WorldWideScience

Sample records for hens fed flax

  1. Dietary High-Oleic Acid Soybean Oil Dose Dependently Attenuates Egg Yolk Content of n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Laying Hens Fed Supplemental Flaxseed Oil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elkin, Robert G; Kukorowski, Alexandra N; Ying, Yun; Harvatine, Kevin J

    2018-02-01

    Chickens can hepatically synthesize eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5 n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6 n-3) from α-linolenic acid (ALA; 18:3 n-3); however, the process is inefficient and competitively inhibited by dietary linoleic acid (LNA; 18:2 n-6). In the present study, the influence of dietary high-oleic acid (OLA; 18:1 n-9) soybean oil (HOSO) on egg and tissue deposition of ALA and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) synthesized from dietary ALA was investigated in laying hens fed a reduced-LNA base diet supplemented with high-ALA flaxseed oil (FLAX). We hypothesized that reducing the dietary level of LNA would promote greater hepatic conversion of ALA to very long-chain (VLC; >20C) n-3 PUFA, while supplemental dietary HOSO would simultaneously further enrich eggs with OLA without influencing egg n-3 PUFA contents. Nine 51-week-old hens each were fed 0, 10, 20, or 40 g HOSO/kg diet for 12 weeks. Within each group, supplemental dietary FLAX was increased every 3 weeks from 0 to 10 to 20 to 40 g/kg diet. Compared to controls, dietary FLAX maximally enriched the total n-3 and VLC n-3 PUFA contents in egg yolk by 9.4-fold and 2.2-fold, respectively, while feeding hens 40 g HOSO/kg diet maximally attenuated the yolk deposition of ALA, VLC n-3 PUFA, and total n-3 PUFA by 37, 15, and 32%, respectively. These results suggest that dietary OLA is not neutral with regard to the overall process by which dietary ALA is absorbed, metabolized, and deposited into egg yolk, either intact or in the form of longer-chain/more unsaturated n-3 PUFA derivatives. © 2018 AOCS.

  2. Nutrient digestibility and mass balance in laying hens fed a commercial or acidifying diet.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu-Haan, W; Powers, W J; Angel, C R; Hale, C E; Applegate, T J

    2007-04-01

    The objectives of the current study were to evaluate the effect of an acidifying diet (gypsum) combined with zeolite and slightly reduced crude protein (R) vs. a control diet (C) on nutrient retention in laying hens and compare 3 approaches to estimating nutrient excretion from hens: 1) mass balance calculation (feed nutrients - egg nutrient), 2) use of an indigestible marker with analyzed feed and excreta nutrient content, and 3) an environmental chamber that allowed for capturing all excreted and volatilized nutrients. Hens (n = 640) were allocated randomly to 8 environmental chambers for 3-wk periods. Excreta samples were collected at the end of each trial to estimate apparent retention of N, S, P, and Ca. No diet effects on apparent retention of N were observed (53.44%, P > 0.05). Apparent retention of S, P, and Ca decreased in hens fed R diet (18.7, - 11.4, and 22.6%, respectively) compared with hens fed the C diet (40.7, 0.3, and 28.6%, respectively; P < 0.05). Total N excretion from hens fed the C and R diet was not different (1.16 g/hen/d); however, mass of chamber N remaining in excreta following the 3-wk period was less from hens fed the C diet (1.27 kg) than from hens fed the R diet (1.43 kg). Gaseous emissions of NH(3) over the 3-wk period from hens fed the C diet (0.74 kg per chamber) were greater than emissions from hens fed the R diet (0.45 kg). The 3-wk S excretion mass (estimated using the calculation, indigestible marker, and environmental chamber methods, respectively) was greater from hens fed the R diet (1.85, 1.54, and 1.27 kg, respectively) compared with hens fed the C diet (0.24, 0.20, and 0.14 kg, respectively). The 3-wk P excretion was similar between diets (0.68 kg). Results demonstrate that feeding the acidified diet resulted in decreased N emissions, but because of the acidulant fed, greatly increased S excretion and emissions.

  3. Biochemical attributes of Hens Fed Irradiated Aflatoxin B1 Contamination Diet

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Farag, M.D.E.H.; Abdul Azeem, A.M.; Abdalla, E.A.; Ahmed, N.A.H.

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of feeding diet artificially contaminated with aflatoxin B 1(AFB1) at level 0.2 mg kg"-"1 AFB1, and gamma (γ) irradiated (10, 20, and 30 kGy) on reducing the deleterious effects of laying hens Golden Montaza (GM) biochemical attributes. These include liver weight, AFB1 liver residue content, AST, ALT, ALP, creatinine, total proteins, albumin and globulin, as well as, the levels of T3, T4, TSH, FSH, LH, progesterone hormone and hepatic histology. At 38 week of age, groups of laying hens were fed on a normal non-contaminated diet (G1), aflatoxin-contaminated diet (G2), and irradiated contaminated diets (G3, G4 and G5) for 3 weeks, as a duration period. When the hens reached 42 weeks of age, they were fed on normal diet for 3 weeks, as a recovery period. Results showed that AST, ALT, ALP, and creatinine significantly increased in AFs treated groups in comparison with those received AFs-containing diet and irradiated up to 30 kGy. Layers fed contaminated diet of AFB1 suffered from a lower level of total proteins, albumin and globulin. Meanwhile, the results showed that the level of serum T4 was lower, but conversely the levels of FSH were higher for those fed on diets contaminated with AFB1 compared to those fed irradiated contaminated diets with AFB1, no significant change occurred in serum blood T3, TSH, LH and progesterone in all tested groups. Treated contaminated diets with γ-irradiation at 30 kGy reduced the incidence and severity of hepatic histology. The 30 kGy radiation dose was more effective, in this respect, in all biochemical indices. For recovery period diets non-contaminated with AFB1, the results showed improvements in all biochemical indices and recovered the hepatic structure with increasing the recovery period especially for those fed on irradiated diets through the experimental duration. In conclusion, feeding of diets contaminated with AFB1 altered the blood profiles, and damaged the liver

  4. Nutritional quality of eggs from hens fed distillers dried grains with solubles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trupia, S; Winkler-Moser, J K; Guney, A C; Beckstead, R; Chen, C-Y O

    2016-11-01

    A feeding trial was conducted with laying hens where either 10% or 20% regular-fat distiller's dried grains with solubles (R-DDGS) or low-fat DDGS (L-DDGS) were incorporated into the feed. Production parameters and the effect of DDGS on egg nutritional quality, focusing on yolk lipids, were evaluated. Neither R-DDGS nor L-DDGS at up to 20% of laying hen feeds had a statistically significant impact on hen weight gain, egg production, feed intake, feed efficiency, egg mass, or egg weight. Specific gravity was slightly lower for eggs from hens fed 10% R-DDGS or 20% L-DDGS. Eggs from layers fed DDGS had enhanced levels of tocopherols, tocotrienols, and xanthophylls in the yolk, as well as also increased yolk yellow and red color. Eggs from L-DDGS diet had higher tocopherol content, but eggs from R-DDGS diets had higher xanthophylls. Fatty acid composition in eggs was slightly altered by DDGS, but the ratio of saturated to unsaturated fatty acids was very similar. Feeding DDGS to layer hens had no effect on lecithin or cholesterol content of the eggs. Thus, inclusion of DDGS in the diet of laying hens resulted in increases of several beneficial lipophilic nutrients in egg yolks with no apparent detrimental effects. © 2016 Poultry Science Association Inc.

  5. THE PERFORMANCE OF LAYING HENS FED DIFFERENT CALCIUM SOURCE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Kismiati

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The research was aimed to evaluate the performance of laying hens fed different calcium sources. Two hundreds of Isa Brown laying hens were used in this study. The hens were raised in individual battery cages units for 12 weeks. Four calcium source (limestone as a control, 5% limestone + 2.5% eggshells waste, 2.5% limestone + 5% eggshells waste and 7.5% eggshell waste were used in feed experiment. A completely randomized design was applied, with 4 treatments and 5 replications. Each experimental unit consisted of 10 laying hens. The parameters measured were feed intake, protein intake, calcium intake, phosphorus intake, egg production, egg weight and feed conversion ratio. Results of the research showed that the calcium source had significantly effect on performance productions. The use of eggshell waste 7.5% significantly increased the feed intake, calcium intake, phosphorus intake, egg production and egg weight except for feed conversion ratio. The conclusion of this research was that the use of eggshell waste as calcium source of feed resulted in better performance than using limestone or mixed limestone with eggshell waste.

  6. Effect of dietary threonine on laying performance and intestinal immunity of laying hens fed low-crude-protein diets during the peak production period.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Azzam, M M M; Dong, X Y; Zou, X T

    2017-10-01

    Threonine (Thr) may be a limiting amino acid for laying hens fed diets with lowered protein level. An experiment was conducted to examine laying performance, and the intestinal immune function of laying hens provided diets varying in digestible Thr levels. Lohmann Brown laying hens (n = 480), 28 weeks of age, were allocated to six dietary treatments, each of which included five replicates of 16 hens. Dietary crude protein (CP) 16.18% diet was offered as the positive control diet. L-Thr was added to the negative diet (14.16% CP) by 0, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 g/kg, corresponding 0.44%, 0.43%, 0.49%, 0.57%, 0.66% and 0.74% digestible Thr. At 40 weeks, a reduction in CP level decreased laying performance (p hens fed 0.66% Thr showed the lowest value (p feed conversion ratio (FCR). Serum level of uric acid showed the lowest values (p hens fed the low-CP diet compared with hens fed CP (16.18%) and hens fed 0.57-0.66%. Expressions of ileal MUC2 mRNA maximized (p hens during the peak production period. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition © 2016 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

  7. Performance and economy of production of laying hens fed graded ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Experiments were carried out to evaluate the performance of laying hens fed fermented wild cocoyam corm (FWCC) as a partial replacement for maize. Two hundred and forty (240) Nera black laying birds were randomly allocated to four experimental diets formulated on 0, 10, 20 and 30% FWCC as graded replacement ...

  8. Haematology and serum biochemistry of laying hens fed red pepper ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The hematology and serum biochemistry of ISA brown laying hens fed red pepper (Capsicum annum. L.) as feed additive in their diet was studied. Sixty (60) laying birds (in their 32nd week) were randomly allotted to four different dietary treatments with graded levels of red pepper (Capsicum annum. L.) as additive.

  9. Requirement of Digestible Sulfur Amino Acids in Laying Hens Fed Sorghum- and Soybean Meal-Based Diets

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    RS Gomez

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT Two experiments were done to evaluate the effect of increasing levels of dietary digestible methionine (Met and Met:cysteine (Met:Cys ratio on the productivity of Hy-Line W-36 laying hens fed sorghum- and soybean meal-based diets. In Exp. 1, 160 hens from 68 to 75 weeks of age were assigned to four dietary levels of digestible Met (0.20 0.24, 0.28 and 0.32%. The digestible total sulfur amino acids:Lysine (TSAA:Lys ratios were: 62, 68, 76 and 84%. In Exp. 2, 192 hens from 76-83 weeks of age were assigned to four dietary digestible Met:Cys ratios (160, 116.7, 85.7 and 62.5%. The digestible TSAA:Lys ratio was kept constant across diets (80%. Results were subjected to ANOVA and linear regression analyses. In Exp. 1, optimal egg production, egg mass, and feed efficiency responses were observed at 0.30 and 0.50% of dietary digestible Met and TSAA, respectively (quadratic effect, p<0.05. Live performance was maximized with digestible Met and TSAA in takes of 288 and 478 mg/hen/d, respectively. In Exp. 2, optimal egg production and feed efficiency responses were observed at 151 and 150% of dietary digestible Met:Cys ratios, respectively (quadratic effect, p<0.05. The digestible Met, Cys and TSAA intake to maximize egg production and feed efficiency were 313, 207 and 510 mg/hen/d, respectively. The requirements for sulfur AA in Hy-Line W-36 hens from 68 to 83 weeks of age fed sorghum- and soybean meal-based diets fell inside the range of the requirements previously estimated in hens fed corn-soybean meal based diets.

  10. Effect of Quantum phytase on nutrient digestibility and bone ash in White Leghorn laying hens fed corn-soybean meal-based diets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hughes, A L; Dahiya, J P; Wyatt, C L; Classen, H L

    2009-06-01

    The efficacy of an Escherichia coli 6-phytase supplementation (Quantum) on nutrient digestibility-retention and bone ash in laying hens fed corn-soybean meal (CSM) diets was investigated. White Leghorn hens (Shaver and Bovan strains) were fed CSM diets containing 0.35% (positive control, PC), 0.25% (negative control 1, NC1), or 0.15% (negative control 2, NC2) nonphytate P from 21 to 61 wk of age. Six more diets were manufactured by supplementing the negative control diets with 200, 400, and 600 units per kilogram of exogenous phytase resulting in a total of 9 treatments. Each dietary treatment x strain subclass was replicated twice with 6 hens per replication. Fecal and ileal digesta samples were collected at 42 wk of age to determine apparent nutrient digestibility or retention. Left tibiae were collected at 42 and 61 wk of age to determine bone ash. The coefficients for ileal digestibility and fecal retention for protein were higher (P ash percentage was higher (P < 0.05) in 61-wk-old hens fed 200 or 400 units per kilogram of phytase-supplemented NC2 diets. Significantly higher diet AME and fecal protein retention were demonstrated for Shaver hens in comparison to the Bovan hens. Overall, the Quantum phytase was not efficacious at improving nutrient digestibility-retention in laying hens fed CSM diets deficient in nonphytate P.

  11. Performance of laying hens fed diets containing DAS-59122-7 maize grain compared with diets containing nontransgenic maize grain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jacobs, C M; Utterback, P L; Parsons, C M; Rice, D; Smith, B; Hinds, M; Liebergesell, M; Sauber, T

    2008-03-01

    An experiment using 216 Hy-Line W-36 pullets was conducted to evaluate transgenic maize grain containing the cry34Ab1 and cry35Ab1 genes from a Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) strain and the phosphinothricin ace-tyltransferase (pat) gene from Streptomyces viridochromogenes. Expression of the cry34Ab1 and cry35Ab1 genes confers resistance to corn rootworms, and the pat gene confers tolerance to herbicides containing glufosinate-ammonium. Pullets (20 wk of age) were placed in cage lots (3 hens/cage, 2 cages/lot) and were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 corn-soybean meal dietary treatments (12 lots/treatment) formulated with the following maize grains: near-isogenic control (control), conventional maize, and transgenic test corn line 59122 containing event DAS-59122-7. Differences between 59122 and control group means were evaluated with statistical significance at P < 0.05. Body weight and gain, egg production, egg mass, and feed efficiency for hens fed the 59122 corn were not significantly different from the respective values for hens fed diets formulated with control maize grain. Egg component weights, Haugh unit measures, and egg weight class distribution were similar regardless of the corn source. This research indicates that performance of hens fed diets containing 59122 maize grain, as measured by egg production and egg quality, was similar to that of hens fed diets formulated with near-isogenic corn grain.

  12. Dietary supplementation of organic selenium could improve performance, antibody response, and yolk oxidative stability in laying hens fed on diets containing oxidized fat.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laika, M; Jahanian, R

    2015-06-01

    The present study was carried out to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of organic selenium (Se) on performance, egg quality indices, and yolk oxidative stability in laying hens fed diets with different fat sources. A total of 270 Hy-line W-36 Leghorn hens of 47 weeks of age were randomly distributed into the 5 replicate cages of 9 dietary treatments. Experimental diets consisted of a 3 × 3 factorial arrangement of treatments with three different fat sources (soybean oil, SO; yellow grease, YG; and palm fat powder, PFP) and three different levels of supplemental Se (0, 0.2, and 0.4 mg/kg of diet) as supplied by zinc-L-selenomethionine (ZnSeMet) complex, which fed during a 77-day feeding trial including 7 days for adaptation and 70 days as the main recording period. Results showed that the highest (P hens fed on SO-supplemented diets. Hen-day egg production was affected by both dietary fat source (P feed intake was not affected by experimental diets during the first 35-day period, dietary inclusion of PFP reduced feed intake during both second 35-day (P feed conversion ratio during the first 35-day period was assigned to the birds fed on SO-diets, followed by those fed YG-diets. Dietary supplementation of ZnSeMet improved (P feed efficiency during the first 35-day period. Supplementation of ZnSeMet into the diets increased yolk index, with more impact in hens fed on YG-diets. The highest concentration of yolk malondialdehyde was observed in YG-fed groups, and ZnSeMet supplementation of diets decreased (P hens fed on diets supplemented by YG, followed by those on SO-diets. Although different fat sources had no effect on antibody titer against Newcastle disease virus, supplemental ZnSeMet improved (P hens, with the highest impact in diets containing oxidized (high peroxide values) fat sources.

  13. Performance, biochemical and haematological responses, and relative organ weights of laying hens fed diets supplemented with prebiotic, probiotic and synbiotic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Shirley Gee Hoon; Sieo, Chin Chin; Ramasamy, Kalavathy; Saad, Wan Zuhainis; Wong, Hee Kum; Ho, Yin Wan

    2017-08-17

    The increasing trend of ban on the use of antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) across the globe in the poultry industry has led to a growing need for alternatives to AGPs. Prebiotic, probiotic and their combination as a synbiotic have been considered as potential alternatives. This study aimed to investigate the effects of a prebiotic (isomaltooligosaccharide, IMO), a probiotic (PrimaLac®), and their combination (synbiotic) on hen performance, biochemical and haematological responses, and relative organ weights from 20 to 52 weeks of age. Supplementation of 1% IMO (PRE), 0.1% PrimaLac® (PRO) and 1% IMO + 0.1% PrimaLac® (SYN) improved (P feed intake and egg production at 20-36 weeks of age; body weight gain, feed conversion ratio and egg mass at 20-36 and 20-52 weeks of age; and egg weight at 20-36, 37-52 and 20-52 weeks of age. Compared to control-fed hens at 20-36 weeks of age, PRO- and SYN-fed hens produced less (P hens produced more large size eggs. From 37 to 52 weeks of age, PRE-, PRO- or SYN-fed hens produced less (P hens from 20 to 52 weeks of age. These results demonstrated the use of PRE, PRO and SYN as alternative feed additives to AGPs for improving the health and productivity of hens, while PRO is the best for commercial layer production to yield maximum profit.

  14. Sensory quality of mayonnaise formulated with eggs produced by laying hens fed diet enriched with purslane meal (Portulaca oleracea)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kartikasari, L. R.; Hertanto, B. S.; Nuhriawangsa, A. M. P.

    2018-01-01

    The objective of the study was to assess the sensory quality of mayonnaise formulated by egg yolks produced by hens fed purslane meal as a source of omega-3 (n-3) fats, alpha-linolenic acid. Eggs used were produced by Hy-Line Brown hens (38 weeks old) fed five diets suplemented with 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8% purslane meal. A total of 40 eggs of day 29 (n = 8 eggs for each treatment) were collected to formulate mayonnaise. The ingredient composition of mayonnaise was 14% egg yolks, 9% vinegar, 74% corn oil, 1% salt, 1% sugar, and 1% mustard. The parameters included colour, emulsion stability, texture, homogeneity, aroma, taste and flavour of mayonnaise. The findings of sensory evaluation by quantitative descriptive analysis showed that the use of egg yolk from hens fed dietary purslane meal up to 8% resulted in a significant effect on the yellow color of mayonnaise, but did not significantly affect emulsion stability, texture, homogeneity, aroma, taste, and flavour. Based on consumer preference, consumers did not detect any differences in the sensory characteristics between mayonnaise prepared from control eggs and those formulated with eggs produced from dietary treatment. Apparently, there was an increase in colour liking by inclusion of purslane meal. In conclusion, eggs from laying hens fed diets supplemented with purslane meal improved the colour intensity of mayonnaise. Mayonnaise formulation using eggs from diets added with Portulaca oleraceae meal up to a level of 8% can be applied without influencing mayonnaise sensory characteristics and consumer acceptance.

  15. An Optimal Dietary Zinc Level of Brown-Egg Laying Hens Fed a Corn-Soybean Meal Diet.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qin, Shizhen; Lu, Lin; Zhang, Xichun; Liao, Xiudong; Zhang, Liyang; Guo, Yanli; Luo, Xugang

    2017-06-01

    An experiment was conducted to estimate the optimal dietary zinc (Zn) level of brown-egg laying hens fed a corn-soybean meal diet from 20 to 40 weeks of age. A total of 120 20-week-old Beijing Red commercial laying hens were randomly allotted by bodyweight to one of five treatments with six replicates of four birds each in a completely randomized design, and fed a Zn-unsupplemented corn-soybean meal basal diet containing 27.95 mg Zn/kg by analysis and the basal diets supplemented with 30, 60, 90, or 120 mg Zn/kg as Zn sulfate (reagent grade ZnSO 4 ·7H 2 O) for a duration of 20 weeks. Laying performance, egg quality, tissue Zn concentrations, and activities of serum alkaline phosphatase (AKP), and liver copper-Zn superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD) were measured. Regression analyses were performed to estimate an optimal dietary Zn level whenever a significant quadratic response (P < 0.05) was observed. Tibia Zn concentration (P = 0.002) and serum AKP activity (P = 0.010) showed significant quadratic responses to dietary supplemental Zn levels. The estimates of dietary Zn requirements for brown-egg laying hens from 20 to 40 weeks of age were 71.95 and 64.63 mg/kg for tibia Zn concentration and serum AKP activity, respectively. The results from this study indicate that the tibia Zn might be a more suitable and reliable parameter for Zn requirement estimation, and the optimal dietary Zn level would be about 72 mg/kg for brown-egg laying hens fed a corn-soybean meal diet from 20 to 40 weeks of age.

  16. Comparative evaluation of dietary supplementation with mannan oligosaccharide and oregano essential oil in forced molted and fully fed laying hens between 82 and 106 weeks of age.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bozkurt, M; Bintaş, E; Kırkan, Ş; Akşit, H; Küçükyılmaz, K; Erbaş, G; Çabuk, M; Akşit, D; Parın, U; Ege, G; Koçer, B; Seyrek, K; Tüzün, A E

    2016-11-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of feed-grade preparations of mannan oligosaccharides ( MOS: ) and oregano essential oil ( OEO: ) in forced molted or fully fed 82-week-old, laying hens. A 2 × 3 factorial experiment investigated the influence of molting vs. full feeding and dietary supplements [i.e., unsupplemented control, MOS (1 g/kg) diet, and OEO (24 mg/kg) diet] on production parameters, egg quality, serum stress indicators, blood constituents, tibial characteristics, liver antioxidant status, and cecal microflora composition. A total of 864 Single Comb White Leghorn hens were randomly assigned to 6 treatments, each with 6 replicates of 24 hens each, and studied for 25 wk. Hens were fed a molt diet containing of 50% alfalfa and 50% wheat bran ( AA+WB: ) for 12 d, then returned to the laying ration. Results indicate that molt vs. full feed impacted more on most variables measured than supplementation or supplement type. Significant (P feed conversion ratio ( FCR: ). In fully fed hens, MOS supplementation improved (P hens. Molting improved egg quality despite the significant regression in ovary and oviduct weight (P hens were significantly lower than those of fully fed counterparts; however, poor mineralization was not reflected in the bones' mechanical properties. No significant differences were observed among treatments for hematological characteristics. Both the MOS and particularly the OEO supplementation improved (P feeding with an aa+wb diet is an effective non-feed-removal method for molted hens, the benefit of which can be improved with MOS and OEO supplementation. © 2016 Poultry Science Association Inc.

  17. Dietary menhaden oil contributes to hepatic lipidosis in laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Elswyk, M E; Hargis, B M; Williams, J D; Hargis, P S

    1994-05-01

    Clinical and epidemiological investigations have indicated that there may be substantial human cardiovascular benefits associated with increased consumption of n-3 fatty acids commonly found in fish oils. Recent studies have indicated that egg yolk n-3 fatty acid content is significantly increased when hens are fed diets enriched with selected fish oils such as menhaden oil (MO). In the present study, reproductively active females but not males exhibited increased hepatic lipidosis following 6 mo of feeding 3% MO. Hens fed 3% animal-vegetable oil (AV) did not exhibit hepatic lipid accumulation. Serum triglyceride and cholesterol concentrations were reduced (P < or = .05) in hens fed MO. Subsequently, yolk and total egg weights of hens fed MO were decreased as compared with those of hens fed AV. A significant interaction of dietary MO and exogenous 17 beta-estradiol was noted among chick liver and gallbladder weights. These data suggest that dietary MO and estradiol may interact in a manner that enhances the lipogenic activity of the liver, thereby inducing hepatic lipidosis in laying hens.

  18. Equations of prediction for abdominal fat in brown egg-laying hens fed different diets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Souza, C; Jaimes, J J B; Gewehr, C E

    2017-06-01

    The objective was to use noninvasive measurements to formulate equations for predicting the abdominal fat weight of laying hens in a noninvasive manner. Hens were fed with different diets; the external body measurements of birds were used as regressors. We used 288 Hy-Line Brown laying hens, distributed in a completely randomized design in a factorial arrangement, submitted for 16 wk to 2 metabolizable energy levels (2,550 and 2,800 kcal/kg) and 3 levels of crude protein in the diet (150, 160, and 170 g/kg), totaling 6 treatments, with 48 hens each. Sixteen hens per treatment of 92 wk age were utilized to evaluate body weight, bird length, tarsus and sternum, greater and lesser diameter of the tarsus, and abdominal fat weight, after slaughter. The equations were obtained by using measures evaluated with regressors through simple and multiple linear regression with the stepwise method of indirect elimination (backward), with P abdominal fat as predicted by the equations and observed values for each bird were subjected to Pearson's correlation analysis. The equations generated by energy levels showed coefficients of determination of 0.50 and 0.74 for 2,800 and 2,550 kcal/kg of metabolizable energy, respectively, with correlation coefficients of 0.71 and 0.84, with a highly significant correlation between the calculated and observed values of abdominal fat. For protein levels of 150, 160, and 170 g/kg in the diet, it was possible to obtain coefficients of determination of 0.75, 0.57, and 0.61, with correlation coefficients of 0.86, 0.75, and 0.78, respectively. Regarding the general equation for predicting abdominal fat weight, the coefficient of determination was 0.62; the correlation coefficient was 0.79. The equations for predicting abdominal fat weight in laying hens, based on external measurements of the birds, showed positive coefficients of determination and correlation coefficients, thus allowing researchers to determine abdominal fat weight in vivo.

  19. Productive performance and blood profiles of laying hens fed Hermetia illucens larvae meal as total replacement of soybean meal from 24 to 45 weeks of age.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marono, S; Loponte, R; Lombardi, P; Vassalotti, G; Pero, M E; Russo, F; Gasco, L; Parisi, G; Piccolo, G; Nizza, S; Di Meo, C; Attia, Y A; Bovera, F

    2017-06-01

    The aim of the research was to study the effects of an insect meal from Hermetia illucens larvae (HILM) as complete replacement of soybean meal (SBM) on productive performance and blood profiles of laying hens, from 24 to 45 wk of age. A total of 108 24-week-old Lohmann Brown Classic laying hens was equally divided into 2 groups (54 hens/group, 9 replicates of 6 hens/group). From 24 to 45 wk of age, the groups were fed 2 different isoproteic and isoenergetic diets: the control group (SBM) was fed a corn-soybean meal based diet, while in the HILM group the soybean meal was completely replaced by Hermetia illucens larvae meal. Feed intake, number of eggs produced, and egg weight were recorded weekly along the trial. At 45 wk of age, blood samples were collected from 2 hens per replicate. The use of HIML led to a more favorable (P meal produced a higher percentage of eggs from small (S), medium (M), and extra-large (XL) classes (P meal, while creatinine was higher (P meal can be a suitable alternative protein source for laying hens even if the complete replacement of soybean meal needs further investigation to avoid the negative effects on feed intake. © 2017 Poultry Science Association Inc.

  20. Exterior and interior physical quality of egg of laying hens fed diets containing different dietary purslane levels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kartikasari, L. R.; Hertanto, B. S.; Pranoto, D.; Salim, W. N.; Nuhriawangsa, A. M. P.

    2017-04-01

    Purslane is considered a rich vegetable source of alpha-linolenic acid, beta-carotene and various antioxidants. The objective of the study was to investigate the effect of different dietary levels of purslane meal (Portulaca oleracea) in the diets of laying hens on physical quality of eggs. A total of 125 Hy-Line Brown hens (54 weeks old) were placed at individual cages and assigned to five dietary treatments. The diets were supplemented with 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8% purslane meal. Laying hens were fed for 5 weeks after a typical period of adaptation (7 days). Water and feed were provided ad libitum. A total of 25 egg samples of day 28 and day 35 (n = 5 egg yolks for each treatment) were collected to analyse exterior and interior physical quality of eggs. The data were analysed using ANOVA. Differences between treatment means were further analysed using Duncan’s New Multiple Range Test. Results showed that feeding different purslane meal levels in the diets improved egg weight, yolk weight, albumen weight and yolk colour. The highest intensity of yolk colour was obtained with the diet containing 8% purslane meal. However, dietary treatments did not affect egg index, albumen index, yolk index, shell weight, shell thickness and Haugh Unit. It is concluded that including purslane meal to laying hen diets increases the physical qualities of the eggs.

  1. Evaluation of aflatoxicosis in hens fed with commercial poultry feed

    OpenAIRE

    DHANASEKARAN, Dharumadurai; PANNEERSELVAM, Annamalai; THAJUDDIN, Noorudin

    2014-01-01

    The effect of aflatoxin in the growth of hens was histopathologically analyzed. Mycotoxigenic fungi were isolated and characterized as Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus niger. The aflatoxin was extracted from Aspergillus flavus and their impact on the growth pattern of hens was evaluated. The histopathological analysis reveals that more lesions were found in the vital organs of hens in comparison with the control chick group. In the present study, it is concluded that the quality of poultry ...

  2. Reproductive responses of white leghorn hens to graded concentrations of mercuric chloride

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hill, E.F.; Shaffner, C.S.

    1974-01-01

    White Leghorn hens were maintained on diets containing 0, 4, 12 or 36 p.p.m. Hg as HgCl2 from hatching in an effort to confirm (with a second species) our previously reported effects on Japanese quail reproduction. In the quail study both onset of laying and rate of egg production were accelerated by 16 and 32 p.p.m. Hg as HgCl2, but ferti ity was depressed. After 1 year on diets containing HgCl2 none of the Leghorn hens manifested any observed signs of Hg poisoning. Hens fed 4 or 12 p.p.m. Hg began ovipositing an average of 10 days earlier than the controls (P < 0.05). Young hens (< 9 months old) fed 4 or 12 p.p.m. Hg laid significantly more eggs per hen-day than did either controls or those fed 36 p.p.m. Hg. Beyond 9 months of age there were no perceptible differences in rate of egg production among the treatments. These findings support our quail results. When the hens were inseminated with pooled semen from untreated roosters fertility, embryonic development and hatchability appeared to be unaffected by the treatments. This contrasts with our previous experiment with quail in which both sexes were fed HgCl2.

  3. Effects of dietary conjugated linoleic acid and linoleic:linolenic acid ratio on polyunsaturated fatty acid status in laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Du, M; Ahn, D U; Sell, J L

    2000-12-01

    A study was conducted to determine the effects of dietary conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and the ratio of linoleic:linolenic acid on long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid status. Thirty-two 31-wk-old White Leghorn hens were randomly assigned to four diets containing 8.2% soy oil, 4.1% soy oil + 2.5% CLA (4.1% CLA source), 4.1% flax oil + 2.5% CLA, or 4.1% soy oil + 4.1% flax oil. Hens were fed the diets for 3 wk before eggs and tissues were collected for the study. Lipids were extracted from egg yolk and tissues, classes of egg yolk lipids were separated, and fatty acid concentrations of total lipids, triglyceride, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylcholine were analyzed by gas chromatography. The concentrations of monounsaturated fatty acids and non-CLA polyunsaturated fatty acids were reduced after CLA feeding. The amount of arachidonic acid was decreased after CLA feeding in linoleic acid- and linolenic acid-rich diets, but amounts of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid were increased in the linolenic-rich diet, indicating that the synthesis or deposition of long-chain n-3 fatty acids was accelerated after CLA feeding. The increased docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid contents in lipid may be compensation for the decreased arachidonic acid content. Dietary supplementation of linoleic acid increased n-6 fatty acid levels in lipids, whereas linolenic acid increased n-3 fatty acid levels. Results also suggest that CLA might not be elongated to synthesize long-chain fatty acids in significant amounts. The effect of CLA in reducing the level of n-6 fatty acids and promoting the level of n-3 fatty acids could be related to the biological effects of CLA.

  4. Using a feed-grade zinc propionate to achieve molt induction in laying hens and retain postmolt egg production and quality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, S Y; Kim, W K; Birkhold, S G; Kubena, L F; Nisbet, D J; Ricke, S C

    2004-11-01

    A commercial-feed-grade form of zinc propionate was examined as a potential feed amendment at a concentration of 1% zinc to induce molt in 90-wk-old hens. Dietary treatments consisted of 4 treatment groups of 28 birds each randomly assigned to either (1) molted conventionally by feed withdrawal, (2) 1% zinc as Zn acetate, (3) 1% zinc as Zn propionate, or (4) nonmolted control for 9 d. Ovary weights of hens fed Zn acetate or Zn propionate were not significantly different from each other, but hens fed Zn acetate or Zn propionate were significantly (phens. Zinc concentrations in the kidney and liver were significantly (phens when compared to either nonmolted control-fed hens or feed-withdrawal molted hens. Over the entire 3-mo postmolt period, there were no significant differences in interior or exterior egg qualities among the four treatments. Egg production of hens fed Zn acetate was significantly lower than feed-withdrawal hens, Zn propionate-fed hens, or nonmolted control hens (pfeeding a feed grade of Zn propionate (1% Zn)-supplemented diet can induce molt and retain postmolt egg quality and production comparable to hens molted by feed withdrawal.

  5. Evaluation of limit feeding varying levels of distillers dried grains with solubles in non-feed-withdrawal molt programs for laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mejia, L; Meyer, E T; Studer, D L; Utterback, P L; Utterback, C W; Parsons, C M; Koelkebeck, K W

    2011-02-01

    An experiment was conducted with 672 Hy-Line W-36 Single Comb White Leghorn hens (69 wk of age) to evaluate the effects of feeding varying levels of corn distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) with corn, wheat middlings, and soybean hulls on long-term laying hen postmolt performance. The control molt treatment consisted of a 47% corn:47% soybean hulls (C:SH) diet fed ad libitum for 28 d. Hens fed the other 7 treatments were limit fed 65 g/hen per day for 16 d, and then fed 55 g/hen per day for 12 d. Hens on treatments 2 and 3 were fed 49% C:35% wheat middlings (WM) or SH:10% DDGS diets (C:WM:10DDGS, C:SH:10DDGS). Hens on treatments 4 and 5 were fed 49% C:25% WM or SH:20% DDGS diets (C:WM:20DDGS, C:SH:20DDGS). Those on treatments 6 and 7 were fed 47% C:47% DDGS (C:DDGS) or 47% WM:47% DDGS (WM:DDGS) diets. Those on treatment 8 were fed a 94% DDGS diet. At 28 d, all hens were fed a corn-soybean meal layer diet (16% CP) and production performance was measured for 36 wk. None of the hens fed the molt diets went completely out of production, and only the C:SH and C:SH:10DDGS molt diets decreased hen-day egg production to below 5% by wk 4 of the molt period. Postmolt egg production was lowest (P 0.05) in egg weights were detected among treatments throughout the postmolt period. In addition, no consistent differences were observed among treatments for egg mass throughout the postmolt period. Overall results of this study indicated that limit feeding diets containing DDGS at levels of 65 or 55 g/hen per day during the molt period did not cause hens to totally cease egg production.

  6. Validation of the effects of small differences in dietary metabolizable energy and feed restriction in first-cycle laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murugesan, G R; Persia, M E

    2013-05-01

    An experiment was conducted to evaluate energy utilization of laying hens fed diets containing 2 ME concentrations, using response criteria including performance, BW, abdominal fat pad, and energy digestibility. The experiment was a 2 × 2 factorial with 2 feeding regimens (ad libitum and restriction fed), and 2 dietary ME levels [2,880 kcal/kg of ME (CON); and 2,790 kcal/kg of ME (LME)]. A total of 60 Hy-Line W36 first-cycle laying hens were fed experimental diets, resulting in 15 individually caged hens for each of the 4 treatments. Hens in the restriction-fed group were fed 90 g of feed per day. The CON diet was formulated to meet or exceed the NRC (1994) recommendations with 2,880 kcal/kg, whereas the LME diet was similar with the exception of a 90 kcal/kg reduction in ME. Hens were fed experimental diets for 12 wk from hen 28 to 39 wk of age. Hen day egg production, weekly feed intake, and every 2 wk, egg weights and egg mass were recorded, whereas hen BW was measured every 4 wk. Excreta samples were collected over the last 5 d of experiment to determine AMEn. Abdominal fat pads were measured individually for all hens at the end of experiment. There were no interactions between feeding regimens and dietary ME levels throughout the experiment. Feed restriction resulted in reductions (P ≤ 0.01) in hen day egg production, BW, and abdominal fat pad, indicating reduced nutrient availability to partition toward production, maintenance, and storage functions. The reduction in energy intake between CON and LME fed birds (90 kcal/kg) did not change the energy partitioned toward production or maintenance, but reduced (P = 0.03) the energy stored (reduced fat pad) of LME-fed hens. These results suggest that energy is used following the pattern of production and maintenance before storage requirements and that fat pad (energy storage) may be the most sensitive indicator of dietary energy status over short-term in Hy-Line W36 laying hens.

  7. Evaluation of feeding various sources of distillers dried grains with solubles in non-feed-withdrawal molt programs for laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bland, Kelly; Utterback, Pam; Koelkebeck, Ken; Parsons, Carl

    2014-06-01

    An experiment was conducted using 588 Hy-Line W-36 hens (68 wk of age) to evaluate if laying hens can be successfully molted by ad libitum feeding various levels of 3 sources of distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS). Treatment 1 consisted of a 47% corn (C):47% soy hulls (SH) molt diet (C:SH) fed for 28 d (positive control). Treatments 2, 3, and 4 were molt diets containing 94% DDGS from the 3 sources fed for 28 d. Treatments 5, 6, and 7 were 32% C: 42% SH: 20% DDGS, from each of the 3 DDGS sources, also fed for 28 d. At the end of the 28-d molt period, all hens were fed a 16% CP corn-soybean meal layer diet. Body weight loss during the molt period was significantly greater (P hens fed the C:SH diet (26%) than hens fed the diets containing DDGS, and the reduction in BW loss varied among DDGS sources. Feed intake was lower (P Hens fed the C:SH diet had egg production near 0% during the last 3 wk of the molt period. Hens on the other treatments did not have mean egg production below 17% during the molt period (wk 1 to 4), and the reduction in egg production varied among DDGS sources. Postmolt hen-day egg production (5-41 wk) did not significantly differ among treatments; however, egg mass and egg specific gravity were generally reduced (P hens fed the 94% DDGS molt diets compared with hens fed the C:SH diet. This study showed that molt and postmolt performance responses varied among DDGS sources; however, none of the molt diets containing 20 to 94% DDGS yielded molt period reductions in BW or egg production similar to a 47% C: 47% SH diet. Poultry Science Association Inc.

  8. Population-based resequencing revealed an ancestral winter group of cultivated flax: implication for flax domestication processes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fu, Yong-Bi

    2012-01-01

    Cultivated flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) is the earliest oil and fiber crop and its early domestication history may involve multiple events of domestication for oil, fiber, capsular indehiscence, and winter hardiness. Genetic studies have demonstrated that winter cultivated flax is closely related to oil and fiber cultivated flax and shows little relatedness to its progenitor, pale flax (L. bienne Mill.), but winter hardiness is one major characteristic of pale flax. Here, we assessed the genetic relationships of 48 Linum samples representing pale flax and four trait-specific groups of cultivated flax (dehiscent, fiber, oil, and winter) through population-based resequencing at 24 genomic regions, and revealed a winter group of cultivated flax that displayed close relatedness to the pale flax samples. Overall, the cultivated flax showed a 27% reduction of nucleotide diversity when compared with the pale flax. Recombination frequently occurred at these sampled genomic regions, but the signal of selection and bottleneck was relatively weak. These findings provide some insight into the impact and processes of flax domestication and are significant for expanding our knowledge about early flax domestication, particularly for winter hardiness. PMID:22822439

  9. Effects of Enzyme Supplementation on Productive Performance and Egg Quality of Laying Hens fed Diets Containing Graded Levels of Whole Date Waste

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Torki M

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The objective of present study was to determine the effects of β-mannanase-based enzyme (Hemicell® on productive performance and egg quality in diets containing graded levels of Whole date waste (WDW fed to laying hens. A total of 336 Hy-line leghorn hens after production peak were randomly divided into 56 cages. Eight iso-energetic and iso-nitrogenous experimental diets in a 4 × 2 factorial arrangement including four levels of WDW (0, 10, 20 and 30% and 2 concentrations of supplemental β-mannanase (0 or 0.06 % were prepared. Each dietary treatment was fed to 7 cages (6 birds/cage from 32 to 38 wk of age. During the experiment, daily egg production, egg weight and feed intake were measured. At the 6th wk, egg quality traits were also recorded. The results showed that there was no interaction between WDW inclusion and enzyme supplementation on performance and egg traits. Dietary supplementation of WDW more than 10% significantly decreased egg production and egg mass compared to no WDW recipient hens (control diet during the entire experiment (P. Inclusion of 30% WDW to the diet, significantly increased overall feed conversion ratio compared to the control group (P. The treatment with 20 and 30% WDW also resulted in lower eggshell thickness as compared to 10% WDW (P. The dietary inclusion of 10% WDW also increased yolk index as compared to the control and 30% WDW groups (P. Enzyme supplementation had no significant effect on productive performance as well as egg quality characteristics. Based on the results of this experiment, it can be concluded that WDW could be included to laying hens diets up to 10% with no deleterious effects on performance and egg quality characteristics.

  10. THE STUDY OF THE ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY IN AMINO-ACIDS SUPPLEMENTATION OF THE LAYING HEN`S FODDER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ELIZA SIMIZ

    2007-05-01

    Full Text Available The experiment has been carried out on 69 Tetra SL hens, 27-36 weeks old, distributed into 3 groups consisted of 23 hens. They were fed with fodder recipes with different protein levels (17, 16 and respectively 15%. These recipes have been supplemented with DL-methionine and L-lysine up to the level of 0.80% lysine and 0.38% methionine. Fish flour has participated in a proportion of 3% in group 1, 1.5% in group 2 and it was absent from the fodder structure used in group 3. The reduction of crude protein with 1-2p% compared to the available commercial products, but with an amino acid supplementation, has led to the improvement of the economic criteria regarding egg production, generating savings of 7.7% in the group with 16% CP and of 12.8% in the group with 15% CP. The egg mass has not been affected significantly (p>0.05, the best yield being achieved from the hens fed with a 16%CP recipe.

  11. Application of Paracoccus marcusii as a potential feed additive for laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Conradie, Tersia A; Pieterse, Elsje; Jacobs, Karin

    2018-03-01

    Carotenoids have been used for many years as an added pigment to enhance egg yolk color. One such carotenoid, astaxanthin, has a strong antioxidant activity and is produced by several microorganisms, including the bacterium Paracoccus marcusii, which has shown promise to be used as a feed additive. Therefore, this study investigated the use of P. marcusii as a possible source of pigmentation in layer hen feed to enhance egg yolk color. Paracoccus marcusii was fed to hens in a sucrose solution (10% m/v). The hens were fed daily and all eggs were collected for analysis. Dilutions of egg contents were plated onto selective media to detect the presence of known food pathogens (E. coli, Listeria, and Salmonella). In the feeding trial, there was no negative effect on hen body weight, egg production, or overall egg quality. There was a significant increase (P feed additive for laying hens.

  12. Influence of Natural Zeolite on Performance of Laying Hens and Egg Quality

    OpenAIRE

    ÖZTÜRK, Ergin; ERENER, Güray; SARICA, Musa

    2014-01-01

    This experiment was conducted to study the effects of natural zeolite on the performance of laying hens. One hundred and eighty 37-week-old Babcock B-300 hens were fed with a diet containing 0, 20, 40, 60 and 80 g clinoptilolite/kg in an experiment consisting of 36 hens per treatment during a 4x28 days experimental period. All feeding programs were isocaloric and isonitrogenous. Hens were put at random into 5 treatment groups (12 replicates and 36 hens per treatment). No significant dietar...

  13. EGG QUALITY AND PRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE OF LAYING HENS IN SECOND CYCLE OF POSTURE FED WITH AMINOACID CHELATED TRACE MINERALS

    OpenAIRE

    Leticia Souza Silva Carvalho; Daniela Reis Vilela; Naiara Simarro Fagundes; Yara Lucia Silva Souza; Evandro de Abreu Fernandes

    2016-01-01

    Abstract The goal of this research was to evaluate egg quality and performance of laying hens at the second laying cycle, fed with minerals from an organic source. The  control treatment consisted of  basal diet with inorganic trace minerals, whereas the other treatments consisted of organic copper, iron, manganese, and zinc at levels of 100%, 90%, 80%, and 70%. Physical and chemical analyses were performed to evaluate egg quality. The average egg weight reduced in the test diet; however, ...

  14. Performance And Egg Quality Of Hens Fed Cocoa Husk Based Diet ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Lowman Brown hens, 37 - week - old, were used to study the effect of dietary inclusion of 10 and 20% cocoa husk meal (CHM) at the expense of maize on hen performance and egg quality. The trial was conducted for 10 weeks. Egg production (EP), egg weight (EW), egg mass (EM), feed consumption (FC), and feed ...

