Effect of second iron injection on growth performance, hematological parameters, and fecal microbiome of piglets fed different dietary iron levels.

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of a second iron injection for suckling pigs fed diets with different dietary iron levels in the nursery period on growth performance, hematological parameters, serum and liver trace mineral content, fecal score, microbiome, and metabolites. A total of 70 newborn pigs from 7 litters were assigned to either 1 or 2 iron injections within the litter and received the first i.m.

Effect of feeding mechanically processed alfalfa silage on production performance of mid-lactation dairy cows.

Improving the digestibility and utilization of feedstuffs through processing methods may result in improved production and efficiency of dairy cattle. Our objective was to determine the effect of an intensive mechanical processing technique applied to wilted alfalfa before ensiling on dairy cow performance when fed as part of a TMR. Thirty-six mid-lactation Holstein dairy cows (primiparous and multiparous) were fed diets of similar composition (28.

Rhizosphere microbial community structure in high-producing, low-input switchgrass families.

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a native, low-input North American perennial crop primarily grown for bioenergy, livestock forage, and industrial fiber. To achieve no-input switchgrass production that meets biomass needs, several switchgrass genotypes have been identified that have a low or negative response to nitrogen fertilizer, i.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of dairy cow responses to rumen-protected methionine supplementation before and after calving.

Balancing dairy cow diets for AA is an effective strategy to reduce dietary CP concentration, maintain levels of productivity, and increase nitrogen use efficiency. Most studies evaluating supplemental rumen-protected Met (sRPMet) focus on cows in established lactation; however, there is an increasing body of evidence suggesting that initiating sRPMet feeding to transition dairy cows is beneficial to production, reproduction, and health. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of feeding sRPMet before and after calving through meta-analysis on pre- and postpartum performance and selected metabolic parameter responses.

Effects of Early Lactation Milking Frequency in an Automated Milking System on Cow Performance.

Automated milking systems () are increasingly adopted for dairy cow production, promoting individualized cow management dependent on factors like lactation stage, age, and productivity. The study objective was to investigate the effects of early lactation milking frequency on cows milked via AMS. Multiparous Holstein cows blocked by parity and due date were randomly assigned to treatments (n = 8 per treatment): three () or six () milkings per day ().

Effects of grass species and harvest date on cell wall components and feed efficiency of dairy cows.

There is a balance between DM yield and feed value when choosing types of grasses on a farm depending on the acreages of farmland and types of ruminants to be fed. Therefore, optimisation of the harvest strategy for grass silage is important for profitable dairy farming. Tall fescue has high DM yield and can replace traditional grasses, such as timothy, in Northern Europe in a changing climate as it has been shown to be more drought tolerant.

Nonlinear models of N partitioning kinetics in late-lactation dairy cows from individually labeled feed ingredients.

Few studies have examined the N kinetics of individual feeds with stable isotope tracing. We hypothesized that N partitioning to milk and excreta pools as well as the rates of the processes that drive this partitioning would differ for alfalfa silage, corn silage, corn grain, and soybean meal. Feed ingredients were endogenously labeled with N and included in 4 diets to create treatments with the same dietary composition and different labeled feed.

Pooled DNA sequencing in hairy vetch ( Roth) reveals QTL for seed dormancy but not pod dehiscence.

Introduction: Hairy vetch () is a promising legume cover crop, but its use is limited by high rates of pod dehiscence and seed dormancy.

Methods: We used phenotypically contrasting pooled DNA samples (n=24 with 29-74 individuals per sample) from an ongoing cover crop breeding program across four environments (site-year combinations: Maryland 2020, Maryland 2022, Wisconsin 2021, Wisconsin 2022) to find genetic associations and genomic prediction accuracies for pod dehiscence and seed dormancy. We also combined pooled DNA sample genetic association results with the results of a prior genome-wide association study.

Investigating the impact of feed-induced, subacute ruminal acidosis on rumen epimural transcriptome and metatranscriptome in young calves at 8- and 17-week of age.

