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To evaluate differences in maternal lines to the immune response of reproductive rabbit does, a total of 64 animals of two different lines: (1) founded for hyper-longevity and litter size criteria (LP) and (2) selected for litter size at weaning (V) were used. Females were subjected to three different reproductive efforts: post-partum (PP) mating at first lactation and 9 kits during the second; post-weaning (PW) mating at first lactation and 9 kits during the second; and PW mating at first lactation and 5 kits during the second. At second weaning (30 days PP), an acute response was induced by intravenous infusion of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). LP females seemed to be lower affected during the hyper-acute phase than V females, showing lower plasma glucose content at 1.5 h post infusion (pi) and rectal temperature at 6 h pi; and showed higher ulterior immune response, with higher levels of C-reactive protein at 48 h pi and haptoglobin in plasma from 24 h pi. Survival test conferred a higher risk of culling for V than for LP females during the first hours after challenge. These results may suggest that, regarding immune response to LPS challenge, foundation by hyper-longevity productive criteria lead to obtain a more robust population of rabbit does, characterized by improved response ability. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved., This study has been supported by the Interministerial Commission for Science and Technology (CICYT) from the Spanish Government. Grants Number: AGL2011-30170-C02-01; AGL2011-30170-C02-02), is gratefully acknowledged.

Made available in DSpace on 2022-05-01T08:44:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-01-01 The present study investigated the serum microscopic agglutination test (MAT) among 203 bovine bulls with reproduction by natural means, without apparent signs of orchitis or inflammation of accessory reproductive glands. Simultaneously, the semen of all bulls was subjected to sperm viability analysis and PCR based on the 16S rRNA gene. PCR-positive results of semen samples were confirmed by sequencing. A modified seminal plasma agglutination (MSPA) test, replacing the blood serum of all bulls in the MAT with seminal plasma was performed as well. Eight (8/203 = 3.9%) semen samples from bulls were considered nonviable (necrospermia and azoospermia) without relation to the PCR diagnosis. No agglutinin titers were identified in MSPA test. A high frequency (132/203 = 65%) of leptospiral agglutinin titers was identified in the MAT, particularly for the Sejroe serogroup (Hardjo CTG, 100/203 = 49.3%; Wolffi 74/203 = 36.4%; Guaricura 72/203 = 35.5%; and Hardjoprajitno 56/203 = 27.6%). Three (3/203 = 1.5%) semen samples of bulls were positive in the PCR, but these results were not confirmed by sequencing. The high frequency of serovars from the Sejroe serogroup typically adapted to bovines indicates the need for measures for the prophylaxis/control of the pathogen on the sampled farms. Discrepancies among the MAT, sperm viability, and molecular detection of leptospires in semen highlight the need for a combination of methods to diagnose leptospirosis in bovine bulls. To our knowledge, modified seminal plasma agglutination is described for the first time here to investigate anti-Leptospira antibodies produced locally in the genital tract in the diagnosis of bovine leptospirosis among bulls that reproduce by natural means. Department of Animal Production and Preventive Veterinary Medicine School of Veterinary Medicine an Animal Science São Paulo State University - UNESP Santo Amaro University - UNISA Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Oeste Paulista Technology Faculty - FATEC APTA Beef Cattle Center Institute of Animal Science University of São Paulo - USP Department of Animal Production and Preventive Veterinary Medicine School of Veterinary Medicine an Animal Science São Paulo State University - UNESP

Early exposure to odorants pre-, post- or transnatally is known to. result in a decreased avoidance or increased preference for these. odorants in mammals. There are also indications that olfactory sensitivity. for these odorants can be affected. We exposed C57-Bl/6. mice of Mor23-GFP and M71-GFP lines to lyral (LY) or acetophenone. (AC), respectively, either transnatally through the water of the. mother (1*10-5 M) or postnatally in air for 1 hr per day (20 ll pure). Animals were weaned on postnatal day 20 (P20), and 3 tests were. performed:. 1) A 3-min exploration test on P20 in a rectangular arena presenting. LY and AC under a wire mesh to measure the time spent in each. half of the arena. 2) A 2-bottle choice test on P21, whereby LY and AC-flavoured. water (1*10-5 M) was provided to assess intake. 3) An olfactory sensitivity test based on an habituation procedure. on P21 using two 2-min habituation trials with water and 6 dishabituation. trials whereby either LY (in concentrations ranging from. 9.77*10-9 to 1.0*10-5 M) or AC (9.54*10-7 to 1.0*10-5 M) was presented. to assess time spent exploring and number of visits to the. stimuli, assuming increased exploration when the odorant is perceived. Control animals of both lines displayed a preference for LY compared. to AC in the exploration test (LY: 99 vs. AC: 81 s, Mor23:. p=0.04, M71: p=0.03), while transnatal AC exposure resulted in. an absence of preference for either odorant (91 vs. 89 s) and postnatal. exposure in a higher preference for AC (78 vs. 108 s, p=0.02). In contrast,. LY exposure decreased preference for LY, both trans- and. E76 ECRO Abstracts. Downloaded from chemse.oxfordjournals.org at INIST-CNRS on February 28, 2011. postnatally exposed animals showing no preference for either odour. (transnatal: 89 vs. 91; postnatal: 86 vs. 94 s). We furthermore show results of 2-bottle choice test, and the. effects of LY and AC exposure on behavioural olfactory sensitivity. These results are linked with density of Mor23- and M71-receptorexpressing. olfactory sensory neurons which show high affinity to. LY and AC, respectively, presented in the poster by Tazir et al (Part. I). This research was supported by a doctoral grant from CNRSRegion. Burgundy, and by continued support from Region Burgundy.

Our study highlights the effect of the macroalgae Asparagopsis taxiformis on the feeding behaviour of the tropical surgeonfish Acanthurus triostegus. The presence of A. taxiformis chemical cues reduced A. triostegus feeding, suggesting that the presence of this algae could affect not only the survival of fish in the post-larval stage, but also alter the grazing pressure on coral reefs.

Migration of GnRH neurons, a critical step for vertebrate reproduction, depends on circuit-intrinsic synaptic communication., Migration of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons from their birthplace in the nasal placode to their hypothalamic destination is critical for vertebrate reproduction and species persistence. While their migration mode as individual GnRH neurons has been extensively studied, the role of GnRH-GnRH cell communication during migration remains largely unexplored. Here, we show in awake zebrafish larvae that migrating GnRH neurons pause at the nasal-forebrain junction and form clusters that act as interhemisphere neuronal ensembles. Within the ensembles, GnRH neurons create an isolated, spontaneously active circuit that is internally wired through monosynaptic glutamatergic synapses into which newborn GnRH neurons integrate before entering the brain. This initial phase of integration drives a phenotypic switch, which is essential for GnRH neurons to properly migrate toward their hypothalamic destination. Together, these experiments reveal a critical step for reproduction, which depends on synaptic communication between migrating GnRH neurons.

Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T11:08:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2020-01-01 This study aimed to estimate genetic parameters, including genomic data, for feeding behavior, feed efficiency, and growth traits in Nellore cattle. The following feeding behavior traits were studied (861 animals with records): time spent at the feed bunk (TF), duration of one feeding event (FD), frequency of visits to the bunk (FF), feeding rate (FR), and dry matter intake (DMI) per visit (DMIv). The feed efficiency traits (1,543 animals with records) included residual feed intake (RFI), residual weight gain (RWG), and feed conversion (FC). The growth traits studied were average daily gain (ADG, n = 1,543 animals) and selection (postweaning) weight (WSel, n = 9,549 animals). The (co)variance components were estimated by the maximum restricted likelihood method, fitting animal models that did (single-step genomic best linear unbiased prediction) or did not include (best linear unbiased prediction) genomic information in two-trait analyses. The direct responses to selection were calculated for the feed efficiency traits, ADG, and WSel, as well as the correlated responses in feed efficiency and growth by direct selection for shorter TF. The estimated heritabilities were 0.51 ± 0.06, 0.35 ± 0.06, 0.27 ± 0.07, 0.34 ± 0.06, and 0.33 ± 0.06 for TF, FD, FF, FR, and DMIv, respectively. In general, TF and FD showed positive genetic correlations with all feed efficiency traits (RFI, RWG, and FC), ADG, DMI, and WSel. Additionally, TF showed high and positive genetic and phenotypic correlations with RFI (0.71 ± 0.10 and 0.46 ± 0.02, respectively) and DMI (0.56 ± 0.09 and 0.48 ± 0.03), and medium to weak genetic correlations with growth (0.32 ± 0.11 with ADG and 0.14 ± 0.09 with WSel). The results suggest that TF is a strong indicator trait of feed efficiency, which exhibits high heritability and a weak positive genetic correlation with growth. In a context of a selection index, the inclusion of TF to select animals for shorter TF may accelerate the genetic gain in feed efficiency by reducing RFI but with zero or slightly negative genetic gain in growth traits. Beef Cattle Research Center Institute of Animal Science Department of Animal Science Federal University of Jequitinhonha and Mucuri Valleys School of Agricultural and Veterinarian Sciences São Paulo State University (Unesp) School of Agricultural and Veterinarian Sciences São Paulo State University (Unesp)

Streptococcus agalactiae is one of the causative agents of subclinical mastitis, a common disease of dairy cows that causes great economic losses in the industry worldwide. It is thought that pathology is mainly due to inflammatory damage of bovine mammary epithelial cells (bMECs); however, the mechanism by which S. agalactiae damages the bMECs is not clear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the inflammatory effects of S. agalactiae on bMECs and the resulting changes in protein profiles. The bMECs were incubated with S. agalactiae for different times and assayed for cell viability by MTT assay, apoptosis by annexin V and propidium iodide dual staining, and morphological and ultrastructural changes by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to determine the effect of S. agalactiae on expression of mRNA of inflammatory factors in bMECs and protein levels were quantitated by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. Exposure to S. agalactiae significantly decreased the cell viability and triggered apoptosis, as well as up-regulating TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 mRNA, and inhibiting IL-8 expression. S. agalactiae also induced morphological and ultrastructural changes. Furthermore, we identified 325 up-regulated and 704 down-regulated proteins in the treated vs control group. All significant differentially expressed proteins (DSEPs) were classified into three major areas by function: biological processes, cellular components and molecular functions. These differentially expressed proteins included enzymes and proteins associated with various metabolic processes and cellular immunity. Pathway enrichment analysis showed that eight down-regulated signaling pathways were significantly enriched. Exposure to even subclinical levels of S. agalactiae can lead to inflammation and bMEC damage. Our data suggest some possible molecular mechanisms for the harmful effects of subclinical mastitis in dairy cows.

Made available in DSpace on 2020-12-12T01:53:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2020-03-01 The aim of this study was to characterize the proteins present in milk whey from buffaloes with and without subclinical mastitis using a proteomic approach to identify differentially expressed proteins as potential biomarkers for this disease. Whey from Murrah buffaloes with subclinical mastitis was compared with whey from healthy animals using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. The annotated protein databases for Bubalus bubalis and Bos taurus were used in the analysis, and the gene annotations from the buffalo and bovine reference assemblies were also used. After integrating gene annotations from both buffaloes and bovines, a total of 1,033 proteins were identified, of which 156 were differentially expressed. Eighteen biological processes were annotated with Gene Ontology. Cathelicidin-3 was identified as a potential biomarker for subclinical mastitis. These results are important to the characterization of mastitis in the buffalo mammary gland and may aid in the development of tools for early diagnosis. Department of Animal Science São Paulo State University (FCAV/UNESP) Division of Animal Sciences University of Missouri Department of Animal and Avian Sciences University of Maryland Institute of Animal Science (IZ) Department of Animal Sciences Maringá State University (UEM) Department of Animal Science São Paulo State University (FCAV/UNESP)

Made available in DSpace on 2018-12-11T17:20:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2018-06-05 Background: Due to the advancement in high throughput technology, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) is routinely being incorporated along with phenotypic information into genetic evaluation. However, this approach often cannot achieve high accuracy for some complex traits. It is possible that SNP markers are not sufficient to predict these traits due to the missing heritability caused by other genetic variations such as microsatellite and copy number variation (CNV), which have been shown to affect disease and complex traits in humans and other species. Results: In this study, CNVs were included in a SNP based genomic selection framework. A Nellore cattle dataset consisting of 2230 animals genotyped on BovineHD SNP array was used, and 9 weight and carcass traits were analyzed. A total of six models were implemented and compared based on their prediction accuracy. For comparison, three models including only SNPs were implemented: 1) BayesA model, 2) Bayesian mixture model (BayesB), and 3) a GBLUP model without polygenic effects. The other three models incorporating both SNP and CNV included 4) a Bayesian model similar to BayesA (BayesA+CNV), 5) a Bayesian mixture model (BayesB+CNV), and 6) GBLUP with CNVs modeled as a covariable (GBLUP+CNV). Prediction accuracies were assessed based on Pearson's correlation between de-regressed EBVs (dEBVs) and direct genomic values (DGVs) in the validation dataset. For BayesA, BayesB and GBLUP, accuracy ranged from 0.12 to 0.62 across the nine traits. A minimal increase in prediction accuracy for some traits was noticed when including CNVs in the model (BayesA+CNV, BayesB+CNV, GBLUP+CNV). Conclusions: This study presents the first genomic prediction study integrating CNVs and SNPs in livestock. Combining CNV and SNP marker information proved to be beneficial for genomic prediction of some traits in Nellore cattle. Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory USDA Agricultural Research Service UNESP - Univ Estadual Paulista Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva e Reprodução Animal Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science Institute of Animal Science Northwest A and F University Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Agricultural Molecular Biology College of Animal Science and Technology Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias UNESP - Univ Estadual Paulista Departamento de Zootecnia Animal Genomics and Improvement Laboratory BARC USDA-ARS University of Maryland Department of Animal and Avian Sciences Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária de Araçatuba UNESP - Univ Estadual Paulista Departamento de Apoio Produção e Saúde Animal UNESP - Univ Estadual Paulista Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva e Reprodução Animal Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias UNESP - Univ Estadual Paulista Departamento de Zootecnia Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária de Araçatuba UNESP - Univ Estadual Paulista Departamento de Apoio Produção e Saúde Animal

Emotions, unlike mood, are short-lived reactions associated with specific events. They can be characterized by two main dimensions, their arousal (bodily activation) and valence (negative versus positive). Knowledge of the valence of emotions experienced by domestic and captive animals is crucial for assessing and improving their welfare, as it enables us to minimize the negative emotions that they might experience and to promote positive ones. Emotions can affect vocalizations directly or indirectly through the brain, lungs, larynx or vocal tract. As a result, vocal expression of emotions has been observed across species, and could serve as a non-invasive and potentially very reliable tool to assess animal emotions. In pigs (Sus scrofa), vocal expression of emotions has been relatively well studied. However, it is not known if the vocal indicators revealed in previous studies are valid across call types and contexts. To find this out, we conducted a meta-analysis of the effects of emotional valence on pig vocalizations, including calls recorded in the most common emotional situations encountered by pigs throughout their lives, from birth to slaughter. Our analyses revealed that pigs produced calls characterized by a higher center of gravity, a shorter duration, less noise (lower Wiener entropy), lower formants (measured using the formant dispersion) and LPC coefficients in positive compared to negative contexts. Overall, these vocal parameters could be very useful for developing automated methods to monitor pig welfare on-farm.