  15. Production of Bio-omega-3 eggs through the supplementation of extruded flaxseed meal in hen diet.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Imran, Muhammad; Anjum, Faqir Muhammad; Nadeem, Muhammad; Ahmad, Nazir; Khan, Muhammad Kamran; Mushtaq, Zarina; Hussain, Shahzad

    2015-10-09

    The full-fat flaxseed meal has obtained relatively new flourished concept as staple chicken feedstuff for the production of designer eggs. However, unprocessed flaxseed also encloses well documented anti-nutritional factors which are associated with growth depression of laying hens. The present research work was carried out to evaluate the impact of full-fat extruded flaxseed meal supplemented diets on productivity performance of hens and production of modified ω-3 fatty acids-enriched eggs. The full-fat flaxseed meal was extruded at barrel exit temperature (140 °C), screw speed (160 rpm) and feed rate (25 kg/h) for reduction of anti-nutritional compounds. One hundred and sixty, Babcock hens (age 24 weeks old) were selected at random from a large flock and ten hens were placed in each of 16 wire-mesh pens. The experimental diets prepared by supplementation of extruded flaxseed at 10%, 20% and 30% level were fed to hens along with control. The extruded flaxseed contained 86% and 76% less hydrocyanic compounds and tannin, respectively than the initial material. The hens fed with control diet consumed more feed, possessed heavy body weight and showed higher egg production as compared to hens fed on extruded flaxseed supplemented diets. The loss in body weight and egg production was recorded less for hens fed on 10% extruded flaxseed supplemented diets as compared to those fed on 30% extruded flaxseed supplemented diets. None of the experimental diets resulted in significant increase or decrease the total lipids and cholesterol content in egg yolk of hens. The extruded flaxseed supplemented diets resulted in a significant improvement of α-linolenic and docosahexaenoic acid in egg yolk with a concomitant reduction in arachidonic acid. The sensory scores were assigned higher to control eggs. Increasing level of extruded flaxseed in experimental diets decreased the scores for all sensory attributes of eggs. The present study suggested that extruded flaxseed meal up to

  16. Modification of the lipid profile and antioxidant status of the blood plasma of turkey hens fed mixtures with raw or extruded linseed.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Czech, A; Ognik, K; Laszewska, M; Cholewińska, E; Stępniowska, A

    2018-02-01

    The aim of the study was to determine the most beneficial proportion of raw linseed in complete feed mixtures for turkey hens on the basis of lipid and redox indicators in the blood. In experiment 1, the turkey hens received the complete mixture with 2%, 4% or 6% linseed. On the basis of the results obtained in experiment 1, we selected the most effective proportion of linseed, which was given to the birds in the group receiving a 4% linseed additive. In experiment 2, the birds were fed mixtures with a 4% addition of raw or extruded linseed. The use of 4% raw linseed was found to improve production effects (improvement of weight gain, and lower feed conversion ratios), while extruded linseed in the diet of turkey hens did not affect growth performance. The use of linseed (4% and 6%) as a feed component for turkey hens led to an increase in indicators of antioxidant potential, that is the total antioxidant potential of the plasma, vitamins E and C, bilirubin and creatinine. A benefit resulting from the use of linseed, particularly in the amounts of 2% and 4% was a marked improvement in lipid indicators in the blood. The reduced percentage of unsaturated fatty acids (n-3) following the use of extruded linseed resulted in a decrease in lipid peroxidation (lower content of malondialdehyde, superoxide and vitamins C and E in the blood). The most effective dose and form of linseed in the diet of turkey hens is 4% raw linseed. © 2017 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

  17. The growth performance of Jade Tiger cultured abalone fed diets supplemented with fish oil and vegetable oils.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mateos, Hintsa T; Lewandowski, Paul A; Su, Xiao Q

    2013-04-01

    The effects of fish oil (FO) supplementation and the dietary replacement of FO with flaxseed oil (FlaxO) and canola oil (CO) on the growth of cultured abalone was investigated. The study involved three growth experiments: (E1) diets containing 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5% of FO, respectively; (E2) diets in which FO was serially replaced by 25, 50, 75 and 100% FlaxO, respectively; and (E3) diets in which FO was serially replaced by 25, 50, 75 and 100% CO, respectively. In Experiment 1, abalone fed a diet supplemented with 1.5% FO showed a significantly higher (121.2 ± 1.1 mg day(-1)) daily growth rate of weight (DGRw ) compared to control (70.1 ± 1.71 mg day(-1)). In Experiment 2, abalone fed 1.5% FO diet and diets containing 25-75% FlaxO showed no significant differences in DGRw. The diet containing 100% FlaxO showed significantly lower (63.3 ± 6.7 mg day(-1)) DGRw. In Experiment 3, abalone fed diets containing 25% and 50% CO showed similar DGRw as those fed a 1.5% FO diet. The diet containing 75% and 100% CO showed significantly lower (63.7 ± 5.0 to 95.4 ± 5.1 mg day(-1)) DGRw. Supplementation with 1.5% of dietary FO can improve growth performance in cultured abalone. It is feasible to replace 75% of dietary FO with FlaxO and 50% of dietary FO with CO, without negative effect on growth performance. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry.

  18. The effect of the clove essential oil to the production and quality of lyaing hens eggs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Henrieta Arpášová

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to determinate the effect of the clove (Syzygium aromaticum essential oil to the egg production parameters and egg quality of laying hens. A total of 40 Lohmann Brown laying hens were divided into 4 groups (n = 10. The laying hens were fed 20 weeks ad libitum. The control group was fed with complete feed mixtures without additives. The first group of hens was fed a diet with complete feed mixtures with 0.3 mg.kg-1 of clove essential oil. The second group of hens was fed a diet with complete feed mixtures with 0.6 mg.kg-1 of clove oil and the third group of hens was fed a diet with complete feed mixtures with 1 mg.kg-1 of clove oil. Egg production, egg weight (g, specific egg weight, albumen weight (g, albumen index, Haugh Units (HU, yolk weight (g, yolk index, yolk color (HLR were studied. The results show that the addition of clove oil, especially in the group of laying hens with the addition of 1 mg.kg-1 clove oil had no significantly different (P>0.05 to the egg production (the order of the groups: 90.3; 91.8; 91.3; 92.6 %. In egg weight were found no significant differences between groups. The addition of 1 mg.kg-1 clove oil had significant (P>0.05 influenced the albumen index and the addition of 0.6 mg.kg-1 and 1 mg.kg-1 clove oil had significant (P>0.05 influenced Haugh units. In the control group was found not significant (P>0.05 different in yolk weight compared with other groups. In the other parameters of egg quality (albumen weight, yolk index, yolk colour with the addition of clove oil were found no significant differences between groups.

  19. Deposition of melamine in eggs from laying hens exposed to melamine contaminated feed.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Yiqiang; Yang, Wenjun; Wang, Zongyi; Peng, Yong; Li, Bin; Zhang, Liying; Gong, Limin

    2010-03-24

    The deposition profile of melamine was studied in eggs obtained from laying hens fed melamine contaminated feed. A total of 180 laying hens were divided into five groups and were fed diets spiked with 0, 5, 25, 50, or 100 mg of melamine per kg of feed. Eggs collected on days 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15 were analyzed by a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method, which was fully validated for melamine analysis prior to use. For each treatment group, the melamine level in the eggs was similar from day 1 to day 15 (P > 0.05), suggesting that laying hens did not accumulate melamine for later deposition in eggs. The average melamine concentrations in eggs were 0.00 (below limit of detection), 0.16, 0.47, 0.84, and 1.48 mg/kg for the 0, 5, 25, 50, and 100 mg/kg treatment groups, respectively, which demonstrated an apparent dose-response relationship, and a safety threshold of 164 mg/kg melamine in the feed of laying hen was estimated when a maximum tolerance level of 2.5 mg/kg melamine in egg was adopted. These results provide a scientific basis for the risk assessment of melamine in feeds fed to laying hens.

  20. Dietary choline and phospholipid supplementation enhanced docosahexaenoic acid enrichment in egg yolk of laying hens fed a 2% Schizochytrium powder-added diet.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, H; Zhang, H J; Wang, X C; Wu, S G; Wang, J; Xu, L; Qi, G H

    2017-08-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of dietary phospholipid supplementation on laying hen performance, egg quality, and the fatty acid profile of egg yolks from hens fed a 2% Schizochytrium powder diet. Three-hundred-sixty 28-wk-old Hy-line W-36 laying hens were randomly allocated to one of the 5 dietary treatments, each treatment with 6 replicates of 12 birds each. All diets included 2% Schizochytrium powder (docosahexaenoic acid [DHA], 137.09 mg/g). The control group was not supplemented with any additional phospholipids, whereas the other 4 experimental diets were supplemented with 1,000 mg/kg choline (CHO), 1,000 mg/kg monoethanolamine (MEA), 1,000 mg/kg lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC), or 500 mg/kg LPC + 500 mg/kg MEA (LPC + MEA). The experimental diets were isocaloric (metabolizable energy, 11.15 MJ/kg) and isonitrogenous (crude protein, 16.60%). The feeding trial lasted 28 days. Laying hen performance and egg quality were not affected (P > 0.05) by the diets used. The monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) level was reduced in the LPC group at d 28 (P egg yolks in the LPC group had a trend to increase in comparison to the control (P = 0.07). The CHO and LPC groups had higher omega-3 (n-3) PUFA and DHA levels and lower n-6/n-3 ratios than the other groups at d 28 (P egg yolk reached a plateau after the laying hens consumed the experimental diets for 14 days, and higher yolk DHA contents were observed in the CHO and LPC groups as compared with the other groups at d 14. It was concluded that dietary choline supplementation for more than 14 d enhanced egg yolk enrichment with n-3 PUFA and DHA when laying hen diets were supplemented with 2% Schizochytrium powder. All the diets had no adverse effect on hen performance, egg quality, or egg components under the experimental condition. © 2017 Poultry Science Association Inc.

  1. Effect of soaking seeds of flax on the ultimate strength of flaxes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. I. Ponomareva

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available There are one of ways to save peoples heath is eating food, what rich in fiber. To the recovery of polyunsarurated fatty acids, protein, mineral substances, fibers it recommended to eat flax seeds and its products. One of these products are flaxes. The purpose of the work was a rational choice of the duration of soaking seeds, providing strong reception of finished products. Founds that when hydrated of 10 to 30 minutes of the study setting almost unchanged. After 30 minutes soaking the tensile strength increased, and then decreased. The maximum value observed in the samples in which lasted 40 minutes soaking. Probably, due to the fact that upon contact with water 30 minutes before the moisture is adsorbed on the surface of flax seed are thus formed in a small amount of mucus. From 30 to 40 minutes soaking carbohydrates undergo hydrolysis inner layers of the endosperm and seed shell. While the water absorption capacity of flax reaches limits. Also increases the amount of mucus, and after 40 minutes soaking becomes excessive, resulting in reduced tensile strength of the finished product. Therefore, rational while soaking flax 40 minutes, providing the maximum value of the parameter under study. Flux thus, thanks to the ability of flax seed soaking and store slime forming after drying alpha-linolenic acid is a source of polyunsaturated fatty acids, dietary fibers, vitamins, minerals.

  2. Effect of diatomaceous earth on parasite load, egg production, and egg quality of free-range organic laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bennett, D C; Yee, A; Rhee, Y-J; Cheng, K M

    2011-07-01

    The effectiveness of diatomaceous earth (DE) as a treatment against parasites and to increase feed efficiency and egg production of organically raised free-range layer hens was evaluated in 2 breeds of commercial egg layers [Bovan Brown (BB) and Lowmann Brown (LB)] that differ in their resistance to internal parasitic infections. Half the hens of each breed were fed diets supplemented with DE (2%). Their internal parasite loads were assessed by biweekly fecal egg counts (FEC) and by postmortem examination of the gastrointestinal tract. Supplementing DE in diets of LB hens, the more parasite-resistant breed, did not significantly affect their FEC and adult parasite load. However, BB hens treated with dietary DE had significantly lower Capillaria FEC, slightly lower Eimeria FEC, fewer birds infected with Heterakis, and significantly lower Heterakis worm burden than control BB hens. Both BB and LB hens fed the diet containing DE were significantly heavier, laid more eggs, and consumed more feed than hens fed the control diet, but feed efficiency did not differ between the 2 dietary treatments. Additionally, BB hens consuming the DE diet laid larger eggs containing more albumen and yolk than hens consuming the control diet. In a subsequent experiment, the effectiveness of DE to treat a Northern fowl mite (Ornithonyssus sylviarum) infestation was tested. Relative to controls, both breeds of hens that were dusted with DE had reduced number of mites. The results of this study indicate the DE has the potential to be an effective treatment to help control parasites and improve production of organically raised, free-range layer hens.

  3. Ochratoxicosis in White Leghorn breeder hens: Production and breeding performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zahoor Ul Hassan*, Muhammad Zargham Khan, Ahrar Khan, Ijaz Javed1, Umer Sadique2 and Aisha Khatoon

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available This study was designed to evaluate the effect of Ochratoxin A (OTA upon production and breeding parameters in White Leghorn (WL breeder hens. For this purpose, 84 WL breeder hens were divided into seven groups (A-G. The hens in these groups were maintained on feed contaminated with OTA @ 0.0 (control, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 3.0, 5.0 and 10.0 mg/Kg, respectively for 21 days. These hens were artificially inseminated with semen obtained from healthy roosters kept on OTA free feed. Egg production and their quality parameters were recorded. Fertile eggs obtained from each group were set for incubation on weekly basis. At the end of the experiment, hens in each group were killed to determined gross and microscopic lesions in different organs. OTA residue concentrations were determined in extracts of liver, kidneys and breast muscles by immunoaffinity column elution and HPLC-Fluorescent detection techniques. Feeing OTA contaminated diet resulted in a significant decrease in egg mass and egg quality parameters. Liver and kidneys showed characteristic lesions of ochratoxicosis. Residue concentration (ng/g of OTA in the hens fed 10 mg/kg OTA, was the highest in liver (26.336±1.16 followed by kidney (8.223±0.85 and were least in breast muscles (1.235±0.21. Embryonic mortalites were higher, while hatachabilites of the chicks were lower in the groups fed higher doses of OTA. Feeding OTA contaminated diets to breeder hen resulted in residues accumulation in their tissues along with significantly reduced production and breeding performance.

  4. The use of distillers dried grains plus solubles as a feed ingredient on air emissions and performance from laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu-Haan, W; Powers, W; Angel, R; Applegate, T J

    2010-07-01

    The objectives of the current study were to evaluate the effect of feeding diets containing 0, 10, or 20% distillers dried grains plus solubles (DDGS) to laying hens (21 to 26 wk of age) on emissions of NH3 and H2S. Hy-Line W-36 hens (n = 640) were allocated randomly to 8 environmental rooms for a 5-wk period (hens in 3 rooms were offered the 10% and 20% DDGS diets each; hens in 2 rooms were offered the 0% DDGS diet). Diets were formulated to contain similar CP levels (18.3%), nonphytate P (0.46%), and Ca (4.2%). On an analyzed basis, the 0, 10, and 20% DDGS diets contained 0.22, 0.27, and 0.42% S. Egg weight (50.9 g), egg production (85%), and feed intake (87.9 g/hen per d) were unaffected by diet (P > 0.05) over the study period. Daily NH3 emissions from hens fed diets containing 0, 10, and 20% DDGS were 105.4, 91.7, and 80.2 mg/g of N consumed, respectively (P hens fed commercial diets containing 0, 10, and 20% DDGS were 2.6, 2.4, and 1.1 mg/g of S consumed, respectively. Overall, feeding 21- to 26-wk-old laying hens diets containing 20% DDGS decreased daily NH3 emissions by 24% and H2S emissions by 58%. Each hen emitted approximately 280 mg of NH3 and 0.5 mg of H2S daily when fed a control diet containing 18% CP and 0.2% S. The results of this study demonstrate that 20% DDGS derived from ethanol production can be fed to laying hens, resulting in lower emissions of NH3 and H2S with no apparent adverse effects on hen performance.

  5. Immunological status of the progeny of breeder hens kept on ochratoxin A (OTA)-contaminated feed.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zahoor-Ul-Hassan; Khan, Muhammad Zargham; Khan, Ahrar; Javed, Ijaz; Saleemi, Muhammad Kashif

    2011-06-01

    This study aimed to evaluate the immunological status of the progeny of breeder hens kept on ochratoxin A (OTA)-contaminated feed. For this purpose, 84 White Leghorn (WL) layer breeder hens (40-weeks-of-age) were divided into seven groups (A-G). Hens in the Group A were fed a commercial layer ration while those in Groups B-G were kept on a diet amended with 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 3.0, 5.0, or 10.0 mg OTA/kg, respectively, for 3 weeks. Fertile eggs were set for hatching on the weekly basis to get the progeny of each week separately. Hatched chicks (n = 10 from each group) were euthanized at Day 14 of age, and their immunological organs weighed and fixed in neutral buffered formalin. An indirect immunoperoxidase method was applied to study the frequency of immunoglobulin(s)-bearing cells in the spleen and bursa of Fabricius from these progeny. From other chicks within each set, at Day 16 of age, lymphoblastogenic responses against an intradermal administration of phytohemagglutinin (PHA-P) were determined. Relative weights of the bursa of Fabricius and of the thymus were significantly lower in the progeny of hens fed OTA-contaminated diet for 14 and 21 days. The frequencies of IgA-, IgG-, and IgM-bearing cells were also significantly (P ≤ 0.05) lower in the bursa of Fabricius and spleen of the progeny chicks obtained from dams fed the OTA-mixed diet. Progeny chicks obtained from the breeder hens fed higher doses of OTA showed significantly lower responses to PHA-P than did counterpart chicks from control hens. The findings of this study suggested that there were immunosuppressive effects from OTA in the progeny obtained from breeder hens kept on OTA-contaminated diets.

  6. Effect of H3PO4 Concentration and Particle Size of the Eggshell Used in Laying Hens Fed on Bone and Blood

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Kismiati

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Normal 0 false false false IN X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of H3 PO4 concentrations and particle size of eggshell used in the feed of laying hens on bone and blood profiles. Ninety-six laying hens (Isa Brown strain age 25 weeks were kept in individual battery cage and divided into 8 groups randomly. Group 1 was fed using eggshell with out H3PO4 and particle size of <1 mm (feed 1 , group 2 was fed using eggshell that has been soaked in H3PO4 3% and particle size of <1 mm (feed 2, group 3 were fed using eggshell that has been soaked in H3PO4 4% and particle size of <1 mm (feed 3, group 4 was fed using eggshell that has been soaked in H3PO4 5% and particle size of <1 mm (feed 4, group 5 was fed using eggshell that has been soaked in H3PO4 and particle size of <3 mm (feed 5 , group of 6 was fed using eggshell that has been soaked in H3PO4 3% and particle size of <3 mm (feed 6, group 7 was fed using eggshell that has been soaked in H3PO4 4 % and particle size of <3 mm (feed 7 and a group of 8 was fed using eggshell that has been soaked in H3PO4 5% and particle size of <3 mm (feed 8. A Completely Randomized Design patterns factorial 4 x 2 x 3 was used in this research. Result of this research showed that had no interaction effect (P>0.05 between the H3PO4 concentration and particle size of eggshell on weight, volume, diameter of tibia bone and calcium and phosphorus content of the blood. The concentration of H3PO4 or particles size also had no effect (P>0.05 on all variables. Normal 0 false false false IN X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font

  7. Sand intake by laying hens and its effect on egg production parameters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Meulen, J; Kwakernaak, C; Kan, C A

    2008-08-01

    Soil intake may be the most prominent source of environmental contaminants for free range and organic hens, but there are no quantitative data concerning soil intake by domestic hens. Consumption of soil of 14-32 g a day can be estimated from literature, but such a dilution of nutrient intake seems incompatible with high productivity. In this study laying hens were fed pelleted diets with 0%, 10%, 20%, 25% and 30% of sand addition to determine its effect on productivity. Feed intake, feed and nutrient (feed minus sand) conversion ratio, egg production, egg weight and body weight gain were measured over a 4-week period. Acid insoluble ash concentration in the faeces was measured to determine the accuracy of estimating the soil ingestion by the soil-ingestion equation for wildlife as a way to determine soil ingestion of free range and organic hens under practical circumstances. The hens were able to compensate the dilution of the diet with 20%, 25% and 30% of sand by increasing their feed intake. Feed intake increased significantly and feed to egg conversion ratio decreased significantly with increasing sand levels in the diet. The nutrient to egg conversion ratio of the diet without sand tended to be worse than for the diets with sand, presumably due to the total absence of coarse material in the diet. There were no differences in egg production and egg weight between hens fed the different diets but body weight gain was significantly lower for the hens fed the diets with 20%, 25% and 30% of sand. Estimation of sand ingestion was done by the soil-ingestion equation for wildlife. Provided that the actual dry matter digestibility coefficient of the nutrient part of the diet is taken into account, estimating the soil ingestion according to the soil-ingestion equation for wildlife seems an appropriate way to determine soil ingestion for free range and organic hens under practical circumstances.

  8. Effect of dietary inclusion of sugar syrup on production performance, egg quality and blood biochemical parameters in laying hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmed S. Hussein

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The effects of dietary inclusion of sugar syrup on quality of egg, cholesterol level, production performance, serum total protein and blood biochemical parameters were evaluated in laying hens. A total of 300 commercial Lohmann LSL hens (30 weeks of age were randomly distributed into 3 dietary treatments which consisted of a normal corn diet containing corn–soy and 2 diets containing 5% and 10% sugar syrup. Each treatment was replicated 5 times (n = 20. Egg production, feed intake, body weight and egg weight of laying hens fed different diets were recorded. The experiment lasted for 20 weeks. The Haugh unit scores of hens fed diets with sugar syrup were significantly increased (P < 0.05 compared with the control treatment. The sugar syrup had no significant effect on liver enzymes, total protein, blood glucose and creatinine in all treatments. The eggs laid by hens fed sugar syrup diets had lower cholesterol level (P < 0.05 compared with those laid by hens fed the control diet. Electrophoresis analysis showed that comparable electrophoretic patterns were noticed between serum proteins of treatment groups. From the results, it can be concluded that sugar syrup diets and corn diets have similar effects on feed intake, body weight, production of eggs and blood biochemical parameters in layer hens, which suggests sugar syrup can be used as an energy source for replacing part of corn in poultry layer diets. Keywords: Cholesterol, Sugar syrup diet, Egg, Egg quality, Protein

  9. Xanthophyll supplementation reduced inflammatory mediators and apoptosis in hens and chicks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Y-Y; Jin, L; Ji, J; Sun, B-L; Xu, L-H; Wang, Q-X; Wang, C-K; Bi, Y-Z

    2016-05-01

    This study investigated effects of xanthophylls (containing 40% lutein and 60% zeaxanthin) on gene expression of inflammatory mediators ( [] and []) and apoptosis ( [] and ) of breeding hens and chicks. In Exp. 1, 432 hens were divided into 3 groups and fed diets supplemented with 0 (as the control group), 20, or 40 mg/kg xanthophylls. The liver, duodenum, jejunum, and ileum were sampled after 35 d. Results showed that 40 mg/kg of xanthophyll addition decreased in the liver, in the liver and duodenum, and in the liver and jejunum while increasing level in the liver and jejunum. Experiment 2 was a 2 × 2 factorial design. Male chicks hatched from hens fed 0 or 40 mg/kg xanthophyll diets were fed diets containing either 0 or 40 mg/kg xanthophylls. The liver, duodenum, jejunum, and ileum were sampled at 0, 7, 14, and 21 d after hatching. Results showed that in ovo xanthophylls reduced inflammatory mediators and apoptosis in the liver, duodenum, and jejunum of chicks mainly within 1 wk after hatching, whereas dietary xanthophylls only decreased expression in the liver from 2 wk onward. These results underlined important anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic effects of maternal but not progeny dietary xanthophylls. In conclusion, xanthophylls can suppress inflammatory mediators and apoptosis in different tissues of hens and chicks.

  10. Motivation of hens to obtain feed during a molt induced by feed withdrawal, wheat middlings, or melengestrol acetate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koch, J M; Lay, D C; McMunn, K A; Moritz, J S; Wilson, M E

    2007-04-01

    Traditionally, molting was initiated by withdrawing feed. However, public criticism of feed deprivation, based on the perception that it inhumanely increases hunger, has led the poultry industry to ban the practice. Thus far, alternatives have not been demonstrated to ameliorate the increase in hunger that led to the ban on inducing molting by feed deprivation. Incorporating melengestrol acetate (MGA), an orally active progestin, into a balanced layer diet induces molting and increases postmolt egg quality. Hy-Line W-98 hens (n = 60) were randomly assigned to a balanced layer ration (control), a balanced layer ration containing MGA, or a 94% wheat middlings diet (wheat) for 20 d, or were feed deprived for 8 d. Hens were trained to peck a switch to receive a feed reward based on a progressive ratio reinforcement schedule. Motivation of hens to acquire feed was measured as the total number of pecks recorded in 15 min on d 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20. On d 20, abdominal fat pad and digesta-free gizzards were weighed. The number of pecks in the feed-deprived group was greater than controls by d 4 and remained greater at d 8, when these hens were removed from the experiment. Hens in the wheat group that were rewarded with a layer diet pecked more than controls from d 8 to 20. Hens in the MGA group pecked for a reward at the same rate as control hens throughout the experiment. Hens fed the wheat diet had heavier gizzards compared with control and MGA-fed hens. Hens fed MGA had greater abdominal fat pad compared with wheat and control hens. Hens molted using a diet containing MGA have a similar motivation to obtain feed as control hens; therefore, this alternative does not appear to increase hunger. However, hens molted with a wheat middling diet appear to be as motivated to obtain feed as did the feed-deprived hens.

  11. Effect of four processed animal proteins in the diet on digestibility and performance in laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Krimpen, M M; Veldkamp, T; Binnendijk, G P; de Veer, R

    2010-12-01

    An experiment was performed to investigate the effect of animal vs. vegetable protein sources in the diet of laying hens on the development of hen performance. A diet containing protein sources of only vegetable origin was compared with 4 diets, each containing 1 of 4 processed animal proteins (PAP). Two PAP (Daka-58 and Sonac-60) were classified as meat meals, and the remaining 2 (Daka-40 and Sonac-50) were classified as meat and bone meals. First, fecal digestibility of nutrients in the PAP was determined in Lohmann Brown layers. Hens (n = 132) were housed in 22 cages (6 hens/cage) and allotted to 5 dietary treatments. In the PAP diets (4 replicates/treatment), 100 g/kg of CP of animal origin was added, replacing soybean meal and corn (Zea mays) in the basal diet (6 replicates/treatment). The PAP sources differed largely in chemical composition and digestibility coefficients. Energy content (AME(n)) varied from 1,817 (Daka-40) to 3,107 kcal/kg (Sonac-60), and digestible lysine varied from 15.4 (Daka-40) to 28.3 g/kg (Sonac-50). Subsequently, the effect of a control diet (without PAP) vs. 4 PAP diets (50 g/kg of CP of animal origin from the same batches as used in the digestibility study) on performance was determined. All diets were isocaloric (AME(n) = 2,825 kcal/kg) and isonitrogenous (digestible lysine = 6.8 g/kg). Hens were housed in 40 floor pens (12 hens/pen, 8 pens/treatment) from 20 to 40 wk of age. Feed intake levels of the hens fed the meat and bone meal diets were reduced compared with those of hens fed the meat meal diets, whereas the feed intake level of hens fed the control diet was intermediate. Laying hen performance differed between treatments, being was most favorable for the Sonac-50 treatment and most adverse for the Daka-40 treatment. Differences in laying hen performance seemed to be related partly to differences in feed intake and corresponding amino acid intake.

  12. Chemical modification of flax reinforced polypropylene composites

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Jacob John, Maya

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents an experimental study on the static and dynamic mechanical properties of nonwoven based flax fibre reinforced polypropylene composites. The effect of zein modification on flax fibres is also reported. Flax nonwovens were treated...

  13. Effect of Red Pepper (Capsicum frutescens) Powder or Red Pepper Pigment on the Performance and Egg Yolk Color of Laying Hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Huaqiang; Jin, Liji; Wu, Feifei; Thacker, Philip; Li, Xiaoyu; You, Jiansong; Wang, Xiaoyan; Liu, Sizhao; Li, Shuying; Xu, Yongping

    2012-11-01

    Two experiments were conducted to study the effects of red pepper (Capsicum frutescens) powder or red pepper pigment on the performance and egg yolk color of laying hens. In Exp. 1, 210, thirty-wk old, Hy-line Brown laying hens were fed one of seven diets containing 0.3, 0.6, 1.2, 2.0, 4.8 or 9.6 ppm red pepper pigment or 0.3 ppm carophyll red. Each diet was fed to three replicate batteries of hens with each battery consisting of a row of five cages of hens with two hens per cage (n = 3). In Exp. 2, 180, thirty-wk old, Hyline Brown laying hens, housed similarly to those in Exp. 1, were fed an unsupplemented basal diet as well as treatments in which the basal diet was supplemented with 0.8% red pepper powder processed in a laboratory blender to an average particle size of 300 μm, 0.8% red pepper powder processed as a super fine powder with a vibrational mill (44 μm) and finally 0.8% red pepper powder processed as a super fine powder with a vibrational mill but mixed with 5% Na2CO3 either before or after grinding. A diet supplemented with 0.3 ppm carophyll red pigment was also included (n = 3). In both experiments, hens were fed the red pepper powder or pigment for 14 days. After feeding of the powder or pigment was terminated, all hens were fed the basal diet for eight more days to determine if the dietary treatments had any residual effects. In Exp. 1, there were no differences in egg-laying performance, feed consumption or feed conversion ratio due to inclusion of red pepper pigment in the diet. Average egg weight was higher (pfeeding red pepper powder did not affect egg-laying performance, feed consumption or feed conversion ratio (p>0.05). However, compared with the control group, supplementation with all of the red pepper powder treatments increased egg weight (pfeed additives for improving egg yolk color for laying hens.

  14. Locus-specific view of flax domestication history

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fu, Yong-Bi; Diederichsen, Axel; Allaby, Robin G

    2012-01-01

    Crop domestication has been inferred genetically from neutral markers and increasingly from specific domestication-associated loci. However, some crops are utilized for multiple purposes that may or may not be reflected in a single domestication-associated locus. One such example is cultivated flax (Linum usitatissimum L.), the earliest oil and fiber crop, for which domestication history remains poorly understood. Oil composition of cultivated flax and pale flax (L. bienne Mill.) indicates that the sad2 locus is a candidate domestication locus associated with increased unsaturated fatty acid production in cultivated flax. A phylogenetic analysis of the sad2 locus in 43 pale and 70 cultivated flax accessions established a complex domestication history for flax that has not been observed previously. The analysis supports an early, independent domestication of a primitive flax lineage, in which the loss of seed dispersal through capsular indehiscence was not established, but increased oil content was likely occurred. A subsequent flax domestication process occurred that probably involved multiple domestications and includes lineages that contain oil, fiber, and winter varieties. In agreement with previous studies, oil rather than fiber varieties occupy basal phylogenetic positions. The data support multiple paths of flax domestication for oil-associated traits before selection of the other domestication-associated traits of seed dispersal loss and fiber production. The sad2 locus is less revealing about the origin of winter tolerance. In this case, a single domestication-associated locus is informative about the history of domesticated forms with the associated trait while partially informative on forms less associated with the trait. PMID:22408732

  15. Effect of Red Pepper ( Powder or Red Pepper Pigment on the Performance and Egg Yolk Color of Laying Hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huaqiang Li

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Two experiments were conducted to study the effects of red pepper (Capsicum frutescens powder or red pepper pigment on the performance and egg yolk color of laying hens. In Exp. 1, 210, thirty-wk old, Hy-line Brown laying hens were fed one of seven diets containing 0.3, 0.6, 1.2, 2.0, 4.8 or 9.6 ppm red pepper pigment or 0.3 ppm carophyll red. Each diet was fed to three replicate batteries of hens with each battery consisting of a row of five cages of hens with two hens per cage (n = 3. In Exp. 2, 180, thirty-wk old, Hyline Brown laying hens, housed similarly to those in Exp. 1, were fed an unsupplemented basal diet as well as treatments in which the basal diet was supplemented with 0.8% red pepper powder processed in a laboratory blender to an average particle size of 300 μm, 0.8% red pepper powder processed as a super fine powder with a vibrational mill (44 μm and finally 0.8% red pepper powder processed as a super fine powder with a vibrational mill but mixed with 5% Na2CO3 either before or after grinding. A diet supplemented with 0.3 ppm carophyll red pigment was also included (n = 3. In both experiments, hens were fed the red pepper powder or pigment for 14 days. After feeding of the powder or pigment was terminated, all hens were fed the basal diet for eight more days to determine if the dietary treatments had any residual effects. In Exp. 1, there were no differences in egg-laying performance, feed consumption or feed conversion ratio due to inclusion of red pepper pigment in the diet. Average egg weight was higher (p0.05. However, compared with the control group, supplementation with all of the red pepper powder treatments increased egg weight (p<0.05. All the red pepper powder treatments also increased (p<0.05 the yolk color score compared with the control. The results of the present study suggest that both red pepper powder and pigment are effective feed additives for improving egg yolk color for laying hens.

  16. Viscosity of egg white from hens of different strains fed with commercial and natural additives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fernanda Papa Spada

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Yolk color and egg white (albumen cleanliness and viscosity are important parameters by which consumers judge the quality of eggs. This study aimed to investigate changes in albumen viscosity during storage of eggs for up to 36 days from two different commercial laying hen strains (Carijo Barbada and Isa Brown fed a diet containing annatto (1.5 and 2.0% or a synthetic additive without synthetic colorants (control. Analyses of humidity, albumen height, pH, viscosity, foam formation, and stability were carried out on eggs. Carijo Barbada strain had smaller albumen, lower humidity and higher egg white viscosity than Isa Brown strain; however, with storage, viscosity lowered significantly on both strains. Initially, the addition of 2.0% of annatto or a synthetic additive increased viscosity in both strains, but with storage only the control maintained longer viscosity. Lower viscosity did not change foam density and stability.

  17. Aligned flax fibre/polylactate composites

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Bo; Lilholt, Hans; Thygesen, Anders

    2008-01-01

    The potential of biocomposites in engineering applications is demonstrated by using aligned flax fibre/polylactate composites as a materials model system. The failure stress of flax fibres is measured by tensile testing of single fibres and fibre bundles. For both fibre configurations, it is found...... that failure stress is decreased by increasing the tested fibre volume. Based on two types of flax fibre preforms: carded sliver and unidirectional non-crimp fabric, aligned flax fibre/polylactate composites were fabricated with variable fibre content. The volumetric composition and tensile properties...... of the composite were measured. For composites with a fibre content of 37 % by volume, stiffness is about 20 GPa and failure stress is about 180 MPa. The tensile properties of the composites are analysed with a modified rule of mixtures model, which includes the effect of porosity. The experimental results...

  18. USDA Flax fiber utilization research

    Science.gov (United States)

    The United States is pursuing natural fibers as sustainable, environmentally friendly sources for a variety of industrial applications. Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) fiber offers many possibilities towards this goal. Research on flax fiber production, processing, and standards development is urgen...

  19. Effects of feeding grains naturally contaminated with Fusarium mycotoxins on brain regional neurochemistry of laying hens, turkey poults, and broiler breeder hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yegani, M; Chowdhury, S R; Oinas, N; MacDonald, E J; Smith, T K

    2006-12-01

    Three experiments were conducted to compare the effects of feeding blends of grains naturally contaminated with Fusarium mycotoxins on brain regional neurochemistry of laying hens, turkey poults, and broiler breeder hens. In Experiment 1, thirty-six 45-wk-old laying hens were fed diets including the following for 4 wk: 1) control, 2) contaminated grains, and 3) contaminated grains + 0.2% polymeric glucomannan mycotoxin adsorbent (GMA). Concentrations of brain neurotransmitters and metabolites were analyzed in pons, hypothalamus, and cortex by HPLC with electrochemical detection. Neurotransmitters and the metabolites measured included dopamine, 3,4-dihydroxylphenyacetic acid, homovanillic acid, serotonin [5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)], 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. The feeding of contaminated grains significantly increased concentrations of 5-HT and decreased the 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid:5-HT in the pons region in the brain stem. Dietary supplementation with GMA prevented these effects. There was no effect of diet on concentrations of other neurotransmitters or metabolites in the pons, hypothalamus, or cortex. In Experiment 2, thirty-six 1-d-old turkey poults were fed diets including the following for 4 wk: 1) control, 2) contaminated grains, and 3) contaminated grains + 0.2% GMA. Hypothalamic, pons, and cortex neurotransmitter concentrations were not affected by diet. In Experiment 3, forty-two 26-wk-old broiler breeder hens were fed diets including the following for 15 wk: 1) control, 2) contaminated grains, and 3) contaminated grains + 0.2% GMA. There was no effect of diet on neurotransmitter concentrations in the pons, hypothalamus, or cortex. It was concluded that differences in intraspecies effects of these mycotoxins on brain neurotransmitter concentrations might explain the intraspecies differences in the severity of Fusarium mycotoxin-induced reductions in feed intake.

  20. Evaluation of limit feeding corn and distillers dried grains with solubles in non-feed-withdrawal molt programs for laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mejia, L; Meyer, E T; Utterback, P L; Utterback, C W; Parsons, C M; Koelkebeck, K W

    2010-03-01

    An experiment was conducted using 504 Hy-Line W-36 Single Comb White Leghorn hens (69 wk of age) randomly assigned to 1 of 7 treatments. These treatments consisted of a 47% corn:47% soy hulls diet (C:SH) fed ad libitum; a 94% corn diet fed at a rate of 36.3, 45.4, or 54.5 g/hen per day (CORN 36, CORN 45, and CORN 54, respectively); and a 94% corn distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) diet fed at the same rates as the previous corn diets (DDGS 36, DDGS 45, and DDGS 54, respectively) during the molt period of 28 d. The intent was to feed the DDGS diets for 28 d; however, all hens on these diets had very low feed intakes and greater than anticipated BW loss. Thus, they were switched to a 16% CP corn-soybean meal layer diet on d 19 of the molt period. At d 28, hens on all treatments were fed the same corn-soybean meal layer diet for 39 wk (73 to 112 wk of age). All DDGS diets and the CORN 36 diet resulted in total cessation of egg production during the molt period and egg production of hens fed the CORN 45, CORN 54, and C:SH diets had decreased to 3 and 4%, respectively, by d 28. Body weight loss during the 28-d molt period ranged from 14% for the CORN 54 diet to approximately 23% for the 3 DDGS diets. Postmolt egg production (5 to 43 wk) was higher for hens fed the DDGS molt diets than those fed the corn diets. There were no consistent differences in egg mass, egg-specific gravity, feed efficiency, or layer feed consumption among molt treatments for the postmolt period. These results indicate that limit feeding corn diet and DDGS diet in non-feed-withdrawal molt programs will yield long-term postmolt performance that is comparable to that observed by ad libitum feeding a C:SH diet.

  1. Impact of supplementing diets with propolis on productive performance, egg quality traits and some haematological variables of laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdel-Kareem, A A A; El-Sheikh, T M

    2017-06-01

    One hundred and twenty eight, 28-weeks-old Lohmann LSL hybrid layers were used in this experiment, which lasted 12 weeks to investigate the effect of propolis supplementation on the productive performance, egg quality traits and haematological variables of laying hens. All hens were randomly classified into four equal experimental groups, eight replicates (4 birds/each). Hens in group 1 were fed on a commercial diet and considered as control group, while those in groups 2, 3 and 4 were fed on the same commercial diet and supplemented with 250, 500 and 1000 mg propolis/kg diet. The obtained results revealed that daily feed consumption/hen increased insignificantly with increasing propolis level than that of the control group. Regarding the means of egg mass and egg production rate, it was observed that the laying hens fed diets containing 250 and 1000 mg propolis/kg significantly (p hens as compared to those in the control. Concerning the haematological parameters, the results showed that the levels of total protein and globulin increased significantly with increasing propolis level, while cholesterol and liver enzymes were significantly decreased (p hens in the treated groups significantly decreased, whereas the lymphocyte count significantly increased, resulting in a decreased H/L ratio than that of the control group. Thus, it could be concluded that the supplementation of 250 mg propolis/kg diet is highly recommended to improving egg production, blood constituent and haematological parameters of the commercial laying hens. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition © 2015 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

  2. Effects of alkoxy alkyl mercury derivative on hens in a feed test with disinfected cereal

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ring, O; Kalliokoski, P K

    1968-01-01

    Experiments were performed to determine the effects of feeding hens cereal that had been disinfected with either methoxyethyl mercury chloride or methoxyethyl mercury silicate. Two groups of hens were fed the grain and the results were compared. Both disinfectants decreased egg production and consumption of the feed. Two-thirds of the hens lost weight in the methoxyethyl mercury silicate test. The hens were not weighed in the other test. Estimated intakes of Hg were 2.5 mg for methoxyethyl mercury chloride and 0.45 mg for methoxyethyl mercury silicate.

  3. Utilizing fungus myceliated grain for molt induction and performance in commercial laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Willis, W L; Isikhuemhen, O S; Allen, J W; Byers, A; King, K; Thomas, C

    2009-10-01

    Molting in poultry is used to rejuvenate hens for a second or third laying cycle. Feed withdrawal was once the most effective method used for molt induction; however, it has being phased out due to food safety and animal welfare concerns. This study evaluated the utilization of fungus myceliated grain as a safe and effective alternative for inducing molt, enhancing immunity, reducing Salmonella growth, and returning to egg production. Laying hens were subjected to 1 of 5 treatments: 1) nonfed (NF), 2) full-fed (FF), 3) fungus myceliated meal (FM), 4) 90% fungus myceliated meal+10% standard layer ration (FM-90), and 5) 90% alfalfa meal+10% fungus myceliated meal (AF-90). Each treatment condition was replicated 9 times during a 9-d molt period. The results revealed that egg production for treatments 1 and 3 ceased completely by d 5, whereas hens in treatments 4 and 5 ceased egg production by d 6. The percentage of BW loss decreased significantly (P<0.05) in treatments 1 (57%), 2 (8%), 3 (35%), 4 (37%), and 5 (44%). Ovary weights of hens fed all molting diets decreased significantly from the full-fed control but did not differ significantly (P<0.05) from each other. Salmonella population in the crop, ovary, and ceca from hens differed significantly (P<0.05) among treatments. Return to egg production differed between treatments with higher production beginning in treatment 3 and ending in treatment 5. Antibody titers did differ (P<0.05) among treatments. From these results, fungus myceliated meal appears to be a viable alternative to conventional feed withdrawal and other methods for the successful induction of molt and retention of postmolt performance.

  4. The Effect of Dietary Protein Levels in Growing Period on Performance at Onset of Lay of Crossbred Hens between Cockerel Native Chickens and Commercial Laying Hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Harimurti Februari Trisiwi

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available This research aims to examine the effects of various dietary protein levels during growing period crossbreed hens between cockerel native chickens and laying hens on performance at onset of lay. The effects of the dietary protein levels on weight and other components of eggs were also examined. Eighteen hens aged thirteen weeks were randomly divided into three different treatment groups. Each group consists of six replications. The replication contains a hen. All the treatment hens were grown in a battery-cage until reaching sexual maturity then were fed with three different dietary protein levels which are 13,54%, 12,00%, and 9,80% formulated with 2600 kcal/kg ME. The collected data were analyzed by a one-way classification of variance analysis (CRD followed by testing the significant means using The Duncan,s MultipleRange Test (DMRT. The experiment result suggested that the treatment during hen’s growing period did not cause significance on performance at onset lay, egg weight, and egg components weight.

  5. Biofortified orange maize enhances β-cryptoxanthin concentrations in egg yolks of laying hens better than tangerine peel fortificant.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heying, Emily K; Tanumihardjo, Jacob P; Vasic, Vedran; Cook, Mark; Palacios-Rojas, Natalia; Tanumihardjo, Sherry A

    2014-12-10

    The xanthophyll β-cryptoxanthin provides vitamin A and has other purported health benefits. Laying hens deposit xanthophyll carotenoids into egg yolk. Hens (n = 8/group) were fed conventional-bred high β-cryptoxanthin biofortified (orange) maize, tangerine peel-fortified white maize, lutein-fortified yellow maize, or white maize for 40 d to investigate yolk color changes using L*a*b* scales, yolk carotenoid enhancement, and hen vitamin A status. Yolks from hens fed orange maize had scores indicating a darker, orange color and mean higher β-cryptoxanthin, zeaxanthin, and β-carotene concentrations (8.43 ± 1.82, 23.1 ± 4.8, 0.16 ± 0.08 nmol/g, respectively) than other treatments (P eggs could be another choice for consumers, providing enhanced color through a provitamin A carotenoid and supporting eggs' status as a functional food.

  6. The Effect of Flax Seed (Linum Usitatissimum) Hydroalcoholic Extract on Brain, Weight and Plasma Sexual Hormone Levels in Aged and Young Mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bahmanpour, Soghra; Kamali, Mahsa

    2016-05-01

    Flax is a food and fiber crop that is grown in some regions of the world. Its value will account for its great popularity as a food, medical and cosmetic applications. Flax fibers are taken from the stem of the plant and are two to three times as strong as cotton. In this study, we compared brain weight and plasma sex hormone levels in young and aged mice after the administration of Linum usitatissimum (flax seed) hydro alcoholic extract. In this study, 32 aged and 32 young mice were divided into 4 groups. Controls remained untreated and experimental groups were fed with flax seed hydroalcoholic extract by oral gavages during 3 weeks. After 3 weeks, the brain was removed and blood samples were collected to measure sex hormone levels by ELISA. Data analysis was done by statistical ANOVA test using SPSS version 18 (P<0.05). The results of this study shows that the brain weight of mice did not change significantly, but the sex hormone levels in the experimental groups in comparison with the control groups increased significantly (P<0.05). The hydroalcoholic extract of flax seed had no effect on the brain weight, but this extract improved the sexual hormone levels.

  7. Single and combined effects of peppermint and thyme essential oils on productive performance, egg quality traits, and blood parameters of laying hens reared under cold stress condition (6.8 ± 3 °C)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akbari, Mohsen; Torki, Mehran; Kaviani, Keyomars

    2016-03-01

    This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of adding peppermint essential oil (PEO), thyme essential oil (TEO), or their combination to diet on productive performance, egg quality traits, and blood parameters of laying hens reared under cold stress condition (6.8 ± 3 °C). Feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR), egg weight (EW), egg production (EP), and egg mass (EM) were evaluated during the 56-day trial period using 120 Lohmann LSL-lite laying hens. Significant interactions between PEO and TEO on FCR, EP, and EM were observed ( P hens fed the diets supplemented by the combined form of PEO and TEO compared to those fed the basal diet. Also, increased EW and FI were observed in the laying hens fed the diet added by PEO compared to the birds fed the basal diet. There were significant interactions between PEO and TEO on the serum level of cholesterol, shell thickness, and Hough unit of egg ( P hens fed the diet supplemented by the combined form of PEO and TEO compared to those fed the basal diet. From the results of the present experiment, it can be concluded that diet supplementation by combined form of PEO and TEO could have beneficial effects on performance parameters of hens reared under cold stress condition.

  8. Effects of feeding grains naturally contaminated with Fusarium mycotoxins on hepatic fractional protein synthesis rates of laying hens and the efficacy of a polymeric glucomannan mycotoxin adsorbent.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chowdhury, S R; Smith, T K

    2005-11-01

    Experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of feeding grains naturally contaminated with a combination of Fusarium mycotoxins on hepatic fractional protein synthesis rates (FSR) of laying hens. Thirty-six 32-wk-old laying hens were fed diets formulated with 1) uncontaminated grains, 2) contaminated grains, or 3) contaminated grains + 0.2% polymeric glucomannan mycotoxin adsorbent for a period of 4 wk. Hepatic FSR were measured in vivo by the flooding-dose method. The feeding of contaminated grains decreased hepatic FSR in laying hens compared with controls after 4 wk. The hepatic FSR of birds fed contaminated grains and contaminated grains + glucomannan mycotoxin adsorbent were not different. It was concluded that the in vivo hepatic FSR of laying hens was inhibited by the feeding of grains naturally contaminated with Fusarium mycotoxins and that this may explain some of the adverse effects seen when contaminated grains were fed to laying hens.

  9. The Use of Radiation to Suppress the Impact of Aflatoxin B 1 Contaminated Diets on the Productive Performance and Immunological Response of Laying Hens

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Farag, M.D.H.; AbdulAzeem, A.M.; Abdalla, E.A.; Ahmed, N.A.H.

    2017-01-01

    Detoxification of aflatoxin (AF) from contaminated food and feed stuffs remains a major problem and there is a great demand for an effective decontamination technology. A recent approach to the problem is irradiation of food to destroy AFB 1 .In this study, the reduction of aflatoxicosis in Golden Montazah (GM ) local laying hens that were fed contaminated diets, was treated using gamma (γ) irradiation. This research included two phases: The first one (experimental duration) in which laying hens were fed (3 week s) on artificially contaminated diets with 0.2 mg AFB 1 kg −1 and subjected to 0, 10, 20 and 30 k Gy gamma irradiation. The second phase (recovery duration), the hens were fed non-contaminated diets for another 3 weeks to study the withdrawal time required for bringing back the flock to its normal production. After six week s of feeding, the hens were slaughtered. The significant adverse effect of AFB 1 on the feed intake, egg mass, feed conversion ratio (FCR), egg production, egg quality (shell weight, egg width, shell thickness and egg shape index), internal egg quality (albumin height, yolk height, yolk weight, albumin index, yolk index and haugh unit), relative organ weights (kidney, spleen and heart), and residues of AFB1 in eggs, breast muscle and organs (kidney, spleen and heart) were evaluated and hematological parameters ( Hemoglobin, total count of red and white blood cells as well as some differential counts of leucocytes (lymphocyte and heterophil percentages) and the immune response to Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) and Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV) were also evaluated. The result ts showed that γ-radiation significantly (P<0.05) reduced the deleterious effects of AFB 1 on feed intake, egg mass and FCR ratio and the reduction was proportional with irradiation dose. Asignificant increase was observed in the mean egg production of laying hens fed on diets contaminated with AFB 1 and irradiated with γ-rays at 10, 20 and 30 k Gy, compared

  10. SCREENING OF COMMON FLAX FAD GENES BY PCR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Veronika Štefúnová

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Currently, flax (Linum usitatissimum L. is an important crop from commercial and economical aspects. In the spotlight is the linseed oil as a source of α-linolenic acid. The aim of presented study was to analyse fatty acid desaturase (FAD genes in flax. Several genotypes of flax (Hohenheim, La Plata 1938, Redwing USA and Escalina were used. The primers described by Vrinten et al. (2005 were used for PCR amplification reactions. Two FAD3 genes, LuFAD3A and LuFAD3B, were identified in a genome of flax. Subsequently the nucleotide sequences between origins and genotypes of flax FAD genes were compared. Primarily were used the nucleotide sequences of FAD2 and FAD3C genes available in NCBI database. Differences were found using BLAST program in nucleotide sequences of FAD genes and the specific primers were designed to amplify a specific target sequences in a genome of flax. These primers were used in PCR amplification reactions to identification of FAD2 and FAD3C genes. The PCR products were separated by electrophoresis on agarose gel.