Introduction: With the goal to maximize intake of high-fermentable diet needed to meet energy needs during weaning period, calves are at risk for ruminal acidosis. Using the calves from previously established model of feed-induced, ruminal acidosis in young calves, we aimed to investigate the changes in rumen epimural transcriptome and its microbial metatranscriptome at weaning (8-week) and post-weaning (17-week) in canulated (first occurred at 3 weeks of age) Holstein bull calves with feed-induced subacute ruminal acidosis.

Methods: Eight bull calves were randomly assigned to acidosis-inducing diet (Treated,  = 4; pelleted, 42.

Crude protein oscillation in diets adequate and deficient in metabolizable protein: Effects on nutrient digestibility, nitrogen balance, plasma amino acids, and greenhouse gas emissions.

Reducing dietary CP is a well-established means to improve N use efficiency. Yet, few studies have considered if transient restrictions in dietary CP could reduce the environmental footprint of late-lactation cows. We hypothesized that the effects of CP feeding pattern on digestibility and environmental outputs would be amplified at lower dietary CP.

Dose-Dependent Effects of Supplementing a Two-Strain Probiotic on Growth Performance, Blood Parameters, Fecal Metabolites, and Microbiome in Nursery Pigs.

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation level of a two-strain probiotic on growth performance, blood parameters, fecal metabolites, and microbiome in nursery pigs. A total of 54 weaned piglets were allotted to three treatments in three replicate pens with six pigs/pen for a 28 d feeding trial. The treatments were as follows: control: no probiotic supplementation; Pro1x: supplementation at 1.

A reference assembly for the legume cover crop hairy vetch ().

is an incompletely domesticated annual legume of the Fabaceae family native to Europe and Western Asia. is widely used as a cover crop and forage due to its ability to withstand harsh winters. Here, we generated a reference-quality genome assembly (Vvill1.

Liver microbial community and associated host transcriptome in calves with feed induced acidosis.

Introduction: In the dairy industry, calves are typically fed diets rich in highly fermentable carbohydrates and low in fibrous feeds to maximize ruminal papillae and tissue development. Calves on such diets are vulnerable at developing ruminal acidosis. Prevalent in cattle, liver abscess (LA) is considered a sequela to ruminal acidosis.

Genome-wide association mapping in hairy vetch () discovers a large effect locus controlling seed dormancy.

Hairy vetch ( Roth), a winter-hardy annual legume, is a promising cover crop. To fully leverage its potential, seed production and field performance of must be improved to facilitate producer adoption. Two classic domestication traits, seed dormancy (hard seed) and dehiscence (pod shatter), are selection targets in an ongoing breeding program.

Effects of chemical additive and packing density on the fermentation profile and nutrient composition of ensiled cocktail forage mix.

Recently, the use of cocktail forage mixes in dairy cattle rations has become more common because the mixtures are low-cost, fit well in rotation after a cereal grain forage, and can have similar yield and energy value compared with alfalfa silage. This experiment evaluated the effects of a chemical additive and packing density on the fermentation profile and nutrient composition of cocktail mix silage. The cocktail forage mix (brown-midrib sorghum-sudangrass, Italian ryegrass, red clover, berseem clover, and hairy vetch) was harvested, ensiled in laboratory silos (3.

H-C HSQC-NMR Analysis of Cranberry (Vaccinium Macrocarpon) Juice Defines the Chemical Composition of Juice Precipitate.

Shelf-stable cranberry juice precipitate has not been well characterized. Here, we describe using H-C heteronuclear single quantum coherence-nuclear magnetic resonance (HSQC-NMR) spectroscopy for cranberry juice analysis, focusing on proanthocyanidins and the precipitate. HSQC-NMR cross-peaks from juices were categorized as aliphatic, olefinic, aromatic, carbohydrate backbone, or anomeric signals.

Comparison of alternative neutral detergent fiber methods to the AOAC definitive method.

Neutral detergent fiber (NDF) is the most commonly reported metric for fiber in dairy cattle nutrition. An empirical method, NDF is defined by the procedure used to measure it. The current definitive method for NDF treated with amylase (aNDF) is AOAC Official Method 2002.

Transcript profiling of hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) identified interesting genes for seed dormancy.