The aquatic metabolic unit used in this study was cofounded by The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (code 805-34.025). Currently it is part of a large-scale EU research facility program. The study was funded by the EU-FP7 project AQUAEXCEL (262336). LM is currently supported by a Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) research position (IF/01314/2014/CP1231/CT0001) from Portugal. This study had also the support of FCT through strategic projects UID/Multi/04423/2019 and UID/MAR/04292/2013 granted to CIIMAR and MARE, respectively. SN has support from FCT grant (SFRH/BPD/94500/2013). This work was also supported by the Integrated Programme of SR&TD “Smart Valorization of Endogenous Marine Biological Resources Under a Changing Climate” (reference Centro01-0145-FEDER-000018), co-funded by Centro 2020 program, Portugal 2020, European Union, through the European Regional Development Fund. In aquaculture, fish may be exposed to sub-optimal rearing conditions, which generate a stress response if full adaptation is not displayed. However, our current knowledge of several coexisting factors that may give rise to a stress response is limited, in particular when both chronic and acute stressors are involved. This study investigated changes in metabolic parameters, oxidative stress and innate immune markers in a rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) isogenic line exposed to a combination of dietary (electrolyteimbalanced diet, DEB 700 mEq Kg−1 ) and environmental (hypoxia, 4.5 mg O2 L −1 ) challenges and their respective controls (electrolyte-balanced diet, DEB 200 mEq Kg−1 and normoxia, 7.9 or mg O2 L −1 ) for 49 days. At the end of this period, fish were sampled or subjected to an acute stressor (2 min of handling/confinement) and then sampled. Feeding trout an electrolyte-imbalanced diet produced a reduction in blood pH, as well as increases in cortisol levels, hepato-somatic index (HSI) and total energy content in the liver. The ratio between the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) activities decreased in the liver of trout fed the DEB 700 diet, but increased in the heart, suggesting a different modulation of metabolic capacity by the dietary challenge. Several markers of oxidative stress in the liver of trout, mainly related to the glutathione antioxidant system, were altered when fed the electrolyteimbalanced diet. The dietary challenge was also associated with a decrease in the alternative complement pathway activity (ACH50) in plasma, suggesting an impaired innate immune status in that group. Trout subjected to the acute stressor displayed reduced blood pH values, higher plasma cortisol levels as well as increased levels of metabolic markers associated with oxidative stress in the liver. An interaction between diet and acute stressor was detected for oxidative stress markers in the liver of trout, showing that the chronic electrolyte-imbalance impairs the response of rainbow trout to handling/confinement. However, trout reared under chronic hypoxia only displayed changes in parameters related to energy use in both liver and heart. Taken together, these results suggest that trout displays an adaptative response to chronic hypoxia. Conversely, the dietary challenge profoundly affected fish homeostasis, resulting in an impaired physiological response leading to stress, which then placed constraints on a subsequent acute challenge. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

International audience; The most effective and sustainable method to control and eliminate rabies in wildlife is the oral rabies vaccination (ORV) of target species, namely foxes and raccoon dogs in Europe. According to WHO and OIE, the effectiveness of oral vaccination campaigns should be regularly assessed via disease surveillance and ORV antibody monitoring. Rabies antibodies are generally screened for in field animal cadavers, whose body fluids are often of poor quality. Therefore, the use of alternative methods such as the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has been proposed to improve reliability of serological results obtained on wildlife samples. We undertook an international collaborative study to determine if the commercial BioPro ELISA Rabies Ab kit is a reliable and reproducible tool for rabies serological testing. Our results reveal that the overall specificity evaluated on naive samples reached 96.7%, and the coefficients of concordance obtained for fox and raccoon dog samples were 97.2% and 97.5%, respectively. The overall agreement values obtained for the four marketed oral vaccines used in Europe were all equal to or greater than 95%. The coefficients of concordance obtained by laboratories ranged from 87.2% to 100%. The results of this collaborative study show good robustness and reproducibility of the BioPro ELISA Rabies Ab kit.

International audience; Organic pig husbandry systems in Europe are diverse – ranging from indoor systems with concrete outside run (IN) to outdoor systems all year round (OUT) and combinations of both on one farm (POUT). As this diversity has rarely been taken into account in research projects on organic pig production, the aim of this study was to assess and compare pig health, welfare and productivity in these three systems. Animal health and welfare were assessed using direct observation and records of 22 animal-based measures, comprising 17 health-, 3 productivity- and 2 behavioural measures. These were collected in pregnant sows, weaners and fattening pigs during direct observations and from records within a cross-sectional study on 74 farms (IN: n=34, POUT: n=28, OUT: n=12) in eight countries. Overall, prevalence of several animal health and welfare issues was low (e.g. median 0% for pigs needing hospitalisation, shoulder lesions, ectoparasites

Data Availability Statement: Full-length MYH3 CDS sequence from KNP, KX538787; full-length MYH3 CDS sequence from Landrace, KX538788. Two-kb of 5’-UTR MYH3 genomic DNA sequence from KNP, KX549312; 0.5-kb of 3’-UTR MYH3 genomic DNA sequence from KNP, KX549313. Two-kb of 5’-UTR MYH3 genomic DNA sequence from Landrace, KX549311; 0.5-kb of 3’-UTR MYH3 genomic DNA sequence from Landrace, KX549314. Resequencing data access information is provided in S10 Table. All the raw data to produce figures and tables are available at https://datadryad.org/review?doi=doi:10.5061/dryad.dr32n87, Muscle development and lipid accumulation in muscle critically affect meat quality of livestock. However, the genetic factors underlying myofiber-type specification and intramuscular fat (IMF) accumulation remain to be elucidated. Using two independent intercrosses between Western commercial breeds and Korean native pigs (KNPs) and a joint linkage-linkage disequilibrium analysis, we identified a 488.1-kb region on porcine chromosome 12 that affects both reddish meat color (a*) and IMF. In this critical region, only the MYH3 gene, encoding myosin heavy chain 3, was found to be preferentially overexpressed in the skeletal muscle of KNPs. Subsequently, MYH3-transgenic mice demonstrated that this gene controls both myofiber-type specification and adipogenesis in skeletal muscle. We discovered a structural variant in the promotor/regulatory region of MYH3 for which Q allele carriers exhibited significantly higher values of a* and IMF than q allele carriers. Furthermore, chromatin immunoprecipitation and cotransfection assays showed that the structural variant in the 5'-flanking region of MYH3 abrogated the binding of the myogenic regulatory factors (MYF5, MYOD, MYOG, and MRF4). The allele distribution of MYH3 among pig populations worldwide indicated that the MYH3 Q allele is of Asian origin and likely predates domestication. In conclusion, we identified a functional regulatory sequence variant in porcine MYH3 that provides novel insights into the genetic basis of the regulation of myofiber type ratios and associated changes in IMF in pigs. The MYH3 variant can play an important role in improving pork quality in current breeding programs., This work was carried out with the support of >Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science & Technology Development (Project title: A research on performance improvement of ‘Nanchukmacdon’, a high quality pig breed developed using Korean native black pigs (KNP) in Jeju Island, Project No. PJ01012301 and PJ01262701)> Rural Development Administration (http://www.rda.go.kr), Republic of Korea. This work was also supported by the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB) Research Initiative Program, Republic of Korea (www.kribb.re.kr). M.P.E work was funded by AGL2016-78709-R (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Spain; http://www.mineco.gob.es/portal/site/mineco/). T

