Duck egg production sharply decreases during the late-laying period, which likely stems from an ovarian mechanism. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying ovarian regression during the late-laying period remain unclear. In this study, egg-laying (LLP) and ceased-laying (CLP) ducks at 72 weeks of age were selected to explore the potential mechanism of ovarian regression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEcotoxicol Environ Saf
February 2025
Copper (Cu) is an essential trace element for biological growth and development. Excessive intake of Cu exists harmful effects on organisms. However, whether excessive Cu intake induces kidney function damage by gut microbiota regulation remains unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Insulin-like growth factor 2 mRNA binding protein 2 (IGF2BP2) gene is closely associated with the diseases, fat deposition, and growth and reproduction traits in animals. Investigations into the relationship between the IGF2BP2 gene polymorphism and growth and reproduction traits provide valuable breeding information for enhancing productivity and economic gains in pigeon. In this study, the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 13 exons and the 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) of the IGF2BP2 gene in 292 female pigeons Tianxiang 1 strain were detected through Sanger sequencing, and their association with pigeons' growth and reproduction traits were explored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDuck meat has a unique taste and nutritional value, but age probably affects meat quality. In this study, ducks of different ages (60-day-old, D60; 900-day-old, D900) were chosen, and the odor, taste, amino acid, nucleotide, and free fatty acid components of breast meat were evaluated to investigate the differences. The results showed that the amino acid contents of breast muscle in D900 ducks, especially in Asp (umami) and Thr (sweet), were richer than those in D60 ducks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study investigates the effects of combined compound acidifiers and plant essential oils on the production performance, egg quality, and health parameters of Xianjv chickens. A total of 240 healthy 34-week-old Xianjv chickens were randomly divided into 5 groups and given 5 different feed additives: a control group with a basal diet, and four experimental groups with varying doses of compound acidifiers (CA) and essential oils (EO). The results revealed that the addition of compound acidifiers and essential oils did not significantly affect average daily feed intake, egg production rate, or feed-to-egg ratio.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe development of stable water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) emulsions for edible preservation coatings and films, utilizing their properties, deserves scientific attention. In this study, oregano essential oil and D‑sodium erythorbate were simultaneously loaded into W/O/W emulsions, and the homogenization conditions of the W/O/W emulsions were optimized. The structure and interactions of gum Arabic (GA) and whey protein isolate (WPI) as the outer phase were analyzed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEgg quality traits are economically important in the poultry industry. To explore the genetic architecture and identify potential candidate genes, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) was performed for 13 egg quality traits using data from whole-genome sequencing of 299 Longyan Shan-ma female ducks, including 12 quantitative traits and one qualitative trait, eggshell color (ESC; white, light green, green). From estimation of pedigree genetic parameters, heritability (h) ranged from 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Tibetan animals have several unique advantages owing to the harsh ecological conditions under which they live. However, compared to Tibetan mammals, understanding of the advantages and underlying mechanisms of the representative high-latitude bird, the Tibetan chicken (, TC), remains limited. The gut microbiota of animals has been conclusively shown to be closely related to both host health and host environmental adaptation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPekin ducks and Shaoxing ducks are 2 Chinese local duck breeds, both domesticated from mallard, but after domestication and long-term artificial selection, the body weight of Pekin ducks is significantly higher than that of Shaoxing ducks. It is no debate that genetic factors are the main factors responsible for this difference, but whether intestinal microbiota contribute to this difference is yet unknown. Thus, we performed comparative intestinal metagenomics and metabolomics analysis between Pekin ducks and Shaoxing ducks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe ongoing and progressive evolution of antibiotic resistance presents escalating challenges for the clinical management and prevention of bacterial infections. Understanding the makeup of resistance genomes and accurately quantifying the current abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are crucial for assessing the threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to public health. This comprehensive study investigated the distribution and diversity of bacterial community composition, ARGs, and virulence factors (VFs) across human, chicken, pig fecal, and soil microbiomes in various provinces of China.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The Wuzhishan ant (MY) chicken exhibits significant differences from other chicken breeds. However, the molecular genetic relationship between the MY breed and other chicken breeds has not been assessed.
Methods: Whole-genome resequencing was used to compare genetic diversity, nucleotide diversity, the fixation index, the linkage disequilibrium coefficient, and phylogenetic tree relationships between the MY breed and the Wenchang (WC), Danzhou (DZ), Bawangling (BW), and Longsheng Feng (LF) breeds.
Oxidative stress increases the apoptosis of intestinal epithelial cells and impairs intestinal epithelial cell renewal, which further promotes intestinal barrier dysfunction and even death. Extensive evidence supports that resveratrol and apigenin have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiproliferative properties. Here, we investigated the ability of these two compounds to alleviate diquat-induced jejunal oxidative stress and morphological injury, using the duck as a model, as well as the effects of apigenin on oxidative stress induced by HO in immortalized duck intestinal epithelial cells (IDECs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The integration of curriculum is an important approach for enhancing medical education and facilitating interdisciplinary connections among students. This study aimed to develop a new morphological integrated teaching mode for undergraduate stomatology education by combining stomatological pathology and radiology courses with instructional media.
Methods: In total, 63 undergraduates were included in this study and divided into three groups: traditional (Group T; the control group) and two experimental groups: KoPa WiFi EDU (Group K), and KoPa WiFi EDU-cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) (Group K-C).
Copper (Cu) serves as an essential cofactor in all organisms, yet excessive Cu exposure is widely recognized for its role in inducing liver inflammation. However, the precise mechanism by which Cu triggers liver inflammation in ducks, particularly in relation to the interplay in gut microbiota regulation, has remained elusive. In this investigation, we sought to elucidate the impact of Cu exposure on liver inflammation through gut-liver axis in ducks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSertoli cells (SC) are a type of important cells in the testes, which can provide transport proteins, regulatory proteins, growth factors, and other cytokines for the spermatogenic process. They participate in the regulation of the maturation and differentiation of spermatogenic cells and play an important supporting role in the migration, proliferation, and differentiation of germ cells at all levels in the testes. Previous studies found differential expression of LINC9137, miR-140-3p, and Sodium/Potassium Transporting ATPase Interacting 3 (NKAIN3) genesin high and low sperm motility goose testicular tissues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: This study examined the impact of adding coated sodium butyrate (CSB) to the diet on the growth performance, serum biochemistry, antioxidant capacity, intestinal morphology, and cecal microbiota of yellow-feathered broiler chickens.
Methods: In this study, 240 yellow-feathered broiler chickens at 26 days old were divided into two groups: the control group (CON group) received a standard diet, and the experimental group (CSB group) received a diet with 0.5 g/kg of a supplement called CSB.
The interaction between gut microbiota and muscles through the gut-muscle axis has received increasing attention. This study attempted to address existing research gaps by investigating the effects of gut microbiota on meat flavor. Specifically, lactic acid bacteria were administered to ducks, and the results of e-nose and e-tongue showed significantly enhanced meat flavor in the treatment group.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFResidual feed intake (RFI) is a crucial parameter for assessing the feeding efficiency of poultry. Minimizing RFI can enhance feed utilization and reduce costs. In this study, 315 healthy female ducks were individually housed in cages.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDuck egg production, like that of laying hens, follows a typical low-peak-low cycle, reflecting the dynamics of the reproductive system. Post-peak, some ducks undergo a cessation of egg laying, indicative of a regression process in the oviduct. Notably, the magnum, being the longest segment of the oviduct, plays a crucial role in protein secretion.
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