  11. Changes of blood parameters associated with bone remodeling following experimentally induced fatty liver disorder in laying hens

    Science.gov (United States)

    Studies have demonstrated that obesity and osteoporosis are two linked disorders in humans. This study examined if excessive lipid consumption affects bone metabolism in laying hens. One hundred 63-week-old laying hens were randomly divided into two treatments, i.e., fed with a regular diet (control...

  12. Effects of Curcuma longa rhizome powder on egg quality, performance and some physiological indices of laying hens fed different levels of metabolizable energy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mirbod, Mahsa; Mahdavi, Amir Hossein; Samie, Abdol-Hossein; Mehri, Mehran

    2017-03-01

    High-energy diets of laying hens may improve roductive performance, although some negative effects may also appear with respect to egg quality and physiological parameters. Curcuma longa rhizome powder (CRP) has beneficial effects on health indices of the birds through antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, especially when the birds experience nutritional stress. Increasing dietary CRP enhanced egg quality by improving eggshell thickness and hardness but decreasing yolk cholesterol content (P < 0.05). The best feed conversion ratio was obtained in birds fed high-apparent metabolizable energy (AME) diets supplemented with 2.0 g kg -1 CRP (P < 0.05). Although increasing dietary AME elevated the serum concentration of triglycerides (P < 0.05) and enzymatic activities of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase (P < 0.05), dietary inclusion of CRP alleviates the blood levels of these enzymes (P < 0.01). Low level of dietary CRP boosted the immune responses to Newcastle virus (P < 0.01) and sheep red blood cells (P < 0.05) antigens but decreased the heterophil to lymphocyte ratio (P < 0.05). Inclusion of at least 2.0 g kg -1 CRP in the diet of laying decreased Escherichia coli enumerations in the ileal content (P < 0.01) and improved villus height, crypt depth and goblet cell numbers (P < 0.05). An improvement in the productive performance of laying hens fed high-energy diets might be associated with decreasing health indices and product quality, which could potentially be amended by nutritional modifications such as incorporating medicinal herbs in the feed. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

  13. Evaluation of the performance of Hy-Line Brown laying hens fed soybean or soybean-free diets using cage or free-range rearing systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Ajeeli, M N; Leyva-Jimenez, H; Abdaljaleel, R A; Jameel, Y; Hashim, M M; Archer, G; Bailey, C A

    2018-03-01

    This study evaluated egg production and quality variables of caged and free-range Hy-Line Brown laying hens fed soybean meal (SBM) and soybean-meal-free (SBMF) diets. Hens were randomly assigned to the same 2 dietary treatments within 3 location blocks. SBM and SBMF diets with equivalent calculated nutrient content were prepared based on Hy-Line Brown rearing guidelines. The SBMF diets utilized cottonseed meal, corn distillers dried grains with solubles, corn gluten meal, and wheat middlings in place of dehulled soybean meal. The experiment was conducted between August 2015 and January of 2016 within the TAMU Poultry Research Center and data analyzed over 6 consecutive 28-day periods. Data were analyzed as a split-plot with rearing systems designated whole plots and diets designated as subplots. Hens reared in the free-range rearing system peaked a couple of wk later than those hens within the more conventional indoor caged system, and cumulative production data were considerably more variable for hens raised in the free-range environment. Cumulative egg production, feed per dozen eggs and feed conversion ratio (g feed/g egg) were 92 ± 1.23 and 86 ± 1.84%, 1.45 ± 0.02 and 1.89 ± 0.05 kg, and 2.14 ± 0.04 and 2.77 ± 0.08 (P free-range rearing systems. Cumulative egg weight, feed per dozen eggs, and feed conversion ratio were 59.9 ± 0.59 and 56.5 ± 0.60 g, 1.57 ± 0.04 and 1.77 ± 0.05 kg, and 2.24 ± 0.06 and 2.67 ± 0.08 kg (P  0.05). With respect to egg quality, there were no differences in cumulative albumen height, Haugh unit, or breaking strength, but there was a significant rearing system by diet interaction for shell thickness, with the free-range hens averaging 40.77 ± 0.19 and 39.86 ± 0.31 μm (P free-range production is more variable than traditional closed-house cage systems based on standard errors, and SBMF diets containing cottonseed meal can be used in both caged and free-range production systems without

  14. Economic interpretation of sustainable development of the flax complex

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oleg Ivanovich Botkin

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper reviews the definition of the notions “stability” and “stable development”, and analyzes the factors influencing the development stability. We suggest the definition of the flax complex stable development and its assessment. We also examine the factors causing the flax complex functioning instability. An integral index was proposed to determine the stability of flax complex; this index takes into account the rate of growth (or decline of major products manufacturing, commodities, profits from product sales, accounts receivable and accounts payable, investments into fixed capital, labor productivity, coefficient of manufacturing capacity utilization and updating of the basic funds. The paper deals with the problems of its development and modern state of flax sub-complex of agroindustrial complex, as well as with the matters of disproportions between the complex’s branches. It covers the causes of tolling schemes of flax processing businesses work and therole of thestatein native market of flax products formation. The necessity of industry diversification and innovation development is substantiated.

  15. Modelling energy utilisation in broiler breeder hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rabello, C B V; Sakomura, N K; Longo, F A; Couto, H P; Pacheco, C R; Fernandes, J B K

    2006-10-01

    1. The objective of this study was to determine a metabolisable energy (ME) requirement model for broiler breeder hens. The influence of temperature on ME requirements for maintenance was determined in experiments conducted in three environmental rooms with temperatures kept constant at 13, 21 and 30 degrees C using a comparative slaughter technique. The energy requirements for weight gain were determined based upon body energy content and efficiency of energy utilisation for weight gain. The energy requirements for egg production were determined on the basis of egg energy content and efficiency of energy deposition in the eggs. 2. The following model was developed using these results: ME = kgW0.75(806.53-26.45T + 0.50T2) + 31.90G + 10.04EM, where kgW0.75 is body weight (kg) raised to the power 0.75, T is temperature ( degrees C), G is weight gain (g) and EM is egg mass (g). 3. A feeding trial was conducted using 400 Hubbard Hi-Yield broiler breeder hens and 40 Peterson males from 31 to 46 weeks of age in order to compare use of the model with a recommended feeding programme for this strain of bird. The application of the model in breeder hens provided good productive and reproductive performance and better results in feed and energy conversion than in hens fed according to strain recommendation. In conclusion, the model evaluated predicted an ME intake which matched breeder hens' requirements.

  16. Doubled haploid production in Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Obert, Bohus; Zácková, Zuzana; Samaj, Jozef; Pretová, Anna

    2009-01-01

    There is a requirement of haploid and double haploid material and homozygous lines for cell culture studies and breeding in flax. Anther culture is currently the most successful method producing doubled haploid lines in flax. Recently, ovary culture was also described as a good source of doubled haploids. In this review we focus on tissue and plants regeneration using anther culture, and cultivation of ovaries containing unfertilized ovules. The effect of genotype, physiological status of donor plants, donor material pre-treatment and cultivation conditions for flax anthers and ovaries is discussed here. The process of plant regeneration from anther and ovary derived calli is also in the focus of this review. Attention is paid to the ploidy level of regenerated tissue and to the use of molecular markers for determining of gametic origin of flax plants derived from anther and ovary cultures. Finally, some future prospects on the use of doubled haploids in flax biotechnology are outlined here.

  17. Application of Electro-Technologies in Processing of Flax Fiber

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. S. Vijaya Raghavan

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available Flax fibers used for various applications are obtained from flax stems. Retting followed by drying and mechanical separation leads to the production of fibers. This review article discusses the application of electro-technologies in the production of bast fibers from the flax stem. In these technologies, flax stems harvested from the field are subjected to microwave assisted retting, followed by electro–osmotic dewatering which reduces the water content of the stems. Dewatered stems are transferred to a microwave chamber for further drying, thus retted stems are obtained for further processing.

  18. Protective Effects of Flax Seed (Linum Usitatissimum) Hydroalcoholic Extract on Fetus Brain in Aged and Young Mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamali, Mahsa; Bahmanpour, Soghra

    2016-05-01

    One of the major problems of the aged women or older than 35 is getting pregnant in the late fertility life. Fertility rates begin to decline gradually at the age of 30, more so at 35, and markedly at 40. Even with fertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization, women have more difficulty in getting pregnant or may deliver abnormal fetus. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of flax seed hydroalcoholic extract on the fetal brain of aged mice and its comparison with young mice. In this experimental study, 32 aged and 32 young mice were divided into 4 groups. Controls received no special treatment. The experimental mice groups, 3 weeks before mating, were fed with flax seed hydroalcoholic extract by oral gavages. After giving birth, the brains of the fetus were removed. Data analysis was performed by statistical test ANOVA using SPSS version 18 (P<0.05). The mean fetus brain weight of aged mother groups compared to the control group was increased significantly (P<0.05). This study showed that flax seed hydroalcoholic extract could improve fetal brain weights in the aged groups.

  19. Effects of feeding on the plasma disposition kinetics of the anthelmintic albendazole in laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bistoletti, M; Alvarez, L; Lanusse, C; Moreno, L

    2014-01-01

    1. To optimise the use of albendazole (ABZ) as an anthelmintic in hens, the effects of fasting and type of diet on the plasma kinetics of ABZ and its metabolites were evaluated. 2. Twenty-four hens were distributed into 4 groups: In experiment I the Fed group were fed ad libitum, while the Fasted group was fasted over a 12-h period. In experiment II the Pelleted group was fed with pelleted commercial food, while the Grain group was fed with cereal grains. All the groups were treated with ABZ by oral route. Blood samples were taken and plasma analysed by HPLC. 3. ABZ and its metabolites albendazole-sulphoxide (ABZSO) and albendazole-sulphone (ABZSO2) were recovered in plasma in all the groups. The 12-h fasting period did not modify the disposition kinetics of ABZ in hens. The type of feed affected ABZ kinetics. ABZSO concentration profile was higher and detected for longer in the Grain group compared to the Pelleted group. Statistical differences were not found for AUC0-∞ values, whereas the T1/2for and T1/2el were different between groups. 4. Factors affecting ABZ kinetic behaviour should be taken into account to optimise its use to ensure the sustainability of the limited available anthelmintic therapeutic tools in avian parasite control.

  20. Gene expression analysis of flax seed development

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-01

    Background Flax, Linum usitatissimum L., is an important crop whose seed oil and stem fiber have multiple industrial applications. Flax seeds are also well-known for their nutritional attributes, viz., omega-3 fatty acids in the oil and lignans and mucilage from the seed coat. In spite of the importance of this crop, there are few molecular resources that can be utilized toward improving seed traits. Here, we describe flax embryo and seed development and generation of comprehensive genomic resources for the flax seed. Results We describe a large-scale generation and analysis of expressed sequences in various tissues. Collectively, the 13 libraries we have used provide a broad representation of genes active in developing embryos (globular, heart, torpedo, cotyledon and mature stages) seed coats (globular and torpedo stages) and endosperm (pooled globular to torpedo stages) and genes expressed in flowers, etiolated seedlings, leaves, and stem tissue. A total of 261,272 expressed sequence tags (EST) (GenBank accessions LIBEST_026995 to LIBEST_027011) were generated. These EST libraries included transcription factor genes that are typically expressed at low levels, indicating that the depth is adequate for in silico expression analysis. Assembly of the ESTs resulted in 30,640 unigenes and 82% of these could be identified on the basis of homology to known and hypothetical genes from other plants. When compared with fully sequenced plant genomes, the flax unigenes resembled poplar and castor bean more than grape, sorghum, rice or Arabidopsis. Nearly one-fifth of these (5,152) had no homologs in sequences reported for any organism, suggesting that this category represents genes that are likely unique to flax. Digital analyses revealed gene expression dynamics for the biosynthesis of a number of important seed constituents during seed development. Conclusions We have developed a foundational database of expressed sequences and collection of plasmid clones that comprise

  1. Gene expression analysis of flax seed development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sharpe Andrew

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Flax, Linum usitatissimum L., is an important crop whose seed oil and stem fiber have multiple industrial applications. Flax seeds are also well-known for their nutritional attributes, viz., omega-3 fatty acids in the oil and lignans and mucilage from the seed coat. In spite of the importance of this crop, there are few molecular resources that can be utilized toward improving seed traits. Here, we describe flax embryo and seed development and generation of comprehensive genomic resources for the flax seed. Results We describe a large-scale generation and analysis of expressed sequences in various tissues. Collectively, the 13 libraries we have used provide a broad representation of genes active in developing embryos (globular, heart, torpedo, cotyledon and mature stages seed coats (globular and torpedo stages and endosperm (pooled globular to torpedo stages and genes expressed in flowers, etiolated seedlings, leaves, and stem tissue. A total of 261,272 expressed sequence tags (EST (GenBank accessions LIBEST_026995 to LIBEST_027011 were generated. These EST libraries included transcription factor genes that are typically expressed at low levels, indicating that the depth is adequate for in silico expression analysis. Assembly of the ESTs resulted in 30,640 unigenes and 82% of these could be identified on the basis of homology to known and hypothetical genes from other plants. When compared with fully sequenced plant genomes, the flax unigenes resembled poplar and castor bean more than grape, sorghum, rice or Arabidopsis. Nearly one-fifth of these (5,152 had no homologs in sequences reported for any organism, suggesting that this category represents genes that are likely unique to flax. Digital analyses revealed gene expression dynamics for the biosynthesis of a number of important seed constituents during seed development. Conclusions We have developed a foundational database of expressed sequences and collection of plasmid

  2. Single and combined effects of zinc and cinnamon essential oil in diet on productive performance, egg quality traits, and blood parameters of laying hens reared under cold stress condition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torki, Mehran; Akbari, Mohsen; Kaviani, Keyomars

    2015-09-01

    This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of adding zinc (Zn), cinnamon essential oil (Ci), or their combination in diet on productive performance, egg quality, and blood parameters of laying hens reared under cold stress condition (8.8 ± 3 °C). Feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR), egg weight (EW), egg production (EP), and egg mass (EM) were evaluated during the 56-day trial period using 120 Lohmann LSL-Lite laying hens. Significant interactions between Ci and Zn on FCR, EW, EP, or EM were observed ( P hens fed the diets including Ci and Zn (as single or combined form) compared to those fed the basal diet. There were significant interactions between Ci and Zn on the serum level of glucose and triglycerides as well as plasma concentration of zinc ( P hens fed the diets including Ci and Zn (together) compared to those fed the basal diet. From the results of the present experiment, it can be concluded that diet supplementation by the combined form of Ci and Zn could have beneficial effects on performance and blood parameters of hens reared under cold stress condition.

  3. Ex-post assessment of genetically modified, low level presence in Canadian flax.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Booker, Helen M; Lamb, Eric G; Smyth, Stuart J

    2017-06-01

    Canada is the world's largest producer and exporter of flaxseed. In 2009, DNA from deregistered genetically modified (GM) CDC Triffid was detected in a shipment of Canadian flaxseed exported to Europe, causing a large decrease in the amount of flax planted in Canada and a major shift in export markets. The flax industry in Canada undertook major changes to ensure the removal of transgenic flax from the supply chain. To demonstrate compliance, Canada adopted a protocol involving testing grain samples (post-harvest) using an RT-PCR test for the construct found in CDC Triffid. Efforts to remove the presence of GM flax from the value chain included reconstituting major flax varieties from GM-free plants. The reconstituted varieties represented the majority of planting seed in 2014. This study re-evaluates GM flax presence in Canadian grain stocks for an updated dataset (2009-2015) using a previously described simulation model to estimate low-level GM presence. Additionally, losses to the Canadian economy resulting from the reduction in flax production and export opportunities, costs associated with reconstituting major flax varieties, and testing for the presence of GM flax along the flax value chain are estimated.

  4. Single and combined effects of peppermint and thyme essential oils on productive performance, egg quality traits, and blood parameters of laying hens reared under cold stress condition (6.8 ± 3 °C).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akbari, Mohsen; Torki, Mehran; Kaviani, Keyomars

    2016-03-01

    This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of adding peppermint essential oil (PEO), thyme essential oil (TEO), or their combination to diet on productive performance, egg quality traits, and blood parameters of laying hens reared under cold stress condition (6.8 ± 3 °C). Feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR), egg weight (EW), egg production (EP), and egg mass (EM) were evaluated during the 56-day trial period using 120 Lohmann LSL-lite laying hens. Significant interactions between PEO and TEO on FCR, EP, and EM were observed (P hens fed the diets supplemented by the combined form of PEO and TEO compared to those fed the basal diet. Also, increased EW and FI were observed in the laying hens fed the diet added by PEO compared to the birds fed the basal diet. There were significant interactions between PEO and TEO on the serum level of cholesterol, shell thickness, and Hough unit of egg (P hens fed the diet supplemented by the combined form of PEO and TEO compared to those fed the basal diet. From the results of the present experiment, it can be concluded that diet supplementation by combined form of PEO and TEO could have beneficial effects on performance parameters of hens reared under cold stress condition.

  5. Flavonoid engineering of flax potentiate its biotechnological application

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Prescha Anna

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Flavonoids are a group of secondary plant metabolites important for plant growth and development. They show also a protective effect against colon and breast cancer, diabetes, hypercholesterolemic atherosclerosis, lupus nephritis, and immune and inflammatory reactions. Thus, overproduction of these compounds in flax by genetic engineering method might potentiate biotechnological application of these plant products. Results Flax plants of third generation overexpressing key genes of flavonoid pathway cultivated in field were used as plant material throughout this study. The biochemical properties of seed, oil and seedcake extracts and fibre from natural and transgenic flax plants were compared. The data obtained suggests that the introduced genes were stably inherited and expressed through plant generations. Overproduction of flavonoid compounds resulted in increase of fatty acids accumulation in oil from transgenic seeds due to protection from oxidation offered during synthesis and seed maturation. The biochemical analysis of seedcake extracts from seeds of transgenic flax revealed significant increase in flavonoids (kaempferol, phenolic acids (coumaric, ferulic, synapic acids and lignan content. Fibres, another product of flax plant showed increase in the level of catechine and acetylvanillone and decrease in phenolic acids upon flax modification. Biochemical analysis results were confirmed using IR spectroscopy. The integral intensities of IR bands have been used for identification of the component of phenylpropanoid pathway in oil, seedcake extract and fibre from control and transgenic flax. It was shown that levels of flavonoids, phenolic acids and lignans in oil and seedcake extract was higher in transgenic flax products compared to control. An FT-IR study of fibres confirmed the biochemical data and revealed that the arrangement of the cellulose polymer in the transgenic fibres differs from the control; in particular a

  6. Effect of nutrient dilution on feed intake, eating time and performance of hens in early lay.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Krimpen, M M; Kwakkel, R P; André, G; van der Peet-Schwering, C M C; den Hartog, L A; Verstegen, M W A

    2007-08-01

    1. An experiment with 480 ISA Brown layers was conducted to measure the effect of dietary energy (11.8, 11.2 and 10.6 MJ/kg) and non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) (128, 146 and 207 g/kg) concentration, soluble NSP content (64 and 85 g/kg), particle size distribution of the NSP fraction (fine and coarse) and feed form (mash and crumble) on feed intake, eating time and egg performance of laying hens in early lay (from 18 to 26 weeks of age). Twelve experimental diets were tested, each replicated 4 times. 2. Laying hens in early lay that were fed low- or high-NSP diets were able to compensate for 10% dietary dilution by 9.5 and 4.9% higher feed intakes, respectively. Feeding crumble or coarsely ground mash did not affect feed intake. 3. Eating time of the hens fed the undiluted diets increased over the experimental period from 16.4 to 24.6% of the observation period, but was not affected by sand or grit addition, particle size distribution or feed form. Feeding high-NSP diets increased eating time by 22%. 4. Egg performance and body weight gain of the hens that were fed low-NSP or high-NSP diets were similar or better compared to the undiluted diets, whereas coarse grinding of the diets showed 7 to 10% lower egg performance and weight gain. Egg performance and weight gain were not affected by feed form. 5. It is concluded that hens in early lay, fed energy-diluted diets, by adding sand or grit (low-NSP) or NSP-rich raw materials (high-NSP) to the control diet, were able to increase their feed intake, resulting in energy intake and egg performance comparable to the control group. Supplementing diets with insoluble NSP also decreased eating rate. Prolonged eating time using insoluble NSP could be useful in reducing feather pecking behaviour.

  7. The effect of feeding clinoptilolite (zeolite) to laying hens

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The effect of feeding clinoptilolite (zeolite) to laying hens. M.D. Olver. Animal and Dairy Science Research Institute, lrene. One hundred and twenty 4-month-old, single-combed, brown. Hy-Line pullets were fed two isocaloric diets containing 16 or. 13,5o/o protein with and without 5% clinoptilolite in four.

  8. Effects of inositol, inositol-generating phytase B applied alone, and in combination with 6-phytase A to phosphorus-deficient diets on laying performance, eggshell quality, yolk cholesterol, and fatty acid deposition in laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zyla, K; Mika, M; Duliński, R; Swiatkiewicz, S; Koreleski, J; Pustkowiak, H; Piironen, J

    2012-08-01

    Phytase B, a product of Aspergillus niger phyB gene expressed in Trichoderma reesei, which increased myo-inositol concentrations in 20 mM sodium phytate solution 7.5-fold during 120-min incubation, a combination of phytase B with 6-phytase A, and pure myo-inositol were tested as feed supplements in Bovans Brown laying hens. In the 2-factorial experiment (2×5), birds from wk 50 to 62 were fed 2 basal diets, corn-soybean (CSM) or wheat-soybean (WSM), using 12 one-hen cages per treatment. For both basal diets, the dietary treatments included negative control (0.08% nonphytate P in CSM, 0.13% nonphytate P in WSM; NC); internal control groups, NC+0.04% nonphytate P from monocalcium phosphate, MCP (IC); NC+0.1% of myo-inositol (Inos), NC+phytase B at 1,300 units of phytase B-acid phosphatase activity (AcPU)/kg (PhyB), NC+phytase B at 1,300 AcPU/kg+6-phytase A at 300 FTU/kg (PhyA+B). Feed intake, laying performance, and eggshell quality were determined. The total lipid and cholesterol contents as well as fatty acid profile were assessed in egg yolks collected from hens fed CSM diets, as was fatty acid profile. The hens fed the WSM diet consumed significantly more feed, laid a higher mass of eggs daily with higher mean weights, and had a higher hen-day egg production than the birds receiving the CSM diets. Similarly, higher values for yolk weights, shell weights, shell thickness, shell density, and breaking strengths were determined in the eggs laid by the hens fed the WSM diets. In hens fed either the CSM diets with phytase B alone, or in combination with 6-phytase A, enhanced feed intakes, egg mass, and hen-day egg production were recorded. Phytases also enhanced the eggshell quality parameters in the hens fed both variants of the diets. Phytase B alone, or in combination with 6-phytase A, reduced the total lipid and cholesterol concentrations in egg yolks collected from the hens fed the CSM diets, whereas the combination of both phytases improved the n-6:n-3

  9. Low-fiber alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) meal in the laying hen diet: effects on productive traits and egg quality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laudadio, V; Ceci, E; Lastella, N M B; Introna, M; Tufarelli, V

    2014-07-01

    This study was designed to determine the effects on laying performance and egg quality resulting from partial substitution of soybean meal (SBM) with low-fiber alfalfa (LFA; Medicago sativa L.) meal in the diet of early-phase laying hens. ISA Brown layers, 18 wk of age, were randomly allocated to 2 dietary treatments and fed for 10 wk. The hens were fed 2 wheat middling-based diets: a control diet, which contained SBM (15% of diet), and a test diet containing LFA (15% of diet) as the main protein source. Low-fiber alfalfa meal was obtained by a combination of sieving and air-classification processes. Feed intake was recorded daily, and egg production was calculated on a hen-day basis; eggs from each group were weekly collected to evaluate egg components and quality. The partial substitution of SBM with LFA had no adverse effect on growth performance of early-phase laying hens. Egg production and none of the egg-quality traits examined were influenced by dietary treatment, except for yolk color (P alfalfa meal in the laying-hen diet can positively influence yolk quality without adversely affecting productive traits. © 2014 Poultry Science Association Inc.

  10. Effects of Octacosanol Extracted from Rice Bran on the Laying Performance, Egg Quality and Blood Metabolites of Laying Hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peng, Kai; Long, Lei; Wang, Yuxi; Wang, Shunxi

    2016-10-01

    A 42-d study with 384 Hy-line brown laying hens was conducted to assess the effects of dietary octacosanol supplementation on laying performance, egg quality and blood metabolites of laying hens. Hens were randomly allocated into 4 dietary groups of 8 cages each, which were fed basal diet supplemented with 0 (Control), 9 (OCT9), 18 (OCT18), and 27 (OCT27) mg/kg diet of octacosanol isolated from rice bran, respectively. The experiment was conducted in an environmental controlled house and hens were fed twice daily for ad libitum intake. Laying performance was determined over the 42-d period, and egg quality as well as blood metabolites were estimated on d 21 and d 42. Diets in OCT18 and OCT27 increased (pfeed conversion rate and levels of total cholesterol, triglyceride and low density lipoprotein cholesterol in the serum as compared to those of Control. Feed intake, yolk color, yolk diameter, eggshell thickness and high density lipoprotein cholesterol were similar (p>0.05) among treatments. Results demonstrate that supplementing 18 to 27 mg/kg diet of rice bran octacosanol can improve laying rate and egg quality and reduce blood lipid of laying hens.

  11. Effects of Deinococcus spp. supplement on egg quality traits in laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, I-Chen; Wu, Szu-Yin; Liou, Jenn-Fa; Liu, Hsiao-Hui; Chen, Jiau-Hua; Chen, Chin-Chu

    2018-01-01

    To counter the ill effects of synthetic dyes, bacterial pigment production as an alternative is now one of the promising and emerging fields of research. This study was conducted to evaluate the applicability of Deinococcus genus on the egg quality traits in laying hens. In study I, 24 single comb White Leghorn layers were fed with various 1 wt % Deinococcus bacterial strains for 10 d. In study II, 84 brown Hendrix layers were fed with one of 4 diets containing 0, 0.2, 1, or 5 wt % Deinococcus sp. GKB-Aid 1995 powder for 12 wk. In study III, 60 White Leghorn laying hens were fed either with or without 1 wt % Deinococcus sp. GKB-Aid 1995 powder, 1 wt % Deinococcus sp. GKB-Aid 1995 granules, or 1 wt % Deinococcus sp. GKB-Aid 1995 oily granules for 10 successive d. In all of the experiments, feeding Deinococcus powder did not affect egg quality traits except for the yolk color. In particular, supplementation with all Deinococcus powder treatments changed the yolk color (P 1995. Moreover, longer supplementation of Deinococcus sp. GKB-Aid 1995 in study II had a significant effect on feed conversion ratio. With these findings under consideration, the present study suggests that the Deinococcus species, especially Deinococcus sp. GKB-Aid 1995, can be an excellent candidate for improving egg yolk color in laying hens. © 2017 Poultry Science Association Inc.

  12. The effects of dietary calcium iodate on productive performance, egg quality and iodine accumulation in eggs of laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bakhshalinejad, R; Hassanabadi, A; Nassiri-Moghaddam, H; Zarghi, H

    2018-01-25

    The aim of this study was to examine the effects of various levels of supplemental calcium iodate (CI) on productive performance, egg quality, blood indices and iodine (I) accumulation in the eggs in commercial laying hens. A total of 240 White Leghorn layers (Hy-line W36) were divided through a completely randomized design into six treatments with five replicates and eight hens per each at 32 weeks of age. This experiment lasted for 12 weeks. Concentrations of I in the mash diets were 0.74, 3.13, 5.57, 8.11, 10.65 and 12.94 mg I/kg of feed in treatments 1-6 respectively. The added doses of CI were included 0.0 (control), 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, 10.0 and 12.5 mg/kg of diet for treatments 1-6 respectively. There were no significant differences in productive performance among the treatments. The highest eggshell strength was observed in group fed diet containing 3.13 mg I/kg (p = .014). The highest percentage of calcium and lowest percentage of phosphorus in eggshell were observed in group fed diet containing 12.94 mg I/kg (p = .0001). Feeding hens with diet containing 12.94 mg I/kg increased serum triiodothyronine-to-thyroxine ratio (p = .0001). Serum alanine aminotransferase activity in hens fed diet containing 12.94 mg I/kg was significantly more than control (p = .041). Blood Serum triglycerides in hens fed diet containing 8.11 mg I/kg were significantly higher than control (p = .0001). Edible fraction of the eggs of birds fed diet containing 12.94 mg I/kg was enriched by I almost 3 times more than those fed diet containing 0.74 mg I/kg. The results suggested that egg production, egg mass, feed intake and feed conversion ratio were not significantly affected by dietary I levels. Iodine accumulation in the eggs were increased by increasing dietary I levels and the level of 10 mg/kg CI could supply I enrichment of the eggs. © 2018 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

  13. Study of flax hybrid preforms reinforced epoxy composites

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Muralidhar, B. A

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: • We examine the thermal, viscoelastic and mechanical behaviour of flax preform hybrid composites. • The thermal stability of the matrix decrease with increasing volume fraction of flax preforms. • The effect of number of preform layers and the lay-up architecture were studied.. • Morphological study on the fractured surface of the composite laminate is carried out. - Abstracts: This study investigates the thermal, mechanical and thermomechanical properties of flax hybrid preform reinforced epoxy composites. Flax plain weave fabric and 1 × 1 weft rib knitted structures were together used as reinforcements and the composites were produced using hand lay-up technique. Specimen preparation and testing were carried out as per ASTM standards. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) indicates a decrease in thermal stability of the matrix polymer with the incorporation of flax hybrid preform. The dynamic mechanical analysis revealed a shift in the T g with the addition of flax hybrid preforms. Mechanical data obtained showed that tensile strength and stiffness is a product of the fibre/matrix synergy, whereas the compressive strength and stiffness are contributed by the reinforcing matrix. Additionally, investigation show that laminate with knitted preform as skin layer exhibits superior mechanical properties. However, improved tensile properties at lower fibre volume fraction, reinforces the opinion that hybrid preform composites can offer significant benefits in terms of performance, weight and overall cost. The failure mechanism was analysed, by scanning electron microscope (SEM)

  14. Dietary methionine requirement of Jing Brown layer hens from 9 to 17 weeks of age.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meng, G H; Song, D; Li, L B; Yang, C J; Qu, Z X; Gao, Y P

    2017-10-01

    This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary methionine (Met) supplementation in growth performance and reproductive performance of Jing Brown layer hens. A total of 375 9-week-old Jing Brown layer hens were allocated equally to five treatments consisting of 5 replicates with 15 hens. Hens were fed with a diet of corn and soya bean meal supplemented with 0.23%, 0.27%, 0.31%, 0.35% and 0.39% Met respectively. Different Met levels did not significantly affect average daily feed intake (ADFI), average daily gain (ADG) and feed/gain ratio (F/G) (p > 0.05), whereas flock uniformity (FU) and jejunum index were significantly different (p hens from 9 to 17 weeks old is 0.29%. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition © 2016 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

  15. Sequential feeding using whole wheat and a separate protein-mineral concentrate improved feed efficiency in laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Umar Faruk, M; Bouvarel, I; Même, N; Rideau, N; Roffidal, L; Tukur, H M; Bastianelli, D; Nys, Y; Lescoat, P

    2010-04-01

    The effect of feeding nutritionally different diets in sequential or loose-mix systems on the performance of laying hen was investigated from 16 to 46 wk of age. Equal proportions of whole wheat grain and protein-mineral concentrate (balancer diet) were fed either alternatively (sequential) or together (loose-mix) to ISA Brown hens. The control was fed a complete layer diet conventionally. Each treatment was allocated 16 cages and each cage contained 5 birds. Light was provided 16 h daily (0400 to 2000 h). Feed offered was controlled (121 g/bird per d) and distributed twice (4 and 11 h after lights-on). In the sequential treatment, only wheat was fed at first distribution, followed by balancer diet at the second distribution. In loose-mix, the 2 rations were mixed and fed together during the 2 distributions. Leftover feed was always removed before the next distribution. Sequential feeding reduced total feed intake when compared with loose-mix and control. It had lower wheat (-9 g/bird per d) but higher balancer (+1.7 g/bird per d) intakes than loose-mix. Egg production, egg mass, and egg weight were similar among treatments. This led to an improvement in efficiency of feed utilization in sequential compared with loose-mix and control (10 and 5%, respectively). Birds fed sequentially had lower calculated ME (kcal/bird per d) intake than those fed in loose-mix and control. Calculated CP (g/bird per d) intake was reduced in sequential compared with loose-mix and control. Sequentially fed hens were lighter in BW. However, they had heavier gizzard, pancreas, and liver. Similar liver lipid was observed among treatments. Liver glycogen was higher in loose-mix than the 2 other treatments. It was concluded that feeding whole wheat and balancer diet, sequentially or loosely mixed, had no negative effect on performance in laying hens. Thus, the 2 systems are alternative to conventional feeding. The increased efficiency of feed utilization in sequential feeding is an added

  16. Examinations of hens' eggs on residues of Chloramphenicol using a radioimmunoassay

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Scherk, F.; Agthe, O.

    1986-01-01

    In the Federal Republic of Germany the application of Chloramphenicol to animals used for human food supply is restricted by law. Milk and dairy products as well as hen's eggs and egg products are not allowed to contain more than 1 ppb Chloramphenicol. 18 hens were fed with water treated with Chloramphenicol. The eggs of the treated animals were then analysed by means of radioimmunoassay. The applied radioimmunoassay is suitable for routine analysis to a minimum detection limit of 1 ppb. 378 eggs from the Weser-Ems district were tested for Chloramphenicol. No sample contained Chloramphenicol. (orig.) [de

  17. Supplementation of xanthophylls increased antioxidant capacity and decreased lipid peroxidation in hens and chicks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Yu-Yun; Xie, Qing-Mei; Ma, Jing-Yun; Zhang, Xiang-Bin; Zhu, Ji-Mei; Shu, Ding-Ming; Sun, Bao-Li; Jin, Ling; Bi, Ying-Zuo

    2013-03-28

    The present study investigated the effects of xanthophyll supplementation on production performance, antioxidant capacity (measured by glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), and reduced glutathione:oxidised glutathione ratio (GSH:GSSG)) and lipid peroxidation (measured by malondialdehyde (MDA)) in breeding hens and chicks. In Expt 1, 432 hens were fed diets supplemented with 0 (control group), 20 or 40 mg xanthophyll/kg diet. Blood samples were taken at 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35 d of the trial. Liver and jejunal mucosa were sampled at 35 d. Both xanthophyll groups improved serum SOD at 21 and 28 d, serum T-AOC at 21 d and liver T-AOC, and serum GSH:GSSG at 21, 28 and 35 d and liver GSH:GSSG. Xanthophylls also decreased serum MDA at 21 d in hens. Expt 2 was a 2 × 2 factorial design. Male chicks hatched from 0 or 40 mg in ovo xanthophyll/kg diet of hens were fed a diet containing either 0 or 40 mg xanthophyll/kg diet. Liver samples were collected at 0, 7, 14 and 21 d after hatching. Blood samples were also collected at 21 d. In ovo-deposited xanthophylls increased antioxidant capacity and decreased MDA in the liver mainly within 1 week after hatching. Maternal effects gradually vanished during 1-2 weeks after hatching. Dietary xanthophylls increased antioxidant capacity and decreased MDA in the liver and serum mainly from 2 weeks onwards. Data suggested that xanthophyll supplementation enhanced antioxidant capacity and reduced lipid peroxidation in different tissues of hens and chicks.

  18. Effect of increasing levels of apparent metabolizable energy on laying hens in barn system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Hwan Ku; Park, Seong Bok; Jeon, Jin Joo; Kim, Hyun Soo; Park, Ki Tae; Kim, Sang Ho; Hong, Eui Chul; Kim, Chan Ho

    2018-04-12

    This experiment was to investigate the effect of increasing levels of apparent metabolizable energy (AMEn) on the laying performance, egg quality, blood parameter, blood biochemistry, intestinal morphology, and apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of energy and nutrients in diets fed to laying hens. A total of three-hundred twenty 33-week-old Hy-Line Brown laying hens (Gallus domesticus) were evenly assigned to four experimental diets of 2,750, 2,850, 2,950, and 3,050 kcal AMEn/kg in floor with deep litter of rice hulls. There were four replicates of each treatment, each consisting of 20 birds in a pen. AMEn intake was increased (linear, p Feed intake and feed conversion ratio were improved (linear, p hen-day egg production tended to be increased as increasing level of AMEn in diets increased. During the experiment, leukocyte concentration and blood biochemistry (total cholesterol, triglyceride, glucose, total protein, calcium, asparate aminotransferase (AST), and alanine transferase (ALT) were not influenced by increasing level of AMEn in diets. Gross energy and ether extract were increased (linear, p hens fed high AMEn diet (i.e., 3,050 kcal/kg in the current experiment) tended to overconsume energy with a positive effect on feed intake, feed conversion ratio, nutrient digestibility, and intestinal morphology but not in egg production and egg mass.

  19. APPARENT DIGESTIBILITY OF RHODE ISLAND RED HEN DIETS CONTAINING Leucaena leucocephala AND Moringa oleifera LEAF MEALS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khaled Abouelezz Fouad Mohammed

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available This study consisted of two trials aimed to evaluate the dietary digestibility by Rhode Island Red (RIR hens' fed on different levels of Leucaena leucocephala (LLM or Moringa oleifera (MOLM. In each experiment, thirty six Rhode Island Red hens at 36 weeks of age were randomly divided into four groups each of nine birds which were allocated in individual cages. The four groups were corresponded to four dietary treatments containing 0 (control, 5, 10 and 15 % of LLM (Exp 1 or MOLM (Exp 2. All groups received smashed diets containing similar metabolizable energy and crude protein (16% CP and 2900 kcal ME/kg diet, as fed basis. The hens were fed the experimental diets for six weeks and during the last four days, feed intake was individually recorded every day and excreta was totally collected twice daily and weighed individually. Considerable amounts of CP were found in LLM (23.61% DM and MOLM (19.76% DM. The dietary treatments had no significant effect on the intake of dry matter (DM, organic matter (OM, gross energy (GE, crude protein (CP or neutral detergent fiber (NDF in both experiments, while the acid detergent fibers (ADF consumption increased linearly (P

  20. INFLUENCE OF PLANT ESSENTIAL OILS ON SELECTED PARAMETERS OF THE PERFORMANCE OF LAYING HENS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Henrieta ARPÁŠOVÁ

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available The experiment was designed to investigate the effects of feed supplementation with essential oils on egg weight and body mass of laying hens. Hens of the laying breed Isa Brown were randomly divided at the day of hatching into 3 groups (n=26 and fed for 45 weeks on diets which differed in kind of essential oil supplemented. Hens were fed from day 1 by the standard feed mixture. Laying hens accepted fodder ad libitum. In the control group hens took feed mixture without additions, in the first experimental group the feed mixture was supplemented with 0.25 ml/kg thyme essential oil and in the second one hens got hyssop essential oil in the same dose of 0.25 ml/kg. The housing system satisfied enriched cage requirements specified by the Directive 1999/74 EC. The useful area provided for one laying hen presented 943.2 cm2. The equipment of cage consisted of roosts, place for rooting in ashes – synthetic grass, nest and equipment for shortening of clutches. The results showed that the average body weight for a rearing period was in order groups: 736.15±523.49; 747.20±541.6 and 721.95±522.57 (g±SD. Differences between groups were not significant (P>0.05. The average body weight during the laying period was 1763.85±171.46; 1786.08±192.09 and 1729.73±129.12 g for control, thyme oil and hyssop oil supplementation respectively. During the laying period there were significant differences in body weight between control and experimental group with hyssop essential oil supplementation (P<0.05 and between both experimental groups (P<0.01. No significant differences were found out between control group and experimental groups (P>0.05 in egg weight (58.36±4.91; 58.82±4.95 and 58.26±5.33 g respectively.

  1. Laying performance, digestibility and plasma hormones in laying hens exposed to chronic heat stress as affected by betaine, vitamin C, and/or vitamin E supplementation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Attia, Youssef A; Abd El-Hamid, Abd El-Hamid E; Abedalla, Ahmed A; Berika, Marfat A; Al-Harthi, Mohammed A; Kucuk, Osman; Sahin, Kazim; Abou-Shehema, Baha M

    2016-01-01

    Heat stress had a negative effect on laying hens' performance, thus this research was to study the influences of betaine (Bet, 1000 mg/kg betaine), vitamin C (VC, 200 mg/kg ascorbic acid), and vitamin E (VE, 150 mg/kg α-Tocopherol acetate) and their possible combinations on egg production, digestibility of nutrients, plasma hormones and reproductive organs of dual-purpose hens exposed to chronic heat stress. Two hundred and eighty eight hens and thirty-six cocks from 32 to 48 weeks of age were divided into nine treatment groups of four replicates, each containing eight hens and one cock. One group was kept under thermo-natural condition and the eight others were kept under chronic heat stress (CHS). One of these eight was used as a negative control, while the others were supplemented with VC, VE and/or betaine and their possible combinations. Body weights, laying rate, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio in hens reared under CHS rooster without any supplementation during 32 to 48 weeks of impairment (P = 0.0052) were recorded. Hens reared under heat stress and fed a diet supplemented with either Bet, VC, VE or combination of the supplements increased production traits. However, hens supplemented with VC showed the greatest production traits. Plasma glucose, estradiol-17 (E2), progesterone (P4), tri-iodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) decreased in hens reared under CHS and fed a diet with no supplementation compared to the other treatments (P = 0.001). Liver weights, spleen weights, thyroid gland weights, ovary weights, oviduct weights and oviduct lengths were lowest in hens reared under CHS and fed a diet with no supplementation (P = 0.0480). In conclusion, dual purpose hens reared under CHS and supplemented with VC at 200 mg/kg diet and Bet at 1000 mg/kg enhanced the laying performance and combated CHS.

  2. Effects of nanocalcium carbonate on egg production performance and plasma calcium of laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ganjigohari, S; Ziaei, N; Ramzani Ghara, A; Tasharrofi, S

    2018-02-01

    This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of nanocalcium carbonate (NCC) instead of calcium carbonate (CC) on egg production, egg weight, egg mass, FCR, blood calcium and egg quality characteristics in laying hens. A total of 120 laying hens were used in a 10-weeks trial, from week 23 to 33 of age. Laying hens were randomly assigned to six treatments with four replications, five hens each. The experimental treatments involved replacing 50% of the CC in the diet by decreasing amounts of NCC and were T1 Basal diet (BD) with 8.06% CC; T2 (6.045% of CC as a negative control); T3 (4.03% of CC replaced by 2.015% NCC); T4 (4.03% of CC replaced by 1.01% NCC); T5 (4.03% of CC replaced by 0.252% NCC) and T6 (4.03 of CC replaced with 0.126%NCC).Egg weight was unaffected by dietary treatments (p > .05). However, the egg production percentage and egg mass in T6 were less than that of other treatments (p hens in the control group had the best average feed conversion ratio (p hens' blood was recorded for birds fed T6 (p hens. © 2017 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

  3. Flax - Evaluation of composite flour and using in cereal products

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marie Hrušková

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Two types of yellow and brown linseed, differing in granulation, were tested in form of wheat flour composites (additions 2.5% and 5.0% by using the Farinograph, the Extensigraph and the Rapid Visco Analyser (RVA apparatuses. Additions of brown and yellow flax fibre significantly affected Falling Number and Zeleny test values. Curves of farinograph were differed according to flax fibre type - finer flax (better terminology granulation meant somewhat stronger negative changes in dough stability and dough softening degree. Results of extensigraph test demonstrated changes in dough elasticity and extensibility due to lowering of gluten protein content. Appearance of the RVA profiles was verifiably different, reflecting diverse wheat and flax polysaccharides, added dietary fibre type and its granulation. Due to that, bread volume and shape was lowered up to one-half in case of golden flax composites. Similar tendencies with smaller negative influence caused the brown linseed. Fibre from flax is used for technical (textile use, but linseed dietary fibre addition affected quality of laboratory prepared cut-off biscuits and dried pasta differently, showing a dependence on the fibre type, granulation as well as addition level. Sensory profiles of all mentioned product types were acceptable.

  4. Performance of Layers Fed Graded Levels of Blood –Rumen ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    240 laying hens were fed graded levels of Blood-Rumen content mixture (BRCM) for a period of eight weeks. The study was designed to determine the level of BRCM that layers can tolerate in their diet. Feed intake by birds fed the control and 4% BRCM diets were comparable, but significantly higher (P<0.05) than those ...

  5. Utilisation of synthetic amino acids by broiler breeder hens | Nonis ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This study was conducted to examine the response of broiler breeder hens to feeds supplemented with synthetic lysine and methionine when fed once or twice daily during peak production. Replacing intact protein with increasing amounts of free lysine and methionine, up to 2.3 g/kg feed, had no effect on feed intake, ...

  6. The influence of different single dietary sources on moult induction in laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mansoori, Behzad; Modirsanei, Mehrdad; Farkhoy, Mohsen; Kiaei, Mohammad-Mehdi; Honarzad, Jila

    2007-11-01

    An investigation was carried out to assess the possibility of using single dietary sources as alternatives to feed deprivation for the induction of moult in commercial laying hens. The study involved six dietary groups of 29 laying hens: unmoulted, dried tomato pomace, alfalfa meal, rice bran, cumin seed meal and feed withdrawal. The birds received the above diets during the moulting period (11 days), and body weight loss and ovary weight regression were measured. Post-moult production parameters (number of eggs produced per hen per day, egg weight, shell weight, yolk colour and Haugh unit) were measured for 12 weeks. Results showed that all dietary sources were as effective as feed withdrawal in causing ovary weight regression in birds. Birds provided with tomato pomace or alfalfa showed lower weight losses than feed-deprived birds at the end of the moulting period. Hens moulted by tomato pomace or alfalfa exhibited post-moult levels of egg production over a 12 week period that were superior to those of hens moulted by feed withdrawal. Post-moult eggs laid by hens moulted by all dietary sources were of comparable quality to eggs from feed-deprived hens and superior to those from unmoulted hens. As fibrous feeds with low metabolisable energy and an appreciable amount of protein, dried tomato pomace and alfalfa meal may be fed to hens on an ad libitum basis for effective moult induction while reducing the stress of severe starvation and retaining comparable egg quality and production. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry.

  7. 7 CFR 201.56-8 - Flax family, Linaceae.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ..., Inspections, Marketing Practices), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) FEDERAL SEED ACT FEDERAL SEED ACT REGULATIONS Germination Tests in the Administration of the Act § 201.56-8 Flax family, Linaceae. Kind of seed: Flax. (a) General description. (1) Germination habit: Epigeal dicot. (Due to the mucilaginous nature of...