This study investigates muscle growth mechanisms in juvenile rainbow trout in response to isoenergetic changes in dietary non-protein energy (NPE) source (F, fat vs. C, carbohydrates) at two levels of digestible protein to digestible energy (DP/DE) ratio. Fish (initial weight 32.4 g) were fed four diets having similar DE levels (~18 kJ g−1) with a high (HP/E~26 mg kJ−1) vs. low (LP/E~14 mg kJ−1) DP/DE ratio using F or C as major NPE source (7 week-experiment). The lowering of dietary DP/DE ratio increased myoblast determination protein 1a (myod1a) and decreased myostatin 1b (mstn1b) and cathepsin D (ctsd) muscle mRNA levels. The isoenergetic change in dietary NPE from F to C decreased myod1a and proliferative cell nuclear antigen (pcna) muscle mRNA levels. An interaction between DP/DE ratio and NPE source was observed in muscle transcript levels of myogenic factor 6 (mrf4/myf6), fast myosin heavy chain (fmhc) and fast myosin light chain 2 (fmlc2). White muscle total cross-sectional area decreased at low dietary DP/DE ratio and also when NPE source changed from F to C, linked i) to a decreased total number of white muscle fibres, indicating that low dietary DP/DE restricted muscle hyperplasia and that dietary carbohydrate were less efficiently used than fat to sustain muscle hyperplasia, and ii) to decreased percentage of large muscle fibres, indicating limited fibre hypertrophy. Not only the DP level or the DP/DE ratio, but also the isoenergetic change in dietary NPE source (fat vs carbohydrates) thus appears as a potent regulator of muscle hyperplasia and hypertrophy.

Résumé; Effects of dietary protein level and non-protein energy source on muscle growth mechanisms in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) juveniles. 18. ISFNF International Symposium on Fish Nutrition and Feeding "40 years of research in fish nutrition"

Résumé; Variability across and within fish species in energy utilization efficiency. 18. ISFNF International Symposium on Fish Nutrition and Feeding "40 years of research in fish nutrition"

International audience; nitori Accumulating evidence highlights increased mortality risks for trees during severe drought, particularly under warmer temperatures and increasing vapour pressure deficit (VPD). Resulting forest die-off events have severe consequences for ecosystem services, biophysical and biogeochemical land-atmosphere processes. Despite advances in monitoring, modelling and experimental studies of the causes and consequences of tree death from individual tree to ecosystem and global scale, a general mechanistic understanding and realistic predictions of drought mortality under future climate conditions are still lacking. We update a global tree mortality map and present a roadmap to a more holistic understanding of forest mortality across scales. We highlight priority research frontiers that promote: (1) new avenues for research on key tree ecophysiological responses to drought; (2) scaling from the tree/plot level to the ecosystem and region; (3) improvements of mortality risk predictions based on both empirical and mechanistic insights; and (4) a global mong network of forest mortality. In light of recent and anticipated large forest die-off events such a research agenda is timely and needed to achieve scientific understanding for realistic predictions of drought-induced tree mortality. The implementation of a sustainable network will require support by stakeholders and political authorities at the international level.

[EN] An experiment was carried out to estimate the genetic group effects and the crossbreeding genetic parameters of growth traits [body weight (BW), average daily gain (ADG), feed intake (FI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR)] in rabbits during fattening between 28 and 63 d. The rabbits were the progeny of does coming from a full diallel cross between 4 maternal lines (A, V, H and LP) mated to bucks of the paternal line R. On thousand fifty five rabbits were controlled and the traits were recorded weekly, with the cage as the experimental unit for FI and FCR (283 cages). The genetic group (V line) was present in all farms in order to connect records among them and to be used as reference group. Crossbreeding parameters were estimated according to the Dickerson model. Regarding dam effects between pure lines for BW at weaning, A line was the heaviest and showed significant differences with LP and V lines (61 and 30 g, respectively). Upon completion of the fattening period, the differences in favour of A line for BW at weaning were compensated. Throughout the fattening period, no significant differences were observed between the lines as dam lines. At the end of the fattening period, no significant differences were observed between the crossbred groups. Regarding the reciprocal effects, the most relevant results were the significances for FCR in favour of H as sire line. For all traits, the confidence intervals at 95% of all contrast and effects were large. The estimates of maternal heterosis were, in general, negative, which could be a consequence of the positive heterosis for litter size. The AH cross showed significant maternal heterosis for BW at 43 d (–53 g), ADG between 28 and 42 d (–3.5 g/d), FI between 28 and 63 d (–7 g/d) and FCR between 42 and 63 d (–0.15). The combination of direct and maternal effects of the V line was the worst for all growth traits, showing significant differences with the LP line for most of them, for instance 0.13 worse FCR between 28 and 63 d. Grand-maternal effects were less important than direct-maternal., This work was supported by the Spanish project AGL2011-30170- C02-01 from the Spanish National Research Plan. C. Minguez acknowledges a Formacion de Personal Investigador (FPI) grant from the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MEC), Spain.

A robust DNA extraction method is important to identify the majority of microorganisms present in environmental microbial communities and to enable a consistent comparison between different studies. Here, 15 manual and four automated commercial DNA extraction kits were evaluated for their efficiency to extract DNA from porcine feces and ileal digesta samples. DNA yield, integrity, and purity varied among the different methods. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T‐RFLP) and Illumina amplicon sequencing were used to characterize the diversity and composition of the microbial communities. We also compared phylogenetic profiles of two regions of the 16S rRNA gene, one of the most used region (V1–2) and the V5–6 region. A high correlation between community structures obtained by analyzing both regions was observed at genus and family level for ileum digesta and feces. Based on our findings, we want to recommend the FastDNA ™ SPIN Kit for Soil (MP Biomedical) as a suitable kit for the analyses of porcine gastrointestinal tract samples.

Currently, energy evaluation of fish feeds is performed on a digestible energy basis. In contrast to net energy (NE) evaluation systems, digestible energy evaluation systems do not differentiate between the different types of digested nutrients regarding their potential for growth. The aim was to develop an NE evaluation for fish by estimating the energy efficiency of digestible nutrients (protein, fat and carbohydrates) and to assess whether these efficiencies differed between Nile tilapia and rainbow trout. Two data sets were constructed. The tilapia and rainbow data set contained, respectively, eight and nine experiments in which the digestibility of protein, fat and energy and the complete energy balances for twenty-three and forty-five diets was measured. The digestible protein (dCP), digestible fat (dFat) and digestible carbohydrate intakes (dCarb) were calculated. By multiple regression analysis, retained energy (RE) was related to dCP, dFat and dCarb. In tilapia, all digestible nutrients were linearly related to RE (PPP2 for trout (NE in kJ/(kg0·8×d); dCP, dFat and dCarb in g/(kg0·8×d)). In tilapia, the energetic efficiency of dCP, dFat and dCarb was 49, 91 and 66 %, respectively, showing large similarity with pigs. Tilapia and trout had similar energy efficiencies of dCP (49 v. 57 %) and dFat (91 v. 84 %), but differed regarding dCarb.

