Effects of a novel synbiotics-enzyme complex as a replacement for antibiotics on growth performance, slaughter and meat characteristics, immune organ index, and intestinal morphology of broilers.

Introduction: Antibiotic use in broilers is being discouraged globally due to the challenges it poses. This study was conducted to assess the effects of supplementing broilers with a Symbiotic-Enzyme complex (SEC) containing prebiotics (), probiotics ( and ), and enzymes (, and α) as an alternative to antibiotics on growth performance, carcass and meat quality traits, mortality, linear body measurements, intestinal morphology and immune organ indexes.

Method: A total of 864 mixed-sex 1-day-old arbor acres (AA+) broilers were allocated to 8 experimental groups replicated 9 times with 12 chickens per replicate.

Zambian indigenous chicken genetic resources: phenotypic characteristics and their production systems among small-scale farmers.

Introduction: Indigenous chickens are very important to households for income and protein. However, their performance is usually poor, especially under small-scale farmer management, despite their potential to perform better. The performance of these chickens can be improved by selective breeding.

Transcriptomic analysis of ovarian follicles uncovers the crucial genes relevant to follicle selection and preovulatory hierarchy in hens.

Follicle selection and preovulatory hierarchy of hen ovaries were important stages of follicle development and crucially determining egg-laying performance. The selected follicles with a higher expression level of follicle-stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) mRNA that facilitates response to FSH, and rapidly develops into preovulatory follicles with distinctive characteristics of granulosa cells (GCs) proliferation and differentiation. Identification of the key genes involved in these developmental events is helpful for elucidation of the molecular mechanism underlying egg-laying traits in chicken and other domestic fowl.

The opposite effects of VGLL1 and VGLL4 genes on granulosa cell proliferation and apoptosis of hen ovarian prehierarchical follicles.

Transcription cofactors Vestigial like family (VGLL) members consisting of four homologs (VGLL1-4) are associated with cell growth and metastasis in mammals, among which VGLL1 gene has been documented to possess tumorigenic functions in various types of tumor, and VGLL4 acts as a new tumor suppressor; likewise several studies indicated that they potentially play a role in the regulation of ovary growth and function. However, the biological effects of chicken VGLL1 and VGLL4 on the proliferation, apoptosis, and steroidogenesis of the granulosa cells (GCs) during ovarian follicle development remain unknown now. This study found that VGLL1 and VGLL4 genes present divergent expression patterns of the transcripts in the GCs of various sized prehierarchical follicles (PFs) before follicle selection.

Transcriptome comparative analysis of ovarian follicles reveals the key genes and signaling pathways implicated in hen egg production.

Background: Ovarian follicle development plays an important role in determination of poultry egg production. The follicles at the various developmental stages possess their own distinct molecular genetic characteristics and have different biological roles in chicken ovary development and function. In the each stage, several genes of follicle-specific expression and biological pathways are involved in the vary-sized follicular development and physiological events.

Transcriptome Analysis of Ovarian Follicles Reveals Potential Pivotal Genes Associated With Increased and Decreased Rates of Chicken Egg Production.

Egg production is an important economic trait in the commercial poultry industry. Ovarian follicle development plays a pivotal role in regulation of laying hen performance and reproductive physiology. However, the key genes and signaling pathways involved in the various-stages of laying hen follicular development remain poorly understood.

Effects of RAC1 on Proliferation of Hen Ovarian Prehierarchical Follicle Granulosa Cells.

RAC1 belongs to the small G protein Rho subfamily and is implicated in regulating gene expression, cell proliferation and differentiation in mammals and humans; nevertheless, the function of RAC1 in growth and development of hen ovarian follicles is still unclear. This study sought to understand the biological effects of RAC1 on granulosa cell (GC) proliferation and differentiation of hen ovarian prehierarchical follicles. Firstly, our results showed expression levels of mRNA in the follicles with diameters of 7.