  8. Role of Polysaccharides on Mechanical and Adhesion Properties of Flax Fibres in Flax/PLA Biocomposite

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gijo Raj

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The effect of alkali and enzymatic treatments on flax fibre morphology, mechanical, and adhesion properties was investigated. The multilength scale analysis allows for the correlation of the fibre's morphological changes induced by the treatments with mechanical properties to better explain the adherence properties between flax and PLA. The atomic force microscopy (AFM images revealed the removal of primary layers, upon treatments, down to cellulose microfibrils present in the secondary layers. The variation in mechanical properties was found to be dependent, apart from the crystalline content, on interaction between cellulose microfibrils and encrusting polysaccharides, pectins and hemicelluloses, in the secondary layers. Finally, microbond tests between the modified fibres and PLA emphasize the important role of the outer fibre's surface on the overall composite properties. It was observed here that gentle treatments of the fibres, down to the oriented microfibrils, are favourable to a better adherence with a PLA drop. This paper highlights the important role of amorphous polymers, hemicellulose and pectin, in the optimisation of the adhesion and mechanical properties of flax fibres in the biocomposite.

  9. The loci controlling plasticity in flax

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bickel CL

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available Cory L Bickel, Marshall Lukacs, Christopher A CullisCase Western Reserve University, Cleveland OH, USAAbstract: Flax undergoes heritable genomic changes in response to nutrient stress, including changes in total DNA content, rDNA copy number variation, and the appearance of Linum Insertion Sequence 1 (LIS-1. The nature of the genomic changes suggests a very different mechanism, which is not yet understood, from that of other DNA changes in response to stress, such as the activation of transposable elements. To identify the genes that control genomic changes in response to stress in flax, reciprocal crosses were made between a responsive flax line, Stormont cirrus, and an unresponsive line, Bethune. The ability of the F2 generation (from selfed F1 plants to respond to nutrient stress was assayed using the insertion of LIS-1 as the criteria for responsiveness. Twenty-nine out of 89 F2s responded at 5 weeks, suggesting that 3-4 dominant loci were all necessary for early LIS-1 insertion. Seventy out of 76 responded at 10 weeks, indicating two dominant loci independently capable of initiating LIS-1 insertion under prolonged nutrient stress. F1 plants and their progeny with either P1 or Bethune as the maternal parent were capable of responding with LIS-1 insertion, indicating that LIS-1 insertion is under nuclear genetic control and does not involve maternal factors. Thus, a small number of loci within the genome of Stormont cirrus appear to control the ability to respond to nutrient stress with LIS-1 insertion. A genetic map of the flax genome is currently under construction, and will be used to identify these loci within the genome.Keywords: nutrient stress, genomic plasticity, flax, Linum usitatissimum, LIS-1 

  10. Pasture, multi-enzymes, benzoic acid and essential oils positively influence performance, intestinal organ weight and egg quality in free-range laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iqbal, Z; Roberts, J; Perez-Maldonado, R A; Goodarzi Boroojeni, F; Swick, R A; Ruhnke, I

    2018-04-01

    1. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of range type, multi-enzyme applications, and a combination of benzoic acid (BA) and essential oils (EO) on the productive performance, organ weight and egg quality of free-range laying hens. 2. Three hundred laying hens were evaluated for the short-term (6 weeks) and long-term (12 weeks) effects of range type (G = no pasture, P = pasture) and feed additives (T1 = control; T2 = betaglucanase/pectinase/protease; T3 = BA/EO). Body weight, feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR), egg production (EP), digestive organ weight, and egg quality (EQ) were evaluated. Data were analysed using SPSS 2.2 in a 2×2×3 factorial arrangement. 3. Hens that ranged on pasture were significantly heavier (2043 g vs. 1996 g; p ranged on gravel. Hens fed T2 were significantly heavier (2050 g) compared to hens fed T1 (2005 g) or T3 (2008 g). Organ weights (gizzard, liver and pancreas) were significantly heavier in hens ranged on pasture (16.8 g/kg BW, 22.3 g/kg BW and 1.89 g/kg BW, respectively) compared to hens ranged on gravel (14.2 g/kg BW, 21.7 g/kg BW and 1.83 g/kg BW, respectively). Over time, body weight (1970-2070 g; p < 0.001) and egg weight (59.5-62.8 g; p < 0.001) increased, FI (123-120 g; p = 0.024) was reduced and FCR (2.36-2.10; p = 0.002) improved 4. In conclusion, hens housed on pasture and fed multi-enzyme supplemented diets had significantly heavier body weight and produced heavier eggs with darker yolk colour. Pasture intake and enzyme supplementation increased digestive organ weight significantly.

  11. Egg quality and yolk lipid composition of laying hens fed diets containing cashew nut meal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tatiana Fontoura Vidal

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this study was to assess the effect of the addition of cashew nuts meal (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25% to laying hen diets on egg quality and yolk composition. The variables studied were: egg weight, specific gravity, Haugh Units, percentages of shell, albumen, and yolk, moisture, total solids, total lipids, fatty acids profile, and yolk cholesterol. The addition of up to 25% of cashew nuts meal to hen diets did not affect egg quality and freshness, moisture and total solids content. However, an increase in total lipid content and a decrease in yolk pigmentation was observed. Oleic acid level increased in the yolk, whereas palmitic, stearic, and linoleic acid levels decreased. The addition of cashew nuts meal increased the monounsaturated/saturated fatty acid ratio in the yolk and reduced the cholesterol content. Therefore, the use of cashew nuts meal in laying hen diets favorably modifies the fatty acid composition of egg yolk and contributes to a better acceptance of this food by consumers since it also reduces yolk cholesterol levels.

  12. Karg, S. New projects within the FLAX Network. In: Karg S. (ed.) Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) - a natural resource for food and textiles for 8000 years. Cross-disciplinary investigations on the evolution and cultural history of flax and linen. Programme and abstracts of the second

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Karg, Sabine

    2010-01-01

    Karg, S. New projects within the FLAX Network. In: Karg S. (ed.) Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) - a natural resource for food and textiles for 8000 years. Cross-disciplinary investigations on the evolution and cultural history of flax and linen. Programme and abstracts of the second workshop 28...

  13. Molt performance and bone density of cortical, medullary, and cancellous bone in laying hens during feed restriction or alfalfa-based feed molt.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, W K; Donalson, L M; Bloomfield, S A; Hogan, H A; Kubena, L F; Nisbet, D J; Ricke, S C

    2007-09-01

    A study was conducted to evaluate the effects of alfalfa-based molt diets on molting performance and bone qualities. A total of 36 Single Comb White Leghorn hens were used for the study. There were 6 treatments: pretrial control (PC), fully fed (FF), feed withdrawal (FW), 90% alfalfa:10% layer ration (A90), 80% alfalfa:20% layer ration (A80), and 70% alfalfa:30% layer ration (A70). For the PC treatment, hens were euthanized by CO(2) gas, and bones were collected before molt was initiated. At the end of the 9-d molt period, hens were euthanized, and femurs and tibias were collected to evaluate bone qualities by peripheral quantitative computed tomography, mechanical testing, and conventional ash weights. The hens fed alfalfa-based molt diets and FW stopped laying eggs within 5 d after molt started, and all hens in these groups had reduced ovary weights compared with those of the FF hens. In the FW and A90 groups, total femur volumetric bone mineral densities (vBMD) at the midshaft were significantly lower, but those of the A80 and A70 groups were not significantly different from the values for the PC and FF hens. In cortical bone density, the midshaft tibial vBMD were significantly higher for FF and A70 hens than for PC hens. The medullary bone densities at the midshaft femur or tibia of the FW, A90, A80, and A70 hens were reduced compared with those of the PC hens. Femur cancellous densities at the distal femur for the FW and A90 hens were significantly reduced compared with those of the PC and FF hens. The FW, A80, and A70 hens yielded significantly higher elastic moduli, and the A80 hens had higher ultimate stress compared with the PC hens, suggesting that the mechanical integrity of the midshaft bone was maintained even though the medullary vBMD was reduced. These results suggest that alfalfa-based molt diets exhibit molt performance similar to FW, that medullary and cancellous bones are labile bone compartments during molting, and that alfalfa-based molt diets

  14. Structural organization and classification of cytochrome P450 genes in flax (Linum usitatissimum L.).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Babu, Peram Ravindra; Rao, Khareedu Venkateswara; Reddy, Vudem Dashavantha

    2013-01-15

    Flax CYPome analysis resulted in the identification of 334 putative cytochrome P450 (CYP450) genes in the cultivated flax genome. Classification of flax CYP450 genes based on the sequence similarity with Arabidopsis orthologs and CYP450 nomenclature, revealed 10 clans representing 44 families and 98 subfamilies. CYP80, CYP83, CYP92, CYP702, CYP705, CYP708, CYP728, CYP729, CYP733 and CYP736 families are absent in the flax genome. The subfamily members exhibited conserved sequences, length of exons and phasing of introns. Similarity search of the genomic resources of wild flax species Linum bienne with CYP450 coding sequences of the cultivated flax, revealed the presence of 127 CYP450 gene orthologs, indicating amplification of novel CYP450 genes in the cultivated flax. Seven families CYP73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 84 and 709, coding for enzymes associated with phenylpropanoid/fatty acid metabolism, showed extensive gene amplification in the flax. About 59% of the flax CYP450 genes were present in the EST libraries. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Brazil nut meal and spray-dried egg powders as alternatives to synthetic methionine in organic laying hen diets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burley, H K; Patterson, P H

    2017-09-01

    The United States organic poultry industry is currently facing a limitation on dietary inclusion of synthetic methionine (Met). This study investigated Brazil nut protein powder (BNPP), spray-dried egg white (SDEW), and spray-dried egg blend (70:30 albumen: yolk) (SDEB) as alternatives to synthetic Met in organic laying hen diets. A total of 270 Hy-Line Brown laying hens was fed 5 diets from 22 to 38 wk of age, with 6 replicates of 3 adjacent cages per diet and 3 hens per cage. Diets included a commercial control (COM) (non-organic with standard CP and synthetic Met), an organic control (ORG) (with no synthetic Met, but higher CP to meet Met requirements), and 3 organic treatment diets with no synthetic Met, but including BNPP, SDEW, or SDEB at levels to meet Met requirements. Egg production and quality, body weight (BW), feed intake, and manure nutrients and ammonia were assessed. Data were analyzed using the PROC MIXED procedure of SAS, with Tukey's test used for multiple mean comparisons, and P ≤ 0.05 was deemed statistically significant. Body weight was greatest for the COM diet, and feed conversion improved for hens fed egg-based diets compared to controls. Egg weight and production did not differ between COM and treatment diets. The SDEW diet had greater albumen height and Haugh units compared to ORG and BNPP diets and greater percent albumen compared to COM and BNPP diets. Specific gravity was greatest for BNPP fed hens. Manure DM and potash were highest from COM and BNPP diets, respectively. Both egg-based diets increased ammonia flux relative to the COM diet. The BNPP and egg-based diets were lower in cost for $/metric tonne, $/dozen eggs, and $/kg of eggs compared to the ORG diet. The ingredients assessed herein could, therefore, cost-effectively replace synthetic Met in organic hen diets without negatively impacting egg production. © 2017 Poultry Science Association Inc.

  16. Safety evaluation of zinc methionine in laying hens: Effects on laying performance, clinical blood parameters, organ development, and histopathology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, N N; Liu, B; Xiong, P W; Guo, Y; He, J N; Hou, C C; Ma, L X; Yu, D Y

    2018-04-01

    The study was conducted to investigate whether high-dose zinc methionine (Zn-Met) affected the safety of laying hens, including laying performance, hematological parameters, serum chemical parameters, organ index, and histopathology. A total of 540 20-week-old Hy-Line White laying hens was randomly allocated to 6 groups with 6 replicates of 15 birds each. Birds were fed diets supplemented with 0 (control), 70, 140, 350, 700, or 1,400 mg Zn/kg diet as Zn-Met. The experiment lasted for 8 wk after a 2-week acclimation period. Results showed that dietary supplementation with 70 or 140 mg Zn/kg diet as Zn-Met significantly increased average daily egg mass (ADEM), laying rate (LR), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) (P hens fed with 0, 350, or 700 mg Zn/kg as Zn-Met (P > 0.05); hens administered 1,400 mg Zn/kg showed a significant increase in BSER and remarkable decreases in ADEM, LR, and FCR (P hens receiving 0, 70, 140, 350, or 700 mg Zn/kg as Zn-Met in serum chemical parameters (P > 0.05); supplementation with 1,400 mg Zn/kg as Zn-Met remarkably elevated the concentrations of serum total bilirubin (TBILI), glucose (GLU), uric acid (UA), and creatinine (CRE) (P hens administered 0, 70, 140, 350, or 700 mg Zn/kg as Zn-Met, while significant histological lesions were observed in the heart, liver, lung, and kidney tissues of hens receiving 1,400 mg Zn/kg as Zn-Met. No significant differences were detected in hematological parameters or organ index (P > 0.05). In conclusion, a nominal Zn concentration of 700 mg/kg as Zn-Met is considered to be no-observed-adverse-effect level following daily administration to hens for 56 days.

  17. New biocomposites based on bioplastic flax fibers and biodegradable polymers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wróbel-Kwiatkowska, Magdalena; Czemplik, Magdalena; Kulma, Anna; Zuk, Magdalena; Kaczmar, Jacek; Dymińska, Lucyna; Hanuza, Jerzy; Ptak, Maciej; Szopa, Jan

    2012-01-01

    A new generation of entirely biodegradable and bioactive composites with polylactic acid (PLA) or poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) as the matrix and bioplastic flax fibers as reinforcement were analyzed. Bioplastic fibers contain polyhydroxybutyrate and were obtained from transgenic flax. Biochemical analysis of fibers revealed presence of several antioxidative compounds of hydrophilic (phenolics) and hydrophobic [cannabidiol (CBD), lutein] nature, indicating their high antioxidant potential. The presence of CBD and lutein in flax fibers is reported for the first time. FTIR analysis showed intermolecular hydrogen bonds between the constituents in composite PLA+flax fibers which were not detected in PCL-based composite. Mechanical analysis of prepared composites revealed improved stiffness and a decrease in tensile strength. The viability of human dermal fibroblasts on the surface of composites made of PLA and transgenic flax fibers was the same as for cells cultured without composites and only slightly lower (to 9%) for PCL-based composites. The amount of platelets and Escherichia coli cells aggregated on the surface of the PLA based composites was significantly lower than for pure polymer. Thus, composites made of PLA and transgenic flax fibers seem to have bacteriostatic, platelet anti-aggregated, and non-cytotoxic effect. Copyright © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).

  18. Effect of Different Levels of Surplus Date on Performance, Egg Quality and Blood Parameters in Laying Hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S.J Hosseini Vashan

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available One hundred forty-four 26-wk-old white Hy-Line layers (W-36 were fed commercial diets containing 0, 1.5, 3 and 5% surplus date for three period of 28 days each to study the effects of dietary surplus date on hen performance (egg production, egg weight, egg mass, feed intake, feed conversion ratio ‘FCR’ and body weight gain and egg quality parameters (Haugh unit score, yolk colour index, yolk index, egg shape, shell weight, shell thickness and density. The yolk of eggs extracted and cholesterol content were determined on one egg of each replicate hens in each period. Blood samples were collected in non-heparin zed tubes from six hens in each treatment through brachial vein at the end of experiment. Serum was separated after 8-10 hrs and was stored at – 20 oC for subsequent analysis. Hen performance (egg production, egg mass, feed intake, FCR and weight gain and egg quality parameters (Haugh unit score, yolk colour index, yolk index, egg shape, shell weight, shell thickness and density were not significantly different among treatments (P>0.05; However in all traits, the control group had numerically lower value, except egg weight that was significantly increased with supplementation of surplus date in diet. The dietary surplus date did not significantly affect egg cholesterol, ND and IBD titre, but the serum cholesterol was significantly reduced in hens fed diets contained 5% surplus date. This study suggested that the surplus date may be used up to 5% in the diet of laying hens to reduce blood cholesterol without any significant adverse effect on performance.

  19. Influence of grinding size of the main cereal of the diet on egg production and eggs quality of brown egg laying hens from 33 to 65 weeks of age.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herrera, J; Saldaña, B; Cámara, L; Berrocoso, J D; Mateos, G G

    2018-04-17

    The influence of grinding size of the main cereal of the diet on production and egg quality traits was studied in brown hens from 33 to 65 wk of age. The experiment was completely randomized with 6 treatments arranged as a 3 × 2 factorial with 3 main cereals (barley, corn, and wheat) and 2 grinding size of the cereal (6 and 10 mm screen). Each treatment was replicated 11 times (10 hens/replicate). Diets were isonutritive and contained 2,740 kcal/kg AMEn and 16.8% CP. Egg production, ADFI, egg weight, and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were determined by period (4 wk) and for the entire experiment. Egg quality traits (percentage of undergrades, Haugh units, thickness, strength, color of the shell, and proportion of albumen, yolk, and shell) were measured also by period. No interactions between main cereal and grinding size of the main cereal of the diet were observed for any of the traits studied. Feed intake, egg production, and BW gain were not affected by diet or grinding size. Eggs were heavier (P < 0.01) in hens fed barley than in hens fed corn or wheat, probably because of the higher fat content of the barley diets. Also, FCR tended to improve in hens fed barley compared with hens fed corn or wheat (P = 0.07). Diet did not affect any of the egg quality traits studied. In summary, barley and wheat conveniently supplemented with enzymes, can be used in substitution of corn at levels of up to 55% in diets for laying hens, without any adverse effect on egg production or egg quality traits. Moreover, the substitution of corn by a combination of barley and supplemental fat increased egg size. Consequently, the inclusion of one or other cereal in the diet will depend primarily on their relative cost. Within the range studied, screen size (6 vs. 10 mm) of the cereal had limited effects on hen production.

  20. Phosphorus and phytase levels for layer hens

    OpenAIRE

    Juliana Cristina Ramos Rezende; Antonio Carlos de Laurentiz; Rosemeire da Silva Filardi; Vitor Barbosa Fascina; Daniella Aparecida Berto; Sérgio Turra Sobrane Filho

    2013-01-01

    The objective of this research was to evaluate the performance and bone quality of laying hens after peak production fed diets containing phosphorus levels and phytase. An experiment was conducted with 384 Hy-line distributed in a completely randomized in a factorial 4 x 3 with 4 levels of available phosphorus and 3 levels of phytase. The experimental period was divided into four periods of 28 days, at the end of each cycle were determined experimental feed intake, egg production, egg weight,...

  1. Gene expression profiling of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) under edaphic stress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dmitriev, Alexey A; Kudryavtseva, Anna V; Krasnov, George S; Koroban, Nadezhda V; Speranskaya, Anna S; Krinitsina, Anastasia A; Belenikin, Maxim S; Snezhkina, Anastasiya V; Sadritdinova, Asiya F; Kishlyan, Natalya V; Rozhmina, Tatiana A; Yurkevich, Olga Yu; Muravenko, Olga V; Bolsheva, Nadezhda L; Melnikova, Nataliya V

    2016-11-16

    Cultivated flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) is widely used for production of textile, food, chemical and pharmaceutical products. However, various stresses decrease flax production. Search for genes, which are involved in stress response, is necessary for breeding of adaptive cultivars. Imbalanced concentration of nutrient elements in soil decrease flax yields and also results in heritable changes in some flax lines. The appearance of Linum Insertion Sequence 1 (LIS-1) is the most studied modification. However, LIS-1 function is still unclear. High-throughput sequencing of transcriptome of flax plants grown under normal (N), phosphate deficient (P), and nutrient excess (NPK) conditions was carried out using Illumina platform. The assembly of transcriptome was performed, and a total of 34924, 33797, and 33698 unique transcripts for N, P, and NPK sequencing libraries were identified, respectively. We have not revealed any LIS-1 derived mRNA in our sequencing data. The analysis of high-throughput sequencing data allowed us to identify genes with potentially differential expression under imbalanced nutrition. For further investigation with qPCR, 15 genes were chosen and their expression levels were evaluated in the extended sampling of 31 flax plants. Significant expression alterations were revealed for genes encoding WRKY and JAZ protein families under P and NPK conditions. Moreover, the alterations of WRKY family genes differed depending on LIS-1 presence in flax plant genome. Besides, we revealed slight and LIS-1 independent mRNA level changes of KRP2 and ING1 genes, which are adjacent to LIS-1, under nutrition stress. Differentially expressed genes were identified in flax plants, which were grown under phosphate deficiency and excess nutrition, on the basis of high-throughput sequencing and qPCR data. We showed that WRKY and JAS gene families participate in flax response to imbalanced nutrient content in soil. Besides, we have not identified any mRNA, which could be

  2. Gene expression profiling of flax (Linum usitatissimum L. under edaphic stress

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexey A. Dmitriev

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Cultivated flax (Linum usitatissimum L. is widely used for production of textile, food, chemical and pharmaceutical products. However, various stresses decrease flax production. Search for genes, which are involved in stress response, is necessary for breeding of adaptive cultivars. Imbalanced concentration of nutrient elements in soil decrease flax yields and also results in heritable changes in some flax lines. The appearance of Linum Insertion Sequence 1 (LIS-1 is the most studied modification. However, LIS-1 function is still unclear. Results High-throughput sequencing of transcriptome of flax plants grown under normal (N, phosphate deficient (P, and nutrient excess (NPK conditions was carried out using Illumina platform. The assembly of transcriptome was performed, and a total of 34924, 33797, and 33698 unique transcripts for N, P, and NPK sequencing libraries were identified, respectively. We have not revealed any LIS-1 derived mRNA in our sequencing data. The analysis of high-throughput sequencing data allowed us to identify genes with potentially differential expression under imbalanced nutrition. For further investigation with qPCR, 15 genes were chosen and their expression levels were evaluated in the extended sampling of 31 flax plants. Significant expression alterations were revealed for genes encoding WRKY and JAZ protein families under P and NPK conditions. Moreover, the alterations of WRKY family genes differed depending on LIS-1 presence in flax plant genome. Besides, we revealed slight and LIS-1 independent mRNA level changes of KRP2 and ING1 genes, which are adjacent to LIS-1, under nutrition stress. Conclusions Differentially expressed genes were identified in flax plants, which were grown under phosphate deficiency and excess nutrition, on the basis of high-throughput sequencing and qPCR data. We showed that WRKY and JAS gene families participate in flax response to imbalanced nutrient content in soil

  3. Shrimp cephalothorax meal in laying hen diets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salas-Duran, Catalina; Chacon-Villalobos, Alejandro; Zamora-Sanchez, Laura

    2015-01-01

    The effect of shrimp meal (SM) was measure in commercial laying hen diets. Pleuroncodes planipes was used in Costa Rica, from April to September 2013, to obtain a meal (SM) with a yield of 15%, particle size of 256 μg and negative for Salmonella sp. Proximate analysis was performed to the SM: crude protein (40,67%), ether extract (11,05%), crude fiber (7,12%), ash (27,48%), calcium (9,03%), phosphorus (2,66%), amino acid profile, pepsin digestibility (84%) and acidity (8,34). Subsequently, a trial was performed with 140 40-week-old Hy-Line Brown laying hens, fed with four different diets containing increasing levels of inclusion of SM (0%, 5%, 10%, and 15%) during four weeks; and formulated according to the ideal protein and digestible amino acids concepts; being isocaloric and isoproteic. The variables experimentally evaluated were: production percentage, feed intake, body weight, mortality, egg weight and feed conversion ratio. Only egg weight changed significantly between treatments in the third week (p [es

  4. Impact of secondary metabolites and related enzymes in flax ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Changes in various physiological defenses including secondary metabolites, proline, total soluble protein and antioxidant enzymes were investigated in leaves and stems of 18 flax lines either resistant or susceptible to powdery mildew. The results showed that the total alkaloids content in flax stems was significantly ...

  5. Comparative Effect of Dietary Soybean Oil, Fish Oil, and Coconut Oil on Performance, Egg Quality and Some Blood Parameters in Laying Hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, X F; Liu, S; Tong, J M

    2018-04-14

    Two hundred and sixteen 28-wk-old Hy-line laying hens were randomly distributed to three dietary treatments and fed 1of 3 diets containing 8% soybean oil, fish oil, or coconut oil from 28 to 47 wk of age to investigate comparative effect of dietary soybean oil, fish oil, and coconut oil on the performance, egg quality and blood malondialdehyde (MDA), aspartate transaminase (AST) and uric acid (UA). Hens fed fish oil showed poor performance compared with soybean oil or coconut oil, and especially egg weight throughout the trial was significantly and consistently decreased (P oil. Unexpectedly, shell reflectivity throughout the majority of the trial was consistently and significantly higher (P oil than that when fed soybean oil or coconut oil. Dietary treatments affected (P oil treatment was higher (P oil group. Albumen height, Haugh unit and yolk color were influenced by dietary treatments only at 1 or 2 time points. However, average albumen height and Haugh unit in fish oil treatment were higher (P soybean oil or coconut oil treatments and average yolk color in coconut oil treatment was higher (P soybean oil group. Serum MDA, AST and UA concentrations were increased (P oil during the majority of the first 2 mo of the trial. These data suggested that the inclusion of fish oil into feed may reduce the performance of laying hens, especially the egg weight, decrease the intensity of egg brown color and increase blood MDA, AST and UA levels compared with soybean oil or coconut oil. As a result, hens fed fish oil may lay smaller, longer and lighter-brown eggs whereas those fed coconut oil produce blunter and darker-brown eggs relative to soybean oil.

  6. Standardized Ileal Amino Acid Digestibility of Corn, Corn Distillers' Dried Grains with Solubles, Wheat Middlings, and Bakery By-Products in Broilers and Laying Hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adedokun, S A; Jaynes, P; Payne, R L; Applegate, T J

    2015-10-01

    Standardized ileal amino acid digestibility (SIAAD) of 5 samples of corn distillers dried grain with solubles (DDGS), 5 samples of bakery by-products (BBP), 3 samples of corn, and 1 sample of wheat middlings (WM) were evaluated in broilers and laying hens. Diets containing each of the 14 feed ingredients were evaluated in 21 day-old broiler chickens. The DDGS and BBP containing diets were fed to 30-week-old laying hens, while corn and wheat middling were evaluated in 50-week-old laying hens. All the diets were semi-purified with each feed ingredient being the only source of amino acid (AA). To obtain SIAAD values, apparent ileal AA digestibility was corrected for basal ileal endogenous AA losses using values generated from broilers and laying hens fed a nitrogen-free diet. Ileal crude protein digestibility for the 5 DDGS samples was higher (P digestibility values for broilers were higher (P digestibility for corn 1 was higher (P digestibility exists between different samples of DDGS. Differences in SIAAD between broilers and laying hens were observed in some samples of DDGS and BBP. © 2015 Poultry Science Association Inc.

  7. Intracellular lipid dysregulation interferes with leukocyte function in the ovaries of meat-type hens under unrestricted feed intake.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Zu-Chen; Su, Chia-Ming; Xie, Yi-Lun; Chang, Chai-Ju; Chen, Jiang-Young; Wu, Shu-Wei; Chen, Yu-Hui; Walzem, Rosemary L; Huang, San-Yuan; Chen, Shuen-Ei

    2016-04-01

    Meat-type Red-feather country hens fed ad libitum (AD-hens) exhibit obesity-associated morbidities and a number of ovarian irregularities. Leukocyte participations in ovarian activities are unstudied in AD-hens. In contrast to feed-restricted hens (R-hens), ovulatory process of the F1 follicle appeared delayed in AD-hens in association with reduced F1 follicle progesterone content, gelatinase A (MMP-2) and collagenase-3 (MMP-13) activities coincident with elevated IL-1β and no production (Pcultures of granulosa cells with increasing numbers of leukocytes from either AD-hens or R-hens exhibited dose dependent reductions in progesterone production and increases in cell death. AD-hen leukocytes were less proapoptotic than their R counterparts (Pcultures with heterophils or monocytes in a dose-dependent manner (Pcultures than their respective counterparts (P<0.05). Both basal and LPS-induced IL-1β secretion and MMP-22 or MMP-2 activities in freshly isolated AD-hen leukocytes were reduced (P<0.05). Exposure of AD or R leukocytes to 0.5mM palmitate impaired IL-1β secretion and MMP-22 or MMP-2 activity. Inhibition of ceramide synthesis with FB1 and ROS production with n-MPG scavenging rescued MMP activity and IL-1β production in palmitate treated heterophils, but exacerbated monocyte suppression. These latter findings suggest that intracellular lipid dysregulation in leukocytes contributes to ovarian dysfunction in AD-hens. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Effects of stock density on the laying performance, blood parameter, corticosterone, litter quality, gas emission and bone mineral density of laying hens in floor pens

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, H. K.; Park, S. B.; Kim, S. H.; Kim, C. H.

    2016-01-01

    The effects of stocking density on the performance, egg quality, leukocyte concentration, blood biochemistry, corticosterone levels, bone mineral density, and noxious gas emission of laying hens were investigated. Eight hundred 34-week-old Hy-Line Brown laying hens (Gallus gallus domesticus) were randomly assigned to one of 4 treatments, each of which was replicated 4 times. Four stocking densities, including 5, 6, 7, and 10 birds/m2, were compared. A commercial-type basal diet was formulated to meet or exceed nutrient recommendations for laying hens from the National Research Council. The diet was fed to the hens ad libitum for 8 wk. Results indicated that hen-day egg production, egg mass, and feed intake were less for (P hens. PMID:27578881

  9. Feed supplementation with red seaweeds, Chondrus crispus and Sarcodiotheca gaudichaudii, affects performance, egg quality, and gut microbiota of layer hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kulshreshtha, Garima; Rathgeber, Bruce; Stratton, Glenn; Thomas, Nikhil; Evans, Franklin; Critchley, Alan; Hafting, Jeff; Prithiviraj, Balakrishnan

    2014-12-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the inclusion of red seaweed supplementation to standard poultry diets on production performance, egg quality, intestinal histology, and cecal short-chain fatty acids in Lohmann Brown Classic laying hens. A total of 160 birds were randomly assigned to 8 treatment groups. Control hens were fed a basal layer diet; positive control hens were fed a diet containing 2% inulin; and 6 treatment groups were fed a diet containing one of the following; 0.5, 1, or 2% Chondrus crispus (CC0.5, CC1, and CC2, respectively) and one of the same 3 levels of Sarcodiotheca gaudichaudii (SG0.5, SG1, and SG2, respectively). Dietary supplementation had no significant effect on the feed intake, BW, egg production, fecal moisture content, and blood serum profile of the birds. The feed conversion ratio per gram of egg was significantly more efficient (P = 0.001) for CC2 and SG2 treatments. Moreover, SG1 supplementation increased egg yolk weight (P = 0.0035) and birds with CC1 supplementation had higher egg weight (P = 0.0006). The SG2 and CC2 groups had greater (P Poultry Science Association Inc.

  10. Effects of wheat cultivar, metabolizable energy level, and xylanase supplementation to laying hens diet on performance, egg quality traits, and selected blood parameters

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masoud Mirzaee

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available A 2 x 2 x 2 factorial arrangement of treatments was conducted to evaluate the effects of two dietary apparent metabolizable energy (AME levels (2,720 and 2,580 kcal kg-1 diet and enzyme (0 and 0.3 g kg-1 diet, Grindazym® GP 15,000 with mostly xylanase activity supplementation on the performance of laying hens fed diets based on two wheat cultivars (Marvdasht and Sardari. Experimental diets were formulated to have a constant energy to protein ratio and were fed to 65-wk-old Lohmann LSL-Lite laying hens for 7 wk. The lower level of AME reduced egg production and egg mass (p<0.05 and increased feed conversion ratio (p<0.05. Enzyme addition increased feed intake of the birds fed a diet with Sardari cultivar (p<0.05 but had no effect on feed intake of the birds fed a diet with Marvdasht cultivar (p>0.05. Nevertheless, birds receiving diets based on Marvdasht cultivar had higher feed intake and egg mass than that of those receiving diets based on Sardari cultivar (p<0.05. The birds fed diets based on Marvdasht cultivar produced less undesired eggs and had better yolk color as compared with the birds fed diets based on Sardari cultivar (p<0.05. The serum concentration of glucose increased by enzyme supplementation when birds receiving lower AME level (p<0.05. These results indicate that enzyme supplementation may have a positive effect on the feed intake of laying hens when fed on wheat-based diets; however, this effect is cultivar dependent and does not necessarily mean that enzyme supplementation always benefit production.

  11. Development and validation of a flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) gene expression oligo microarray.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fenart, Stéphane; Ndong, Yves-Placide Assoumou; Duarte, Jorge; Rivière, Nathalie; Wilmer, Jeroen; van Wuytswinkel, Olivier; Lucau, Anca; Cariou, Emmanuelle; Neutelings, Godfrey; Gutierrez, Laurent; Chabbert, Brigitte; Guillot, Xavier; Tavernier, Reynald; Hawkins, Simon; Thomasset, Brigitte

    2010-10-21

    Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) has been cultivated for around 9,000 years and is therefore one of the oldest cultivated species. Today, flax is still grown for its oil (oil-flax or linseed cultivars) and its cellulose-rich fibres (fibre-flax cultivars) used for high-value linen garments and composite materials. Despite the wide industrial use of flax-derived products, and our actual understanding of the regulation of both wood fibre production and oil biosynthesis more information must be acquired in both domains. Recent advances in genomics are now providing opportunities to improve our fundamental knowledge of these complex processes. In this paper we report the development and validation of a high-density oligo microarray platform dedicated to gene expression analyses in flax. Nine different RNA samples obtained from flax inner- and outer-stems, seeds, leaves and roots were used to generate a collection of 1,066,481 ESTs by massive parallel pyrosequencing. Sequences were assembled into 59,626 unigenes and 48,021 sequences were selected for oligo design and high-density microarray (Nimblegen 385K) fabrication with eight, non-overlapping 25-mers oligos per unigene. 18 independent experiments were used to evaluate the hybridization quality, precision, specificity and accuracy and all results confirmed the high technical quality of our microarray platform. Cross-validation of microarray data was carried out using quantitative qRT-PCR. Nine target genes were selected on the basis of microarray results and reflected the whole range of fold change (both up-regulated and down-regulated genes in different samples). A statistically significant positive correlation was obtained comparing expression levels for each target gene across all biological replicates both in qRT-PCR and microarray results. Further experiments illustrated the capacity of our arrays to detect differential gene expression in a variety of flax tissues as well as between two contrasted flax varieties

  12. Development and validation of a flax (Linum usitatissimum L. gene expression oligo microarray

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gutierrez Laurent

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Flax (Linum usitatissimum L. has been cultivated for around 9,000 years and is therefore one of the oldest cultivated species. Today, flax is still grown for its oil (oil-flax or linseed cultivars and its cellulose-rich fibres (fibre-flax cultivars used for high-value linen garments and composite materials. Despite the wide industrial use of flax-derived products, and our actual understanding of the regulation of both wood fibre production and oil biosynthesis more information must be acquired in both domains. Recent advances in genomics are now providing opportunities to improve our fundamental knowledge of these complex processes. In this paper we report the development and validation of a high-density oligo microarray platform dedicated to gene expression analyses in flax. Results Nine different RNA samples obtained from flax inner- and outer-stems, seeds, leaves and roots were used to generate a collection of 1,066,481 ESTs by massive parallel pyrosequencing. Sequences were assembled into 59,626 unigenes and 48,021 sequences were selected for oligo design and high-density microarray (Nimblegen 385K fabrication with eight, non-overlapping 25-mers oligos per unigene. 18 independent experiments were used to evaluate the hybridization quality, precision, specificity and accuracy and all results confirmed the high technical quality of our microarray platform. Cross-validation of microarray data was carried out using quantitative qRT-PCR. Nine target genes were selected on the basis of microarray results and reflected the whole range of fold change (both up-regulated and down-regulated genes in different samples. A statistically significant positive correlation was obtained comparing expression levels for each target gene across all biological replicates both in qRT-PCR and microarray results. Further experiments illustrated the capacity of our arrays to detect differential gene expression in a variety of flax tissues as well

  13. Biochemical Parameters and Histopathological Findings in the Forced Molt Laying Hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N Mert

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of forced molting using biochemical parameters and histopathological findings in laying hens. 36 Hyline W36 strain laying hens, 90 weeks old were chosen for this research. Eight of these chickens were randomly selected and placed in a cage as the control group before the molting program began. All the others 28 chickens were used for the forced molting program. Eight laying hens were slaughtered at the end of the molting program named as molting group. The remaining 20 hens were fed for 37 days, weighted and slaughtered when they reached the maximum egg production (80% as postmolting group. Then, blood was analyzed for malondialdehyde, glutathione, catalase, glucose, calcium, phosphorus, albumin, globulin, total protein, triiodothyronine, thyroxine and Vitamin C. The malondialdehyde and glutathione levels of the thyroid and liver tissues were also analyzed along with an examination of the histopathological changes of the liver, ovarium and thyroid glands; and live body, liver, ovarium, thyroid weights and thyroid lengths. In conclusion, it was found that forced molting produces stress and notable side effects in hens, like the oxidant and antioxidant status of the organs, tissue weights and sizes, hormon profiles, blood biochemical and histopathological parameter changes. The activities of thyroid malondialdehyde (p<0.05, liver glutathione (p<0.01, plasma catalase (p<0.001 were significantly decreased in molting group compared to control values, while liver malondialdehyde levels were significantly increased (p<0.001 and thyroid glutathione levels had nonsignificant effect. These levels in molting hens were the first study for veterinary science.

  14. Pathological Responses of White Leghorn Breeder Hens Kept on Ochratoxin A Contaminated Feed

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zahoor-ul-Hassan, M. Zargham Khan*, Ahrar Khan and Ijaz Javed1

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available Mycotoxins are among the most important environmental contaminants. In the present study, ochratoxin A (OTA was produced by propagation of Aspergillus ochraceus and fed to breeder hens. For this purpose, 84 breeder hens were divided into seven groups (A-G. Group A served as control, while groups B, C, D, E, F and G were fed OTA at 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 3.0, 5.0 and 10.0 mg/Kg feed, respectively for 3 weeks. Clinical signs, feed intake, feed conversion ratio and egg mass production were recorded on daily basis, while body weight was recorded on weekly basis. Lesions on visceral organs and serum biochemical parameters were determined. Significant decrease in feed intake, body weight and egg mass production was found in the OTA treated groups compared to control (P<0.05. Among different groups, diarrhea, unthriftiness, water intake and depression increased with increase in dietary OTA levels. Enlargement and hemorrhages on liver and kidney were more severe in birds fed higher dietary OTA levels. Serum ALT, urea, creatinine and total protein levels were significantly higher in OTA treated groups. It was concluded that production performance, pathological alterations and serum biochemical changes determined became more severe with increase in dietary levels of OTA.

  15. Ontogeny of floral organs in flax (Linum usitatissimum; Linaceae).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schewe, Lauren C; Sawhney, Vipen K; Davis, Arthur R

    2011-07-01

    Flax (Linum usitatissimum) is an important crop worldwide; however, a detailed study on flower development of this species is lacking. Here we describe the pattern of initiation and a program of key developmental events in flax flower ontogeny. This study provides important fundamental information for future research in various aspects of flax biology and biotechnology. Floral buds and organs were measured throughout development and examined using scanning electron microscopy. Floral organs were initiated in the following sequence: sepals, stamens and petals, gynoecium, and nectaries. The five sepals originated in a helical pattern, followed evidently by simultaneous initiation of five stamens and five petals, the former opposite of the sepals and the latter alternate to them. The gynoecium, with five carpels, was produced from the remaining, central region of the floral apex. Stamens at early stages were dominated by anther growth but filaments elongated rapidly shortly before anthesis. Early gynoecium development occurred predominantly in the ovary, and ovule initiation began prior to enclosure of carpels. A characteristic feature was the twisted growth of styles, accompanied by the differentiation of papillate stigmas. Petal growth lagged behind that of other floral organs, but petals eventually grew rapidly to enclose the inner whorls after style elongation. Flask-shaped nectaries bearing stomata developed on the external surface of the filament bases. This is the first detailed study on flax floral organ development and has established a key of 12 developmental stages, which should be useful to flax researchers.

  16. Dietary tea polyphenol supplementation improved egg production performance, albumen quality, and magnum morphology of Hy-Line Brown hens during the late laying period.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xiao-Cui; Wang, Xiao-Hong; Wang, Jing; Wang, Hao; Zhang, Hai-Jun; Wu, Shu-Geng; Qi, Guang-Hai

    2018-02-15

    The aim of this study was to investigate how dietary supplementation of tea polyphenols (TP) and tea catechins (TC) affect laying performance, albumen quality, ovomucin composition, and magnum morphology of laying hens in the late phase of production. Two hundred seventy Hy-Line Brown laying hens (64 wk old) were assigned to a basal diet (the control), the basal diet supplemented with 200 mg/kg tea polyphenols (TP200) or 200 mg/kg tea catechins (TC200). Each treatment had 6 replicates with 15 hens each. The feeding trial lasted 10 wks. Over the course of the trial, dietary supplementation with TP200 significantly increased the egg production (EP) and improved the feed conversion ratio (FCR) in wk 6 to 10 and wk 1 to 10 (P hens fed TP200 were higher than those of hens fed the control diet at wks 8 and 10 (P 0.05). The SDS-PAGE analysis indicated that bands of the ovomucin fractions in the TP200 group had the highest intensity compared with those of the control and TC200 groups. Compared with the control, there was a significant increase in protein sulfhydryl (SH) content of the albumen in the TP200 group at the end of experiment, while a significant decrease in protein carbonyl content and protein surface hydrophobicity (P hens. In addition, TP rather than TC could improve the health status of the magnum for aged layers.

  17. PT-Flax (phenotyping and TILLinG of flax): development of a flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) mutant population and TILLinG platform for forward and reverse genetics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chantreau, Maxime; Grec, Sébastien; Gutierrez, Laurent; Dalmais, Marion; Pineau, Christophe; Demailly, Hervé; Paysant-Leroux, Christine; Tavernier, Reynald; Trouvé, Jean-Paul; Chatterjee, Manash; Guillot, Xavier; Brunaud, Véronique; Chabbert, Brigitte; van Wuytswinkel, Olivier; Bendahmane, Abdelhafid; Thomasset, Brigitte; Hawkins, Simon

    2013-10-15

    Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) is an economically important fiber and oil crop that has been grown for thousands of years. The genome has been recently sequenced and transcriptomics are providing information on candidate genes potentially related to agronomically-important traits. In order to accelerate functional characterization of these genes we have generated a flax EMS mutant population that can be used as a TILLinG (Targeting Induced Local Lesions in Genomes) platform for forward and reverse genetics. A population of 4,894 M2 mutant seed families was generated using 3 different EMS concentrations (0.3%, 0.6% and 0.75%) and used to produce M2 plants for subsequent phenotyping and DNA extraction. 10,839 viable M2 plants (4,033 families) were obtained and 1,552 families (38.5%) showed a visual developmental phenotype (stem size and diameter, plant architecture, flower-related). The majority of these families showed more than one phenotype. Mutant phenotype data are organised in a database and can be accessed and searched at UTILLdb (http://urgv.evry.inra.fr/UTILLdb). Preliminary screens were also performed for atypical fiber and seed phenotypes. Genomic DNA was extracted from 3,515 M2 families and eight-fold pooled for subsequent mutant detection by ENDO1 nuclease mis-match cleavage. In order to validate the collection for reverse genetics, DNA pools were screened for two genes coding enzymes of the lignin biosynthesis pathway: Coumarate-3-Hydroxylase (C3H) and Cinnamyl Alcohol Dehydrogenase (CAD). We identified 79 and 76 mutations in the C3H and CAD genes, respectively. The average mutation rate was calculated as 1/41 Kb giving rise to approximately 9,000 mutations per genome. Thirty-five out of the 52 flax cad mutant families containing missense or codon stop mutations showed the typical orange-brown xylem phenotype observed in CAD down-regulated/mutant plants in other species. We have developed a flax mutant population that can be used as an efficient

  18. Aflatoxins, hydroxylated metabolites, and aflatoxicol from breast muscle of laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Díaz-Zaragoza, M; Carvajal-Moreno, M; Méndez-Ramírez, I; Chilpa-Galván, N C; Avila-González, E; Flores-Ortiz, C M

    2014-12-01

    Aflatoxins (AF) are toxic fungal secondary metabolites that are pathological to animals and humans. This study identified and quantified AF (AFB(1), AFB(2), AFG(1), AFG(2)) and their hydroxylated metabolites (AFM(1), AFM(2), AFP(1)) and aflatoxicol (AFL) from laying hen breast muscles. Aflatoxins pass from cereal feed to the laying hen tissues, causing economic losses, and from there to humans. To detect the passage of AF from feed to hen breast muscle tissues, an experiment that included 25 Hy-Line W36 121-wk-old hens was performed for 8 d. Hens in individual cages were distributed into 3 groups: a control group, with feed free of AFB(1), and 2 experimental groups, with feed spiked with 2 AFB(1) dosages: 30 µg·kg(-1) (low) or 500 µg·kg(-1) (high). The daily feed consumption per hen was recorded and afterward hens were euthanized and breast muscles were collected, weighed, and dried individually. Aflatoxins were extracted by 2 chemical methods and quantified by HPLC. Both methods were validated by lineality (calibration curves), recovery percentage (>80%), limit of detection, and limit of quantification. The AF (µg·kg(-1)) averages recovered in control breast muscles were as follows: AFB(1) (18); AFG(1), AFM(2), and AFL (0); AFG(2) (1.3); AFM(1) (52), and AFP1 (79). Hens fed with feed spiked with 30 µg·kg(-1) of AFB(1) had AFG(1) (16); AFG(2) (72); AFM(1) (0); AFM(2) (18); AFP(1) (145); and AFL (5 µg·kg(-1)). Hens with feed spiked with 500 µg·kg(-1) of AFB(1) had AFG(1) (512); AFG(2) (7); AFM(1) (4,775); AFM(2) (0); AFP(1) (661); and AFL (21 µg·kg(-1)). The best AF extraction method was Qian and Yang's method, modified by adding additional AF from both Supelclean LC18 SPE columns; its limit of detection (0.5 ng·mL(-1)) was lower compared with that of Koeltzow and Tanner, which was 1 ng·mL(-1). ©2014 Poultry Science Association Inc.

  19. Development of Novel SSR Markers for Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) Using Reduced-Representation Genome Sequencing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Jianzhong; Zhao, Qian; Wu, Guangwen; Zhang, Shuquan; Jiang, Tingbo

    2016-01-01

    Flax ( Linum usitatissimum L.) is a major fiber and oil yielding crop grown in northeastern China. Identification of flax molecular markers is a key step toward improving flax yield and quality via marker-assisted breeding. Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, which are based on genomic structural variation, are considered the most valuable type of genetic marker for this purpose. In this study, we screened 1574 microsatellites from Linum usitatissimum L. obtained using reduced representation genome sequencing (RRGS) to systematically identify SSR markers. The resulting set of microsatellites consisted mainly of trinucleotide (56.10%) and dinucleotide (35.23%) repeats, with each motif consisting of 5-8 repeats. We then evaluated marker sensitivity and specificity based on samples of 48 flax isolates obtained from northeastern China. Using the new SSR panel, the results demonstrated that fiber flax and oilseed flax varieties clustered into two well separated groups. The novel SSR markers developed in this study show potential value for selection of varieties for use in flax breeding programs.