The availability of high-quality juveniles is a bottleneck in the farming of many marine fish species. Detrimental larvae-microbe interactions are a main reason for poor viability and quality in larval rearing. In this review, we explore the microbial community of fish larvae from an ecological and eco-physiological perspective, with the aim to develop the knowledge basis for microbial management. The larvae are exposed to a huge number of microbes from external and internal sources in intensive aquaculture, but their relative importance depend on the rearing technology used (especially flow-through vs. recirculating systems) and the retention time of the water in the fish tanks. Generally, focus has been on microbes entering the system, but microbes from growth within the system is normally a substantial part of the microbes encountered by larvae. Culture independent methods have revealed an unexpected high richness of bacterial species associated with larvae, with 100–250 operational taxonomic units associated with one individual. The microbiota of larvae changes rapidly until metamorphosis, most likely due to changes in the selection pressure in the digestive tract caused by changes in host-microbe and microbe-microbe interactions. Even though the microbiota of larvae is distinctly different from the microbiota of the water and the live food, the microbiota of the water strongly affects the microbiota of the larvae. We are in the early phase of understanding larvae-microbe interactions in vivo, but some studies with other animals than fish emphasize that we so far have underestimated the complexity of these interactions. We present examples demonstrating the diversity of these interactions. A large variety of microbial management methods exist, focusing on non-selective reduction of microbes, selective enhancement of microbes, and on improvement of the resistance of larvae against microbes. However, relatively few methods have been studied extensively. We believe that there is a lot to gain by increasing the diversity of approaches for microbial management. As many microbial management methods are perturbations of the microbial community, we argue that ecological theory is needed to foresee and test for longer term consequences in microbe-microbe and microbe-larvae interactions. We finally make some recommendations for future research and development. Copyright © 2018 Vadstein, Attramadal, Bakke, Forberg, Olsen, Verdegem, Giatsis, Skjermo, Aasen, Gatesoupe, Dierckens, Sorgeloos and Bossier. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).

[EN] The specialization process associated with genetic selection could be associated with functional disorders, affecting the reproductive success of females (fitness). We hypothesized that by modulating energy acquisition and allocation of females we could balance productivity and reproductive success. To test this hypothesis, we used 203 rabbit females belonging to three genetic types: H (n=66) maternal line specialized in prolificacy, LP (n=67) generalist maternal line, R (n=70) paternal line specialized in growth rate. We fed each genetic type with two diets specifically designed to promote milk yield (AF) or body reserves recovery (CS). We controlled females between their first and fifth reproductive cycles, recording traits related with productivity and fitness of females. H females fed CS had on average 11.2 +/- 0.43 kits with an individual weight of 54 +/- 1.2 g at birth and 525 +/- 11 g at weaning. Their conception rate when multiparous was 44% and their survival rate at the end of the experiment 30%. When they were fed AF, the individual weight of kits was 3.8 g heavier (P, This study was supported by the Interministerial Commission for Science and Technology (CICYT) of the Spanish Government (AGL2014-53405-C2-1-P). The authors thank Juan Carlos Moreno for his technical support. Grants for Alberto Arnau from the Ministry of Economy and Finance (BES-2012-052345) are also gratefully acknowledged.

Oxygen limitation and dietary imbalances are key aspects influencing feed intake (FI) and growth performance in cultured fish. This study investigated the combined effects of hypoxia and dietary electrolyte balance on the growth performance, body composition and nutrient utilization in a rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) isogenic line. Fish were fed ad libitum two experimental diets: electrolyte-balanced or -imbalanced diets (DEB 200 or 700 mEq kg−1, respectively) and exposed to normoxia or hypoxia (7.9 or 4.5 mg O2 l−1, respectively) for 42 days. DEB did not affect FI, growth performance or body composition. Nevertheless, hypoxia had a negative impact, reducing FI (6%), growth rate (8%), oxygen consumption (19%), energy (5%) and lipid (42%) contents. Digestible energy intake and heat production were higher in normoxic fish (40% and 23%, respectively), retaining 64% more energy in lipid or protein. Hypoxia reduced the apparent digestibility of dry matter, ash, protein, lipid, carbohydrates and energy. Trout fed DEB 700 diet were energetically less efficient, reflected in higher heat production and energy requirements for maintenance. FI was inhibited by low dissolved oxygen levels, but not by electrolyte-imbalanced diet, in spite of the higher energy requirements for maintenance. This study highlights the importance that dietary-electrolyte content and DO levels have on energy balance and growth performance when fish are fed to satiation.

During the CoreOrganicII ProPIG, animal health & welfare (AHW) of organic pigs in 3 husbandry systems (8 countries) was compared: indoor with outside run (IN: n=34 farms), outdoor on pasture (OUT: n=12) and partly outdoor with at least one age group on pasture (POUT: n=28). The hypothesis was that all systems can deliver good welfare when well managed. 7 trained observers assessed pregnant sows (SO), weaners (WE) and fatteners (FA) using animal-based parameters. Non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis tests were used, if P60% POUT, IN). Signs of diarrhoea in WE were less frequent in OUT (0%) than in IN (25.0%) and diarrhoea in FA was less frequent in OUT than in POUT and IN (0%, 0%, 8.3%). OUT had fewer lame SO than POUT and IN (0%, 3.4%, 7.1%). Across systems, prevalences of most AHW areas but respiratory problems in IN and POUT and diarrhoea in IN were low. Beyond that, OUT appeared to be beneficial with regard to several areas of AHW, which could be explained by the environmental conditions, e.g. respiratory problems (air quality), diarrhoea (exposure to faeces) and lameness (flooring). POUT farms in most cases kept SO outdoors and WE and FA similar to IN farms, and this was reflected in the results. It can be concluded, that systems do differ regarding AHW and development of organic husbandry systems across Europe should take this into account.

