cortex hydrolysis during germination of Bacillus subtilis 168 requires SleB and YpeB.

The role of the sleB gene of Bacillus subtilis, which encodes a putative spore-cortex-lytic enzyme, and the downstream ypeB gene were investigated. Both SleB and YpeB were required for normal germination to occur. The corresponding mutants formed phase-bright, heat-resistant spores with no apparent defects in dormancy.