  20. Pollen-mediated gene flow in flax (Linum usitatissimum L.): can genetically engineered and organic flax coexist?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jhala, A J; Bhatt, H; Topinka, K; Hall, L M

    2011-04-01

    Coexistence allows growers and consumers the choice of producing or purchasing conventional or organic crops with known standards for adventitious presence of genetically engineered (GE) seed. Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) is multipurpose oilseed crop in which product diversity and utility could be enhanced for industrial, nutraceutical and pharmaceutical markets through genetic engineering. If GE flax were released commercially, pollen-mediated gene flow will determine in part whether GE flax could coexist without compromising other markets. As a part of pre-commercialization risk assessment, we quantified pollen-mediated gene flow between two cultivars of flax. Field experiments were conducted at four locations during 2006 and 2007 in western Canada using a concentric donor (20 × 20 m) receptor (120 × 120 m) design. Gene flow was detected through the xenia effect of dominant alleles of high α-linolenic acid (ALA; 18:3(cisΔ9,12,15)) to the low ALA trait. Seeds were harvested from the pollen recipient plots up to a distance of 50 m in eight directions from the pollen donor. High ALA seeds were identified using a thiobarbituric acid test and served as a marker for gene flow. Binomial distribution and power analysis were used to predict the minimum number of seeds statistically required to detect the frequency of gene flow at specific α (confidence interval) and power (1-β) values. As a result of the low frequency of gene flow, approximately 4 million seeds were screened to derive accurate quantification. Frequency of gene flow was highest near the source: averaging 0.0185 at 0.1 m but declined rapidly with distance, 0.0013 and 0.00003 at 3 and 35 m, respectively. Gene flow was reduced to 50% (O₅₀) and 90% (O₉₀) between 0.85 to 2.64 m, and 5.68 to 17.56 m, respectively. No gene flow was detected at any site or year > 35 m distance from the pollen source, suggesting that frequency of gene flow was ≤ 0.00003 (P = 0.95). Although it is not possible to

  1. Genomic and expression analysis of the flax (Linum usitatissimum) family of glycosyl hydrolase 35 genes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hobson, Neil; Deyholos, Michael K

    2013-05-23

    Several β-galactosidases of the Glycosyl Hydrolase 35 (GH35) family have been characterized, and many of these modify cell wall components, including pectins, xyloglucans, and arabinogalactan proteins. The phloem fibres of flax (Linum usitatissimum) have gelatinous-type cell walls that are rich in crystalline cellulose and depend on β-galactosidase activity for their normal development. In this study, we investigate the transcript expression patterns and inferred evolutionary relationships of the complete set of flax GH35 genes, to better understand the functions of these genes in flax and other species. Using the recently published flax genome assembly, we identified 43 β-galactosidase-like (BGAL) genes, based on the presence of a GH35 domain. Phylogenetic analyses of their protein sequences clustered them into eight sub-families. Sub-family B, whose members in other species were known to be expressed in developing flowers and pollen, was greatly under represented in flax (p-value < 0.01). Sub-family A5, whose sole member from arabidopsis has been described as its primary xyloglucan BGAL, was greatly expanded in flax (p-value < 0.01). A number of flax BGALs were also observed to contain non-consensus GH35 active sites. Expression patterns of the flax BGALs were investigated using qRT-PCR and publicly available microarray data. All predicted flax BGALs showed evidence of expression in at least one tissue. Flax has a large number of BGAL genes, which display a distinct distribution among the BGAL sub-families, in comparison to other closely related species with available whole genome assemblies. Almost every flax BGAL was expressed in fibres, the majority of which expressed predominately in fibres as compared to other tissues, suggesting an important role for the expansion of this gene family in the development of this species as a fibre crop. Variations displayed in the canonical GH35 active site suggest a variety of roles unique to flax, which will require

  2. Xanthophylls increased HDLC level and nuclear factor PPARγ, RXRγ and RARα expression in hens and chicks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Y-Y; Jin, L; Peng, H; Xu, L-H; Wang, Q-X; Ji, J; Wang, C-K; Bi, Y-Z

    2018-02-01

    This study was designed to investigate effects of xanthophylls on serum lipid profile (triglyceride, TG; cholesterol, CHO; high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, HDLC; and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, LDLC) and nuclear factor (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, PPARγ; PPAR gamma coactivator 1 alpha, PGC1α; retinoid X receptor gamma, RXRγ; and retinoic acid receptor alpha, RARα) gene expression of breeding hens and chicks. In experiment 1, 432 hens were divided into three groups and fed diets supplemented with 0 (as control group), 20 or 40 mg/kg xanthophylls. Blood was sampled at 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35 days of trial. Liver, duodenum, jejunum and ileum were sampled at 35 days of trial. Results showed that serum HDLC level of hens was increased after dietary 40 mg/kg xanthophyll addition for 21, 28 and 35 days, while serum TG, CHO and LDLC were not affected. Xanthophyll addition also increased PPARγ expression in jejunum, RXRγ expression in duodenum and jejunum, and RARα expression in liver and duodenum. Experiment 2 was a 2 × 2 factorial design. Male chicks hatched from 0 or 40 mg/kg xanthophyll diet of hens were fed diet containing either 0 or 40 mg/kg xanthophylls. Liver, duodenum, jejunum and ileum were sampled at 0, 7, 14 and 21 days after hatching. Blood samples were also collected at 21 days. Results showed that in ovo xanthophylls elevated PPARγ in duodenum and jejunum, and RXRγ and RARα in liver of chicks mainly within 1 week after hatching, while dietary xanthophylls increased serum HDLC level and PPARγ and RXRγ in liver from 2 weeks onwards. In conclusion, our research suggested xanthophylls can regulate serum lipid profile and nuclear factor expression in hens and chicks. © 2017 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

  3. Flax fabric reinforced arylated soy protein composites: A brittle-matrix behaviour

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Kumar, R

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available Biocomposites were successfully prepared by the reinforcement of soy protein isolate (SPI) with different weight fractions of woven flax fabric. The flax-fabric-reinforced SPI-based composites were then arylated with 2,2-diphenyl-2-hydroxyethanoic...

  4. Digital gene-expression of alfalfa saponin extract on laying hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wenna Fan

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of death worldwide, so people are advised to limit their intake of dietary cholesterol [1]. Egg consumption has been seriously reduced because of the high levels of cholesterol [2]. The objective of this study was to evaluate the cholesterol metabolism effects of alfalfa saponin extract (ASE in liver and ovary tissues using digital gene-expression (DGE profiling analysis. The liver and ovary tissues were isolated from laying hens fed with ASE for RNA sequencing. Here, we provide detailed experimental methods and analysis pipeline in our study to identify digital gene expression of alfalfa saponin extract on laying hens and analysis pipeline published by Singh and colleagues in the PLOS ONE [3]. The data generated in our work provide meaningful information for understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the cholesterol-lowering effects of ASE.

  5. Henning Bergenholtz

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schoonderbeek Hansen, Inger

    2013-01-01

    Kort redegørelse for Professor for Center for Leksikografi, Henning Bergenholtz' fratrædelse 18.01.2013......Kort redegørelse for Professor for Center for Leksikografi, Henning Bergenholtz' fratrædelse 18.01.2013...

  6. Impact of feeder space on laying hen feeding behavior and production performance in enriched colony housing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oliveira, J L; Xin, H; Wu, H

    2018-05-30

    Current feeder space recommendations in laying hen welfare guidelines are inconsistent among and within countries. One determining criterion forming the recommendations (e.g. 12.0 cm/hen for the EU guideline) is that all birds can feed simultaneously. However, if there are other resources in the environment, as in enriched colony housing (ECH), it is unknown whether group-housed hens will choose to feed simultaneously. This study assesses the impact of feeder space on feeding behavior of 60 laying hens (W-36) in ECH using a ultra-high frequency radio-frequency identification-based tracking system. The feeder spaces investigated were 12.0, 9.5, 8.5 and 6.5 cm/hen, achieved by blocking portions of the overall feeder access to keep hens at the same stocking density. Each feeder space treatment, randomly assigned over the course of the experiment, lasted for 7 consecutive days. Feeding behaviors were characterized as daily time spent at the feeder (TS, min/hen-day), daily frequency of visits to the feeder (FV, #/hen-day), and maximum or average percentage of hens feeding simultaneously (MPB, APB, %). Group-average daily feed intake (FI, g/hen-day), water use (WU, g/hen-day), and hen-day egg production (HDEP, %) were also measured. The results revealed that at 12.0 cm/hen, where unoccupied feeder space was present, a maximum of 59.0±1.4% (average of 31.7±0.3%) hens fed simultaneously. No significant differences were detected among 12.0, 9.5 and 8.5 cm/hen in TS (293±10, 286±10 and 281±10 min/hen-day) and MPB (59.0±1.4, 57.3±1.4 and 53.3±1.4%) (P>0.05). The outcome of no significant differences also held true between 12.0 and 9.5 cm/hen in APB (31.7±0.3 v. 30.8±0.3%) and between 9.5 and 8.5 cm/hen in all response variables measured (P>0.05). However, there were significant differences in APB between 6.5 cm/hen and all other treatments; in TS and FV between 6.5 and 9.5 cm/hen; and in MPB between 6.5 and 12 cm/hen (P0.05). The results revealed that synchronous

  7. Evaluation of the effects of rations with different levels of metabolizable energy on performance of laying hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of rations with different levels of metabolizable energy on performance of laying hens. The experiment was conducted on 25 laying hens of the commercial high line W-36 strain with 4 treatments and 4 replicates (16 laying hens in each replicate in a completely randomized design. Treatments included: (1 diet with amount of metabolizable energy recommended by NRC in 1994 (as control group, (2 diet with 10% higher level of metabolizable energy than that recommended by NRC in 1994, (3 diet with 10% lower level of metabolizable energy than that recommended by NRC in 1994 and (4 diet with 15% lower level of metabolizable energy than that recommended by NRC in 1994 which were fed for 10 weeks (from the age of 41 to 51 weeks to the laying hens. The results demonstrated that the amount of feed intake was significantly different among treatments (p

  8. PERFORMANCE OF LAYER HEN FED FERMENTED Jatropha Curcas L. MEAL SUPPLEMENTED WITH CELLULASE AND PHYTASE ENZYME

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Sumiati

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available The objective of the experiment was to study the effect of feeding fermented Jatropha curcas L.meal (JCM supplemented with cellulase and phytase on the performances of ISA-Brown laying henaged 25-30 weeks. The Jatropha curcas meal was fermented using Rizhopus oligosporus. In this study200 laying hens were used and distributed to 5 treatments and 4 replications in Completely RandomizedDesign. The diet treatments were: R0 = control diet (without JCM, R1; diet contained fermented JCM7.5%, R2; diet contained fermented JCM 7.5% + celullase 200 g/ton, R3; diet contained fermented JCM7.5% + phytase 200 g/ton and R4; diet contained fermented JCM 7.5% + cellulase 200 g/ton + phytase200 g/ton. The parameters observed were feed consumption, hen day egg production, egg massproduction, egg weight and feed conversion ratio. The results showed that feeding fermented JCM 7.5%,both enzyme supplemented as well as unsupplemented significantly decreased (P<0.05 the feedconsumption, hen day egg and egg mass production. However, the treatments did not influence the eggweight. Supplementation of cellulase (R2 or phytase (R3 improved the feed conversion ratio with thevalue as same as the R0 diet.

  9. Assessing the Environmental Impact of Flax Fibre Reinforced Polymer Composite from a Consequential Life Cycle Assessment Perspective

    OpenAIRE

    Yelin Deng; Yajun Tian

    2015-01-01

    The study implements the consequential life cycle assessment (CLCA) to provide a market based perspective on how overall environmental impact will change when shifting glass fibres to flax fibres as reinforcements in composite fabrication. With certain assumptions, the marginal flax fibre supply is identified to be a combination of Chinese flax fibre (70%) and French flax fibre (30%). Due to inferior cultivars and coal-fired electricity in Chinese flax cultivation, the CLCA study reveals that...

  10. Characterisation of Flax Fibres and Flax Fibre Composites. Being cellulose based sources of materials

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Aslan, Mustafa

    -melting temperature polyethylene terephthalate (LPET) filaments were aligned in assemblies of different fibre weight fractions in the range 0.24 to 0.83 to manufacture unidirectional composites using two different consolidation pressures of 1.67 and 4.10 MPa. The maximum attainable fibre volume fraction is found...... to be 47% for the low pressure composites, whereas it is found to be 60% for the high pressure composites. The stiffness of the flax fibre/LPET composites is measured to be in the range 16 to 33 GPa depending on the volumetric composition of the composites. The high pressure composites are found to have...... a similar microstructure at low fibre weight fractions. However, when the fibre content is increased, a difference in porosity content can be observed from the composite cross sections. The nominal tensile strength of the unidirectional flax fibre/LPET composites is measured in the range 180 to 340 MPa...

  11. Effects of organic and inorganic dietary selenium supplementation on gene expression profiles in oviduct tissue from broiler-breeder hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brennan, K M; Crowdus, C A; Cantor, A H; Pescatore, A J; Barger, J L; Horgan, K; Xiao, R; Power, R F; Dawson, K A

    2011-05-01

    Selenium (Se) is an essential component of at least 25 selenoproteins involved in a multitude of physiological functions, including reproduction. However, relatively little is known about the mechanisms by which Se exerts its physiological effects in reproductive tissue. The objective of this study was to compare the effect of long-term inorganic Se (sodium selenite, SS) and organic yeast-derived Se (Sel-Plex(®), SP) supplementations on tissue Se content and gene expression patterns in the oviduct of broiler-breeder hens. Hens were randomly assigned at 6 weeks of age to one of the three treatments: basal semi-purified diet (control), basal diet+0.3 ppm Se as SP or basal diet+0.3 ppm Se as SS. At 49 weeks, oviduct tissue from hens randomly selected from each treatment (n=7) was analyzed for Se content and gene expression profiles using the Affymetrix Chicken genome array. Gene expression data were evaluated using GeneSpring GX 10.0 (Silicon Genetics, Redwood, CA) and Ingenuity Pathways Analysis software (Ingenuity Systems, Redwood City, CA). Oviduct Se concentration was greater with Se supplementation compared with the control (P≤0.05) but did not differ between SS- and SP-supplemented groups. Gene expression analysis revealed that the quantity of gene transcripts associated with energy production and protein translation were greater in the oviduct with SP but not SS supplementation. Targets up-regulated by SP, but not SS, included genes encoding several subunits of the mitochondrial respiratory complexes, ubiquinone production and ribosomal subunits. SS hens showed a decrease in transcripts of genes involved in respiratory complexes, ATP synthesis and protein translation and metabolism in oviduct relative to control hens. In this study, although tissue Se concentrations did not differ between hens fed SS- and SP-supplemented diets, expression patterns of genes involved in energy production and protein synthesis pathways differed between treatments. These

  12. Particle size affects short-term preference behavior of brown-egg laying hens fed diets based on corn or barley.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herrera, J; Saldaña, B; Guzmán, P; Ibáñez, M A; Mandalawi, H; Cámara, L; Mateos, G G

    2018-04-01

    We studied the influence of particle size of the main cereal of the diet on preference behavior by laying hens. Diets formed a 2 × 5 factorial with 2 main cereals (corn vs. barley) and 5 grinding sizes of the cereal (4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 mm screen). Each treatment was replicated 5 times (10 hens each). After a fasting period of 8 h, hens received their respective experimental diets from 06.00 to 14.00 hours. The geometric mean diameter (GMD) and the geometric standard deviation of the residuals in the feeder were determined every 2 hours. In addition, CP, ash, and Ca contents of the feeds were determined at the start and at the end of the experimental period. The experimental design was completely randomized with data analyzed as repeated measures with particle size and cereal as main effects. The GMD of the original feeds increased with increases in screen size and was greater for the barley than for the corn diets. The difference in GMD between the original diets and the residuals measured at 2 h intervals decreased as the experiment progressed (P feed, an effect more pronounced for the minerals. Independent of the coarseness of the feed sieve, ash and Ca contents were higher in the uneaten feed at 14.00 h than in the original diets. Hens showed a clear preference for coarse particles irrespective of the concentration of CP, ash, or Ca in the different fractions of the diets. Data showed that birds under-consumed Ca during the morning, a period in which the requirements for mineral deposition are low. In summary, hens showed a significant preference for coarser particles, an effect that was more evident when the cereals were ground coarse. Hens, however, did not show any preference for consuming those feed fractions with greater CP, ash, or Ca contents.

  13. Optimization of Phenolic Compounds Extraction from Flax Shives and Their Effect on Human Fibroblasts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Magdalena Czemplik

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The goal of this study was to evaluate the most effective technique for extraction of phenolics present in flax shives and to assess their effect on human fibroblasts. Flax shives are by-products of fibre separation, but they were found to be a rich source of phenolic compounds and thus might have application potential. It was found that the optimal procedure for extraction of phenolics was hydrolysis enhanced by the ultrasound with NaOH for 24 h at 65°C and subsequent extraction with ethyl acetate. The influence of the flax shives extract on fibroblast growth and viability was assessed using the MTT and SRB tests. Moreover, the influence of flax shives extract on the extracellular matrix remodelling process was verified. The 20% increase of the viability was observed upon flax shives extract treatment and the decrease of mRNA collagen genes, an increase of matrix metalloproteinase gene expression, and reduction in levels of interleukin 6, interleukin 10, and suppressor of cytokinin signaling 1 mRNA were observed. Alterations in MCP-1 mRNA levels were dependent on flax shives extract concentration. Thus, we suggested the possible application of flax shives extract in the wound healing process.

  14. Irrigation and cultivar effect on flax fiber and seed yield in the southeast USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) is a potential winter crop for the Southeast USA that can be grown for both seed and fiber. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of irrigation on flax straw, fiber, and seed yield of fiber-type and seed-type cultivars at different flax growth stage...

  15. [Genetic polymorphism of flax Linum usitatissimum based on use of molecular cytogenetic markers].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rachinskaia, O A; Lemesh, V A; Muravenko, O V; Iurkevich, O Iu; Guzenko, E V; Bol'sheva, N L; Bogdanova, M V; Samatadze, T E; Popov, K V; Malyshev, S V; Shostak, N G; Heller, K; Khotyleva, L V; Zelenin, A V

    2011-01-01

    Using a set of approaches based on the use of molecular cytogenetic markers (DAPI/C-banding, estimation of the total area of DAPI-positive regions in prophase nuclei, FISH with 26S and 5S rDNA probes) and the microsatellite (SSR-PCR) assay, we studied genomic polymorphism in 15 flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) varieties from different geographic regions belonging to three directions of selection (oil, fiber, and intermediate flaxes) and in the k-37 x Viking hybrid. All individual chromosomes have been identified in the karyotypes of these varieties on the basis of the patterns of differential DAPI/C-banding and the distribution of 26S and 5S rDNA, and idiograms of the chromosomes have been generated. Unlike the oil flax varieties, the chromosomes in the karyotypes of the fiber flax varieties have, as a rule, pericentromeric and telomeric DAPI-positive bands of smaller size, but contain larger intercalary regions. Two chromosomal rearrangements (chromosome 3 inversions) were discovered in the variety Luna and in the k-37 x Viking hybrid. In both these forms, no colocalization of 26S rDNA and 5S rDNA on the satellite chromosome was detected. The SSR assay with the use of 20 polymorphic pairs of primers revealed 22 polymorphic loci. Based on the SSR data, we analyzed genetic similarity of the flax forms studied and constructed a genetic similarity dendrogram. The genotypes studied here form three clusters. The oil varieties comprise an independent cluster. The genetically related fiber flax varieties Vita and Luna, as well as the landrace Lipinska XIII belonging to the intermediate type, proved to be closer to the oil varieties than the remaining fiber flax varieties. The results of the molecular chromosomal analysis in the fiber and oil flaxes confirm their very close genetic similarity. In spite of this, the combined use of the chromosomal and molecular markers has opened up unique possibilities for describing the genotypes of flax varieties and creating their genetic

  16. Effects of grinding method, particle size, and physical form of the diet on gastrointestinal morphology and jejunal glucose transport in laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Röhe, I; Ruhnke, I; Knorr, F; Mader, A; Boroojeni, F Goodarzi; Löwe, R; Zentek, J

    2014-08-01

    Several studies illustrated that the structure of feed, i.e., the particle size, particle-size distribution, and the physical form of the diet, affects the avian gastrointestinal function and health leading to changes in productive performance. However, investigations concerning the effects of feeding differently processed diets on laying hens are limited and primarily concentrated on bird performance. The current study examines the effect of feed processing on the gastrointestinal morphology and on the jejunal glucose transport of laying hens. In 8 replicates, a total of 384 hens (Lohmann Brown) aged 20 wk were randomly allocated to 8 different groups and fed over a period of 21 d in a 3-factorial design. Diets differed in 1) grinding method, either hammer or roller mill; 2) physical form, either mash or expandate; and 3) particle size, either coarsely or finely ground. During the experimental trial, the laying performance of each feeding group was recorded daily and the feed intake and BW determined weekly. After slaughtering, the weights of the pancreas, proventriculus, gizzard, and small intestine were measured. Villus lengths and crypt depths of the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum were determined. The jejunal electrogenic glucose transport was studied in Ussing chambers. Hens that received mash instead of expandate had higher proventriculus (P = 0.011), gizzard (P feeding of coarsely instead of finely ground diets led to higher gizzard weights (P hens showed longer duodenal (P hens had higher glucose transport rates than expandate-fed hens (P feeding of coarsely ground as well as mash diets had stimulating effects on the development of the gastrointestinal organs. Moreover, the feeding of mash influenced the intestinal microstructure of the epithelium that was accompanied by higher glucose transport capacities. © Poultry Science Association Inc.

  17. Lycopene Protects Against Spontaneous Ovarian Cancer Formation in Laying Hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sahin, Kazim; Yenice, Engin; Tuzcu, Mehmet; Orhan, Cemal; Mizrak, Cengizhan; Ozercan, Ibrahim H; Sahin, Nurhan; Yilmaz, Bahiddin; Bilir, Birdal; Ozpolat, Bulent; Kucuk, Omer

    2018-03-01

    Dietary intake of lycopene has been associated with a reduced risk of ovarian cancer, suggesting its chemopreventive potential against ovarian carcinogenesis. Lycopene's molecular mechanisms of action in ovarian cancer have not been fully understood. Therefore, in the present study, we investigated the effects of lycopene on the ovarian cancer formation using the laying hen model, a biologically relevant animal model of spontaneous ovarian carcinogenesis due to high incidence rates similar to humans. In this study, a total of 150 laying hens at age of 102 weeks were randomized into groups of 50: a control group (0 mg of lycopene per kg of diet) and two treatment groups (200 mg or 400 mg of lycopene per kg of diet, or ~26 and 52 mg/d/hen, respectively). At the end of 12 months, blood, ovarian tissues and tumors were collected. We observed that lycopene supplementation significantly reduced the overall ovarian tumor incidence ( P Lycopene also significantly decreased the rate of adenocarcinoma, including serous and mucinous subtypes ( P lycopene-fed hens compared to control birds ( P lycopene reduced the expression of NF-κB while increasing the expression of nuclear factor erythroid 2 and its major target protein, heme oxygenase 1. In addition, lycopene supplementation decreased the expression of STAT3 by inducing the protein inhibitor of activated STAT3 expression in the ovarian tissues. Taken together, our findings strongly support the potential of lycopene in the chemoprevention of ovarian cancer through antioxidant and anti-inflammatory mechanisms.

  18. Effects of previous protein intake on rectal temperature, blood glucose, plasma thyroid hormone and minerals by laying hens during a forced molt

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rodrigues, G.A.; Moraes, V.M.B.; Cherici, I; Furlan, R.L.; Macari, M.

    1991-01-01

    The effects of forced molting on blood glucose, rectal temperature, plasma T4, T3 and minerals were studied in hens previously fed rations with different protein contents (14, 17 and 20% crude protein). Blood samples were obtained from brachial veins for blood glucose, T4 and T3 were measured by radioimmunoassay, and plasma minerals were determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Blood glucose and rectal temperature were reduced during fasting regardless of previous protein intake. Pre molting T4 plasma level was higher in laying hens fed higher protein ration, but feed deprivation reduced T 4 and T 3 concentrations irrespective of protein intake, except T 4 level for 14% crude protein fed birds that increased during fasting. The data obtained in this experiment suggest that previous protein intake does not interfere with the metabolic changes during forced molt. (author). 19 refs, 1 fig, 4 tabs

  19. Effects of previous protein intake on rectal temperature, blood glucose, plasma thyroid hormone and minerals by laying hens during a forced molt

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rodrigues, G A; Moraes, V M.B.; Cherici, I; Furlan, R L; Macari, M [UNESP, Jaboticabal, SP (Brazil). Faculdade de Ciencias Agrarias e Veterinarias

    1991-12-01

    The effects of forced molting on blood glucose, rectal temperature, plasma T4, T3 and minerals were studied in hens previously fed rations with different protein contents (14, 17 and 20% crude protein). Blood samples were obtained from brachial veins for blood glucose, T4 and T3 were measured by radioimmunoassay, and plasma minerals were determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Blood glucose and rectal temperature were reduced during fasting regardless of previous protein intake. Pre molting T4 plasma level was higher in laying hens fed higher protein ration, but feed deprivation reduced T{sub 4} and T{sub 3} concentrations irrespective of protein intake, except T{sub 4} level for 14% crude protein fed birds that increased during fasting. The data obtained in this experiment suggest that previous protein intake does not interfere with the metabolic changes during forced molt. (author). 19 refs, 1 fig, 4 tabs.

  20. Muscle antioxidant (vitamin E) and major fatty acid groups, lipid oxidation and retail colour of meat from lambs fed a roughage based diet with flaxseed or algae.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ponnampalam, Eric N; Burnett, Viv F; Norng, Sorn; Hopkins, David L; Plozza, Tim; Jacobs, Joe L

    2016-01-01

    The effect of feeding flaxseed or algae supplements to lambs on muscle antioxidant potential (vitamin E), major fatty acid groups, lipid oxidation and retail colour was investigated. Lambs (n=120) were randomly allocated to one of 4 dietary treatments according to liveweight and fed the following diets for eight weeks: Annual ryegrass hay [60%]+subterranean clover hay [40%] pellets=Basal diet; Basal diet with flaxseed (10.7%)=Flax; Basal diet with algae (1.8%)=Algae; Basal diet with flaxseed (10.7%) and algae (1.8%)=FlaxAlgae. Flaxseed or algae supplementation significantly affected major fatty acid groups in muscle. The addition of algae (average of Algae and FlaxAlgae) resulted in lower vitamin E concentration in muscle (Palgae (average of Basal and Flax). Increasing muscle EPA+DHA by algae supplementation significantly increased lipid oxidation, but retail display colour of fresh meat was not affected. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Productive performance, egg quality, blood constituents, immune functions, and antioxidant parameters in laying hens fed diets with different levels of Yucca schidigera extract.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alagawany, Mahmoud; Abd El-Hack, Mohamed E; El-Kholy, Mohamed S

    2016-04-01

    This study evaluated the effect of Yucca schidigera extract on productive performance, egg quality, blood metabolites, immune function, and antioxidant parameters in laying hens. A total of 96 36-week-old hens were allocated into four groups, the control diet or the diet supplemented with 50, 100, or 150 mg/kg of yucca extract, from 36 to 52 weeks of age. Hens were divided into four equal groups replicated six times with four hens per replicate. As a result of this study, there were no linearly or quadratically differences in body weight change (BWC), feed consumption (FC), feed conversion ratio (FCR), and egg weight (EW) due to yucca treatments at different ages, except FCR and EW that were improved with yucca supplementation during 36-40 weeks of age. Supplemental dietary yucca up to 100 mg/kg diet led to significant improvement in egg number (EN) and egg mass (EM). Egg qualities were not linearly or quadratically affected by yucca treatments except shell thickness was quadratically (P hen diets resulted in a significant linear (P feed additive to improve productive performance, blood profile, and antioxidant enzyme activities in laying hens.

  2. Effect of Olive Leaf ( Powder on Laying Hens Performance, Egg Quality and Egg Yolk Cholesterol Levels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Cayan

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available This experiment was conducted to measure the effects of olive leaf powder on performance, egg yield, egg quality and yolk cholesterol level of laying hens. A total of 120 Lohmann Brown laying hens of 22 weeks old were used in this experiment. The birds were fed on standard layer diets containing 0, 1%, 2%, or 3% olive leaf powder for 8 weeks. Egg weight and yield were recorded daily; feed intake weekly; egg quality and cholesterol content at the end of the trial. Olive leaf powder had no effect on feed intake, egg weight, egg yield and feed conversion ratio (p>0.05 while olive leaf powder increased final body weight of hens (p0.05. To conclude, olive leaf powder can be used for reducing egg yolk cholesterol content and egg yolk coloring agent in layer diets.

  3. Supplementation of xanthophylls decreased proinflammatory and increased anti-inflammatory cytokines in hens and chicks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Yu-Yun; Xie, Qing-Mei; Jin, Ling; Sun, Bao-Li; Ji, Jun; Chen, Feng; Ma, Jing-Yun; Bi, Ying-Zuo

    2012-11-28

    The present study investigated the effects of xanthophylls (containing 40 % of lutein and 60 % of zeaxanthin) on proinflammatory cytokine (IL-1β, IL-6, interferon (IFN)-γ and lipopolysaccharide-induced TNF-α factor (LITAF)) and anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-4 and IL-10) expression of breeding hens and chicks. In Expt 1, a total of 432 hens were fed diets supplemented with 0 (as the control group), 20 or 40 mg/kg xanthophylls (six replicates per treatment). The liver, duodenum, jejunum and ileum were sampled at 35 d of the trial. The results showed that both levels of xanthophyll addition decreased IL-1β mRNA in the liver and jejunum, IL-6 mRNA in the liver, IFN-γ mRNA in the jejunum and LITAF mRNA in the liver compared to the control group. Expt 2 was a 2 × 2 factorial design. Male chicks hatched from 0 or 40 mg/kg xanthophyll diet of hens were fed a diet containing either 0 or 40 mg/kg xanthophylls. The liver, duodenum, jejunum and ileum were collected at 0, 7, 14 and 21 d after hatching. The results showed that in ovo xanthophylls decreased proinflammatory cytokine expression (IL-1β, IL-6, IFN-γ and LITAF) in the liver, duodenum, jejunum and ileum and increased anti-inflammatory cytokine expression (IL-4 and IL-10) in the liver, jejunum and ileum mainly at 0-7 d after hatching. In ovo effects gradually vanished and dietary effects began to work during 1-2 weeks after hatching. Dietary xanthophylls modulated proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6 and IFN-γ) in the liver, duodenum, jejunum and ileum and anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-10) in the liver and jejunum mainly from 2 weeks onwards. In conclusion, xanthophylls could regulate proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine expression in different tissues of hens and chicks.

  4. Interactive effects of vitamin D3 and strontium on performance, nutrient retention and bone mineral composition in laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Browning, Linda C; Cowieson, Aaron J

    2015-03-30

    Strontium is currently prescribed for patients with osteoporosis to increase bone density and reduce bone fractures but its relevance in animal nutrition is obscure. In order to investigate the effect of supplemental strontium and vitamin D3 on performance, egg quality and skeletal integrity in poultry a total of 108 laying hens, 99 weeks of age, were fed three levels of strontium (0, 500, 1000 mg kg(-1) ) and two levels of vitamin D3 (2500, 5,000 iu kg(-1)) over a 12-week period. There was an improvement (P < 0.05) in egg production and feed conversion efficiency with strontium at 500 mg kg(-1) and a significant increase in egg weight in those hens fed additional vitamin D3 . Supplemental strontium increased phosphorus, sodium and strontium retention in birds fed 2500 iu D3 kg(-1) but reduced phosphorus, sodium and strontium retention in birds fed 5000 iu D3 kg(-1), resulting in an interaction (P < 0.01) between strontium and vitamin D3 . Addition of 5000 iu D3 kg(-1) increased egg weight (P < 0.05); predominantly by increased albumen content (P < 0.05), whereas strontium supplementation reduced egg weight (P < 0.001). Similarly, 5000 iu kg(-1) D3 increased apparent metabolizable energy (P < 0.05); in contrast, strontium supplementation reduced (P < 0.05) apparent metabolizable energy. The addition of 500 mg kg(-1) strontium significantly improved egg production and feed efficiency; however, further investigation needs to be undertaken to refine the optimum level of strontium required to maximize hen performance. The interrelationship between strontium and vitamin D3 requires further exploratory study. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.

  5. Optimum processing parameters for the fabrication of twill flax fabric-reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zuhudi, Nurul Zuhairah Mahmud; Minhat, Mulia; Shamsuddin, Mohd Hafizi; Isa, Mohd Dali; Nur, Nurhayati Mohd

    2017-12-01

    In recent years, natural fabric thermoplastic composites such as flax have received much attention due to its attractive capabilities for structural applications. It is crucial to study the processing of flax fabric materials in order to achieve good quality and cost-effectiveness in fibre reinforced composites. Though flax fabric has been widely utilized for several years in composite applications due to its high strength and abundance in nature, much work has been concentrated on short flax fibre and very little work focused on using flax fabric. The effectiveness of the flax fabric is expected to give higher strength performance due to its structure but the processing needs to be optimised. Flax fabric composites were fabricated using compression moulding due to its simplicity, gives good surface finish and relatively low cost in terms of labour and production. Further, the impregnation of the polymer into the fabric is easier in this process. As the fabric weave structure contributes to the impregnation quality which leads to the overall performance, the processing parameters of consolidation i.e. pressure, time, and weight fraction of fabric were optimized using the Taguchi method. This optimization enhances the consolidation quality of the composite by improving the composite mechanical properties, three main tests were conducted i.e. tensile, flexural and impact test. It is observed that the processing parameter significantly affected the consolidation and quality of composite.

  6. Cannabinoid-like anti-inflammatory compounds from flax fiber.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Styrczewska, Monika; Kulma, Anna; Ratajczak, Katarzyna; Amarowicz, Ryszard; Szopa, Jan

    2012-09-01

    Flax is a valuable source of fibers, linseed and oil. The compounds of the latter two products have already been widely examined and have been proven to possess many health-beneficial properties. In the course of analysis of fibers extract from previously generated transgenic plants overproducing phenylpropanoids a new terpenoid compound was discovered.The UV spectra and the retention time in UPLC analysis of this new compound reveal similarity to a cannabinoid-like compound, probably cannabidiol (CBD). This was confirmed by finding two ions at m/z 174.1 and 231.2 in mass spectra analysis. Further confirmation of the nature of the compound was based on a biological activity assay. It was found that the compound affects the expression of genes involved in inflammatory processes in mouse and human fibroblasts and likely the CBD from Cannabis sativa activates the specific peripheral cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2) gene expression. Besides fibers, the compound was also found in all other flax tissues. It should be pointed out that the industrial process of fabric production does not affect CBD activity.The presented data suggest for the first time that flax products can be a source of biologically active cannabinoid-like compounds that are able to influence the cell immunological response. These findings might open up many new applications for medical flax products, especially for the fabric as a material for wound dressing with anti-inflammatory properties.

  7. Carbohydrase and phytase supplementation in diets for semi-heavy laying hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adriano Geraldo

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available This study was conducted in order to evaluate the association of phytase with an enzymatic complex comprised of carbohydrases (α-galactosidase, galactomannan, xylanase and β-glucanase in nutrition reduction diets for semi-heavy laying hens and its effect on egg performance and egg quality. Four hundred Isa Brown laying hens with 42 to 57 weeks of age were distributed in an entirely random experiment with five treatments and 8 repetitions, during five production periods of 21 days. Variables studied: egg production, feed intake, mean egg weight, feed conversion, Haugh unit, percentage of yolk, egg white and albumen, yolk color, eggshell thickness and specific gravity. There was a significant interaction (p 0.05 of treatment on production, egg weight or internal and external egg quality. Treatment effects on feed conversion showed better values for hens fed with the control diet. The levels of nutrient reduction used in the diets with or without enzyme supplementation did not provide good results with regard to feed conversion and feed intake. However, they did not affect the other parameters for egg production and internal and external egg quality.

  8. Genome-wide identification and characterization of microRNA genes and their targets in flax (Linum usitatissimum): Characterization of flax miRNA genes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barvkar, Vitthal T; Pardeshi, Varsha C; Kale, Sandip M; Qiu, Shuqing; Rollins, Meaghen; Datla, Raju; Gupta, Vidya S; Kadoo, Narendra Y

    2013-04-01

    MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small (20-24 nucleotide long) endogenous regulatory RNAs that play important roles in plant growth and development. They regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level by translational repression or target degradation and gene silencing. In this study, we identified 116 conserved miRNAs belonging to 23 families from the flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) genome using a computational approach. The precursor miRNAs varied in length; while most of the mature miRNAs were 21 nucleotide long, intergenic and showed conserved signatures of RNA polymerase II transcripts in their upstream regions. Promoter region analysis of the flax miRNA genes indicated prevalence of MYB transcription factor binding sites. Four miRNA gene clusters containing members of three phylogenetic groups were identified. Further, 142 target genes were predicted for these miRNAs and most of these represent transcriptional regulators. The miRNA encoding genes were expressed in diverse tissues as determined by digital expression analysis as well as real-time PCR. The expression of fourteen miRNAs and nine target genes was independently validated using the quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR). This study suggests that a large number of conserved plant miRNAs are also found in flax and these may play important roles in growth and development of flax.

  9. A study on the trans-crystallisation behaviour of flax fibre reinforced polypropylene composites and effect on mechanical properties

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    George, J.; Garkhail, S.K.; Wieland, B.; Peijs, A.A.J.M.; Mattoso, L.H.C.

    2000-01-01

    The effect of flax fiber reinforcement on crystn. behavior of polypropylene (PP) was investigated using a hot-stage optical microscope. To follow the crystn. kinetics, cooling rate and crystn. temps. were varied. Flax fibers with different processing history e.g. green flax, Duralin flax, alkali and

  10. Flame retardant treated flax fibre reinforced phenolic composites: Ageing and thermal characteristics

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Molaba, TP

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available In this study, flax composites were prepared from flax fabric and phenolic resin. Chemical treatments were imparted to the fabric to improve adhesion between the fabric and the phenolic matrix. Diammonium phosphate was applied to improve...

  11. Improving Tenderness of Spent Layer Hens Meat Using Papaya Leaves (Carica papaya

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. O. Abdalla, N. N. A. Ali, F. S. Siddig and S. A. M. Ali*

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Two experiments were performed to study the use of papaya leaves as a meat tenderizer. The first experiment was to evaluate the effect of papaya dry leaves added to hen’s diet before slaughter. Spent hens (n=48 were used, half of them were fed a concentrate ration containing10% dried papaya leaves powder (DPLP while others received layer ration (Control, for 10 days. The second experiment involved a comparison between papaya leaves juice (PLJ, fresh papaya leaves (FPL and vinegar solution (VS as marinades applied to meat for one or two hours before cooking. Spent layer hens (n=42 were used for tenderness evaluation method. After slaughtering and preparing the chickens two methods of cooking were used (oven and moist cooking. The cooked parts (breast, thigh and drumstick were subjected to a panel test evaluation according to a designed questionnaire. Addition of dried papaya leaves powder to spent layer hens ration significantly (P≤0.05 increased the level of meat tenderness. Moist cooking had significantly (P≤0.05 improved meat tenderization compared to oven cooking. Meat treated with fresh papaya leaves had significantly (P≤0.05 improved tenderness. It was concluded that wrapping the tough meat of spent layer hens with fresh papaya leaves for one hour and moist cooking improve tenderness of meat.

  12. Breaking sod or breaking even? Flax on the northern Great Plains and Prairies, 1889-1930.

    Science.gov (United States)

    MacFayden, Joshua D

    2009-01-01

    A new thirst for paint and color in cities made extensive flax production profitable in the northern Great Plains and Prairies and contributed to the cultivation of the most fragile grassland ecosystems. The production of flax seed for linseed oil became an early spin-off of the Prairie wheat economy but, unlike wheat, flax vanished from old land after one or two rotations and reappeared in districts with the most new breaking. Officials explained the migrant crop as preparing native grasslands for cultivation or exhausting soil in old land, but farmers brought flax to their new breaking for other reasons. Producers would only put flax on any land when a range of economic and environmental conditions were in place. It was never sown without promise of adequately high prices or in the absence of affordable seed and other inputs. When price allowed, it usually appeared on new breaking because it could be planted later and transported further without upsetting the balance of other activities and without farmers learning many new techniques. Scientists discovered that diseased soil drove flax off old land, not soil exhaustion. Circumventing the disease was possible but costly, and farmers simply replaced flax with the next most lucrative commodity.

  13. Single and Combined Impacts of Vitamin A and Selenium in Diet on Productive Performance, Egg Quality, and Some Blood Parameters of Laying Hens During Hot Season.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abd El-Hack, Mohamed E; Mahrose, Khalid; Askar, Ali A; Alagawany, Mahmoud; Arif, Muhammad; Saeed, Muhammad; Abbasi, Farzana; Soomro, Rab Nawaz; Siyal, Farman Ali; Chaudhry, Maria Tabassum

    2017-05-01

    A study was conducted using 162 Bovans laying hens to investigate the impacts of extra dietary vitamin A (0, 8000, 16,000 IU/kg), selenium (0, 0.25, 0.50 mg/kg), and their combinations on the performance, egg quality, and blood biological parameters of laying hens during summer months. Supplemental vitamin A up to 16,000 IU/kg diet significantly (P feed intake which increased with 8000 IU/kg diet compared with control. Feed intake and feed conversion of hens fed diet supplemented with selenium revealed high statistical (P = 0.001) differences. All egg quality criteria were not significantly (P hens reared under heat stress conditions.

  14. Fiber level for laying hens during the growing phase

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ednardo Rodrigues Freitas

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Feeding management of laying hens has been focused on the direct influence of nutrient intake on weight gain, especially at growing phase. This study evaluates nutrient digestibility, performance, development of the digestive tract, body composition, and bone quality of two strains of laying hens fed with different levels of neutral detergent fiber (NDF during the growing phase from the 7th to the 12th week of age. A total of 1,296 birds were distributed in a completely randomized design in a 2 x 3 factorial arrangement (two strains x three levels of NDF with four replicates of 54 birds per treatment. Semi-heavy (Hy Line Brown and light-strain (Lohman LSL pullets were allotted to dietary treatments consisting of 14.50, 16.50, and 18.50% NDF. An interaction between strains and NDF levels was observed only for feed/gain ratio and light-strain pullets had lower performance with 18.50% NDF. The increasing levels of NDF in the diet reduced the coefficients of digestibility of dry matter, nitrogen and gross energy, and the values of metabolizable energy. Higher levels of NDF in the diet increased the relative weight of liver and intestines and reduced gizzard weight. It was also observed differences between bone quality and composition of the femur and tibia of light and semi-heavy hens. The increase in NDF level in ration for growing phase laying hens above 14.50% decreases the nutrient digestibility and the metabolizable energy of the diet; however, it does not affect the carcass composition, bone quality, feed intake, and weight gain, although it may impair feed conversion of light-strain pullets.

  15. Phosphorus and phytase levels for layer hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juliana Cristina Ramos Rezende

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this research was to evaluate the performance and bone quality of laying hens after peak production fed diets containing phosphorus levels and phytase. An experiment was conducted with 384 Hy-line distributed in a completely randomized in a factorial 4 x 3 with 4 levels of available phosphorus and 3 levels of phytase. The experimental period was divided into four periods of 28 days, at the end of each cycle were determined experimental feed intake, egg production, egg weight, feed conversion, mortality, and average egg weight, shell thickness, Haugh units and specific gravity. At the end of the experimental period were determined amounts of calcium and phosphorus excreted by the method of total excreta collection and a fowl per experimental unit was sacrificed for collection of bones and evaluation of width, length and level of robustness from femur and tibia. There was interaction between phosphorus levels and phytase on feed intake, feed conversion and percentage of posture. For inclusion levels of phytase all egg quality variables showed no significant differences. The treatments did not affect bone characteristics of laying hens.

  16. Genome-wide analysis of drought induced gene expression changes in flax (Linum usitatissimum).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dash, Prasanta K; Cao, Yongguo; Jailani, Abdul K; Gupta, Payal; Venglat, Prakash; Xiang, Daoquan; Rai, Rhitu; Sharma, Rinku; Thirunavukkarasu, Nepolean; Abdin, Malik Z; Yadava, Devendra K; Singh, Nagendra K; Singh, Jas; Selvaraj, Gopalan; Deyholos, Mike; Kumar, Polumetla Ananda; Datla, Raju

    2014-01-01

    A robust phenotypic plasticity to ward off adverse environmental conditions determines performance and productivity in crop plants. Flax (linseed), is an important cash crop produced for natural textile fiber (linen) or oilseed with many health promoting products. This crop is prone to drought stress and yield losses in many parts of the world. Despite recent advances in drought research in a number of important crops, related progress in flax is very limited. Since, response of this plant to drought stress has not been addressed at the molecular level; we conducted microarray analysis to capture transcriptome associated with induced drought in flax. This study identified 183 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with diverse cellular, biophysical and metabolic programs in flax. The analysis also revealed especially the altered regulation of cellular and metabolic pathways governing photosynthesis. Additionally, comparative transcriptome analysis identified a plethora of genes that displayed differential regulation both spatially and temporally. These results revealed co-regulated expression of 26 genes in both shoot and root tissues with implications for drought stress response. Furthermore, the data also showed that more genes are upregulated in roots compared to shoots, suggesting that roots may play important and additional roles in response to drought in flax. With prolonged drought treatment, the number of DEGs increased in both tissue types. Differential expression of selected genes was confirmed by qRT-PCR, thus supporting the suggested functional association of these intrinsic genes in maintaining growth and homeostasis in response to imminent drought stress in flax. Together the present study has developed foundational and new transcriptome data sets for drought stress in flax.

  17. Engineering and characterisation of the interface in flax/polypropylene composite materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zafeiropoulos, Nikolaos Evangelos

    2001-01-01

    The main objectives of the present PhD project were to study the interface in flax/iPP composites, to develop and optimise an appropriate surface treatment for improving the interface in flax/iPP composites, and to assess the effect of the applied surface treatments on the properties of flax fibres (both physical and chemical). Two surface treatments, acetylation and stearation, were developed and optimised in the present study. The effect of these two surface treatments upon the structure of flax fibres was studied using XRD, SEM, ATR-FTIR, ToF-SIMS, XPS, IGC, DVS and single fibre tensile testing. It was found that the treatments did not significantly change the fibre strength, but they altered the fibre surface characteristics (chemical and physical). The water absorption was also significantly reduced after treatment, especially for green (as-received) flax, as was shown using DVS. In all cases the fibre surfaces were found to be very heterogeneous (from a chemistry point of view). The effect of the treatments and the processing conditions on the interfacial bond was studied using the single fibre fragmentation test, and it was shown that both treatments resulted in a stronger interface. The development of transcrystallinity was also found to produce a stronger interface, along with the use of slower cooling rates. However, an examination of the tensile properties of short flax fibre composites revealed that acetylation did not significantly change the tensile strength, in comparison with the untreated fibres, probably due to the manufacturing route followed in the present study that resulted in fibre lengths lower than the critical length. SEM post-mortem examination of the composites' fractured surfaces revealed that acetylation improved adhesion with iPP. (author)

  18. Identification of cell wall proteins in the flax (Linum usitatissimum) stem.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Day, Arnaud; Fénart, Stéphane; Neutelings, Godfrey; Hawkins, Simon; Rolando, Christian; Tokarski, Caroline

    2013-03-01

    Sequential salt (CaCl2 , LiCl) extractions were used to obtain fractions enriched in cell wall proteins (CWPs) from the stem of 60-day-old flax (Linum usitatissimum) plants. High-resolution FT-ICR MS analysis and the use of recently published genomic data allowed the identification of 11 912 peptides corresponding to a total of 1418 different proteins. Subcellular localization using TargetP, Predotar, and WoLF PSORT led to the identification of 152 putative flax CWPs that were classified into nine different functional classes previously established for Arabidopsis thaliana. Examination of different functional classes revealed the presence of a number of proteins known to be involved in, or potentially involved in cell-wall metabolism in plants. The flax stem cell wall proteome was also compared with transcriptomic data previously obtained on comparable samples. This study represents a major contribution to the identification of CWPs in flax and will lead to a better understanding of cell wall biology in this species. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  19. [Cellulose synthase genes that control the fiber formation of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.)].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galinovskiĭ, D V; Anisimova, N V; Raĭskiĭ, A P; Leont'ev, V N; Titok, V V; Hotyleva, L V

    2014-01-01

    Four cellulose synthase genes were identified by analysis of their class-specific regions (CSRII) in plants of fiber flax during the "rapid growth" stage. These genes were designated as LusCesA1, LusCesA4, LusCesA7 and LusCesA9. LusCesA4, LusCesA7, and LusCesA9 genes were expressed in the stem; LusCesA1 and LusCesA4 genes were expressed in the apex part of plants, and the LusCesA4 gene was expressed in the leaves of fiber flax. The expression of the LusCesA7 and LusCesA9 genes was specific to the stems of fiber flax. These genes may influence the quality of the flax fiber.

