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SUMMARY: In the light of recently revised German legislation on on-farm nitrogen (N) management, the impact of decreasing dietary N-load at balanced dietary amino acid supply on growth performance and N-excretions was examined in 5000 mixed-sex Ross 308 broilers from 1 to 40 d of age (20 floor pens with 250 birds each). In addition to diets representing the German standard with 22.0, 20.6, 20.0, and 19.5% crude protein (CP) in starter (1–10 d), grower I (11–16 d), grower II (17–30 d), and finisher feed (31–40 d), a N-reduced German standard (21.0%, 20.0%, 19.6%, and 18.9% CP) was fed in treatment 2. Dietary CP was further reduced in treatment 3 (21.0%, 19.5%, 18.7%, and 18.0% CP) and treatment 4 (21.0%, 19.0%, 18.0%, and 17.0% CP). Growth performance, feed conversion (FCR), carcass quality, N-utilization and litter quantity (at termination) were examined. Final body weight were similar between treatments 1, 2, and 3 but slightly impaired in treatment 4 (P < 0.05) while FCR was not affected. Carcass and breast meat yield did not differ significantly between treatments in male broilers. In female broilers, carcass yield was similar between treatments 1, 2, and 3 whereas it was lower in treatment 4 (P < 0.05). Breast meat yield of female broilers did not differ between treatments (P > 0.05). Dietary N-reduction resulted in gradually improved N-utilization (P < 0.05) resulting in reduction of N-excretion (P < 0.05). Moreover, quantity of litter at termination of the trial gradually decreased with dietary protein while dry matter content of litter increased and N-content decreased (P < 0.05).

Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) separation has not been considered suitable for large-scale comparative protein expression studies due to its limited throughput. We present a high-throughput analysis method based on three-dimensional (3-D) geometry gel electrophoresis. Following conventional isoelectric focusing (IEF), up to 36 immobilized pH gradient (IPG) strips are arrayed on the top surface of a 3-D gel body, and the samples transferred electrokinetically to the gel. A specific thermal management ensures that sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) occurs under identical electrophoretic and thermal conditions, avoiding gel-to-gel variations and thereby providing immediate comparability of the separation patterns. Proteins are Cy™3-labeled for online detection of laser-induced fluorescence (LIF). Images are acquired by a digital camera and recorded as a 3-D image stack during electrophoresis. Image processing software decomposes the 3-D image stack into vertical sections representing conventional 2-DE slab gels, making results immediately accessible without further gel processing. The large number of simultaneously analyzed samples (n = 36) allows treating the sample index as a quasi-continuous experimental parameter (e.g., concentration, time, dose). The method offers a wide range of applications in molecular discovery, clinical diagnosis, pharmacology, and toxicology, like protein monitoring during disease development and screening of drug candidates for their effect on protein expression.