International audience

88 Pags.- 4 Figs.- 3 Tabls. The definitive version is available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01678809 This article belongs to a special issue "Quantification and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions in Mediterranean cropping systems" / Edited By Alberto Sanz-Cobena, Luis Lassaletta, Josette Garnier and Pete Smith, available at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01678809/238/supp/C, An integrated assessment of the potential of different management practices for mitigating specific components of the total GHG budget (N2O and CH4 emissions and C sequestration) of Mediterranean agrosystems was performed in this study. Their suitability regarding both yield and environmental (e.g. nitrate leaching and ammonia volatilization) sustainability, and regional barriers and opportunities for their implementation were also considered. Based on its results best strategies to abate GHG emissions in Mediterranean agro-systems were proposed. Adjusting N fertilization to crop needs in both irrigated and rain-fed systems could reduce N2O emissions up to 50% compared with a non-adjusted practice. Substitution of N synthetic fertilizers by solid manure can be also implemented in those systems, and may abate N2O emissions by about 20% under Mediterranean conditions, with additional indirect benefits associated to energy savings and positive effects in crop yields. The use of urease and nitrification inhibitors enhances N use efficiency of the cropping systems and may mitigate N2O emissions up to 80% and 50%, respectively. The type of irrigation may also have a great mitigation potential in the Mediterranean region. Drip-irrigated systems have on average 80% lower N2O emissions than sprinkler systems and drip-irrigation combined with optimized fertilization showed a reduction in direct N2O emissions up to 50%. Methane fluxes have a relatively small contribution to the total GHG budget of Mediterranean crops, which can mostly be controlled by careful management of the water table and organic inputs in paddies. Reduced soil tillage, improved management of crop residues and agro-industry by-products, and cover cropping in orchards, are the most suitable interventions to enhance organic C stocks in Mediterranean agricultural soils. The adoption of the proposed agricultural practices will require farmers training. The global analysis of life cycle emissions associated to irrigation type (drip, sprinkle and furrow) and N fertilization rate (100 and 300 kg N ha−1 yr−1) revealed that these factors may outweigh the reduction in GHG emissions beyond the plot scale. The analysis of the impact of some structural changes on top-down mitigation of GHG emissions revealed that 3–15% of N2O emissions could be suppressed by avoiding food waste at the end-consumer level. A 40% reduction in meat and dairy consumption could reduce GHG emissions by 20–30%. Reintroducing the Mediterranean diet (i.e. ∼35% intake of animal protein) would therefore result in a significant decrease of GHG emissions from agricultural production systems under Mediterranean conditions., The authors would like to thank the Spanish National R+D+i Plan (AGL2012-37815-C05-01, AGL2012-37815-C05-04) and very specifically the workshop held in December 2016 in Butrón (Bizkaia) to synthesize the most promising measures to reduce N2O emissions from Spanish agricultural soils. BC3 is sponsored by the Basque Government. M. L. Cayuela thanks Fundación Seneca for financing the project 19281/PI/14. This paper has been produced within the context of the REMEDIA network: http://redremedia.wordpress.com/.

International audience; The present study highlights the importance of intertidal seagrass beds as nursery areas for coral reef fish juveniles along four sites (Mtsoubatsou, Sohoa, Boueni, Ngouja) on the western coast of Mayotte Island. The results collected by underwater visual census from November 2012 to January 2013 showed that mean total fish density between adults and juveniles varied significantly at each site, with juveniles always being more abundant in seagrass beds than adults. Of the total fish assemblages sampled in seagrass beds, 73% were juveniles and few adults of large species were observed. Overall, our study highlights the important functional role of intertidal seagrass beds for fish assemblages, as they are the primary habitat for the juveniles of many fish species on Mayotte reefs. Seagrass beds, however, are very vulnerable ecosystems and are decreasing worldwide. Therefore it is of primary importance to protect seagrass beds within the Indo-Pacific.

International audience; To sustain eel aquaculture, development of reproduction in captivity is vital. The aim of this review is to assess our current knowledge on the nutrition of broodstock eels in order to improve the quality of broodstock under farming conditions, drawing information from wild adult eels and other marine pelagic spawners. Freshwater eels spawn marine pelagic eggs with an oil droplet (type II), and with a large perivitelline space. Compared with other marine fish eggs, eel eggs are at the extreme end of the spectrum in terms of egg composition, even within this type II group. Eel eggs contain a large amount of total lipids, and a shortage of neutral lipids has been implied a cause for reduced survival of larvae. Eel eggs have higher ARA but lower EPA and DHA levels than in other fish. Too high levels of ARA negatively affected reproduction in the Japanese eel, although high levels of 18:2n-6 in the eggs of farmed eels were not detrimental. The total free amino acid amount and profile of eel eggs appears much different from other marine pelagic spawners. Nutritional intervention to influence egg composition seems feasible, but responsiveness of farmed eels to induced maturation might also require environmental manipulation. The challenge remains to succeed in raising European eel broodstock with formulated feeds and to enable the procurement of viable eggs and larvae, once adequate protocols for induced maturation have been developed

Acid–base disturbances caused by environmental factors and physiological events including feeding have been well documented in several fish species, but little is known about the impact of dietary electrolyte balance (dEB). In the present study, we investigated the effect of feeding diets differing in dEB ( − 100, 200, 500 or 800 mEq/kg diet) on the growth, nutrient digestibility and energy balance of Nile tilapia. After 5 weeks on the test diet, the growth of the fish was linearly affected by the dEB levels (PPPPP0·8per d) than in the 200 dEB group (57 kJ/kg0·8per d). These results suggest that varying dEB levels in a diet have both positive and negative effects on fish. On the one hand, they improve nutrient digestibility; on the other hand, they challenge the acid–base homeostasis (pH) of fish, causing an increase in MEm, and thereby reduce the energy required for growth.

Made available in DSpace on 2018-12-11T17:31:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2017-01-01 Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Glyphosate-based herbicides are widely used in agricultural systems. Although the target organism are particularly plant organisms, there are numerous studies showing adverse effects in aquatic animals, such as inhibition of acetyl cholinesterase, effects on kidney, liver, and gill and stressors effects. This study analyzed the effects of commercial formulation of glyphosate on feeding behavior in Pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus). Fish were exposed to three glyphosate concentrations (0.2, 0.6, and 1.8 ppm) for 15 days. At concentrations of 0.2 and 0.6 ppm, food intake decreased on day 13 and then returned to normal on day 15. At the highest glyphosate-based herbicide concentration, 1.8 ppm, food consumption decreased dramatically and did not recover on day 15. This study showed that glyphosate-based herbicide at sub-lethal concentrations can affect feed intake in pacu and consequently inhibits its growth. Physiology Department Institute of Biosciences State University of Sao Paulo - UNESP Agricultural Research Organization Institute of Animal Science Physiology Department Institute of Biosciences State University of Sao Paulo - UNESP FAPESP: 2013/02430-2

Survey of demographic and phenotypic data of local pig breeds of Treasure project. 9. International symposium on the mediterranean pig

International audience; This study examined whether piglet distress vocalizations vary with age, body weight and health status, according to the predictions of the honest signalling of need evolutionary model. Vocalizations were recorded during manual squeezing (a simulation of being crushed by mother sow) and during isolation on Days 1 and 7 after birth in piglets from 15 litters. We predicted that during squeezing, younger, lighter and sick piglets would call more intensely because they are in higher risk of dying during crushing and therefore they benefit more from the sow’s reaction to intensive vocalization. For isolation, we predicted that lighter and younger piglets would call more because they are more vulnerable to adverse effects of the separation. Calls were analyzed in their time and frequency domain. The rate of calling, call duration, proportion of high-pitched calls and eight acoustic parameters characterizing frequency distribution and tonality were used as indicators of acoustic signalling intensity. To assess which factors affected the acoustic quality of calls we used linear mixed models, with age, weight and the interaction between age and weight as between-subject fixed factors. Piglets that experienced ‘squeezing’ on Day 1 produced more intense acoustic distress signalling than on Day 7. On Day 1, piglets called more often (F1, 55=7.1, P=0.01, Day 1: 28.7±1.7 vs Day 7: 20.9±2.6, mean±SEM), and had a higher proportion of high-pitched calls (F1, 55=14.8, P=0.0001, Day 1: 71.6%±4.9, Day 7: 45.3%±4.9) than Day 7. Lighter piglets called more during squeezing than heavier piglets (F1,55=7.1, P=0.011). Health status did not significantly affect any of the indicators of intensity of vocalization during squeezing. In isolation, none of the parameters of vocalization intensity were affected either by the age or by the weight of the piglets. In summary, the model of honest signalling of need was confirmed in the squeezed situation, but not in the isolation situation.