  20. Effect of Atmospheric Pressure Plasma and Subsequent Enzymatic Treatment on Flax Fabrics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhong Shaofeng; Yang Bin; Ou Qiongrong

    2015-01-01

    The objective is to investigate the effect of atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge (APDBD) plasma and subsequent cellulase enzyme treatment on the properties of flax fabrics. The changes of surface morphology and structure, physico-mechanical properties, hydrophilicity, bending properties, whiteness, and dyeing properties of the treated substrate were investigated. The results indicated that atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge plasma pre-treatment and subsequent cellulase enzyme treatment could diminish the hairiness of flax fabrics, endowing the flax fabrics with good bending properties, water uptake and fiber accessibility while keeping their good mechanical properties compared with those treated with cellulase enzyme alone. (paper)

  1. Assessing the Environmental Impact of Flax Fibre Reinforced Polymer Composite from a Consequential Life Cycle Assessment Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yelin Deng

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The study implements the consequential life cycle assessment (CLCA to provide a market based perspective on how overall environmental impact will change when shifting glass fibres to flax fibres as reinforcements in composite fabrication. With certain assumptions, the marginal flax fibre supply is identified to be a combination of Chinese flax fibre (70% and French flax fibre (30%. Due to inferior cultivars and coal-fired electricity in Chinese flax cultivation, the CLCA study reveals that flax mat-PP has 0.8–2 times higher environmental impact values than the glass mat-PP in most environmental impact categories over the production and end-of-life (EoL phases. For purpose of providing potential trajectories of marginal flax fibre supply, additional scenarios: the “all French fibre”, and “all Chinese fibre” are evaluated formulating the lower and upper boundaries in terms of environmental impact change, respectively. A “the attributional fibre supply mix” scenario is supplied as well. All of these scenarios are useful for policy analysis.

  2. EGG QUALITY AND HATCHABILITY OF In situ - REARED KEDU AND CEMANI HENS FED DIET OF FARMER FORMULATION SUPPLEMENTED WITH VITAMIN E

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H.I. Wahyuni

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available The aim of study was to evaluate the effect of dietary vitamin E supplementation in Kedu andCemani hens reraed in situ and given farmer-formulated diet on egg performances. A total of 120 femaleand 24 male birds were equally divided into two groups of Kedu and Cemani, with average body weightof 1890+216.79 and 1830+396.23 g, respectively. Basal ration was based on the diet formulated by thefarmer (R1 consisting of corn (30%, rice bran (50%, protein concentrate (15%, and premix (5%.Dietary treatments evaluated were R1 (without additional vitamin E, and the other three were theinclusion of DL α-tocopheryl acetate into the R1 diet up to 2 (R2, 4 (R3 and 6 IU (R4. The experimentwas arranged in a Randomized Block Design with 4 treatments, and 2 different groups of hen (Kedu andCemani were assigned as block. Parameters observed were feed consumption, hen day production, feedconversion ratio, egg quality, fertility, and hatchability. The result showed that vitamin Esupplementation did not affect whatever parameters, except egg fertility. Egg hatchability between Keduand Cemani hens was significantly different (p<0.05. Trend comparison test indicated significantlylinear (p<0.05 for fertility and hatchability. In conclusion, vitamin E supplementation up to 6 IUincreased linearly egg fertility and hatchability of about 5-8%, and egg hatchability of Kedu hens washigher (11% than that of Cemani.

  3. Properties and performance of flax yarn/thermoplastic polyester composites

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Bo; Mehmood, Shahid

    2012-01-01

    Aiming at demonstrating the potential of unidirectional natural fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites in structural applications, textile flax yarn/thermoplastic polyester composites with variable fiber volume fractions have been manufactured by a filament-winding process followed by a vacuum......-assisted compression molding process. The microstructure of the composites shows that the flax fiber yarns are well impregnated by the polyester matrix, and this supports the measured low porosity content of the composites. The experimental tensile modulus and ultimate tensile stress of the composites in the axial...

  4. Catalytic subcritical water liquefaction of flax straw for high yield of furfural

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harry, Inibehe; Ibrahim, Hussameldin; Thring, Ron; Idem, Raphael

    2014-01-01

    There is substantial interest in the application of biomass as a renewable fuel or for production of chemicals. Flax straw can be converted into valuable chemicals and biofuels via liquefaction in sub-critical water. In this study, the yield of furfural and the kinetics of flax straw liquefaction under sub-critical water conditions were investigated using a high-pressure autoclave reactor. The liquefaction was conducted in the temperature range of 175–325 °C, pressure of 0.1 MPa–8 MPa, retention time in the range of 0 min–120 min, and flax straw mass fraction (w F ) of 5–20 %. Also, the effect of acid catalysts on furfural yield was studied. The kinetic parameters of flax straw liquefaction were determined using nonlinear regression of the experimental data, assuming second-order kinetics. The apparent activation energy was found to be 27.97 kJ mol −1 while the reaction order was 2.0. The optimum condition for furfural yield was at 250 °C, 6.0 MPa, w F of 5% and 0 retention time after reaching set conditions. An acid catalyst was found to selectively favour furfural yield with 40% flax straw conversion. - Highlights: • Flax straw liquefaction in subcritical water. • Creation of a reaction pathway that can be used to optimized furfural production. • Acid catalyst selectively favoured furfural yield with respect to other liquid products. • At the highest process temperature of 325 °C, a carbon conversion of 40% was achieved. • Activation energy and reaction order was 28 kJ/mol and 2.0 respectively

  5. Identification, characterization and distribution of transposable elements in the flax (Linum usitatissimum L. genome

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    González Leonardo Galindo

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Flax (Linum usitatissimum L. is an important crop for the production of bioproducts derived from its seed and stem fiber. Transposable elements (TEs are widespread in plant genomes and are a key component of their evolution. The availability of a genome assembly of flax (Linum usitatissimum affords new opportunities to explore the diversity of TEs and their relationship to genes and gene expression. Results Four de novo repeat identification algorithms (PILER, RepeatScout, LTR_finder and LTR_STRUC were applied to the flax genome assembly. The resulting library of flax repeats was combined with the RepBase Viridiplantae division and used with RepeatMasker to identify TEs coverage in the genome. LTR retrotransposons were the most abundant TEs (17.2% genome coverage, followed by Long Interspersed Nuclear Element (LINE retrotransposons (2.10% and Mutator DNA transposons (1.99%. Comparison of putative flax TEs to flax transcript databases indicated that TEs are not highly expressed in flax. However, the presence of recent insertions, defined by 100% intra-element LTR similarity, provided evidence for recent TE activity. Spatial analysis showed TE-rich regions, gene-rich regions as well as regions with similar genes and TE density. Monte Carlo simulations for the 71 largest scaffolds (≥ 1 Mb each did not show any regional differences in the frequency of TE overlap with gene coding sequences. However, differences between TE superfamilies were found in their proximity to genes. Genes within TE-rich regions also appeared to have lower transcript expression, based on EST abundance. When LTR elements were compared, Copia showed more diversity, recent insertions and conserved domains than the Gypsy, demonstrating their importance in genome evolution. Conclusions The calculated 23.06% TE coverage of the flax WGS assembly is at the low end of the range of TE coverages reported in other eudicots, although this estimate does not include

  6. Identification, characterization and distribution of transposable elements in the flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) genome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    González, Leonardo Galindo; Deyholos, Michael K

    2012-11-21

    Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) is an important crop for the production of bioproducts derived from its seed and stem fiber. Transposable elements (TEs) are widespread in plant genomes and are a key component of their evolution. The availability of a genome assembly of flax (Linum usitatissimum) affords new opportunities to explore the diversity of TEs and their relationship to genes and gene expression. Four de novo repeat identification algorithms (PILER, RepeatScout, LTR_finder and LTR_STRUC) were applied to the flax genome assembly. The resulting library of flax repeats was combined with the RepBase Viridiplantae division and used with RepeatMasker to identify TEs coverage in the genome. LTR retrotransposons were the most abundant TEs (17.2% genome coverage), followed by Long Interspersed Nuclear Element (LINE) retrotransposons (2.10%) and Mutator DNA transposons (1.99%). Comparison of putative flax TEs to flax transcript databases indicated that TEs are not highly expressed in flax. However, the presence of recent insertions, defined by 100% intra-element LTR similarity, provided evidence for recent TE activity. Spatial analysis showed TE-rich regions, gene-rich regions as well as regions with similar genes and TE density. Monte Carlo simulations for the 71 largest scaffolds (≥ 1 Mb each) did not show any regional differences in the frequency of TE overlap with gene coding sequences. However, differences between TE superfamilies were found in their proximity to genes. Genes within TE-rich regions also appeared to have lower transcript expression, based on EST abundance. When LTR elements were compared, Copia showed more diversity, recent insertions and conserved domains than the Gypsy, demonstrating their importance in genome evolution. The calculated 23.06% TE coverage of the flax WGS assembly is at the low end of the range of TE coverages reported in other eudicots, although this estimate does not include TEs likely found in unassembled repetitive regions of

  7. Effect of dietary supplementation of Ligustrum lucidum on performance, egg quality and blood biochemical parameters of Hy-Line Brown hens during the late laying period.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, X L; He, W L; Yang, M L; Yan, Y M; Xue, Y H; Zhao, S T

    2017-11-01

    The fruit of Ligustrum lucidum (FLL, Nuzhenzi in Chinese) is an important traditional medicine, and have attracted significant research attention because of their various biological activities. However, there are few research reports available on the use of FLL as a feed additive in livestock nutrition, particularly in layers. This study was conducted to determine the effects of supplementation of the diet of laying hens with FLL on laying performance, egg quality and blood metabolites. A total of 360 72-week-old hens were allocated to three dietary treatments (eight replications of 15 hens/treatment group) and were fed either a control diet or a diet supplemented with an inclusion level of 0.25% or 0.50% of FLL powder in the final feed, until 78 weeks of age. Hens were housed in a three-tier cage system. Feed and water were provided ad libitum. Blood samples and eggs were collected at the end of the experiment. The results showed that dietary supplementation with FLL did not affect egg weight, feed conversion ratio, eggshell thickness, albumen height, egg yolk color, eggshell breaking strength or egg shape index. However, FLL supplementation significantly decreased (Phens fed FLL compared with the control group. It can be concluded that FLL, at a supplementation level of 0.25% final feed, can be used as an effective feed additive to improve the performance of laying hens during the late laying period.

  8. Effect of Different Levels of L-Carnitine on the Productive Performance, Egg Quality, Blood Parameters and Egg Yolk Cholesterol in Laying Hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kazemi-Fard M

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of different levels of L-carnitine on productive performance, egg quality and blood parameters in laying hens. Forty-eight Hy-Line W-36 egg Layers were weighed at 90 weeks of age and randomly allocated into 16 cages (three hens per cage. Four dietary treatments were prepared by supplementing L-carnitine (0, 50, 100 and 150 mg/kg of diet to corn-soybean meal diet and offered ad libitum to hens. After two weeks of acclimatization, the eggs were weighed daily and feed intake as well as egg quality traits were measured biweekly. At the end of the experiment, two hens from each cage were selected to determine blood parameters and two eggs from each replicate were collected for cholesterol analysis. Results showed that L-carnitine supplementation at 100 and 150 mg/kg significantly increased egg production and egg mass, but decreased yolk cholesterol content. Laying hens receiving diet containing 50 mg/kg L-carnitine had significantly higher Hough unit, but lower progesterone than the hens fed control diet (P < 0.05. The results of this study showed that supplementing hens' diet with L-carnitine had beneficial effects on productive performance and decreased yolk cholesterol concentration; so it can be used as an effective supplement in the diet of laying hens.

  9. Effects of feeding transgenic corn with mCry1Ac or maroACC gene to laying hens for 12 weeks on growth, egg quality and organ health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhong, R Q; Chen, L; Gao, L X; Zhang, L L; Yao, B; Yang, X G; Zhang, H F

    2016-08-01

    The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of feeding two transgenic corn lines containing the mCry1Ac gene from Bacillus thuringiensis strain (BT-799) and the maroACC gene from Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain (CC-2), respectively, on growth, egg quality and organ health indicators. Expression of the mCry1Ac gene confers resistance to Pyrausta nubilalis and the maroACC gene confers tolerance to herbicides. Healthy hens (n=96 placed in cages; 3 hens/cage) were randomly assigned to one of four corn-soybean meal dietary treatments (8 cages/treatment) formulated with the following corn: non-transgenic near-isoline control corn (control), BT-799 corn, CC-2 corn and commercially available non-transgenic reference corn (reference). The experiment was divided into three 4-week phases (week 1 to 4, week 5 to 8 and week 9 to 12), during which hens were fed mash diets. Performance (BW, feed intake and egg production) and egg quality were determined. Following slaughter at the end of 12 weeks of feeding (n=8/treatment), carcass yield and organ weights (heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidneys, stomach and ovary) were recorded; organs and intestines were sampled for histological analysis. Analysis of serum biochemistry parameters to assess the liver and kidney function were performed. No differences in BW, egg production and production efficiency were observed between hens consuming the control diet and hens consuming the BT-799 or CC-2 diet. Haugh unit measures and egg component weights were similar between the control and test groups. Carcass yield was not affected by the diet treatment. Similar organosomatic indices and serum parameters did not indicate the characteristics of organ dysfunction. All observed values of the BT-799 and CC-2 groups were within the calculated tolerance intervals. This research indicates that the performance, egg quality, organ health and carcass yield of laying hens fed diets containing the BT-799 or CC-2 corn line were similar

  10. The influence of stages of maturity on the agronomic traits of fibre flax introduced varieties

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jasminka Butorac

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The harvest time of fibre flax is influenced by climatic conditions, varieties, stages of maturity and the crop’s final use. In addition, the time of harvesting of fibre flax affects the quality of the fibres. Fibre flax can be harvested in few stages of maturity. So, this paper presents the influence of three stages of maturity (green, yellow and full ripening on the agronomic traits (stem yield, stem yield after retting, total fibre yield, share of total fibre, long fibre yield, share of long fibre of five fibre flax varieties. Varieties trials with fibre flax were set up in two years (2010-2011 and in two locations: at the experimental fields of the Faculty of Agriculture in Zagreb on eutric cambisol and of the College of Agriculture at Križevci on pseudogley on level terrain. The trials were carried out according to the randomized complete block design (RCBD with four replications. According to the results of the two-years research into the agronomic traits of fibre flax, significant differences were established among the varieties and among the stages of maturity under study. The varieties Agatha, Viola and Electra recorded higher values of investigated traits. All varieties achieved higher values of investigated traits at Križevci (production on heavier soil in which some of winter moisture remained available in spring months. The highest values of investigated traits were recorded when the fibre flax were harvested in the green ripening.

  11. Manipulating cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) expression in flax affects fibre composition and properties

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-01-01

    Background In recent decades cultivation of flax and its application have dramatically decreased. One of the reasons for this is unpredictable quality and properties of flax fibre, because they depend on environmental factors, retting duration and growing conditions. These factors have contribution to the fibre composition, which consists of cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin and pectin. By far, it is largely established that in flax, lignin reduces an accessibility of enzymes either to pectin, hemicelluloses or cellulose (during retting or in biofuel synthesis and paper production). Therefore, in this study we evaluated composition and properties of flax fibre from plants with silenced CAD (cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase) gene, which is key in the lignin biosynthesis. There is evidence that CAD is a useful tool to improve lignin digestibility and/or to lower the lignin levels in plants. Results Two studied lines responded differentially to the introduced modification due to the efficiency of the CAD silencing. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that flax CAD belongs to the “bona-fide” CAD family. CAD down-regulation had an effect in the reduced lignin amount in the flax fibre cell wall and as FT-IR results suggests, disturbed lignin composition and structure. Moreover introduced modification activated a compensatory mechanism which was manifested in the accumulation of cellulose and/or pectin. These changes had putative correlation with observed improved fiber’s tensile strength. Moreover, CAD down-regulation did not disturb at all or has only slight effect on flax plants’ development in vivo, however, the resistance against flax major pathogen Fusarium oxysporum decreased slightly. The modification positively affected fibre possessing; it resulted in more uniform retting. Conclusion The major finding of our paper is that the modification targeted directly to block lignin synthesis caused not only reduced lignin level in fibre, but also affected amount and

  12. Effect of feeding low-fiber fraction of air-classified sunflower (Helianthus annus L.) meal on laying hen productive performance and egg yolk cholesterol.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laudadio, V; Ceci, E; Lastella, N M B; Tufarelli, V

    2014-11-01

    The present study was designed to determine the effect on laying performance and egg quality resulting from total substitution of soybean meal (SBM) with low-fiber sunflower meal (SFM; Helianthus annus L.) meal in diet of hens. ISA Brown layers, 28 wk of age, were randomly allocated to 2 dietary treatments and fed for 10 wk. The hens were kept in a free-range environment and fed 2 wheat middling-based diets consisting of a control diet, which contained SBM (153 g/kg of diet), and a test diet containing low-fiber SFM (160 g/kg of diet) as the main protein source. Each dietary treatment was replicated 4 times. Low-fiber SFM was obtained by a combination of sieving and air classification processes. Feed consumption was recorded daily and egg production was calculated on a hen-day basis; eggs from each group were collected weekly to evaluate egg components and quality. The total substitution of SBM with low-fiber SFM had no adverse effect on growth performance of laying hens. Egg production and none of egg quality traits examined were influenced by dietary treatment, except for yolk color (P eggs (P egg yolk total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations (P egg quality and to develop low-cholesterol eggs. ©2014 Poultry Science Association Inc.

  13. Comparative study of DL-selenomethionine vs sodium selenite and seleno-yeast on antioxidant activity and selenium status in laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jing, C L; Dong, X F; Wang, Z M; Liu, S; Tong, J M

    2015-05-01

    The aim of this study was to compare the effect of DL-selenomethionine (SM) with 2 routinely used Se sources, sodium selenite (SS) and seleno-yeast (SY), on relative bioavailability based on antioxidant activity and tissue Se content. Six hundred thirty 131-day-old brown laying hens were randomly assigned to 7 treatments for 168 d (24 wks) with 6 replicates of 15 hens per replicate. The SS and SY animals were supplemented a cornmeal and soybean diet that supplied a total Se 0.3 mg/kg whereas SM was added at 4 different levels to the total Se at 0.1, 0.3, 0.5 and 0.7 mg/kg. All hens fed the Se-supplemented diet showed higher glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity (P < 0.01), higher superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity (P < 0.05), lower malondialdehyde (MDA) content (P < 0.05) in plasma, and greater Se contents in egg yolks, albumen, leg muscle, breast muscle, liver, and plasma compared with those fed the control diet (P < 0.01). The organic sources (SY and SM) exhibited a greater ability to increase the GSH-Px activity (P < 0.01) and Se content in albumen (P < 0.01), leg, and breast muscles (P = 0.0099 and P = 0.0014, respectively) than the SS that was added at 0.3 mg Se/kg. The higher SM added levels increased the GSH-Px activity until the dose of 0.5mg Se/kg (P < 0.01).The greater Se concentrations in albumen, muscle and liver appeared in the higher SM-added level, as well as above the dose of 0.1 mg Se/kg (P < 0.01). In addition, hens fed the diet with SM accumulated more Se in albumen, leg, and breast muscle than those fed diets with SY (P < 0.05). These results confirmed the higher ability of organic Se sources to increase the antioxidant activity and Se deposition in egg albumen, leg, and breast muscles compared with SS, and demonstrated a significantly better efficiency of SM compared with SY for albumen and muscle Se enrichment. © 2015 Poultry Science Association Inc.

  14. Effects of feed-borne Fusarium mycotoxins on hematology and immunology of laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chowdhury, S R; Smith, T K; Boermans, H J; Woodward, B

    2005-12-01

    Feeding grains naturally contaminated with Fusarium mycotoxins has been shown to alter metabolism and performance of laying hens. The objectives of the current experiment were to examine the effects of feeding grains naturally contaminated with Fusarium mycotoxins on hematology and immunological indices and functions of laying hens and the possible protective effect of feeding a polymeric glucomannan mycotoxin adsorbent (GMA). One hundred forty-four laying hens were fed for 12 wk with diets formulated with (1) uncontaminated grains, (2) contaminated grains, or (3) contaminated grains + 0.2% GMA. Fusarium mycotoxins such as deoxynivalenol (DON, 12 mg/kg), 15-acetyl-DON (0.5 mg/kg), and zearalenone (0.6 mg/kg) were identified in the contaminated diets arising from contaminated grains grown in Ontario, Canada. The concentrations of DON arising from naturally contaminated grains in this study were similar to purified mycotoxin fed to experimental mice. The chronic feeding of Fusarium mycotoxins induced small decreases in hematocrit values, total numbers of white blood cells, lymphocytes including both CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes, and biliary IgA concentration. Supplementation of diets containing feedborne mycotoxins with GMA prevented the reduction in total number of B lymphocytes in the peripheral blood and the reduction in biliary IgA concentration. In addition, the delayed-type hypersensitivity response to dinitrochlorobenzene was increased by feed-borne mycotoxins, whereas IgG and IgM antibody titers to sheep red blood cells were not affected by diet. We concluded that chronic consumption of grains naturally contaminated with Fusarium mycotoxins at levels likely to be encountered in practice were not systemically immunosuppressive or hematotoxic; however, mucosal immunocompetence needs to be explored further.

  15. Improvement of Aluminum-Air Battery Performances by the Application of Flax Straw Extract.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grishina, Ekaterina; Gelman, Danny; Belopukhov, Sergey; Starosvetsky, David; Groysman, Alec; Ein-Eli, Yair

    2016-08-23

    The effect of a flax straw extract on Al corrosion inhibition in a strong alkaline solution was studied by using electrochemical measurements, weight-loss analysis, SEM, and FTIR spectroscopy. Flax straw extract added (3 vol %) to the 5 m KOH solution to act as a mixed-type Al corrosion inhibitor. The electrochemistry of Al in the presence of a flax straw extract in the alkaline solution, the effect of the extract on the Al morphology and surface films formed, and the corrosion inhibition mechanism are discussed. Finally, the Al-air battery discharge capacity recorded from a cell that used the flax straw extract in the alkaline electrolyte is substantially higher than that with only a pure alkaline electrolyte. This improved sustainability of the Al anode is attributed to Al corrosion inhibition and, consequently, to hydrogen evolution suppression. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  16. Natural phenolics greatly increase flax (Linum usitatissimum) oil stability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hasiewicz-Derkacz, Karolina; Kulma, Anna; Czuj, Tadeusz; Prescha, Anna; Żuk, Magdalena; Grajzer, Magdalena; Łukaszewicz, Marcin; Szopa, Jan

    2015-06-30

    Flaxseed oil is characterized by high content of essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) promoted as a human dietary supplement protecting against atherosclerosis. The disadvantage of the high PUFA content in flax oil is high susceptibility to oxidation, which can result in carcinogenic compound formation. Linola flax cultivar is characterized by high linoleic acid content in comparison to traditional flax cultivars rich in linolenic acid. The changes in fatty acid proportions increase oxidative stability of Linola oil and broaden its use as an edible oil for cooking. However one of investigated transgenic lines has high ALA content making it suitable as omega-3 source. Protection of PUFA oxidation is a critical factor in oil quality. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of phenylpropanoid contents on the oil properties important during the whole technological process from seed storage to grinding and oil pressing, which may influence health benefits as well as shelf-life, and to establish guidelines for the selection of new cultivars. The composition of oils was determined by chromatographic (GS-FID and LC-PDA-MS) methods. Antioxidant properties of secondary metabolites were analyzed by DPPH method. The stability of oils was investigated: a) during regular storage by measuring acid value peroxide value p-anisidine value malondialdehyde, conjugated dienes and trienes; b) by using accelerated rancidity tests by TBARS reaction; c) by thermoanalytical - differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). In one approach, in order to increase oil stability, exogenous substances added are mainly lipid soluble antioxidants from the isoprenoid pathway, such as tocopherol and carotene. The other approach is based on transgenic plant generation that accumulates water soluble compounds. Increased accumulation of phenolic compounds in flax seeds was achieved by three different strategies that modify genes coding for enzymes from the phenylpropanoid pathway. The three

  17. Proteome profiling of flax (Linum usitatissimum) seed: characterization of functional metabolic pathways operating during seed development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barvkar, Vitthal T; Pardeshi, Varsha C; Kale, Sandip M; Kadoo, Narendra Y; Giri, Ashok P; Gupta, Vidya S

    2012-12-07

    Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) seeds are an important source of food and feed due to the presence of various health promoting compounds, making it a nutritionally and economically important plant. An in-depth analysis of the proteome of developing flax seed is expected to provide significant information with respect to the regulation and accumulation of such storage compounds. Therefore, a proteomic analysis of seven seed developmental stages (4, 8, 12, 16, 22, 30, and 48 days after anthesis) in a flax variety, NL-97 was carried out using a combination of 1D-SDS-PAGE and LC-MSE methods. A total 1716 proteins were identified and their functional annotation revealed that a majority of them were involved in primary metabolism, protein destination, storage and energy. Three carbon assimilatory pathways appeared to operate in flax seeds. Reverse transcription quantitative PCR of selected 19 genes was carried out to understand their roles during seed development. Besides storage proteins, methionine synthase, RuBisCO and S-adenosylmethionine synthetase were highly expressed transcripts, highlighting their importance in flax seed development. Further, the identified proteins were mapped onto developmental seed specific expressed sequence tag (EST) libraries of flax to obtain transcriptional evidence and 81% of them had detectable expression at the mRNA level. This study provides new insights into the complex seed developmental processes operating in flax.

  18. Effects of carbohydrase enzyme supplementation on performance, eggshell quality, and bone parameters of laying hens fed on maize- and wheat-based diets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olgun, Osman; Altay, Y; Yildiz, Alp O

    2018-04-01

    1. This study was conducted to determine the effects of enzyme supplementation of maize/wheat-based diets on the performance, egg quality, and serum and bone parameters of laying hens. 2. During the 12-week experimental period, a total of 72 laying hens aged 52 weeks were randomly distributed among 6 experimental groups. Each experimental group contained 4 replicates, each with three birds. The experiment was a randomised design consisting of a 3 × 2 factorial arrangement, with three levels of wheat substitution and two levels of enzyme (xylanase: 1500.00 U/kg, β-glucanase: 100 000 U/kg, cellulase: 1 000 000 U/kg, α-amylase: 160 000 U/kg) inclusion in the diet. Wheat replaced 0, 50, or 100% of maize with or without 1.0 g/kg enzyme supplementation in iso-nitrogenous and iso-caloric experimental diets. 3. Body weight, egg production, egg weight, egg mass, eggshell thickness, and the feed conversion ratio were adversely affected by the wheat-based diet. The eggshell quality parameters decreased with enzyme supplementation to the diet. 4. Wheat-based diets adversely affected calcium and phosphorus concentrations in the tibia, but the addition of the enzymes to the wheat-based diet prevented the negative effects of wheat-based diets on tibia mineralisation in laying hens. The wheat-based diets tended to reduce plasma mineral contents, and the addition of enzymes tended to affect plasma minerals and biomechanical properties of the tibia positively in laying hens. 5. These results indicate that wheat-based diets in aged laying hens adversely affected the mineral metabolism compared with maize-based diets, and the negative effects of wheat on bone mineralisation can be prevented by enzyme supplementation to the diets in laying hens.

  19. Effect of light-emitting diode vs. fluorescent lighting on laying hens in aviary hen houses: Part 1 - Operational characteristics of lights and production traits of hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Long, H; Zhao, Y; Wang, T; Ning, Z; Xin, H

    2016-01-01

    Light-emitting diode (LED) lights are becoming more affordable for agricultural applications. Despite many lab-scale studies concerning impact of LED on poultry, little research has been documented under field production conditions, especially for laying hens. This 15-month field study was carried out to evaluate the effects of LED vs. fluorescent (FL) lights on laying hens (Dekalb white breed) using 4 (2 pairs) aviary hen houses each at a nominal capacity of 50,000 hens. The evaluation was done regarding operational characteristics of the lights and hen production traits. The results show that spatial distribution of the LED light was less uniform than that of the FL light. Light intensity of the LED light decreased by 27% after 3,360 h use but remained quite steady from 3,360 to 5,760 h use. Eleven out of 762 (1.44%) LED lamps (new at onset of the study) in the 2 houses failed during the 15-month experiment period. The neck area of the LED lamp was hottest, presumably the primary reason for the lamp failure as cracks were noticed in the neck region of all failed LED lamps. No differences were observed in egg weight, hen-day egg production, feed use, and mortality rate between LED and FL regimens. However, hens under the FL had higher eggs per hen housed and better feed conversion than those under the LED during 20 to 70 wk production (P Hens under the LED tended to have less feather uniformity and insulation than those under the FL (P hens under the LED showed a larger median avoidance distance than those under the FL at 36 wk age (P hens under the LED were more alert; but no difference at 60 wk age. More comparative research to quantify behavioral and production responses of different breeds of hens to LED vs. FL lighting seems warranted. © 2015 Poultry Science Association Inc.

  20. Production of flax fibers for biocomposites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Natural fibers for many and varied industrial uses are a current area of intense interest. Production of these fibers, furthermore, can add to farmer incomes and promote agricultural sustainability. Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.), which has been used for thousands of years, is unparalleled in supplyi...

  1. Dietary supplementation with sodium bicarbonate improves calcium absorption and eggshell quality of laying hens during peak production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, M J; Zhao, J P; Jiao, H C; Wang, X J; Zhang, Q; Lin, H

    2015-01-01

    The advantage of supplemental sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) on eggshell quality in laying hens changes with age. Besides increasing calcium (Ca) secretion in the eggshell gland, it may improve Ca absorption in the intestine or kidney. Hy-Line Brown layers (n = 384), 25 weeks of age, were allocated to two treatment groups in two experiments, each of which included 4 replicates of 24 hens. Hens were fed a basal diet (control) or the basal diet containing 3 g NaHCO3 g/kg for 50 or 20 weeks in Experiment 1 or 2, respectively. A 24-h continuous lighting regimen was used to allow hens to consume the dietary supplements during the period of active eggshell formation. In Experiment 1, particularly from 25 to 50 weeks of age, and in Experiment 2, NaHCO3 supplementation favoured hen-d egg production at the expense of lower egg weight. The increased eggshell thickness should have nothing to do with the additional eggshell formation, because of the unchanged egg mass and daily eggshell calcification. At 35 weeks of age in both experiments, NaHCO3 supplementation increased duodenal expression of calbindin-d28k (CaBP-D28k) protein, contributing to higher Ca retention and balance. From 50 to 75 weeks of age in Experiment 1, the hens had little response to NaHCO3 supplementation and showed a negative trend on eggshell thickness and strength. It is concluded that dietary supplementation with 3 g NaHCO3 g/kg improves Ca absorption and eggshell quality of laying hens during the peak but not late production period, with the introduction of continuous lighting.

  2. POTENTIAL USE OF GRAFT COPOLYMERS OF MERCERIZED FLAX AS FILLER IN POLYSTYRENE COMPOSITE MATERIALS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Susheel Kalia

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available Graft copolymerization of binary vinyl monomers onto mercerized flax fiber was carried out for the enhancement of mechanical properties of polystyrene composites. Binary vinyl monomer mixture of AA+AN has been found to show maximum grafting (33.55% onto mercerized flax. Graft copolymers thus synthesized were characterized with FT-IR spectroscopy, SEM, and TGA techniques. Mercerized flax (MF showed maximum thermal stability in comparison to graft copolymers. It has been found that polystyrene composites reinforced with graft copolymers showed improvement in mechanical properties such as wear resistance, compressive strength, and tensile strength.

  3. Reflection of serum immunoglobulin isotypes in the egg yolk of laying hens immunized with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nagendra Nath Barman

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Aim: The aim was to study the seroconversion and development of egg yolk immunoglobulins in adult laying White Leghorn hens immunized against an isolate of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC bearing K91 and K88ac antigens, obtained from diarrheic piglet. Materials and Methods: Adult laying White Leghorn hens were immunized with inactivated enterotoxic E. coli strain isolated originally from a case of piglet diarrhea following recommended schedule. The development of whole antibodies and isotype-specific antibodies in serum and egg yolk were measured using indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA. Piglets suffering from diarrhea with fecal samples positive for ETEC were fed with egg yolk and compared with diarrheic control group. Results: The serum and egg yolk ELISA antibody titer against E. coli strain used in the present study was as high as 2666.66±307.92 and 933.33±203.67 respectively on 50 day-post-vaccination (DPV. The immunoglobulin Y (IgY was the predominant isotype in serum and egg yolk, which reached the peak titer of 2200±519.61 in serum on 40 DPV and 800±244.94 in egg yolk on 50 DPV. IgM titer in serum and egg yolk was found to be meager, and no IgA could be detected. Diarrheic piglets fed with the egg yolk suspension from immunized hens showed a promising result in controlling diarrhea. Conclusion: Egg yolk antibodies are considered a suitable immunotherapeutic alternative to conventional antibiotic therapy. High titer of egg yolk antibodies raised in the immunized hen against an isolate of ETEC holds the potential to be used for passive protection of diarrheic piglets during their most susceptible period of infection.

  4. Effect of γ-Aminobutyric Acid-producing Strain on Laying Performance, Egg Quality and Serum Enzyme Activity in Hy-Line Brown Hens under Heat Stress

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Y. Z. Zhu

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Heat-stress remains a costly issue for animal production, especially for poultry as they lack sweat glands, and alleviating heat-stress is necessary for ensuring animal production in hot environment. A high γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA-producer Lactobacillus strain was used to investigate the effect of dietary GABA-producer on laying performance and egg quality in heat-stressed Hy-line brown hens. Hy-Line brown hens (n = 1,164 at 280 days of age were randomly divided into 4 groups based on the amount of freeze-dried GABA-producer added to the basal diet as follows: i 0 mg/kg, ii 25 mg/kg, iii 50 mg/kg, and iv 100 mg/kg. All hens were subjected to heat-stress treatment through maintaining the temperature and the relative humidity at 28.83±3.85°C and 37% to 53.9%, respectively. During the experiment, laying rate, egg weight and feed intake of hens were recorded daily. At the 30th and 60th day after the start of the experiment, biochemical parameters, enzyme activity and immune activity in serum were measured. Egg production, average egg weight, average daily feed intake, feed conversion ratio and percentage of speckled egg, soft shell egg and misshaped egg were significantly improved (p<0.05 by the increasing supplementation of the dietary GABA-producer. Shape index, eggshell thickness, strength and weight were increased linearly with increasing GABA-producer supplementation. The level of calcium, phosphorus, glucose, total protein and albumin in serum of the hens fed GABA-producing strain supplemented diet was significantly higher (p<0.05 than that of the hens fed the basal diet, whereas cholesterol level was decreased. Compared with the basal diet, GABA-producer strain supplementation increased serum level of glutathione peroxidase (p = 0.009 and superoxide dismutase. In conclusion, GABA-producer played an important role in alleviating heat-stress, the isolated GABA-producer strain might be a potential natural and safe probiotic to use to

  5. Analysis of action of device with spring pins for picking up of retted flax straw

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. G. Chernikov

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Weather conditions in flax cultivation areas during harvesting time can be characterized with high rainfalls, relative humidity and, in some areas, extremely low temperature. Clogging of fields with stones, grass germination through flax swaths, often an absence of homogeneity on length and thickness of straw in swaths require working out new devices for straw lifting. Existing devices for picking up do not provide a high-quality lifting of flax swaths and have a low coefficient of reliability of the process. Researches and experimental-design works were carried out to create a constructive-technological scheme of the picking up device of cylindrical type with spring-loaded rigid pins. The mathematical model of the device operation when a pin touching an obstacle. The condition of balance of the mechanism under which the pin of a cilinder will operate technological process of picking up of retted flax straw without action of the safety device (spring was described. The offered method of calculation of operation of this device was introduced in a common flax swath lifter-turners

  6. Modification of flax fibres by radiation induced emulsion graft copolymerization of glycidyl methacrylate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moawia, Rihab Musaad; Nasef, Mohamed Mahmoud; Mohamed, Nor Hasimah; Ripin, Adnan

    2016-01-01

    Flax fibres were modified by radiation induced graft copolymerization of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) by pre-irradiation method in an emulsion medium. The effect of reaction parameters on the degree of grafting (DOG) such as concentration of bleaching agent, absorbed dose, monomer concentration, temperature and reaction time were investigated. The DOG was found to be dependent on the investigated parameters. The incorporation of poly(GMA) grafts in the bleached flax fibres was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The structural and mechanical changes were evaluated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and mechanical tester, respectively. The results revealed that reacting bleached flax fibres irradiated with 20 kGy with 5% GMA emulsion containing 0.5% polyoxyethylene-sorbitan monolaurate (Tween 20) surfactant at 40 °C for 1 h led to a maximum DOG of 148%. The grafted fibres showed sufficient mechanical strength and hydrophobicity which make them promising precursors for development of adsorbents after appropriate chemical treatments. - Highlights: • Flax fibers were modified by radiation induced emulsion grafting of GMA. • Bleaching with 0.7 wt% Na-chlorite was essential for achieving high DOGs. • Effect of reaction parameters on the degree of grafting were established. • The incorporation of poly-GMA grafts was proved by SEM, FTIR and XRD. • The obtained poly-GMA grafted flax fibers have potential for adsorbent making.

  7. [Effects of climate change on flax development and yield in Guyuan of Ningxia, Northwest China].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Shu-Zhen; Sun, Lin-Li; Ma, Yu-Ping; Ma, Yu-Ping; Xu, Yu-Dong; E, You-Hao

    2014-10-01

    Based on variations of the annual mean temperature and precipitation analyzed using ob- servation data in Guyuan of Ningxia, the effects of climate change on the local flax developmental process and yield were investigated. The results showed that the annual mean temperature had an increasing trend (0.3 °C · (10 a)-1) and the annual precipitation had a decreasing trend (-20 mm · (10 a) -1) from 1957 to 2012. While the increasing trend of mean temperature during growing season of flax was more obviously than that of the annual temperature, the decreasing trend of precipitation during growing season was similar to that of annual precipitation. With temperature increasing and precipitation decreasing, the flax development rate was accelerated, resulting in the reduced growing period. Seedling stage was advanced 0.7 d with 1 °C increase in temperature during the period from sowing to seedling emergence. The duration from seedling emergence to two pairs of needles was shortened by 0.8 d with 1 °C increase in temperature and 0.1 d with 1 mm decrease in precipitation. Maturity stage was advanced 1.8 d with 1 °C increase in temperature and 0.1 d with 1 mm decrease in precipitation during the period from technical maturity to maturity. The flax development was accelerated because of temperature increasing and precipitation decreasing in the vegetative growth phase, which was one of the main causes of flax yield reduction year by year. Meanwhile, flower bud differentiation and pollination of flax were influenced by temperature increasing in the reproductive growth phase, which would affect the number of capsules and the seed setting rate per plant and lead to the decrease of flax yield. Therefore, adjusting plant structure and enlarging the planting area of late or middle-late variety were the important measures to reduce the effects of climate change on local flax production.

  8. Giant Taro (Alocasia macrorrhiza Root Meal with or without Coconut Oil Slurry as Source of Dietary Energy for Laying Hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diarra, S.S.

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The effect of feeding Alocasia macrorrhiza root meal (AMRM with or without added coconut oil slurry (COS on egg production and egg qualities was investigated in a 20-week experiment. A control diet based on maize and 4 other diets containing 10 and 20% AMRM with or without COS were fed each to 4 replicates of 10 birds in a completely randomized design. There were no significant dietary effects on feed intake (FI and the intake of lysine, methionine and metabolizable energy (ME. Birds fed the 20% AMRM_COS added significantly less weight during the experimental period compared to the control fed group. Body weight change (BWC did not differ among the AMRM fed birds. Per cent hen-day and feed conversion ratio were depressed on 20% AMRM and egg weight on 10% AMRM but these depressing effects were overcome by COS addition. Egg shape index, Haugh unit and per cent shell were not affected by the diet. It is concluded that AMRM can replace 10% dietary maize without adverse effect on laying performance but 20% replacement negatively impacts on hen-day and egg weight. These adverse effects are however, overcome by treating AMRM with COS at the ratio of 9: 1. More research into higher levels of COS treated AMRM in the diet is warranted.

  9. Fermented feed for laying hens: effects on egg production, egg quality, plumage condition and composition and activity of the intestinal microflora.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Engberg, R M; Hammershøj, M; Johansen, N F; Abousekken, M S; Steenfeldt, S; Jensen, B B

    2009-03-01

    1. An experiment with a total of 480 hens (Babcock) was carried out from 16 to 38 weeks of age to evaluate the suitability of wet fermented feed (feed water ratio, 1:1.2-1:1.4) for layers, taking aspects of nutrition and gastrointestinal health into consideration. The production performance, egg shell quality, plumage condition, litter dry matter (DM) content, as well as the composition and activity of the intestinal microbial flora were analysed. 2. Fermented feed was characterised by a high concentration of lactic acid (160-250 mmol/kg feed) and a moderate level of acetic acid (20-30 mmol/kg feed), high numbers of lactic acid bacteria (log 9-10 CFU/g feed) and a pH of approximately 4.5. Feed fermentation reduced the concentration of dietary sugar from 32.1 to 7.3 g/kg DM and the phytate bound phosphorus from 2.7 to 1.9 g/kg DM. 3. Fermented feed seemed to loose attractiveness for the birds quite rapidly, resulting in a more aggressive behaviour and a poorer plumage condition than in birds given dry feed. The use of fermented feed reduced the litter DM content. 4. During the experimental period, the body weight gain of hens receiving fermented feed was 80 g higher than of hens fed the dry mash. Presumably because of an extended adaptation time to the feed, the onset of lay occurred later when hens were fed on fermented feed, resulting in non-significantly reduced total egg production (75 vs. 82%). 5. There was no significant difference between groups with respect to the total egg mass production (g/d/hen, 42 and 45 for fermented feed and dry mash, respectively). Throughout the experimental period, the feed DM intake of hens fed with fermented feed was lower than that of hens receiving the dry mash (110 vs. 125 g). From week 26 to 37, fermented feed improved the feed conversion as compared with the dry mash (g feed DM/g egg mass, 2.28 vs. 2.53). 6. The use of fermented feed increased egg weight in the period from 34 to 37 weeks (61.4 vs. 60.0) and increased shell

  10. Rheological properties of molten flax- and Tencel"®-polypropylene composites: Influence of fiber morphology and concentration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abdennadher, Ahmed; Vincent, Michel; Budtova, Tatiana

    2016-01-01

    The rheological properties of short fiber reinforced polypropylene were investigated. Flax and Tencel"® are two cellulose based fibers used in this study. Flax fibers are extracted from the bast of plants. They are composed of thin elementary fibers and rigid thick bundles made of elementary fibers “glued” together. Tencel"® is a man-made cellulosic fiber spun from cellulose solution, with a uniform diameter, thin, and flexible. First, fiber dimensions before and after compounding were analyzed. Both types of fibers were broken during compounding. Flax shows larger length and diameter than Tencel"®, but aspect ratio of flax is smaller. The reason is that after compounding flax remained in bundles. Dynamic viscosity, elastic and viscous moduli were studied as a function of fiber type, concentration (from 0 to 30 wt. %), and composite temperature (from 180 to 200 °C). All Tencel"®-based composites showed higher apparent yield stress, viscosity, and moduli compared to flax-based composites at the same fiber concentrations. The results are analyzed in terms of the influence of fiber type, aspect ratio, and flexibility. The importance of considering fiber morphology is demonstrated as far as it controls fiber flexibility and fiber-fiber interactions

  11. Assessment of welfare and egg production of laying hens moravia ssl in small-scale breeding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mária Angelovičová

    2015-10-01

    . The laying hens had unlimited access to feed and water. The commercial feed mixture was available ad libitum and fresh kitchen remnants were added in a small amount, provided that they fed in the short term, so that not subject to harmful degradation process. The management of our experiment was scheduled at age of laying hens 30 to 90 weeks. The egg laying intensity was observed 50% in a moment of the experimental 1st week (age of laying hens 30 weeks. High egg laying intensity of laying hens was at their age between 39 to 63 weeks. At the end of the experiment, at age of laying hens 90 weeks was decreased egg laying intensity at 26.19%, which represents almost half of egg laying intensity recorded at the beginning of the experiment. An indicator of egg production in the our experiment was studied under defined conditions for small-scale breeding, i.e. in alternative production system with free range, under defined conditions of nutrition and timing of investigation more than one year, from the end of October to the end of December of the following year. The results of our experiment can be related to the season, months of the year. The laying hens laid the eggs by individual weeks 33-90 weeks of age about average weight from 57.5 to 75.0 g. The fat content of an egg mass was 11.3 g.100-1 and protein 12.39.g.100-1. The table eggs from conditions of small-scale breeding are an important source of foodstuffs for the population, especially in rural areas. It must be given to this source of table eggs for human nutrition the highest quality and health safety too.

  12. The instability of the flax element LIS-1 in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bastaki NK

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Nasmah K Bastaki, Christopher A Cullis Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA Background: The LIS-1 is an element that appears as a site-specific insertion event in some flax lines in response to certain growth conditions and can be transmitted to subsequent generations. The origin of LIS-1 in the flax genome is uncertain. One possibility is that since LIS-1 does not exist intact in the progenitor line, it is assembled from small sequences found scattered throughout the genome, and that, under stressful growth conditions, induction occurs and these sequences are rearranged and assembled to form the intact LIS-1 element. It is unknown whether the intact LIS-1 element would remain stably integrated in other plant species or if it would be destabilized from their genome. Results: In this study, Agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation via floral dipping was used to transform different accessions of the Columbia ecotype of Arabidopsis thaliana, with either LIS-1 or the target site into which LIS-1 integrates. The stability and the inheritance patterns of both elements were followed in subsequent generations. Our results indicate that, in the different transformed accessions, the target site of LIS-1 remains stable in the T1 and T2 generations. However, LIS-1 is not found intact in any transformed A. thaliana plants. Instead, it goes through multiple fragmentation events, which seem to be genotype dependent. In the process, the region originally flanking LIS-1 in the T-DNA construct can be converted to the same sequence found at the target site in flax, followed by complete excision of all the flax DNA in the construct. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that the processes by which LIS-1 is produced in flax are also present in A. thaliana because both plants are capable of destabilizing the intact LIS-1 element.Keywords: flax (Linum usitatissimum, Arabidopsis thaliana, plant transformation, Linum insertion

  13. Comparison of amino acid digestibility of feed ingredients in broilers, laying hens and caecectomised roosters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adedokun, S A; Utterback, P; Parsons, C M; Adeola, O; Lilburn, M S; Applegate, T J

    2009-05-01

    1. This study determined the effect of bird type (broilers, laying hens, or caecectomised roosters) on amino acid digestibility of feedstuffs from 5 plant sources and one animal source. 2. The standardised amino acid digestibility (SAAD) were obtained by correcting apparent ileal amino acid digestibility (AIAAD) values for basal ileal endogenous amino acid (EAA) flow obtained by feeding a N-free diet (NFD) to broilers and laying hens or from fasted EAA flow from caecectomised roosters. 3. The apparent total amino acid (TAA) digestibilities did not differ between broilers and roosters for three of the 6 feed ingredients. 4. Broilers had higher apparent total amino acid (TAA) digestibility than laying hens and roosters when fed on the maize diet (canola meal, maize, and soybean meal). 5. The apparent TAA digestibilities were similar across bird types for the dark distillers' dried grain with solubles, but the apparent lysine digestibility was much lower in the caecectomised roosters (15%) than the broilers (49%) and laying hens (43%). 6. The standardised TAA digestibility values in roosters were higher than in broilers for three of the 6 feed ingredients (canola meal, soybean meal, or meat and bone meal). 7. There were no differences between broilers and roosters, however, in the standardised TAA digestibility values for maize, dark and light DDGS. 8. The standardised TAA digestibility values for laying hens were lower for maize, higher for meat and bone meal, but no different for the remaining ingredients when compared with broilers. 9. The results from this study showed that both the apparent and standardised amino acid digestibility values in caecectomised roosters, laying hens, and broilers ingredients are similar for some, but not all, feed ingredients. 10. Nutritionists should, therefore, be cautious about using digestibility coefficients obtained by different methodologies as values may differ.