Hairy vetch, a diploid annual legume species, has a robust growth habit, high biomass yield, and winter hardy characteristics. Seed hardness is a major constraint for growing hairy vetch commercially. Hard seeded cultivars are valuable as forages, whereas soft seeded and shatter resistant cultivars have advantages for their use as a cover crop.

Tools for protein structure prediction and for molecular docking applied to enzyme active site analysis: A case study using a BAHD hydroxycinnamoyltransferase.

Elucidating the structure of an enzyme and how substrates bind to the active site is an important step for understanding its reaction mechanism and function. Nevertheless, the methods available to obtain three-dimensional structures of proteins, such as x-ray crystallography and NMR, can be expensive and time-consuming. Considering this, an alternative is using structural bioinformatic tools to predict the tertiary structure of a protein from its primary sequence, followed by molecular docking of one or more substrates into the enzyme structure model.

Preparation of hydroxycinnamoyl-coenzyme A thioesters using recombinant 4-coumarate:coenzyme A ligase (4CL) for characterization of BAHD hydroxycinnamoyltransferase enzyme activities.

Analyses of the enzymatic activities of hydroxycinnamoyl-coenzyme A (CoA) hydroxycinnamoyltransferases of the BAHD family require hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA thioesters as assay reagents. Here we describe a simple, cost-effective method for preparing p-coumaroyl-, caffeoyl- and feruloyl-CoA thioesters using the Arabidopsis thaliana 4-coumarate:CoA ligase 1 (4CL1) expressed in Escherichia coli. Preparation of the 4CL enzyme, in vitro synthesis of the thioesters, and thioester purification utilizing a C-18 solid phase extraction column are detailed.

Near-real time determination of BAHD acyl-coenzyme A transferase reaction rates and kinetic parameters using Ellman's reagent.

BAHD acyl-coenzyme A (CoA) acyltransferases play key roles in a large number of biosynthetic reactions involved in plant specialized metabolism. One approach to measure reaction rates for these enzymes is to quantify the amide or ester reaction products following chromatographic separation of reaction components, an approach that can be labor intensive and time consuming, and complicated by a lack of pure standards. We previously developed and validated an alternative approach using 5,5'-dithio-bis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB, Ellman's reagent) to spectrophotometrically monitor reaction progress by the release of free CoA in the reaction.

Methane emission, nutrient digestibility, and rumen microbiota in Holstein heifers fed 14 different grass or clover silages as the sole feed.

This experiment investigated the variation in enteric methane production and associated gas exchange parameters, nutrient digestibility, rumen fermentation, and rumen microbiome when a range of silages based on different forage types (grass or clover), and different species within the 2 types, were fed as the sole feed to heifers. Three grass species (perennial ryegrass, festulolium, and tall fescue) and 2 clover species (red clover and white clover) were included. Perennial ryegrass was harvested at 2 maturity stages in the primary growth, white clover was harvested once in the primary growth, and 4 cuts of festulolium and tall fescue and 3 cuts of red clover were harvested during the growing season, giving 14 different silage batches in total.

Chromosome-scale assembly of the highly heterozygous genome of red clover ( L.), an allogamous forage crop species.

Relative to other crops, red clover ( L.) has various favorable traits making it an ideal forage crop. Conventional breeding has improved varieties, but modern genomic methods could accelerate progress and facilitate gene discovery.

Expression and Variation of the Genes Involved in Rhizobium Nodulation in Red Clover.

Red clover ( L.) is an important forage crop and serves as a major contributor of nitrogen input in pasture settings because of its ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen. During the legume-rhizobial symbiosis, the host plant undergoes a large number of gene expression changes, leading to development of root nodules that house the rhizobium bacteria as they are converted into nitrogen-fixing bacteroids.

Production performance of Holstein cows at 4 stages of lactation fed 4 dietary crude protein concentrations.

Dairy cow responses to dietary crude protein (CP) may depend on stage of lactation. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of 4 concentrations of dietary CP on dry matter intake (DMI), production performance, net energy for lactation (NE) output in milk, feed efficiency (FE: milk NE/DMI), and nitrogen use efficiency (100 × milk protein-N/N intake) when fed to cows grouped as early, mid-early, mid-late, and late lactation. Our secondary objective was to determine the range of CP concentration at which production responses were not negatively affected across days in milk (DIM).