International audience; Organic pig systems are diverse, ranging from indoor pens with concrete outside run to outdoor systems all year round. It is often discussed, that husbandry systems common in organic farming enhance animal health and welfare (AHW) but impair environmental impact (ENV). However, the level of AHW and ENV has never been quantified for those systems using onfarm data. In total 74 pig farms in 8 countries were visited in 3 different systems: indoor (IN; n=34), partly outdoor (POUT; n=28) and outdoor (OUT; n=12). Animal based parameters including exploratory behaviour of pregnant sows (SO), weaners (WE) and fattening pigs (FA) were assessed by trained observers using an adapted Welfare Quality® Protocol. Life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted for 64 production chains (PC), combining piglet production and finishing stage to quantify ENV for the criteria greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE), acidification (AP) and eutrophication potential (EP). Across systems, prevalences of most AHW areas were low; exceptions were respiratory problems (IN, POUT), diarrhoea (IN), short tails (IN, POUT) and total suckling piglet losses (IN, POUT, OUT). Regarding GHGE, no differences were found between systems. POUT showed lower AP than IN and lower EP than OUT. Hierarchical cluster analysis revealed three clusters: a ‘low ENV’ cluster; an ‘intermediate ENV’ cluster and a ‘high ENV’ cluster. No significant association was found between AHW and ENV when comparing the ENV clusters with regard to an overall AHW summary score (GOOD%), summary scores per animal category (GOOD%_SO, GOOD%_WE or GOOD%_ FA) and single animal-based parameters or correlations between GHGE, AP, EP and GOOD%. The lack of association between AHW and ENV found in this study is promising, but does not necessarily mean that no associations exist. The main reasons for a lack of associations may be the fact that LCA includes impact areas (e.g. manure storage), which do not relate to AHW. Still, this study generated a starting point to explore associations between AHW and ENV to be tested either on a larger number of PCs or between specific AHW and ENV areas.

This study examines how dietary macronutrient-induced changes in voluntary food intake (FI) relate to changes in markers of hepatic oxidative metabolism and in the expression of FI regulatory neuropeptides in a teleost model, the rainbow trout. Rainbow trout were fed for 6weeks with one of four iso-energetic diets (2×2 factorial design), containing either a high (HP, ~500 g·kg(-1) DM) or a low (LP, ~250 g·kg(-1) DM) protein level (PL) with, at each PL, fat (diets HP-F and LP-F) being substituted by an iso-energetic amount of gelatinized corn starch (diets HP-St and LP-St) as non-protein energy source (ES). Irrespective of the dietary PL, FI (g·kg(-0.8)·d(-1)) and digestible energy intake (DEI, kJ·kg(-0.8)·d(-1)) were significantly (P

Although many coral reefs have shifted from coral-to-algal dominance, the consequence of such a transition for coral–algal interactions and their underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. At the microscale, it is unclear how diffusive boundary layers (DBLs) and surface oxygen concentrations at the coral–algal interface vary with algal competitors and competitiveness. Using field observations and microsensor measurements in a flow chamber, we show that coral (massive Porites ) interfaces with thick turf algae, macroalgae, and cyanobacteria, which are successful competitors against coral in the field, are characterized by a thick DBL and hypoxia at night. In contrast, coral interfaces with crustose coralline algae, conspecifics, and thin turf algae, which are poorer competitors, have a thin DBL and low hypoxia at night. Furthermore, DBL thickness and hypoxia at the interface with turf decreased with increasing flow speed, but not when thick turf was upstream. Our results support the importance of water-mediated transport mechanisms in coral–algal interactions. Shifts towards algal dominance, particularly dense assemblages, may lead to thicker DBLs, higher hypoxia, and higher concentrations of harmful metabolites and pathogens along coral borders, which in turn may facilitate algal overgrowth of live corals. These effects may be mediated by flow speed and orientation.

Background EAV-HP is an ancient retrovirus pre-dating Gallus speciation, which continues to circulate in modern chicken populations, and led to the emergence of avian leukosis virus subgroup J causing significant economic losses to the poultry industry. We mapped EAV-HP integration sites in Ethiopian village chickens, a Silkie, Taiwan Country chicken, red junglefowl Gallus gallus and several inbred experimental lines using whole-genome sequence data. Results An average of 75.22 ± 9.52 integration sites per bird were identified, which collectively group into 279 intervals of which 5 % are common to 90 % of the genomes analysed and are suggestive of pre-domestication integration events. More than a third of intervals are specific to individual genomes, supporting active circulation of EAV-HP in modern chickens. Interval density is correlated with chromosome length (P

Structural changes of meat during cooking Impact on quality and in vitro digestibility. 5. International Summer School

The CORE Organic II project ProPIG aimed to assess animal health and welfare as well as environmental impact on organic pig farms across three husbandry systems in Europe (indoor, outdoor and partly outdoor) and to develop farm specific improvement strategies. 74 farms across the 8 project countries were visited three times within one year. In addition to assessing animal health and welfare indicators and environmental impact, semi-qualitative interviews were conducted on 63 farms during farm visits 1 and 3 to evaluate the farmer’s satisfaction with the status quo, perception of future aims and ideas for improvement. Some questions were asked as open questions, while others used a five-point answer scale. A descriptive classification of the responses to the open question regarding the goals for the immediate future revealed that most farmers were aiming to improve either health (19 responses), performance (13) or welfare (9) (two answers per farm were possible). Improving welfare was exclusively a topic for indoor or partly indoor farmers, whereas improving performance was proportionally more often mentioned by outdoor farmers. Similar results were found when asked to rate the satisfaction with pig health and welfare at visit 1: 9% (3) and 38% (13) of indoor farmers were very satisfied with the health and welfare situation, respectively (point 5 on the scale), whereas on outdoor farms 50% (6) were very satisfied and 50% (6) satisfied. Outdoor farmers were less satisfied with the production level (25% (3) very satisfied, 9% (1) satisfied and 66% (8) neutral). 63% (40) and 53% (33) of all farmers across the three systems stated that an improvement in terms of health or welfare, respectively, is needed and also possible to implement. Our results show that organic pig farmers, in general and especially when pigs are kept indoors, are aware of problems relating to animal health and welfare and are willing to improve.

The vocal expression of emotion is likely driven by shared physiological principles among species. However, which acoustic features promote decoding of emotional state and how the decoding is affected by their listener's psychology remain poorly understood. Here we tested how acoustic features of piglet vocalizations interact with psychological profiles of human listeners to affect judgments of emotional content of heterospecific vocalizations. We played back 48 piglet call sequences recorded in four different contexts (castration, isolation, reunion, nursing) to 60 listeners. Listeners judged the emotional intensity and valence of the recordings and were further asked to attribute a context of emission from four proposed contexts. Furthermore, listeners completed a series of questionnaires assessing their personality (NEO-FFI personality inventory), empathy [Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI)] and attitudes to animals (Animal Attitudes Scale). None of the listeners' psychological traits affected the judgments. On the contrary, acoustic properties of recordings had a substantial effect on ratings. Recordings were rated as more intense with increasing pitch (mean fundamental frequency) and increasing proportion of vocalized sound within each stimulus recording and more negative with increasing pitch and increasing duration of the calls within the recording. More complex acoustic properties (jitter, harmonic-to-noise ratio, and presence of subharmonics) did not seem to affect the judgments. The probability of correct context recognition correlated positively with the assessed emotion intensity for castration and reunion calls, and negatively for nursing calls. In conclusion, listeners judged emotions from pig calls using simple acoustic properties and the perceived emotional intensity might guide the identification of the context.