  14. Effects of a premolt calcium and low-energy molt program on laying hen behavior and heterophil-to-lymphocyte ratios.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dickey, E R; Bregendahl, K; Stalder, K; Fitzgerald, R; Johnson, A K

    2010-11-01

    The objectives of this study were to compare the behaviors, postures, and heterophil-to-lymphocyte ratios (H:L) of laying hens housed in a cage system when offered a Ca premolt treatment and low-energy molt diets vs. a traditional feed withdrawal (FW) treatment during and after molt. A total of 144 Hy-Line W-36 hens (85 wk of age), housed 3 hens/cage (413 cm(2)/hen), were used. Hens were allotted to treatments according to a randomized complete block design, with the cage location and initial BW as the blocking criteria. Six treatments were compared in a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement with 2 Ca premolt treatments (fine or coarse) and 3 low-energy molt diets (FW, soybean hulls, or wheat middlings). The 2 Ca premolt treatments differed only in Ca particle size (fine was 0.14 mm and coarse was 2.27 mm mean diameter). Two postures and 5 behaviors were recorded and H:L was measured. Data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS, with P postures, or H:L during the premolt baseline period. The Ca premolt treatment had no carryover effects during or after molt for behaviors or postures. During molt, hens in the FW treatment were more active, and they ate and drank less compared with hens fed soybean hulls or wheat middlings, but there were no differences in aggression, nonnutritive pecking, or sitting. Drinking and aggression during and after molt were not different, but hens postmolt engaged in more sitting and feeding and less activity, nonnutritive pecking, and preening compared with during molt. There were no differences in H:L during or after molt. In conclusion, a Ca premolt treatment did not affect the behavior of the laying hen. The low-energy molt diets did not adversely affect behavior compared with FW and did not increase H:L; therefore, they could be useful alternatives for inducing molt in laying hens.

  15. Digestibility of phosphorus in laying hens fed a wheat-maize-soyabean diet and the excreta phosphorus fractions

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Marounek, Milan; Skřivan, M.; Dlouhá, G.; Březina, P.

    2008-01-01

    Roč. 17, - (2008), s. 579-587 ISSN 1230-1388 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA523/07/0673 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z50450515 Keywords : laying hens * nutrition * phosphorus Subject RIV: GH - Livestock Nutrition Impact factor: 0.386, year: 2008

  16. Structural characterization of guaiacyl-rich lignins in flax (Linum usitatissimum) fibers and shives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    del Río, José C; Rencoret, Jorge; Gutiérrez, Ana; Nieto, Lidia; Jiménez-Barbero, Jesús; Martínez, Ángel T

    2011-10-26

    The structural characteristics of the lignins from flax (Linum usitatissimum) fibers and shives were studied. Significant differences in the content and composition of the lignin from both parts were observed. The lignin contents were 3.8% in the fibers and 29.0% in the shives. Analysis by Py-GC/MS indicated a H:G:S molar ratio of 13:72:15 in the milled wood lignin (MWL) isolated from flax fibers and a molar ratio of 5:87:8 in the MWL isolated from flax shives. In addition, 2D-NMR showed a predominance of β-O-4' aryl ether linkages, followed by β-5' phenylcoumaran and β-β' resinol-type linkages in both MWLs, with a higher content of condensed linkages in flax shives. Thioacidolysis (followed by Raney nickel desulfurization) gave further information on the lignin units involved in the different linkages and confirmed the enrichment of G units. The thioacidolysis dimers released were similar from both lignins, with a predominance of the β-5' followed by β-1' and 5-5' structures.

  17. The effect of different feed restriction programs on reproductive performance, efficiency, frame size, and uniformity in broiler breeder hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Beer, M; Coon, C N

    2007-09-01

    Two experiments were conducted to determine the effect of feed restriction programs on breeder reproductive performance. In experiment 1, every day (ED), skip-a-day (SK), 4-3, and 5-2 programs were compared. Diets did not differ, and feed intake was identical in all groups. Four hundred twenty pullets were reared on each program. At 21 wk, 80 breeders from each program were individually housed to record performance parameters. Body weight and frame size were larger in ED pullets than SK, 4-3, or 5-2 despite equal intakes. Hens fed ED reached sexual maturity at a younger age than other groups. Hens fed ED also produced more total and settable eggs than SK hens. Egg weight was heavier in 5-2 hens than in ED with 4-3 and SK intermediate. Efficiency of feed utilization was best in ED hens. In experiment 2 the same programs were tested, but pullets were reared to reach equal BW. One hundred seventy-five pullets were reared on each program, of which 60 were housed. Feed intake was greater for SK, 4-3, and 5-2 than ED pullets to reach the same BW. Frame size did not differ, indicating that BW was the cause of differences in experiment 1. In experiment 2, differences in performance were attenuated but not eliminated by feeding to reach equal BW, suggesting that metabolic factors aside from BW are altered by feeding programs. The 5-2 produced larger eggs than ED with the trend among programs being identical to that in experiment 1. These results suggest that metabolic changes such as increased lipogenesis or alterations in body composition may result in larger eggs in feeding programs that include off-feed days. Mortality, fertility, and hatchability were not affected by feeding programs in either experiment. Body composition analysis indicated the importance of total lean protein mass as a threshold for the onset of sexual maturity. Programs like SK are less efficient than ED and may result in reduced performance.

  18. Tensile and Flexural Properties of Cement Composites Reinforced with Flax Nonwoven Fabrics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Josep Claramunt

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study is to develop a process to produce high-performance cement-based composites reinforced with flax nonwoven fabrics, analyzing the influence of the fabric structure—thickness and entanglement—on mechanical behavior under flexural and tensile loadings. For this purpose, composite with flax nonwoven fabrics with different thicknesses were first prepared and their cement infiltration was evaluated with backscattered electron (BSE images. The nonwoven fabrics with the optimized thickness were then subjected to a water treatment to improve their stability to humid environments and the fiber-matrix adhesion. For a fixed thickness, the effect of the nonwoven entanglement on the mechanical behavior was evaluated under flexural and direct tension tests. The obtained results indicate that the flax nonwoven fabric reinforcement leads to cement composites with substantial enhancement of ductility.

  19. improving performance of laying hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A.P Sinurat

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available A trial was conducted in order to study the effect of the supplementation of Avizyme 1500® (Danisco Animal Nutrition, Marlborough, UK on the performance of laying hens for one year. A control diet based on corn – soybean meal was formulated to meet nutrient requirement of ISA Brown laying hens. Two treatments, the control diet (C and C + 1000 g Avizyme/tonne diet were tested. Each diet was fed to 80 birds (20 replicates of 4 birds from 20 to 72 weeks of age, and performances of birds (feed intake, egg production, egg size, egg mass, feed conversion ratio, and egg quality were measured. All data were subject to analyses of variance following the t-test. Results showed that the addition of Avizyme 1500 to the feed reduced feed intake by 4% (P < 0.01, mortality by 75 % or from 15% to 3.75% (P < 0.01 and improved the feed conversion ratio by 3 % (P < 0.05. The high mortality of the control treatment (15% is explained by an E.coli infection that was observed following the post-mortem examination of dead birds. The egg production (HD and HH, egg size and egg mass however were not significantly affected by the Avizyme supplementation. Egg quality (HU, yolk colour score, yolk weight and shell thickness was not significantly affected by Avizyme supplementation. It can be concluded that the supplementation of 1000 g Avizyme /tonne of diet improved feed efficiency and this was mediated via a reduction in feed intake.

  20. Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus Urophasianus) Hen Survival: Effects of Raptors, Anthropogenic and Landscape Features, and Hen Behavior

    OpenAIRE

    Dinkins, Jonathan B.; Conover, Michael R.; Kirol, Christopher P.; Beck, Jeffrey L.; Frey, S. Nicole

    2014-01-01

    Survival of breeding-age hens has been identified as the demographic rate with the greatest potential to influence population growth of Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus (Bonaparte, 1827); hereafter “Sage-Grouse”). During 2008–2011, we collected summer survival data from 427 Sage-Grouse hens in southern Wyoming, USA. We assessed the effects of raptor densities, anthropogenic features, landscape features, and Sage-Grouse hen behavior on Sage-Grouse hen survival. Survival of Sage-G...

  1. [Development of specific and degenerated primers to CesA genes encoding flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) cellulose synthase].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grushetskaia, Z E; Lemesh, V A; Khotyleva, L V

    2010-01-01

    Cellulose synthase catalytic subunit genes, CesA, have been discovered in several higher plant species, and it has been shown that the CesA gene family has multiple members. HVR2 fragment of these genes determine the class specificity of the CESA protein and its participation in the primary or secondary cell wall synthesis. The aim of this study was development of specific and degenerated primers to flax CesA gene fragments leading to obtaining the class specific HVR2 region of the gene. Two pairs of specific primers to the certain fragments of CesA-1 and CesA-6 genes and one pair of degenerated primers to HVR2 region of all flax CesA genes were developed basing on comparison of six CesA EST sequences of flax and full cDNA sequences of Arabidopsis, poplar, maize and cotton plants, obtained from GenBank. After amplification of flax cDNA, the bands of expected size were detected (201 and 300 b.p. for the CesA-1 and CesA-6, and 600 b.p. for the HVR2 region of CesA respectively). The developed markers can be used for cloning and sequencing of flax CesA genes, identifying their number in flax genome, tissue and stage specificity.

  2. Effects of Rice Bran, Flax Seed, and Sunflower Seed on Growth Performance, Carcass Characteristics, Fatty Acid Composition, Free Amino Acid and Peptide Contents, and Sensory Evaluations of Native Korean Cattle (Hanwoo

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chang Bon Choi

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary supplementation with rice bran, flax seed, or sunflower seed to finishing native Korean cattle (Hanwoo on growth performances, carcass characteristics, fatty acid composition, free amino acid and peptide contents, and sensory evaluations of Longissimus muscle (LM. A total of 39 Hanwoo steers (average age of 22.2 mo and average body weight (BW of 552.2 kg were randomly divided into Control, rice bran (RB, flax seed (FS, or Sunflower seed (SS groups. The steers were group fed for 273 d until they reached an average age of 31.2 mo. Final BW was 768.2, 785.8, 786.2, and 789.0 kg, and average daily gain was 0.79, 0.85, 0.82, and 0.84 kg for the Control, RS, FS, and SS groups, respectively (p>0.05. Fat thickness of the FS group (19.8 mm was greater (p0.05 scores for flavor, umami, and overall palatability in sensory evaluations. In conclusion, supplementation of flax seed to diets of finishing Hanwoo steers improved sensory evaluations which might have been caused by increases in flavor related amino acids such as methionine, glutamic acid and α-AAA and peptides, anserine and carnosine, and their complex reactions.

  3. Colour of flax fibres in regard to different pretreatment and dyeing processes

    OpenAIRE

    Fakin, Darinka; Ojstršek, Alenka

    2012-01-01

    The main objective of this work was to compare the colour of different pretreated (alkaline, acidic and enzymatic) and dyed (conventional and ultrasonic-assisted) flax fibres, to establish the impact of various parameters on dyeing kinetics. Flax fibres were dyed using two direct dyes of different chemical structures and molecular mass. Diffusion profiles were established by the application of Fick's Law and dyeing behaviour was studied by means of online spectrophotometry. Finally, the dyed ...

  4. The effects of antioxidants on the content of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the hen's egg.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kassab, A; Abrams, J T; Sainsbury, D W

    1979-01-01

    In experiments to see whether, in the possible interests of human health, the polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content of the chicken's egg can be increased by nutritional means, three strains of hen, light, medium, and heavy, each at the peak of lay, were first fed a basal, commercial, low-fat diet. The hens were then transferred to one of the following diets: basal + safflower oil (SO); basal + SO + butylated hydroxytoluene; or basal + SO + dl-a-toco-pheryl acetate. The diets were designated "Blank", "BHT", and "Vitamin E", respectively, the second and third containing the added antioxidants. The eggs produced were weighed, and their yolks weighed and analysed for lipid components. Additional of SO (7.5%) to the basal diet led to the PUFA content of the yolk lipids rising by 15.4% (linoleic acid, 14.1%), the magnitude of the increases being unaffected by the antioxidants. Diet "BHT" produced larger eggs and yolks than the other diets, but the proportion of yolk was the same on the three types of feed. The total cholesterol content of egg yolks was significantly affected neither by diet, nor by strain or age of hen. The implications of these results are discussed.

  5. Effects of feeding blends of grains naturally contaminated with Fusarium mycotoxins on performance and metabolism of laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chowdhury, S R; Smith, T K

    2004-11-01

    An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of feeding laying hens grains naturally contaminated with a combination of Fusarium mycotoxins. Parameters measured included performance, organ weights, and plasma chemistry. One hundred and forty-four, 45-wk-old laying hens were fed diets including: (1) control, (2) contaminated grains, and (3) contaminated grains + 0.2% polymeric glucomannan mycotoxin adsorbent (GMA) for a 12-wk period. The feeding of contaminated grains decreased feed consumption compared with controls in the first 4 wk. Feed consumption increased, however, from 4 to 8 wk and from 8 to 12 wk. The efficiency of feed utilization (feed consumption/egg mass) decreased compared with controls in the periods from 4 to 8 and from 8 to 12 wk when birds were fed contaminated grains. Supplementation with GMA decreased feed consumption and increased the efficiency of feed utilization in the period from 8 to 12 wk. Egg production and egg mass decreased in wk 4 and 8 compared with controls when contaminated grains were fed, whereas egg and eggshell weights decreased in the fourth wk. Plasma uric acid concentrations increased throughout the experiment and relative kidney weights increased at the end of the experiment compared with controls when birds were fed contaminated grains. The feeding of GMA prevented the elevation in uric acid concentrations and relative kidney weights. It was concluded that layer performance and metabolism were adversely affected by chronic feeding of a combination of Fusarium mycotoxins, and that GMA prevented many of these effects.

  6. Genome-wide identification, characterization, and expression profile of aquaporin gene family in flax (Linum usitatissimum).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shivaraj, S M; Deshmukh, Rupesh K; Rai, Rhitu; Bélanger, Richard; Agrawal, Pawan K; Dash, Prasanta K

    2017-04-27

    Membrane intrinsic proteins (MIPs) form transmembrane channels and facilitate transport of myriad substrates across the cell membrane in many organisms. Majority of plant MIPs have water transporting ability and are commonly referred as aquaporins (AQPs). In the present study, we identified aquaporin coding genes in flax by genome-wide analysis, their structure, function and expression pattern by pan-genome exploration. Cross-genera phylogenetic analysis with known aquaporins from rice, arabidopsis, and poplar showed five subgroups of flax aquaporins representing 16 plasma membrane intrinsic proteins (PIPs), 17 tonoplast intrinsic proteins (TIPs), 13 NOD26-like intrinsic proteins (NIPs), 2 small basic intrinsic proteins (SIPs), and 3 uncharacterized intrinsic proteins (XIPs). Amongst aquaporins, PIPs contained hydrophilic aromatic arginine (ar/R) selective filter but TIP, NIP, SIP and XIP subfamilies mostly contained hydrophobic ar/R selective filter. Analysis of RNA-seq and microarray data revealed high expression of PIPs in multiple tissues, low expression of NIPs, and seed specific expression of TIP3 in flax. Exploration of aquaporin homologs in three closely related Linum species bienne, grandiflorum and leonii revealed presence of 49, 39 and 19 AQPs, respectively. The genome-wide identification of aquaporins, first in flax, provides insight to elucidate their physiological and developmental roles in flax.

  7. Effect of flaxseed oil and microalgae DHA on the production performance, fatty acids and total lipids of egg yolk and plasma in laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neijat, M; Ojekudo, O; House, J D

    2016-12-01

    The incorporation of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in the egg is dependent on both the transfer efficiency of preformed dietary omega-3 fatty acids to the eggs as well as endogenous PUFA metabolism and deposition. Employing an experimental design consisting of 70 Lohmann LSL-Classic hens (n=10/treatment) in a 6-week feeding trial, we examined the impact of graded levels of either flaxseed oil (alpha-linolenic acid, ALA) or algal DHA (preformed docosahexaenoic acid, DHA), each supplying 0.20%, 0.40% and 0.60% total omega-3s. The control diet was practically low in omega-3s. Study parameters included monitoring the changes of fatty acid contents in yolk, measures of hen performance, eggshell quality, total lipids and fatty acid contents of plasma. Data were analysed as a complete randomized design using Proc Mixed procedure of SAS. No significant differences were observed between treatments with respect to hen performance, eggshell quality and cholesterol content in plasma and egg yolk. Individual and total omega-3 PUFA in the yolk and plasma increased (PDHA-fed hens incorporated 3-fold more DHA in eggs compared with ALA-fed hens (179±5.55 vs. 66.7±2.25mg/yolk, respectively). In both treatment groups, maximal enrichment of total n-3 PUFA was observed by week-2, declined by week-4 and leveled thereafter. In addition, accumulation of DHA in egg yolk showed linear (PDHA (R 2 =0.95). The current data, based on defined level of total omega-3s in the background diet, provides evidence to suggest that exogenous as well as endogenous synthesis of DHA may be subject to a similar basis of regulation, and serve to highlight potential regulatory aspects explaining the limitations in the deposition of endogenously produced omega-3 LCPUFA. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Effect of perches on liver health of hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, S; Hester, P Y; Hu, J Y; Yan, F F; Dennis, R L; Cheng, H W

    2014-07-01

    Fatty liver is a common energy metabolic disorder in caged laying hens. Considering that the egg industry is shifting from conventional cages to alternative housing systems such as enriched cages, the objective of this study was to determine the effects of perches on fat deposition and liver health in laying hens. Three hundred twenty-four 17-wk-old White Leghorn hens were housed in 1 of 4 treatments with 9 hens per cage. Treatment 1 hens never had access to perches during their life cycle. Treatment 2 hens had access to perches during the pullet phase only. Treatment 3 hens had access to perches during the laying phase only. Treatment 4 hens always had access to perches. Liver weight, abdominal fat pad weight, BW, liver fat, and circulating alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, and adiponectin were determined. Provision of perches during either the rearing or laying phase did not affect liver health in 71-wk-old hens. However, perch access compared with no perch access during the egg laying phase reduced relative fat pad weight. These results suggest that providing perches as a means of stimulating activity reduced abdominal fat deposition in caged hens during the laying period. However, perch access in caged hens was ineffective in reducing fat deposition in the liver and altering enzyme activities related to improved liver function. © 2014 Poultry Science Association Inc.

  9. Penetration of nanoparticles in flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) calli and regenerants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kokina, Inese; Gerbreders, Vjačeslavs; Sledevskis, Eriks; Bulanovs, Andrejs

    2013-05-20

    We demonstrate a method for direct delivery of metal nanoparticles to flax calli and regenerant cells by vacuum deposition of metal nanolayers on powdered hormone followed by dispersal of the combined hormone-metal in medium. The penetration and location of the gold (AuNPs) and silver (AgNPs) nanoparticles in calli and in plant regenerants were confirmed by optical absorption spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. We detected a significant effect of the AuNPs and AgNPs on the regeneration type of flax calli. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Nutrient digestibility and egg production of laying hens fed graded ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    A 20-week feeding trial involving 72 Isa brown-laying birds, in a completely randomized design, evaluated the nutrient digestibility and egg production of layers fed diets containing biodegraded palm kernel meal (PKM) at dietary levels of 20 per cent undegraded and 20, 30 and 40 per cent biodegraded PKM, respectively.

  11. Genome wide SNP discovery in flax through next generation sequencing of reduced representation libraries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kumar Santosh

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Flax (Linum usitatissimum L. is a significant fibre and oilseed crop. Current flax molecular markers, including isozymes, RAPDs, AFLPs and SSRs are of limited use in the construction of high density linkage maps and for association mapping applications due to factors such as low reproducibility, intense labour requirements and/or limited numbers. We report here on the use of a reduced representation library strategy combined with next generation Illumina sequencing for rapid and large scale discovery of SNPs in eight flax genotypes. SNP discovery was performed through in silico analysis of the sequencing data against the whole genome shotgun sequence assembly of flax genotype CDC Bethune. Genotyping-by-sequencing of an F6-derived recombinant inbred line population provided validation of the SNPs. Results Reduced representation libraries of eight flax genotypes were sequenced on the Illumina sequencing platform resulting in sequence coverage ranging from 4.33 to 15.64X (genome equivalents. Depending on the relatedness of the genotypes and the number and length of the reads, between 78% and 93% of the reads mapped onto the CDC Bethune whole genome shotgun sequence assembly. A total of 55,465 SNPs were discovered with the largest number of SNPs belonging to the genotypes with the highest mapping coverage percentage. Approximately 84% of the SNPs discovered were identified in a single genotype, 13% were shared between any two genotypes and the remaining 3% in three or more. Nearly a quarter of the SNPs were found in genic regions. A total of 4,706 out of 4,863 SNPs discovered in Macbeth were validated using genotyping-by-sequencing of 96 F6 individuals from a recombinant inbred line population derived from a cross between CDC Bethune and Macbeth, corresponding to a validation rate of 96.8%. Conclusions Next generation sequencing of reduced representation libraries was successfully implemented for genome-wide SNP discovery from

  12. Productive performance, eggshell quality, and eggshell ultrastructure of laying hens fed diets supplemented with organic trace minerals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stefanello, C; Santos, T C; Murakami, A E; Martins, E N; Carneiro, T C

    2014-01-01

    This study was carried out with the purpose of evaluating the effect of supplementing hens' diets with trace minerals from inorganic or organic sources on the productive performance, eggshell quality, and eggshell ultrastructure of laying hens. Three hundred sixty Hy-Line W36 laying hens between 47 to 62 wk of age were used and distributed in a completely randomized experimental design with 9 treatments, 5 replicates, and 8 birds for each experimental unit. The treatments consisted of a control diet without supplementation of the trace minerals Mn, Zn, and Cu; 4 supplementation levels of these trace minerals from an inorganic source; and the same levels of supplementation from an organic source (proteinates). The supplementation levels in milligrams per kilogram for Mn, Zn, and Cu, were, respectively, 35-30-05, 65-60-10, 95-90-15, and 125-120-20. There was no effect of supplementation of trace minerals on the rate of posture, feed intake, feed conversion, specific weight, and Haugh unit of eggs. However, there was a quadratic effect (P < 0.05) of the levels of trace mineral supplementation on average egg weight and egg mass; the results did not differ regarding the source used. The increase in the levels of supplementation of Mn, Zn, and Cu provided a linear increase (P < 0.05) in the breaking strength and the percentage of eggshell. There was a linear decrease (P < 0.05) in the egg loss and the number of mammillary buttons in the shell. The best results were obtained using diets supplemented with trace minerals from an organic source because these diets provided lower egg loss, higher thickness, and increased strength of the shell. Structurally, organic Mn, Zn, and Cu provided higher thickness of the palisade layer and lower mammillary density. The trace mineral supplementation improved the structural characteristics and the quality of the eggshells.

  13. Characteristics of Lignin from Flax Shives as Affected by Extraction Conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ross, Kelly; Mazza, Giuseppe

    2010-01-01

    Lignin, a polyphenolic molecule, is a major constituent of flax shives. This polyphenolic molecular structure renders lignin a potential source of a variety of commercially viable products such as fine chemicals. This work compares the performance of different lignin isolation methods. Lignin from flax shive was isolated using both conventional alkaline extraction method and a novel experimental pressurized low polarity water (PLPW) extraction process. The lignin yields and chemical composition of the lignin fractions were determined. The conventional alkali treatment with 1.25 M NaOH, heated at 80 °C for 5 h, extracted 92 g lignin per kg flax shives, while lignin yields from the PLPW extracts ranged from 27 to 241 g lignin per kg flax shives. The purity and monomeric composition of the lignins obtained from the different extraction conditions was assessed via UV spectroscopy and alkaline nitrobenzene oxidation. Lignin obtained from conventional alkali treatment with 1.25 M NaOH, heated at 80 °C for 5 h was of low purity and exhibited the lowest yields of nitrobenzene oxidation products. With respect to alkali assisted PLPW extractions, temperature created an opposing effect on lignin yield and nitrobenzene oxidation products. More lignin was extracted as temperature increased, yet the yield of nitrobenzene oxidation products decreased. The low yield of nitrobenzene oxidation products may be attributed to either the formation of condensed structures or the selective dissolution of condensed structures of lignin during the pressurized alkaline high temperature treatment. Analytical pyrolysis, using pyroprobe GC-MS, was used to investigate the molecular composition of the lignin samples. The total yield of pyrolysis lignin products was 13.3, 64.7, and 30.5% for the 1.25 M NaOH extracted lignin, alkaline assisted PLPW extracted lignin, and the unprocessed flax shives, respectively. Key lignin derived compounds such as guaiacol, 4-vinyl guaiacol, 4-methyl guaiacol

  14. Efficacy of feed additives to reduce the effect of naturally occurring mycotoxins fed to turkey hen poults reared to 6 weeks of age.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tilley, J E N; Grimes, J L; Koci, M D; Ali, R A; Stark, C R; Nighot, P K; Middleton, T F; Fahrenholz, A C

    2017-12-01

    Corn with naturally occurring aflatoxin (AF), wheat with naturally occurring doxynivalenol (DON), and barley with naturally occurring zearalenone (ZEA) were used to make rations for feeding turkey hen poults to 6 weeks of age. Control rations with equal amounts of corn, wheat, and barley were also fed. The control rations did contain some DON while both sets of rations contained ZEA. Within each grain source, there were 4 treatments: the control ration plus 3 rations each with a different feed additive which were evaluated for the potential to lessen potential mycotoxin effects on bird performance and physiology. The additives were Biomin BioFix (2 lb/ton), Kemin Kallsil (4 lb/ton), and Nutriad UNIKE (3 lb/ton). The mycotoxin rations reduced poult body weight (2.31 vs. 2.08 ± 0.02 kg) and increased (worsened) poult feed conversion (1.47 vs. 1.51 ± 0.01) at 6 wk. Feeding the poults the mycotoxin feed also resulted in organ and physiological changes typical of feeding dietary aflatoxin although a combined effect of AF, DON, and ZEA which cannot be dismissed. The feed additives resulted in improved feed conversion to 6 wk in both grain treatment groups. The observed physiological effect of feeding the additives was to reduce relative gizzard weight for both groups and to lessen the increase in relative kidney weight for the birds fed the mycotoxin feed. In conclusion, the feed additives used in this study did alleviate the effect of dietary mycotoxins to some degree, especially with respect to feed conversion. Further studies of longer duration are warranted. © 2017 Poultry Science Association Inc.

  15. Flavonoid C-glucosides derived from flax straw extracts reduce human breast cancer cell growth in vitro and induce apoptosis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Magdalena Czemplik

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Flax straw of flax varieties that are grown for oil production is a byproduct which represents a considerable biomass source. Therefore its potential application for human use is of high interest. Our research has revealed that flax straw is rich in flavonoid C-glucosides, including vitexin, orientin and isoorientin. The objective of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxicity and possible proapoptotic effect of flax straw derived C-glucosides of flavonoids in the human breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF-7. The effects of flax straw derived flavonoid C-glucosides on cell proliferation of MCF-7 cells were evaluated by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT and sulforhodamine B (SRB assays. The expression of apoptosis-related genes was assessed by real-time PCR. Our data revealed that flax C-glucosides as well as pure compounds are cytotoxic towards MCF-7 cells and inhibit their proliferation. Moreover, the induction of apoptosis was correlated with the changes in the mRNA level of pro-apoptotic genes. Increased expression of bax and caspase-7, -8, and -9 and decreased mRNA expression of bcl-2 was observed, whereas the mRNA levels of p53 and mdm2 were not altered. These results clearly demonstrated that flax straw metabolites effectively induced growth inhibition and apoptosis in human breast adenocarcinoma cells.

  16. Effect of marine by-product meals on hen egg production parameters, yolk lipid composition and sensory quality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toyes-Vargas, E; Ortega-Pérez, R; Espinoza-Villavicencio, J L; Arellano-Pérez, M; Civera, R; Palacios, E

    2018-04-01

    The effect of including 5% marine by-product meals in feeds of laying hens on egg production, composition and sensory characteristics was tested. Marine by-product meals were prepared using two methods: (i) cooking (100°C/10 min) followed by drying (60°C/24 hr) or (ii) grinding followed by drying. The raw materials used for meal production were scallop or squid viscera, shrimp heads or whole mackerel. A total of 108 laying hens were allocated to nine diet treatments; one control diet (corn and soya bean based) and eight experimental diets, containing 95% of the control feed and 5% of the experimental meal for three weeks. Daily intake was higher in hens fed the dried mackerel and cooked shrimp meals. All the experimental treatments showed significantly higher concentration of n-3 HUFA in yolk reserves and phospholipids compared to the control (0.12-0.13 g per 100 g), especially those with scallop or squid prepared by both methods (0.53-0.95 g per 100 g). Scallop, squid and shrimp meal inclusion in the feed produced eggs with more astaxanthin (0.22 mg per 100 g) while this carotenoid was absent in the control and mackerel treatments. Visual evaluation of raw yolk colour increased with the inclusion of marine by-product meals with higher values in hens fed shrimp heads (13), followed by scallop viscera (11), squid viscera (9), and with similar values for mackerel and control (4). The taste, aroma, texture and colour of cooked eggs from different treatments were not statically different when evaluated by a panel of 60 untrained people. These results suggest that meals from marine by-products are a better alternative for improving egg yolk composition by increasing n-3 HUFA when compared to fishmeal as they also increase astaxanthin and yolk pigmentation without affecting egg sensory characteristics. © 2017 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

  17. Peningkatan Produktivitas Ayam Petelur Melalui Pemberian Ekstrak Etanol Daun Kemangi (INCREASED LAYING HENS PRODUCTIVITY THROUGH THE ADMINISTRATION OF ETHANOL EXTRACT OF KEMANGI LEAVES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andriyanto .

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Empirically, kemangi leaves reported to increase health quality in human and livestock. Thepreliminary study was designed to explore the potency of ethanol extract of kemangi leaves to increaselaying hens performance. Sixteen laying hens (pullet were divided into 4 groups and repeated 4 times.Control group was laying hen administered aquadest orally, treated group was laying hen administeredextract of kemangi leaves orally at a dose of 1, 2, and 3 mg/kg BW, respectively. Every day, the experimentallaying hens were fed for 3 times and drinking water was provided ad libitum. Variables observed were thenumber of eggs, egg weight, time of first laying, egg laying intervals, egg quality ( water content, crudeprotein, and crude fat, and liver function (SGPT and SGOT values . Results of this research showed thatadministration of kemangi leaves extract at a dose of 3 mg/kg BW significantly increased the number ofegg production and egg weight (p<0.05. Time of first laying and laying interval did not show any significantdifference among treatments. Examination of moisture, crude protein, and crude fat content of the eggindicated that the administration of kemangi leaves extract did not affect egg quality. Extract of kemangileaves decreased SGPT and SGOT values that indicated improvement of liver function. It was concludedthat administration of ethanol extract of kemangi leaves could increase laying hens productivity byimprovement of liver function that is critical in vitellogenesis.

  18. Transfer of pyrrolizidine alkaloids from various herbs to eggs and meat in laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mulder, Patrick P J; de Witte, Susannah L; Stoopen, Geert M; van der Meulen, Jan; van Wikselaar, Piet G; Gruys, Erik; Groot, Maria J; Hoogenboom, Ron L A P

    2016-12-01

    To investigate the potential transfer of pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs), laying hens were fed for 14 days with diets containing 0.5% of dried common ragwort, common groundsel, narrow-leaved ragwort or viper's bugloss, or 0.1% of common heliotrope. This resulted in total PA levels in feed of respectively 5.5, 11.1, 53.1, 5.9 and 21.7 mg kg - 1 , with varying composition. PAs were transferred to eggs, in particular yolk, with steady-state levels of respectively 12, 21, 216, 2 and 36 µg kg - 1 . Overall transfer rates for the sum of PAs were estimated between 0.02% and 0.23%, depending on the type of PAs in the feed. In animals slaughtered shortly after the last exposure, levels in meat were slightly lower than those in eggs, levels in livers somewhat higher. When switched to clean feed, levels in eggs gradually decreased, but after 14 days were still above detection limits in the hens exposed to higher PA levels. Similar was the case for meat and especially kidneys and livers. It is concluded that the intake of PA containing herbs by laying hens may result in levels in eggs and meat that could be of concern for consumers, and as such should be avoided.

  19. The cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD gene family in flax (Linum usitatissimum L.: Insight from expression profiling of cads induced by elicitors in cultured flax cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eom Hee Seung

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD is a key enzyme in the biosynthesis of lignin and lignans as it catalyzes the final step of monolignol biosynthesis, using NADPH as a cofactor. In higher plants, CAD is encoded by a multigene family consisting of three major classes. Based on the recently released flax (Linum usitatissimum L. whole-genome sequences, in this study we identified six CAD family genes that contain an ADH_N domain and an ADH_zinc_N domain, which suggests that the putative flax CADs (LuCADs are zinc-dependent alcohol dehydrogenases and members of the plant CAD family. In addition, expression analysis using quantitative real-time PCR revealed spatial variations in the expression of LuCADs in different organs. Comparative analysis between LuCAD enzymatic activity and LuCAD transcripts indicates that the variation of LuCAD enzymatic activities by elicitors is reflected by transcription of LuCADs in flax suspension-cultured cells. Taken together, our genome-wide analysis of CAD genes and the expression profiling of these genes provide valuable information for understanding the function of CADs, and will assist future studies on the physiological role of monolignols associated with plant defense.

  20. Comparative Evaluation of Physical and Structural Properties of Water Retted and Non-retted Flax Fibers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vijaya Raghavan

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Flax stems of Modran variety were subjected to water retting under laboratory conditions and its physical properties were compared with non-retted fibers. Physical properties including percentage of impurities, weighted average length, linear density, tenacity and elongation were analyzed and the results were compared. The analysis of retted and non-retted flax fibers showed that retting is the most important step in the processing of flax fibers and it directly affects quality attributes like strength, fineness, and homogeneity. Scanning Electron microscope images of fibers were also analyzed and the retted fibers showed much cleaner surface when compared to decorticated non-retted fibers.

  1. Differential gene expression in response to Fusarium oxysporum infection in resistant and susceptible genotypes of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dmitriev, Alexey A; Krasnov, George S; Rozhmina, Tatiana A; Novakovskiy, Roman O; Snezhkina, Anastasiya V; Fedorova, Maria S; Yurkevich, Olga Yu; Muravenko, Olga V; Bolsheva, Nadezhda L; Kudryavtseva, Anna V; Melnikova, Nataliya V

    2017-12-28

    Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) is a crop plant used for fiber and oil production. Although potentially high-yielding flax varieties have been developed, environmental stresses markedly decrease flax production. Among biotic stresses, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lini is recognized as one of the most devastating flax pathogens. It causes wilt disease that is one of the major limiting factors for flax production worldwide. Breeding and cultivation of flax varieties resistant to F. oxysporum is the most effective method for controlling wilt disease. Although the mechanisms of flax response to Fusarium have been actively studied, data on the plant response to infection and resistance gene candidates are currently very limited. The transcriptomes of two resistant and two susceptible flax cultivars with respect to Fusarium wilt, as well as two resistant BC 2 F 5 populations, which were grown under control conditions or inoculated with F. oxysporum, were sequenced using the Illumina platform. Genes showing changes in expression under F. oxysporum infection were identified in both resistant and susceptible flax genotypes. We observed the predominant overexpression of numerous genes that are involved in defense response. This was more pronounced in resistant cultivars. In susceptible cultivars, significant downregulation of genes involved in cell wall organization or biogenesis was observed in response to F. oxysporum. In the resistant genotypes, upregulation of genes related to NAD(P)H oxidase activity was detected. Upregulation of a number of genes, including that encoding beta-1,3-glucanase, was significantly greater in the cultivars and BC 2 F 5 populations resistant to Fusarium wilt than in susceptible cultivars in response to F. oxysporum infection. Using high-throughput sequencing, we identified genes involved in the early defense response of L. usitatissimum against the fungus F. oxysporum. In response to F. oxysporum infection, we detected changes in the

  2. Phylogenetic pinpointing of a paleopolyploidy event within the flax genus (Linum) using transcriptomics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sveinsson, Saemundur; McDill, Joshua; Wong, Gane K S; Li, Juanjuan; Li, Xia; Deyholos, Michael K; Cronk, Quentin C B

    2014-04-01

    Cultivated flax (Linum usitatissimum) is known to have undergone a whole-genome duplication around 5-9 million years ago. The aim of this study was to investigate whether other whole-genome duplication events have occurred in the evolutionary history of cultivated flax. Knowledge of such whole-genome duplications will be important in understanding the biology and genomics of cultivated flax. Transcriptomes of 11 Linum species were sequenced using the Illumina platform. The short reads were assembled de novo and the DupPipe pipeline was used to look for signatures of polyploidy events from the age distribution of paralogues. In addition, phylogenies of all paralogues were assembled within an estimated age window of interest. These phylogenies were assessed for evidence of a paleopolyploidy event within the genus Linum. A previously unknown paleopolyploidy event that occurred 20-40 million years ago was discovered and shown to be specific to a clade within Linum containing cultivated flax (L. usitatissimum) and other mainly blue-flowered species. The finding was supported by two lines of evidence. First, a significant change of slope (peak) was shown in the age distribution of paralogues that was phylogenetically restricted to, and ubiquitous in, this clade. Second, a large number of paralogue phylogenies were retrieved that are consistent with a polyploidy event occurring within that clade. The results show the utility of multi-species transcriptomics for detecting whole-genome duplication events and demonstrate that that multiple rounds of polyploidy have been important in shaping the evolutionary history of flax. Understanding and characterizing these whole-genome duplication events will be important for future Linum research.

  3. Residues of dioxins (PCDD/Fs) and PCBs in eggs, fat and livers of laying hens following consumption of contaminated feed

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Traag, W.A.; Kan, C.A.; Weg, van der G.; Onstenk, C.G.M.; Hoogenboom, L.A.P.

    2006-01-01

    Laying hens were fed with feed from the Belgian dioxin incident diluted ten-fold with non-contaminated feed, resulting in concentrations of 61 ng TEQ kg(-1) PCDD/Fs, 23 ng TEQ kg(-1) non-ortho PCBs, 116 ng TEQ kg(-1) mono-ortho PCBs and 3.2 mg kg(-1) of the seven indicator PCBs. Following exposure

  4. Soybean meal enriched with microelements by biosorption--a new biological feed supplement for laying hens. Part I. Performance and egg traits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Witkowska, Z; Chojnacka, K; Korczyński, M; Świniarska, M; Saeid, A; Opaliński, S; Dobrzański, Z

    2014-05-15

    The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of soybean meal enriched with Cu(II), Zn(II), Fe(II) and Cr(III) by biosorption on egg traits (egg weight, eggshell strength, eggshell thickness, yolk colour, albumen height) and performance of laying hens. Also, the effect of increased microelement doses in biological form on egg quality parameters and hens performance was investigated. A consumer questionnaire was undertaken to evaluate the organoleptic parameters of the eggs. Generally, our study showed that in the groups fed with the new biological supplement, egg quality parameters improved, including eggshell strength, eggshell thickness, albumen height and yolk colour. The biological form of microelements also improved the feed conversion rate, especially in the group fed with a biological form of Cr(III). Moreover, the new supplement improved organoleptic parameters of the eggs, in comparison to the inorganic form of microelements as well as to chelate. Enriched soybean meal could constitute an alternative for currently used feed additives with microelements. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Expression analysis of cellulose synthase and main cytoskeletal protein genes in flax (Linum usitatissimum L.).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galinousky, Dmitry; Padvitski, Tsimafei; Bayer, Galina; Pirko, Yaroslav; Pydiura, Nikolay; Anisimova, Natallia; Nikitinskaya, Tatyana; Khotyleva, Liubov; Yemets, Alla; Kilchevsky, Aleksandr; Blume, Yaroslav

    2017-08-09

    Fiber flax is an important source of natural fiber and a comprehensive model for the plant fiber biogenesis studies. Cellulose-synthase (CesA) and cytoskeletal genes are known to be important for the cell wall biogenesis in general and for the biogenesis of flax fibers in particular. Currently, knowledge about activity of these genes during the plant growth is limited. In this study, we have investigated flax fiber biogenesis by measuring expression of CesA and cytoskeletal genes at two stages of the flax development (seedlings and stems at the rapid growth stage) in several flax subspecies (elongatum, mediterraneum, crepitans). RT-qPCR has been used to quantify the expression of LusСesA1, LusСesA4, LusСesA7, LusСesA6, Actin, and α-Tubulin genes in plant samples. We report that CesA genes responsible for the secondary cell wall synthesis (LusCesA4, LusCesA7) have different expression pattern compared with CesA genes responsible for the primary cell wall synthesis (LusCesA1, LusCesA6): an average expression of LusCesA4 and LusCesA7 genes is relatively high in seedlings and further increases in stems at the rapid growth stage, whereas an average expression of LusCesA1 and LusCesA6 genes decreases. Interestingly, LusCesA1 is the only studied gene with different expression dynamics between the flax subspecies: its expression decreases by 5.2-10.7 folds in elongatum and mediterraneum but does not change in crepitans subspecies when the rapid growth stage and seedlings are compared. The expression of cytoskeleton genes (coding actin and α-tubulin) is relatively stable and significantly higher than the expression of cellulose-synthase genes in all the studied samples. © 2017 International Federation for Cell Biology.

  6. The Net Energy Values of Corn, Dried Distillers Grains with Solubles and Wheat Bran for Laying Hens Using Indirect Calorimetry Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. Ning

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available The present study was conducted to estimate the NE values of corn, dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS and wheat bran (WB for laying hens based on an indirect calorimetry method and nitrogen balance measurements. A total of 576 twenty-eight-wk-old Dwarf Pink-shell laying hens were randomly assigned to four groups fed a basal diet (BD or a combination of BD with 50% corn or 20% DDGS or 20% WB, with four replicates each. After a 7-d adaptation period, each replicate with 36 hens were kept in one of the two respiration chambers to measure the heat production (HP for 6 days during the feeding period and subsequent 3-d fasting. The equilibrium fasting HP (FHP provided an estimate of NE requirements for maintenance (NEm. The NE values of test feedstuffs was estimated using the difference method. Results showed that the heat increment that contributed 35.34 to 37.85% of ME intake was not influenced by experimental diets (p>0.05 when expressed as Mcal/kg of DM feed intake. Lighting increased the HP in hens in an fed-state. The FHP decreased over time (p0.05. The estimated AME, AMEn, and NE values were 3.46, 3.44 and 2.25 Mcal/kg DM for corn, 3.11, 2.79, and 1.80 Mcal/kg DM for DDGS, 2.14, 2.10, and 1.14 Mcal/kg DM for WB, respectively. The net availability of AME of corn tended to be numerically higher than DDGS and WB (p = 0.096. In conclusion, compared with corn, the energy values of DDGS and WB were overestimated when expressed on an AME basis.

  7. Pectinmethylesterases (PME) and pectinmethylesterase inhibitors (PMEI) enriched during phloem fiber development in flax (Linum usitatissimum).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pinzon-Latorre, David; Deyholos, Michael K

    2014-01-01

    Flax phloem fibers achieve their length by intrusive-diffusive growth, which requires them to penetrate the extracellular matrix of adjacent cells. Fiber elongation therefore involves extensive remodelling of cell walls and middle lamellae, including modifying the degree and pattern of methylesterification of galacturonic acid (GalA) residues of pectin. Pectin methylesterases (PME) are important enzymes for fiber elongation as they mediate the demethylesterification of GalA in muro, in either a block-wise fashion or in a random fashion. Our objective was to identify PMEs and PMEIs that mediate phloem fiber elongation in flax. For this purpose, we measured transcript abundance of candidate genes at nine different stages of stem and fiber development and found sets of genes enriched during fiber elongation and maturation as well as during xylem development. We expressed one of the flax PMEIs in E. coli and demonstrated that it was able to inhibit most of the native PME activity in the upper portion of the flax stem. These results identify key genetic components of the intrusive growth process and define targets for fiber engineering and crop improvement.

  8. Rastreabilidade da farinha de carne e ossos bovinos em ovos de poedeiras alimentadas com ingredientes alternativos Traceability of bovine meat and bone meal in eggs from laying hens fed with alternative ingredients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juliana Célia Denadai

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available O objetivo deste trabalho foi detectar traços de farinha de carne e ossos bovinos, em ovos de poedeiras alimentadas com dietas comerciais com inclusão de ingredientes vegetais alternativos e leveduras. A detecção foi feita pela técnica dos isótopos estáveis do carbono e do nitrogênio. Foram utilizadas 384 poedeiras, distribuídas aleatoriamente em oito tratamentos. Os tratamentos consistiram de uma dieta-controle - à base de milho e farelo de soja - e sete dietas com inclusão de farinha de carne e ossos bovinos, acrescidas ou não de outros ingredientes (farelo de trigo, quirera de arroz, farelo de algodão, glúten de milho, levedura de cana e levedura de cerveja. No 35º dia, foram tomados aleatoriamente 24 ovos por tratamento: 12 para análise de ovo e 12 para análise de gema e albúmen, em separado. Após análise isotópica de carbono e nitrogênio, os resultados foram submetidos à análise multivariada de variância. As médias dos pares isotópicos dos ovos, gema e albúmen, em todos os tratamentos, diferiram daquelas do tratamento-controle. A técnica dos isótopos estáveis permite detectar, nos ovos, gema e albúmen, a farinha de carne e ossos bovinos utilizada na dieta de poedeiras, mesmo com a inclusão de outros ingredientes vegetais e leveduras.The objective of this work was to detect traces of the bovine meat and bones meal in eggs of laying hens fed on commercial diets including alternative plant ingredients and yeast. The bovine meal detection was performed through carbon and nitrogen stable isotope technique. Three hundred eighty-four laying hens were randomly distributed in eight treatments. Treatments consisted of one control diet - a corn-and-soybean based meal - and seven diets with bovine meat and bone meal, including or not other ingredients (wheat bran, rice, cottonseed meal, corn gluten meal, sugarcane yeast and brewer yeast. At the 35th day, 24 eggs per treatment were randomly collected, 12 for egg analyses

  9. Assessment of the minimal available phosphorus needs of laying hens: Implications for phosphorus management strategies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jing, M; Zhao, S; Rogiewicz, A; Slominski, B A; House, J D

    2018-03-28

    The oversupply of dietary phosphorus (P) leads to increased feed costs and discharge of excessive P to the environment, thus directly impacting the sustainability of egg production practices. The present study was conducted to better define the minimal available P needs of laying hens. Fifty-six Lohmann white laying hens were individually caged and fed one of 7 diets with graded levels of available P (0.15, 0.20, 0.25, 0.30, 0.35, 0.40, or 0.45%) for 12 weeks. Records were maintained for body weight, feed intake, and egg production during the experimental period. Blood and egg samples were collected and digestibility studies conducted at wk 6 and 12 of the experiment. At the end of the experiment, tibia characteristics and expression of the P transporters in the small intestine and kidney were determined. Lowering dietary available P from 0.45 to 0.15% generally reduced plasma P concentrations (P data indicate that reducing dietary available P up to 0.15% is adequate to maintain health and performance of layers. As such, this minimal available P estimate should serve as a benchmark for the assessment of P contents of commercial laying hen rations, with the goal of enhancing the sustainability of egg production.