Made available in DSpace on 2018-12-11T17:19:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2018-01-01 This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of phosphorus (P) supplementation, with or without addition of other minerals, ionophore and antibiotic, on performance, P utilisation and profitability in finishing Nellore bulls in a feedlot. Forty-two animals, with an initial bodyweight of 296 ± 25 kg, were distributed in a completely randomised design consisting of three treatments and 14 replicates. The treatments were without P supplementation (T1), commercial mineral supplement specific for feedlot cattle (T2) and supplementation with dicalcium phosphate (T3). The T3 was formulated to achieve a P concentration similar to that of T2, but without adding other additives (e.g. vitamins, ionophores, yeast and chelates) in the mineral mix. The P concentrations were 2.4, 4.2 or 5.0 g P/kg of dry matter (DM), respectively, for T1, T2 and T3. The diet, on a DM basis, comprised sugarcane bagasse (200 g/kg) plus concentrate (800 g/kg). The DM, crude protein and neutral detergent fibre intakes and apparent DM digestibility were similar among the three treatments (P > 0.05). Despite the numerical difference on P concentration in T2 and T3 treatments, P intakes were similar in these treatments. The addition of commercial mineral supplement specific for feedlot cattle or dicalcium phosphate in diets increased P excretion in the faeces and urine, increased P retention and reduced the profitability of the feedlot. Performance and carcass traits were not affected by diet P concentrations (P > 0.05). The profit per head in T1 treatment was US$13.7 and the addition of the dicalcium phosphate and mineral mix in T2 and T3 did not result in profit, these treatments gave economic losses of US$6.80 and US$6.20 per head, respectively. Under Brazilian conditions, feedlot Nellore cattle fed high-grain diets do not require any additional mineral supplements. P concentration of 2.4 g/kg DM, as used in the control diet, was adequate to ensure animal performance and reduce faecal P excretion, which is in agreement with NRC and CSIRO recommendations. Lower values may also be appropriate, but were not tested here. Department of Animal Science UNESP - Universidade Estadual Paulista/Campus Jaboticabal, Rodovia Professor Paulo Donato Castellane, km 5 Department of Animal Nutrition and Pastures Institute of Animal Science, UFRRJ INCT/CA-UFV Department of Animal Science Campus Universitario, Avenida Peter Henry Rolfs s/n Department of Animal Science UNESP - Universidade Estadual Paulista/Campus Jaboticabal, Rodovia Professor Paulo Donato Castellane, km 5

Background Tunisian local cattle populations are at risk of extinction as they were massively crossed with imported breeds. Preservation of indigenous livestock populations is important because each of them comprises a unique set of genes resulting from a local environment-driven selection that occurred over hundreds of years. The diversity and genetic structure of Tunisian local cattle populations are poorly understood. However, such information is crucial to the conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources. In addition, comparing the genomic structure of population sets from different parts of the world could help yield insight into their origin and history. In the present study, we provide a detailed assessment of the population structure of the three Tunisian local cattle populations using various methods, and we highlight their origin and history by investigating approximately ~38,000 SNPs in a broad panel of 878 individuals from 37 worldwide cattle breeds representative of African, European and indicine populations. Results Our study revealed a low level of divergence and high genetic diversity in Tunisian local cattle reflecting low levels of genetic drift. A Comparison with the worldwide cattle panel pinpointed the admixed origin of the genome of the three Tunisian populations with the two main European and African ancestries. Our results were in agreement with previous historical and archaeological reports about the past gene flow that existed between North African and South European breeds, in particular with Iberian cattle. We also detected a low-level indicine introgression in the three Tunisian populations and we inferred that indicine ancestry was inherited via African ancestors. Conclusions Our results represent the first study providing genetic evidence about the origin and history of Tunisian local cattle. The information provided by the fine-scale genetic characterization of our study will enhance the establishment of a national conservation strategy for these populations. These results may enable the identification of genetic variants involved in adaptation to harsh environmental conditions. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-1638-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

While the need for training on-farm assessors in clinical animal assessment has been widely recognised, assessment of husbandry resources is still often regarded as self-explanatory. Within the scope of the international project ProPIG, 7 observers from seven co un tries were trained by an experienced observer (gold standard) to assess 15 clinical and 11 resource parameters in organic pigs in eight countries. The initial plan was to train and test observers before farm visit 1 and then again after one year before farm visit 2. Both trainings were repeated with aU observers due to unsatisfactory agreement, resulting in Tla+b and one year later T2a+b. Agreement with the gold standard was calculated as exact agreement for categorical parameters (e.g. drinker type; mean n=l1 pens/test and parameter, range 1-34) and Spearman rank correlation for numerical parameters (e.g. number of animais; mean n=9 pens, range 4-28). Median (IQR) pairwise agreements[%] were Tla=83 (40), Tlb=90 (29), T2a=92 (43), T2b=100 (11) for clinical parameters, and Tla=100 (25), Tlb=100 (40), T2a=100 (23), T2b=90 (33) for resource parameters. Mean Spearman r for clin ica! parameters were T 1a=0.52, Tlb=0.76, T2a=0.42 and T2b=0.84 with ranges of -0.69, -0.33, -0.79 and 0.34, respectively, to 1.00. Mean Spearman r for resource parameters were T 1a=0.59 (range 0 to 1), Tlb=0.71 (-1 to 1), T2a=0.40 (0.30 to 0.49) and T2b=0.25 ( -1 to 1). Initial training discussions showed that naïve observers differed in their assessment of res ource as weil as clin ica! parameters, and real life assessment together with training materials were needed to successfully train on both sets of parameters. We therefore recommend the inclusion of resource parameters in observer trainings for on-farm assessment in order to assure sufficient observer agreement.

The Core0rganic2 research project ProPIG is carried out in 75 organic pig farms in 8 European countries (AT; CH; CZ; DE; DK; FR; IT; UK) to improve animal health, welfare and nutrition using farm customised strategies. For future on-farm application (e.g. advisory/certification activities which are carried out during one day visits), an automatic recording and feedback tool was developed. This should allow on-farm data collection, import of data into a database and the possibility for benchmarking, including a printed output for the farmer to facilitate immediate discussion of results and improvement strategies. To document not only animal health and welfare, but also integrate diet composition and productivity data, it was important to choose key indicators from ali a reas, which would be available actoss ail eight countries. Based on existing on-farm welfare assessment protocols (e.g. WelfareQuality-, CorePIG) indicators were selected by the consortium, which were then transferred into a Software programme ('PigSurfer'). This Software is available as Desktop- or Android version to be used on Tablet PCs, so that on-farm data (interview with farmer; direct observations on weaners, finishers, sows; productivity and treatment records; feed) can be entered directly. During two visits a database was built and a 'Farm report' was printed for each farm including benchmarking of results for feedback and discussion with the farmer. After a year 'PigSurfer' was used to carry out the following complete process during one day visits across Europe: Surveillance of health and welfare, feedback of data in comparison with results from the previous year as weil as benchmarking with 75 other pig far ms and prin ting a report. 'PigSurfer' is a promising tool for communicating health and welfare, as it provides not only a database, which can be continuously extended, but is an important step to move from research to on-farm application across Europe.