  10. Response of laying hens to feeding low-protein amino acid-supplemented diets under high ambient temperature: performance, egg quality, leukocyte profile, blood lipids, and excreta pH

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torki, Mehran; Mohebbifar, Ahmad; Ghasemi, Hossein Ali; Zardast, Afshin

    2015-05-01

    An experiment was conducted to determine whether, by using a low-protein amino acid-supplemented diet, the health status, stress response, and excreta quality could be improved without affecting the productive performance of heat-stressed laying hens. The requirements for egg production, egg mass, and feed conversion ratio were also estimated using second-order equations and broken-line regression. A total of 150 Lohmann Selected Leghorn (LSL-Lite) hens were divided randomly into five groups of 30 with five replicates of six hens. The hens were raised for an 8-week period (52 to 60 weeks) in wire cages situated in high ambient temperature in an open-sided housing system. The five experimental diets (ME; 2,720 kcal/kg) varied according to five crude protein (CP) levels: normal-CP diet (control, 16.5 % CP) and low-CP diets containing 15.0, 13.5, 12.0, or 10.5 % CP. All experimental diets were supplemented with crystalline amino acids at the levels sufficient to meet their requirements. The results showed that under high temperature conditions, all productive performance and egg quality parameters in the birds fed with 15.0, 13.5, and 12.0 % CP diets were similar to those of birds fed with control diet (16.5 % CP), whereas feeding 10.5 % CP diet significantly decreased egg production and egg mass. Estimations of requirements were of 13.93 and 12.77 % CP for egg production, 14.62 and 13.22 % CP for egg mass, and 12.93 and 12.26 % CP for feed conversion ratio using quadratic and broken-line models, respectively. Egg yolk color index, blood triglyceride level, and excreta acidity were also significantly higher in birds fed with 12.0 and 10.5 % CP diets compared with those of control birds. The heterophil to lymphocyte ratio, as a stress indicator, was significantly decreased by 15.0, 13.5, and 12 % CP diets. On the basis of our findings, reducing dietary CP from 16.5 to 12.0 % and supplementing the diets with the essential amino acids showed merit for improving the

  11. Functional analyses of cellulose synthase genes in flax (Linum usitatissimum) by virus-induced gene silencing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chantreau, Maxime; Chabbert, Brigitte; Billiard, Sylvain; Hawkins, Simon; Neutelings, Godfrey

    2015-12-01

    Flax (Linum usitatissimum) bast fibres are located in the stem cortex where they play an important role in mechanical support. They contain high amounts of cellulose and so are used for linen textiles and in the composite industry. In this study, we screened the annotated flax genome and identified 14 distinct cellulose synthase (CESA) genes using orthologous sequences previously identified. Transcriptomics of 'primary cell wall' and 'secondary cell wall' flax CESA genes showed that some were preferentially expressed in different organs and stem tissues providing clues as to their biological role(s) in planta. The development for the first time in flax of a virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) approach was used to functionally evaluate the biological role of different CESA genes in stem tissues. Quantification of transcript accumulation showed that in many cases, silencing not only affected targeted CESA clades, but also had an impact on other CESA genes. Whatever the targeted clade, inactivation by VIGS affected plant growth. In contrast, only clade 1- and clade 6-targeted plants showed modifications in outer-stem tissue organization and secondary cell wall formation. In these plants, bast fibre number and structure were severely impacted, suggesting that the targeted genes may play an important role in the establishment of the fibre cell wall. Our results provide new fundamental information about cellulose biosynthesis in flax that should facilitate future plant improvement/engineering. © 2015 Society for Experimental Biology, Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  12. Physical mapping and BAC-end sequence analysis provide initial insights into the flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) genome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ragupathy, Raja; Rathinavelu, Rajkumar; Cloutier, Sylvie

    2011-05-09

    Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) is an important source of oil rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which have proven health benefits and utility as an industrial raw material. Flax seeds also contain lignans which are associated with reducing the risk of certain types of cancer. Its bast fibres have broad industrial applications. However, genomic tools needed for molecular breeding were non existent. Hence a project, Total Utilization Flax GENomics (TUFGEN) was initiated. We report here the first genome-wide physical map of flax and the generation and analysis of BAC-end sequences (BES) from 43,776 clones, providing initial insights into the genome. The physical map consists of 416 contigs spanning ~368 Mb, assembled from 32,025 fingerprints, representing roughly 54.5% to 99.4% of the estimated haploid genome (370-675 Mb). The N50 size of the contigs was estimated to be ~1,494 kb. The longest contig was ~5,562 kb comprising 437 clones. There were 96 contigs containing more than 100 clones. Approximately 54.6 Mb representing 8-14.8% of the genome was obtained from 80,337 BES. Annotation revealed that a large part of the genome consists of ribosomal DNA (~13.8%), followed by known transposable elements at 6.1%. Furthermore, ~7.4% of sequence was identified to harbour novel repeat elements. Homology searches against flax-ESTs and NCBI-ESTs suggested that ~5.6% of the transcriptome is unique to flax. A total of 4064 putative genomic SSRs were identified and are being developed as novel markers for their use in molecular breeding. The first genome-wide physical map of flax constructed with BAC clones provides a framework for accessing target loci with economic importance for marker development and positional cloning. Analysis of the BES has provided insights into the uniqueness of the flax genome. Compared to other plant genomes, the proportion of rDNA was found to be very high whereas the proportion of known transposable elements was low. The SSRs identified from BES will be

  13. Safety evaluation of phytosterols in laying hens: effects on laying performance, clinical blood parameters, and organ development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, S R; Shen, Y R; Chang, L L; Zhou, C J; Bo, Z; Wang, Z Y; Tong, H B; Zou, J M

    2014-03-01

    Phytosterols are intended for use as a novel food ingredient with plasma cholesterol-lowering activity. Although phytosterols are naturally present in the normal diet, daily consumption is insufficient to ensure plasma cholesterol-lowering levels. Therefore, phytosterols may be added to the diets to achieve the desired cholesterol-lowering activity. A subchronic laying hen safety study was conducted to examine if high-dose phytosterols could affect the safety of hens. Three hundred sixty 21-wk-old Hy-Line Brown laying hens were randomly assigned to 5 groups with 6 replicates of 12 birds each; after 3 wk, birds were fed diets supplemented with 0, 20, 80, 400, and 800 mg/kg of phytosterols for 12 wk. Throughout the study, clinical observations and laying performance were measured. At the end of the study, birds were subjected to a full postmortem examination: blood samples were taken for clinical pathology, selected organs were weighed, and specified tissues were taken for subsequent histological examination. No treatment-related changes that were considered to be of toxicological significance were observed. Therefore, a nominal phytosterol concentration of 800 mg/kg was considered to be the no-observed-adverse-effect level.

  14. Improving retting of fibre through genetic modification of flax to express pectinases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Musialak, Magdalena; Wróbel-Kwiatkowska, Magdalena; Kulma, Anna; Starzycka, Eligia; Szopa, Jan

    2008-02-01

    Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) is a raw material used for important industrial products. Linen has very high quality textile properties, such as its strength, water absorption, comfort and feel. However, it occupies less than 1% of the total textile market. The major reason for this is the long and difficult retting process by which linen fibres are obtained. In retting, bast fibre bundles are separated from the core, the epidermis and the cuticle. This is accomplished by the cleavage of pectins and hemicellulose in the flax cell wall, a process mainly carried out by plant pathogens like filamentous fungi. The remaining bast fibres are mainly composed of cellulose and lignin. The aim of this study was to generate plants that could be retted more efficiently. To accomplish this, we employed the novel approach of transgenic flax plant generation with increased polygalacturonase (PGI ) and rhamnogalacturonase (RHA) activities. The constitutive expression of Aspergillus aculeatus genes resulted in a significant reduction in the pectin content in tissue-cultured and field-grown plants. This pectin content reduction was accompanied by a significantly higher (more than 2-fold) retting efficiency of the transgenic plant fibres as measured by a modified Fried's test. No alteration in the lignin or cellulose content was observed in the transgenic plants relative to the control. This indicates that the over-expression of the two enzymes does not affect flax fibre composition. The growth rate and soluble sugar and starch contents were in the range of the control levels. It is interesting to note that the RHA and PGI plants showed higher resistance to Fusarium culmorum and F. oxysporum attack, which correlates with the increased phenolic acid level. In this report, we demonstrate for the first time that over-expression of the A. aculeatus genes results in flax plants more readily usable for fibre production. The biochemical parameters of the cell wall components indicated that

  15. Infectious Bronchitis Vaccination Protocols for Laying Hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Sulaiman

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available A research was conducted to investigate the effects of vaccination protocols for Infectious Bronchitis (IB on egg production, egg quality, and IB antibody titres of laying hens. Different initial vaccination (Control, VicS eye, VicS spray, VicS water, A3 eye, A3 spray, and A3 water for IB were administered to day-old Isa Brown hens. Half the hens were revaccinated regularly during lay whereas the other hens were not vaccinated. Results showed that initial vaccination treatment had significant effects on hen day egg production and egg quality of egg weight, shell reflectivity, shell breaking strength, shell thickness, albumen height, Haugh Units, and IB antibody titre levels, but had no effect on percentage of shell and yolk colour. Egg weight and shell reflectivity were less favourable in the control hens. In contrast, shell breaking strength and shell thickness were highest for the group that initially received A3 vaccine in water. However, regular revaccination had some deleterious effects on egg production and egg quality. There were no significant effects of revaccination on IB antibody titres. It is concluded that there was little advantage in regularly revaccinating laying hens for IB virus, since they had received appropriate initial vaccination.

  16. Molecular genetic studies in flax (Linum usitatissimum L.)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vromans, J.

    2006-01-01

    In this thesis five molecular genetic studies on flax ( Linum usitatissimum L.) are described, of which two chapters aim to characterize the genetic structure and the amount of genetic diversity in the primary and secondary gene pool of the crop species. Three chapters describe the development of

  17. Effects of phyto-oestrogen quercetin on productive performance, hormones, reproductive organs and apoptotic genes in laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, J X; Chaudhry, M T; Yao, J Y; Wang, S N; Zhou, B; Wang, M; Han, C Y; You, Y; Li, Y

    2018-04-01

    Quercetin, a polyphenolic flavonoid with diverse biological activities including anti-inflammatory and antiviral, inhibits lipid peroxidation, prevents oxidative injury and cell death. The purpose of the research was to investigate the effect of quercetin on productive performance, reproductive organs, hormones and apoptotic genes in laying hens between 37 and 45 weeks of age, because of the structure and oestrogenic activities similar to 17β-oestradiol. The trial was conducted using 240 Hessian laying hens (37 weeks old), housed in wire cages with two hens in each cage. These hens were randomly allotted to four treatments with six replicates, 10 hens in each replicate and fed with diets containing quercetin as 0, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 g/kg feed for 8 weeks. The results showed that dietary quercetin significantly increased (p feed-egg ratio was decreased (p  .05) on average egg weight and average daily feed intake. Compared with control, secretion of hormones, oestradiol (E 2 ) , progesterone (P4), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), insulin-like growth factors-1 (IGF-1) and growth hormone (GH), was found to be significantly higher (p  .05) by quercetin, whereas magnum index, isthmus index, magnum length, isthmus length and follicle numbers were significantly increased (p < .05) with quercetin supplementation. Additionally, expression of apoptotic genes was significantly (p < .05) up-regulated or down-regulated by quercetin. These results indicated that quercetin improved productive performance, and its mechanism may be due to the oestrogen-like activities of quercetin. © 2017 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

  18. Effect of Supplementation Purslane (Portulaca oleracea as a Source of Alpha-Linolenic Acid on Production Performance and Physical Quality of Egg of Laying Hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lilik Kartikasari

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of inclusion plant source of n 3 fat in the form of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA, 18:3n-3 on the diets of layers on production performance and physical quality of eggs. A total of  125 Hy-Line Brown hens (38 weeks old were placed at individual cages and assigned to five dietary treatments. The dietary treatments were supplemented with 0, 1.5, 3.0, 4.5 and 6.0% purslane meal. Laying hens were fed for five weeks following a seven day adaptation period. Water and feed were provided ad libitum. Feed intake (FI measured weekly and feed consumption ratio (FCR was calculated at the end of the trial. A total of 25 egg yolk samples of day 35 (n = 5 egg yolks for each treatment were collected to analyse physical quality of eggs. The data were analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA. Differences between treatment means were further analyzed using Duncan's New Multiple Range Test (DMRT. Results showed that the incorporation of plants rich in ALA did not modify FI, FCR, and egg production. Supplementation of purslane meal in the diets had no effect on physical quality of eggs, including egg weight, yolk weight, albumen index, yolk index and Haugh Unit (HU. The average of egg weight and yolk weight were 60,5 and 15.3 g, respectively. Diet containing purslane meal increased yolk colour. In conclusion, laying hens that fed diet supplemented with purslane meal rich in ALA improved yolk colour and did not change the production performance of the laying hens or the qualities of the eggs.

  19. [BIOINFORMATIC SEARCH AND PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS OF THE CELLULOSE SYNTHASE GENES OF FLAX (LINUM USITATISSIMUM)].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pydiura, N A; Bayer, G Ya; Galinousky, D V; Yemets, A I; Pirko, Ya V; Podvitski, T A; Anisimova, N V; Khotyleva, L V; Kilchevsky, A V; Blume, Ya B

    2015-01-01

    A bioinformatic search of sequences encoding cellulose synthase genes in the flax genome, and their comparison to dicots orthologs was carried out. The analysis revealed 32 cellulose synthase gene candidates, 16 of which are highly likely to encode cellulose synthases, and the remaining 16--cellulose synthase-like proteins (Csl). Phylogenetic analysis of gene products of cellulose synthase genes allowed distinguishing 6 groups of cellulose synthase genes of different classes: CesA1/10, CesA3, CesA4, CesA5/6/2/9, CesA7 and CesA8. Paralogous sequences within classes CesA1/10 and CesA5/6/2/9 which are associated with the primary cell wall formation are characterized by a greater similarity within these classes than orthologous sequences. Whereas the genes controlling the biosynthesis of secondary cell wall cellulose form distinct clades: CesA4, CesA7, and CesA8. The analysis of 16 identified flax cellulose synthase gene candidates shows the presence of at least 12 different cellulose synthase gene variants in flax genome which are represented in all six clades of cellulose synthase genes. Thus, at this point genes of all ten known cellulose synthase classes are identify in flax genome, but their correct classification requires additional research.

  20. Development of basic populations of plant species suitable for the production of fatty acids, especially considering linseed, false flax and poppy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Seehuber, R.; Dambroth, M.

    1987-01-01

    Seed yields, oil contents and oil yields from experiments conducted over a four year period and at five locations are presented for linseed (linum usitatissimum), false flax (Camelina sativa) and oilseed poppy (Papaver somniferum). The influence of year and location on the yields was very high, but oil contents have been relatively stable. The highest oil yields in kg/ha as mean for four years were for linseed 898, for false flax 892 and for poppy 901. Yields and oil contents of winter false flax were slightly higher than in summer false flax. The variability in the collections of plant genetic resources of the presented crops is demonstrated at the example of the frequency distributions of plant height. First results of yield trials of crossing progenies in false flax and poppy show the large possibilities of increasing seed yields. (orig.)

  1. Modification of flax fibres by radiation induced emulsion graft copolymerization of glycidyl methacrylate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moawia, Rihab Musaad; Nasef, Mohamed Mahmoud; Mohamed, Nor Hasimah; Ripin, Adnan

    2016-05-01

    Flax fibres were modified by radiation induced graft copolymerization of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) by pre-irradiation method in an emulsion medium. The effect of reaction parameters on the degree of grafting (DOG) such as concentration of bleaching agent, absorbed dose, monomer concentration, temperature and reaction time were investigated. The DOG was found to be dependent on the investigated parameters. The incorporation of poly(GMA) grafts in the bleached flax fibres was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The structural and mechanical changes were evaluated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and mechanical tester, respectively. The results revealed that reacting bleached flax fibres irradiated with 20 kGy with 5% GMA emulsion containing 0.5% polyoxyethylene-sorbitan monolaurate (Tween 20) surfactant at 40 °C for 1 h led to a maximum DOG of 148%. The grafted fibres showed sufficient mechanical strength and hydrophobicity which make them promising precursors for development of adsorbents after appropriate chemical treatments.

  2. Effect of dietary supplementation with Morinda citrifolia on productivity and egg quality of laying hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dairon Más-Toro

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available In order to evaluate the dietary supplementation of powdered leaves of Morinda citrifolia on productivity and egg quality of laying hens, a total of 160 White Leghorn birds (Hybrid L-33 of 27 weeks of age were allotted during 70 days, according to completely randomized design. Dietary treatments consisted of a control diet fed without or with 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5% of powdered leaves of M. citrifolia. Supplementation of 1.0 and 1.5% of M. citrifolia powder increased the egg weight (P0.05 among treatments. Also, supplementation of 0.5 and 1.0% of M. citrifolia increased the shell thickness and the yolk color was pigmented by this medicinal plant. It recommended the dietary supplementation of 1.0% of powdered leaves of M. citrifolia on laying hen diets to improve the egg weight, shell thickness and yolk color.

  3. Effect of various copper supplements to feed of laying hens on cu content in eggs, liver, excreta, soil, and herbage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skrivan, M; Skrivanová, V; Marounek, M

    2006-02-01

    Copper is often added to poultry diets as an antimicrobial agent at doses greatly exceeding the nutritional requirement. In this study, the basal diet of laying hens containing 9.2 mg Cu/kg was supplemented with CuSO(4) x 5H(2)O at 0, 25, 65, 115, and 240 mg Cu/kg dry matter (DM). At Cu dietary concentration just below the level permitted by the European Union (35 mg/kg), the Cu content in the egg yolk was significantly (p eggshell, and liver, respectively. When Cu concentration in the diet was doubled, the effect of Cu on Cu content in eggshell and liver was statistically significant as well. In no liver sample was the hygienic limit of Cu content (80 mg/kg) exceeded. Supplementation of diets with Cu increased Cu concentration in excreta linearly from 25.3 to 396.8 mg/kg DM. Dried excreta were used for fertilization of grassland at 21 g N/m(2). Three months later, soil and herbage were sampled and analyzed. The Cu concentration in soil increased from 25.3 to only 46.4 mg/kg DM when dietary Cu concentration rose from 9.2 to 243.7 mg Cu/kg DM. Corresponding Cu concentrations in herbage were 6.8 and 19.2 mg/kg DM. It can be concluded that the deposition of Cu in eggs and liver of hens fed Cu-supplemented diets does not represent a hygienic risk. The accumulation of Cu in soil fertilized with excreta of Cu-fed hens and in herbage was limited.

  4. Pectinmethylesterases (PME and pectinmethylesterase inhibitors (PMEI enriched during phloem fiber development in flax (Linum usitatissimum.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Pinzon-Latorre

    Full Text Available Flax phloem fibers achieve their length by intrusive-diffusive growth, which requires them to penetrate the extracellular matrix of adjacent cells. Fiber elongation therefore involves extensive remodelling of cell walls and middle lamellae, including modifying the degree and pattern of methylesterification of galacturonic acid (GalA residues of pectin. Pectin methylesterases (PME are important enzymes for fiber elongation as they mediate the demethylesterification of GalA in muro, in either a block-wise fashion or in a random fashion. Our objective was to identify PMEs and PMEIs that mediate phloem fiber elongation in flax. For this purpose, we measured transcript abundance of candidate genes at nine different stages of stem and fiber development and found sets of genes enriched during fiber elongation and maturation as well as during xylem development. We expressed one of the flax PMEIs in E. coli and demonstrated that it was able to inhibit most of the native PME activity in the upper portion of the flax stem. These results identify key genetic components of the intrusive growth process and define targets for fiber engineering and crop improvement.

  5. Effect of addition of a detoxifying agent to laying hen diets containing uncontaminated or Fusarium toxin-contaminated maize on performance of hens and on carryover of zearalenone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dänicke, S; Ueberschär, K H; Halle, I; Matthes, S; Valenta, H; Flachowsky, G

    2002-11-01

    16-wk experiment with laying hens was carried out to examine the effects of feeding of mycotoxin-contaminated maize (CM) on performance, nutrient digestibility, weight of organs, serum chemical parameters, and antibody titers to Newcastle disease virus (NDV) in serum. Also tested were fimbrien antigen K88 in egg yolk and zearalenone (ZON) residues in eggs and tissues. The Fusarium-toxin-contaminated maize contained 17,630 microg deoxynivalenol and 1,580 microg ZON/kg. Moreover, Mycofix Plus (MP), a so-called detoxifying agent, was added to both the uncontaminated control (UCM) and to the CM diet (70% dietary maize inclusion). Each of the four resulting diets (UCM, UCM-MP, CM, CM-MP) was tested on 25 laying hybrids (Lohmann Brown). Feeding of the CM diets significantly depressed feed intake compared to the control groups by approximately 5%. This was mainly due to the effects observed at the beginning of the experiment. Daily egg mass production/hen was 56.6, 58.4, 53.9, and 55.2 g in groups UCM, UCM-MP, CM and CM-MP, respectively. Nutrient digestibility and metabolizability of gross energy were slightly depressed by feeding the CM diets and improved by MP addition. Feeding of the CM diets resulted in a significant decrease in serum titers to NDV and to an increase in yolk titers to antigen K88. No residues of ZON or of its metabolites were found in yolk, albumen, abdominal fat, breast meat, follicles greater than 1 cm in diameter, ovaries including follicles smaller than 1 cm in diameter, magnum, and serum. ZON and alpha-zearalenol (alpha-ZOL) were detected in livers of hens fed the CM diets at mean concentrations of 2.1 and 3.7 microg/kg, respectively. It was concluded that feeding maize which was highly contaminated with Fusarium mycotoxins adversely influenced performance of hens and modulated immune response. At the given level of zearalenone and at the indicated detection limits, no residues of ZON and its metabolites were found in eggs. The effects of the

  6. A study of the tensile behaviour of flax tows and their potential for composite processing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moothoo, J.; Allaoui, S.; Ouagne, P.; Soulat, D.

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Flax tows are characterised by tensile testing under various conditions. • The tensile properties and their dispersion are dependent on the gauge length. • The distribution of the fibres length in specimens commands the tensile behaviour. • Packs of fibre bundle debonding failure mode are observed by image correlation. • Interesting tensile properties are obtained on epoxy impregnated and cured tows. - Abstract: To study the potential of flax tows in composite processing as an alternative to flax spun yarns, a flat flax tow consisting of aligned fibre bundles held together by a natural binder was used and characterised in tension under various conditions. The effect of the gauge length was studied on the dry reinforcement. The experimental results showed that the mechanical properties and failure mechanism varied significantly depending on the gauge length and are discussed in relation to the distribution of elementary fibres within the tow. A characteristic length as from which the mechanical properties are stable has been identified. At this length, the effect of the strain rate on the tensile properties was measured and their sensitivity to the strain rate suggests a viscous effect in the behaviour of the flax tow. To approach process conditions such as wet filament winding, a batch of specimens was impregnated with epoxy prior to tensile testing. The tensile properties under wet conditions were found to be close to the properties under dry conditions and shows that the tow can withstand typical processing tensions. Finally, tensile tests on cured-impregnated tows showed interesting mechanical properties for composite application

  7. Biomechanical properties of an advanced new carbon/flax/epoxy composite material for bone plate applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bagheri, Zahra S; El Sawi, Ihab; Schemitsch, Emil H; Zdero, Rad; Bougherara, Habiba

    2013-04-01

    This work is part of an ongoing program to develop a new carbon fiber/flax/epoxy (CF/flax/epoxy) hybrid composite material for use as an orthopaedic long bone fracture plate, instead of a metal plate. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the mechanical properties of this new novel composite material. The composite material had a "sandwich structure", in which two thin sheets of CF/epoxy were attached to each outer surface of the flax/epoxy core, which resulted in a unique structure compared to other composite plates for bone plate applications. Mechanical properties were determined using tension, three-point bending, and Rockwell hardness tests. Also, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to characterize the failure mechanism of specimens in tension and three-point bending tests. The results of mechanical tests revealed a considerably high ultimate strength in both tension (399.8MPa) and flexural loading (510.6MPa), with a higher elastic modulus in bending tests (57.4GPa) compared to tension tests (41.7GPa). The composite material experienced brittle catastrophic failure in both tension and bending tests. The SEM images, consistent with brittle failure, showed mostly fiber breakage and fiber pull-out at the fractured surfaces with perfect bonding at carbon fibers and flax plies. Compared to clinically-used orthopaedic metal plates, current CF/flax/epoxy results were closer to human cortical bone, making the material a potential candidate for use in long bone fracture fixation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Effect of dietary vanadium and vitamin C on egg quality and antioxidant status in laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, J P; He, K R; Ding, X M; Luo, Y H; Bai, S P; Zeng, Q F; Su, Z W; Xuan, Y; Zhang, K Y

    2016-06-01

    This study assessed the effect of dietary vanadium (V) and vitamin C (VC) on production performance, egg quality and antioxidant status in laying hens. A total of 360 laying hens (31-week-old) were randomly allotted into a 3 × 3 factorial arrangement treatments (four replicates and 10 chicks per replicate) with three levels of dietary V (0, 5 and 10 mg/kg) and three levels of vitamin C (0, 50 and 100 mg/kg) for 12 weeks. The effect of V and VC did not alter egg production, egg weight, average daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio during 1-12 week. Albumen height and Haugh unit value were linearly decreased (p effect of 100 mg/kg VC was observed to counteract (p effect in V-containing treatments during 1-12 week. Hens fed V-containing diet laid lighter (linear effect, p effect of V during 4, 8 and 12 week. The effect of VC alone and the interactive effect between VC and V were shown to increase serum (p effect and can mitigate the oxidative stress to some extent. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition © 2015 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

  9. Physical mapping and BAC-end sequence analysis provide initial insights into the flax (Linum usitatissimum L. genome

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cloutier Sylvie

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Flax (Linum usitatissimum L. is an important source of oil rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which have proven health benefits and utility as an industrial raw material. Flax seeds also contain lignans which are associated with reducing the risk of certain types of cancer. Its bast fibres have broad industrial applications. However, genomic tools needed for molecular breeding were non existent. Hence a project, Total Utilization Flax GENomics (TUFGEN was initiated. We report here the first genome-wide physical map of flax and the generation and analysis of BAC-end sequences (BES from 43,776 clones, providing initial insights into the genome. Results The physical map consists of 416 contigs spanning ~368 Mb, assembled from 32,025 fingerprints, representing roughly 54.5% to 99.4% of the estimated haploid genome (370-675 Mb. The N50 size of the contigs was estimated to be ~1,494 kb. The longest contig was ~5,562 kb comprising 437 clones. There were 96 contigs containing more than 100 clones. Approximately 54.6 Mb representing 8-14.8% of the genome was obtained from 80,337 BES. Annotation revealed that a large part of the genome consists of ribosomal DNA (~13.8%, followed by known transposable elements at 6.1%. Furthermore, ~7.4% of sequence was identified to harbour novel repeat elements. Homology searches against flax-ESTs and NCBI-ESTs suggested that ~5.6% of the transcriptome is unique to flax. A total of 4064 putative genomic SSRs were identified and are being developed as novel markers for their use in molecular breeding. Conclusion The first genome-wide physical map of flax constructed with BAC clones provides a framework for accessing target loci with economic importance for marker development and positional cloning. Analysis of the BES has provided insights into the uniqueness of the flax genome. Compared to other plant genomes, the proportion of rDNA was found to be very high whereas the proportion of known transposable

  10. The genome of flax (Linum usitatissimum) assembled de novo from short shotgun sequence reads.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zhiwen; Hobson, Neil; Galindo, Leonardo; Zhu, Shilin; Shi, Daihu; McDill, Joshua; Yang, Linfeng; Hawkins, Simon; Neutelings, Godfrey; Datla, Raju; Lambert, Georgina; Galbraith, David W; Grassa, Christopher J; Geraldes, Armando; Cronk, Quentin C; Cullis, Christopher; Dash, Prasanta K; Kumar, Polumetla A; Cloutier, Sylvie; Sharpe, Andrew G; Wong, Gane K-S; Wang, Jun; Deyholos, Michael K

    2012-11-01

    Flax (Linum usitatissimum) is an ancient crop that is widely cultivated as a source of fiber, oil and medicinally relevant compounds. To accelerate crop improvement, we performed whole-genome shotgun sequencing of the nuclear genome of flax. Seven paired-end libraries ranging in size from 300 bp to 10 kb were sequenced using an Illumina genome analyzer. A de novo assembly, comprised exclusively of deep-coverage (approximately 94× raw, approximately 69× filtered) short-sequence reads (44-100 bp), produced a set of scaffolds with N(50) =694 kb, including contigs with N(50)=20.1 kb. The contig assembly contained 302 Mb of non-redundant sequence representing an estimated 81% genome coverage. Up to 96% of published flax ESTs aligned to the whole-genome shotgun scaffolds. However, comparisons with independently sequenced BACs and fosmids showed some mis-assembly of regions at the genome scale. A total of 43384 protein-coding genes were predicted in the whole-genome shotgun assembly, and up to 93% of published flax ESTs, and 86% of A. thaliana genes aligned to these predicted genes, indicating excellent coverage and accuracy at the gene level. Analysis of the synonymous substitution rates (K(s) ) observed within duplicate gene pairs was consistent with a recent (5-9 MYA) whole-genome duplication in flax. Within the predicted proteome, we observed enrichment of many conserved domains (Pfam-A) that may contribute to the unique properties of this crop, including agglutinin proteins. Together these results show that de novo assembly, based solely on whole-genome shotgun short-sequence reads, is an efficient means of obtaining nearly complete genome sequence information for some plant species. © 2012 The Authors. The Plant Journal © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  11. Molecular Genetic Identification Of Some Flax Mutants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    AMER, I.M.; MOUSTAFA, H.A.M.

    2009-01-01

    Five flax genotypes (Linum usitatissimum L.) i.e., commercial cultivar Sakha 2, the mother variety Giza 4 and three mutant types induced by gamma rays, were screened for their salinity tolerance in field experiments (salinity concentration was 8600 and 8300 ppm for soil and irrigation water, respectively). Mutation 6 was the most salt tolerant as compared to the other four genotypes.RAPD technique was used to detect some molecular markers associated with salt tolerance in flax (Mut 6), RAPD-PCR results using 12 random primers exhibited 149 amplified fragments; 91.9% of them were polymorphic and twelve molecular markers (8.1%) for salt tolerant (mutant 6) were identified with molecular size ranged from 191 to 4159 bp and only eight primers successes to amplify these specific markers. Concerning the other mutants, Mut 15 and Mut 25 exhibited 4.3% and 16.2% specific markers, respectively. The induced mutants exhibited genetic similarity to the parent variety were about 51%, 58.3% and 61.1% for Mut 25, Mut 6 and Mut 15, respectively. These specific markers (SM) are used for identification of the induced mutations and it is important for new variety registration.

  12. Abscisic acid regulates pinoresinol-lariciresinol reductase gene expression and secoisolariciresinol accumulation in developing flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) seeds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Renouard, Sullivan; Corbin, Cyrielle; Lopez, Tatiana; Montguillon, Josiane; Gutierrez, Laurent; Lamblin, Frédéric; Lainé, Eric; Hano, Christophe

    2012-01-01

    Secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG), the main phytoestrogenic lignan of Linum usitatissimum, is accumulated in the seed coat of flax during its development and pinoresinol-lariciresinol reductase (PLR) is a key enzyme in flax for its synthesis. The promoter of LuPLR1, a flax gene encoding a pinoresinol lariciresinol reductase, contains putative regulatory boxes related to transcription activation by abscisic acid (ABA). Gel mobility shift experiments evidenced an interaction of nuclear proteins extracted from immature flax seed coat with a putative cis-acting element involved in ABA response. As ABA regulates a number of physiological events during seed development and maturation we have investigated its involvement in the regulation of this lignan synthesis by different means. ABA and SDG accumulation time courses in the seed as well as LuPLR1 expression were first determined in natural conditions. These results showed that ABA timing and localization of accumulation in the flax seed coat could be correlated with the LuPLR1 gene expression and SDG biosynthesis. Experimental modulations of ABA levels were performed by exogenous application of ABA or fluridone, an inhibitor of ABA synthesis. When submitted to exogenous ABA, immature seeds synthesized 3-times more SDG, whereas synthesis of SDG was reduced in immature seeds treated with fluridone. Similarly, the expression of LuPLR1 gene in the seed coat was up-regulated by exogenous ABA and down-regulated when fluridone was applied. These results demonstrate that SDG biosynthesis in the flax seed coat is positively controlled by ABA through the transcriptional regulation of LuPLR1 gene.

  13. The efficacy of using exogenous enzymes cocktail on production, egg quality, egg nutrients and blood metabolites of laying hens fed distiller's dried grains with solubles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abd El-Hack, M E; Chaudhry, M T; Mahrose, K M; Noreldin, A; Emam, M; Alagawany, M

    2018-04-01

    An experiment was performed using 120 Hisex Brown laying hens for evaluating the effects of different inclusion levels of corn distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS) as a replacement of soybean meal (SBM) with or without enzyme cocktail on performance, egg quality, egg nutrients and blood metabolites in laying hens through 22-42 weeks of age. A 4 × 2 factorial design experiment was performed including four substitution levels of DDGS (0, 250, 500 and 750 g/kg respectively) and two enzyme cocktail levels (0 and 250 mg/kg diet). The used enzyme in this study "Gallazyme" composed of xylanase, Trichoderma longibrachiatum (600 units/g), protease, Bacillus subtilis (8,000 units/g) and amylase and Bacillus amyloliquofaciens (800 units/g). The control diet showed the best feed efficiency followed by the intermediate levels of DDGS. The lowest value of feed efficiency was found in the group fed the highest level of DDGS. Enzyme addition improved feed efficiency and decreased laying rate. Increasing DDGS levels was associated with albumin and shell thickness increases. Dietary DDGS depressed all egg components except the organic matter which maximised in enzyme-treated groups. Increasing DDGS level was accompanied by increase in yolk cholesterol and total lipids. No significant impacts were detected with enzymes supplementation on yolk lipids profile. Excepting serum calcium and phosphorous, all serum constituents increased with increasing level of DDGS. Using enzyme markedly depressed serum ammonia by 15.02% and increased calcium by 6.44% compared with enzyme-free diets. Interaction between DDGS and enzyme was significant on most of studied parameters. It could be concluded that using enzyme cocktail in DDGS-based diets may improve feed efficiency and egg quality, in addition to lowering blood ammonia and increasing blood calcium. It is recommended to substitute SBM by DDGS up to 500 g/kg diet. © 2017 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

  14. Fibres from flax overproducing β-1,3-glucanase show increased accumulation of pectin and phenolics and thus higher antioxidant capacity

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Background Recently, in order to improve the resistance of flax plants to pathogen infection, transgenic flax that overproduces β-1,3-glucanase was created. β-1,3-glucanase is a PR protein that hydrolyses the β-glucans, which are a major component of the cell wall in many groups of fungi. For this study, we used fourth-generation field-cultivated plants of the Fusarium -resistant transgenic line B14 to evaluate how overexpression of the β-1,3-glucanase gene influences the quantity, quality and composition of flax fibres, which are the main product obtained from flax straw. Results Overproduction of β-1,3-glucanase did not affect the quantity of the fibre obtained from the flax straw and did not significantly alter the essential mechanical characteristics of the retted fibres. However, changes in the contents of the major components of the cell wall (cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin and lignin) were revealed. Overexpression of the β-1,3-glucanase gene resulted in higher cellulose, hemicellulose and pectin contents and a lower lignin content in the fibres. Increases in the uronic acid content in particular fractions (with the exception of the 1 M KOH-soluble fraction of hemicelluloses) and changes in the sugar composition of the cell wall were detected in the fibres of the transgenic flax when compared to the contents for the control plants. The callose content was lower in the fibres of the transgenic flax. Additionally, the analysis of phenolic compound contents in five fractions of the cell wall revealed important changes, which were reflected in the antioxidant potential of these fractions. Conclusion Overexpression of the β-1,3-glucanase gene has a significant influence on the biochemical composition of flax fibres. The constitutive overproduction of β-1,3-glucanase causes a decrease in the callose content, and the resulting excess glucose serves as a substrate for the production of other polysaccharides. The monosaccharide excess redirects the phenolic

  15. Integrated consensus genetic and physical maps of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cloutier, Sylvie; Ragupathy, Raja; Miranda, Evelyn; Radovanovic, Natasa; Reimer, Elsa; Walichnowski, Andrzej; Ward, Kerry; Rowland, Gordon; Duguid, Scott; Banik, Mitali

    2012-12-01

    Three linkage maps of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) were constructed from populations CDC Bethune/Macbeth, E1747/Viking and SP2047/UGG5-5 containing between 385 and 469 mapped markers each. The first consensus map of flax was constructed incorporating 770 markers based on 371 shared markers including 114 that were shared by all three populations and 257 shared between any two populations. The 15 linkage group map corresponds to the haploid number of chromosomes of this species. The marker order of the consensus map was largely collinear in all three individual maps but a few local inversions and marker rearrangements spanning short intervals were observed. Segregation distortion was present in all linkage groups which contained 1-52 markers displaying non-Mendelian segregation. The total length of the consensus genetic map is 1,551 cM with a mean marker density of 2.0 cM. A total of 670 markers were anchored to 204 of the 416 fingerprinted contigs of the physical map corresponding to ~274 Mb or 74 % of the estimated flax genome size of 370 Mb. This high resolution consensus map will be a resource for comparative genomics, genome organization, evolution studies and anchoring of the whole genome shotgun sequence.

  16. Effects of genetic modifications to flax (Linum usitatissimum) on arbuscular mycorrhiza and plant performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wróbel-Kwiatkowska, Magdalena; Turnau, Katarzyna; Góralska, Katarzyna; Anielska, Teresa; Szopa, Jan

    2012-10-01

    Although arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are known for their positive effect on flax growth, the impact of genetic manipulation in this crop on arbuscular mycorrhiza and plant performance was assessed for the first time. Five types of transgenic flax that were generated to improve fiber quality and resistance to pathogens, through increased levels of either phenylpropanoids (W92.40), glycosyltransferase (GT4, GT5), or PR2 beta-1,3-glucanase (B14) or produce polyhydroxybutyrate (M50), were used. Introduced genetic modifications did not change the degree of mycorrhizal colonization as compared to parent cultivars Linola and Nike. Arbuscules were well developed in each tested transgenic type (except M50). In two lines (W92.40 and B14), a higher abundance of arbuscules was observed when compared to control, untransformed flax plants. However, in some cases (W92.40, GT4, GT5, and B14 Md), the mycorrhizal dependency for biomass production of transgenic plants was slightly lower when compared to the original cultivars. No significant influence of mycorrhiza on the photosynthetic activity of transformed lines was found, but in most cases P concentration in mycorrhizal plants remained higher than in nonmycorrhizal ones. The transformed flax lines meet the demands for better quality of fiber and higher resistance to pathogens, without significantly influencing the interaction with AMF.

  17. The influence of gamma irradiation on natural dyeing properties of cotton and flax fabrics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chirila, Laura; Popescu, Alina; Cutrubinis, Mihalis; Stanculescu, Ioana; Moise, Valentin Ioan

    2018-04-01

    Fabrics made of 100% cotton and 100% flax respectively were exposed at ambient temperature to gamma radiation doses, from 5 to 40 kGy, using a Co-60 research irradiator. After the irradiation treatment the fabrics were subjected to dyeing process with Itodye Nat Pomegranate commercial natural dye. The influence of gamma irradiation treatment on the physical-mechanical properties, dyeing and surface morphology of natural fibres were investigated. Gamma ray treatment of 40 kGy was the most effective in the case of fabrics made from 100% cotton, enhancing the colour strength as evidenced by K/S value. The results obtained from the mechanical properties of fabrics made of 100% flax indicated that the dose of 40 kGy leads to a decrease of tensile strength up of to 41.5%. Infrared spectroscopy was used to monitor chemical and structural changes in cellulosic fibres induced during processing. Crystallinity indices calculated from various bands ratio showed insignificant variations for cotton and small variations in the case of flax. The surface morphology of irradiated cotton fabrics did not show significant changes even at the highest dose of 40 kGy, while the low doses applied on flax fabrics led to an appearance of small changes of surface morphology. The gamma irradiation increased the uptake of natural dyes on natural cellulosic fibres.

  18. Linen Most Useful: Perspectives on Structure, Chemistry, and Enzymes for Retting Flax

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akin, Danny E.

    2013-01-01

    The components of flax (Linum usitatissimum) stems are described and illustrated, with reference to the anatomy and chemical makeup and to applications in processing and products. Bast fiber, which is a major economic product of flax along with linseed and linseed oil, is described with particular reference to its application in textiles, composites, and specialty papers. A short history of retting methods, which is the separation of bast fiber from nonfiber components, is presented with emphasis on water retting, field retting (dew retting), and experimental methods. Past research on enzyme retting, particularly by the use of pectinases as a potential replacement for the current commercial practice of field retting, is reviewed. The importance and mechanism of Ca2+ chelators with pectinases in retting are described. Protocols are provided for retting of both fiber-type and linseed-type flax stems with different types of pectinases. Current and future applications are listed for use of a wide array of enzymes to improve processed fibers and blended yarns. Finally, potential lipid and aromatic coproducts derived from the dust and shive waste streams of fiber processing are indicated. PMID:25969769

  19. Effect of gamma rays on yield , fiber and seed characteristics of flax

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Amer, I.M.A.

    1980-01-01

    The present investigation deals with effect of radiation on flex in two main experiments . In the first one which could be considered as a pilot experiment, the seeds of giza-4 (the dominating local variety of flax) were irradiated with gamma ray doses ranging from 2.5 to 200 Kr to find out the suitable doses for a long - term program of mutation breeding in flax. The finding of such preliminary program could be summarized in the following: a) A dose of 100 kr affected the germination rate and inhibited the growth of flax plants. b) A dose of 200 kr was shown to be a lethal one under the conditions of this experiment. c) Some deviations in plant and yield characteristics than the normal type ( i . e., plant and yield characteristics of Gaza 4) were observed at relatively low doses. These deviations were tested in the M2 generation . True mutations (i.e., deviations that proved to breed true) were selected and their seeds (M2- derived lines were tested in M3 generation). Data about these M2 -derived lines when tested in the M3 generation will be summarized with the data of the main experiment

  20. Carryover of maduramicin from feed containing cross-contamination levels into eggs of laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bodi, Dorina; Fry, Hildburg; Schafft, Helmut; Lahrssen-Wiederholt, Monika; Preiss-Weigert, Angelika

    2012-07-18

    Maduramicin is a coccidiostat authorized as feed additive in the European Union for chickens and turkeys for fattening but not for laying hens, considering the risk of residues in eggs. The unavoidable cross-contamination of non-target feed with coccidiostats is regulated by Commission Directive 2009/8/EC and resulting carry-over in food by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 124/2009. To verify the compliance of the maximum levels for maduramicin in feed (50 μg/kg) and eggs (2 μg/kg), the carry-over from feed into eggs was investigated. Diets containing 10, 30, and 50 μg of maduramicin/kg of feed were fed to laying hens. Feed, egg white, and yolk were analyzed by LC-MS/MS. Maduramicin residues were only detected in in egg yolk. Feeding the 10 μg/kg maduramicin diet resulted in maduramicin concentrations up to 2.5 μg/kg in whole eggs, already exceeding the maximum level. A carry-over rate of 8% maduramicin from feed into eggs was calculated.

  1. Oral food desensitization in children with IgE-mediated hen's egg allergy: a new protocol with raw hen's egg.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meglio, Paolo; Giampietro, Paolo G; Carello, Rossella; Gabriele, Ida; Avitabile, Simona; Galli, Elena

    2013-02-01

    Hen's egg allergy affects young children and can cause severe allergic reactions. Avoidance results in dietary limitations and can affect the quality of life, especially in cases where potentially life-threatening reactions exist. Our objective was to desensitize children with moderate-severe IgE-mediated hen's egg allergy over a 6-month period, by introducing increasing and very gradual daily doses of raw hen's egg in order to enable the children to assume 25ml of this food, or to induce tolerance to the highest possible dose. The protocol foresaw the egg reintroduction in the home setting. In this randomized, controlled open study, 20 hen's egg allergic children (10 in the active group) were admitted. A convincing history or a positive double-blind placebo-controlled food challenge confirmed the diagnosis. Oral desensitization was performed with increasing doses starting from 0.27 mg of hen's egg proteins (1 drop of raw hen's egg diluted 1:100). We adopted an original, mathematically calculated protocol in order to ensure a constant, daily increment of doses. 8/10 children (80%) in the active group achieved the daily intake of 25ml over a 6-month period. One child (10%) could tolerate up to 2ml/day while another child (10%) failed the desensitization. Six months after enrolment only 2 children in the control group (20%) could tolerate hen's egg. We successfully desensitized 8/10 children with IgE-mediated hen's egg allergy in a 6-month period. The partial outcome in the child who could tolerate 2ml/day reduced the risk of severe reactions after unnoticed introduction of egg. A regular protocol that ensures a daily constant increase of doses helps to reduce possible adverse events, thus improving safety and effectiveness. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

  2. Effects of feeding diets varying in energy and nutrient density to Hy-Line W-36 laying hens on production performance and economics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    dePersio, S; Utterback, P L; Utterback, C W; Rochell, S J; O'Sullivan, N; Bregendahl, K; Arango, J; Parsons, C M; Koelkebeck, K W

    2015-02-01

    The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of feeding 5 different energy and nutrient dense diets to Hy-Line W-36 hens on long-term performance and economics. A total of 480 19 wk old Hy-Line W-36 Single Comb White Leghorn hens were weighed and randomly allocated to 6 replicate groups of 16 hens each (2 adjacent cages containing 8 hens per cage, 60.9×58.4 cm) per dietary treatment in a randomized complete block design. The hens were fed 5 treatment diets formulated to contain 85, 90, 95, 100, and 105% of the energy and nutrient recommendations stated in the 2009 Hy-Line Variety W-36 Commercial Management Guide. Production performance was measured for 52 wk from 19 to 70 wk age. Over the course of the trial, a significant increasing linear response to increasing energy and nutrient density was seen for hen-day egg production, egg weight, egg mass, feed efficiency, energy intake, and body weight (BW). Feed intake showed no significant linear level response to increasing energy and nutrient density except during the early production cycle. No consistent responses were noted for egg quality, percent yolk, and percent egg solids throughout the study. Significant linear responses due to energy and nutrient density were seen for egg income, feed cost, and income minus feed cost. In general, as energy and nutrient density increased, egg income and feed cost per hen increased, but income minus feed cost decreased. Overall, these results indicate that feeding Hy-Line W-36 hens increasing energy and nutrient-dense diets will increase egg production, egg weight, egg mass, feed efficiency, energy intake, BW, egg income, and feed cost, but decrease egg income minus feed cost. However, these benefits do not take effect in early production and seem to be most effective in later stages of the production cycle, perhaps "priming" the birds for better egg-production persistency with age. © 2015 Poultry Science Association Inc.

  3. The effect of dry caper (capparis spinosa) fruit on egg production and quality characteristics of laying hens

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yildirim, A.; Tahtali, Y.; Sen, M. I.; Duman, M.

    2014-01-01

    This study was conducted to determine the effect of increasing dietary inclusion of dry Caper (Capparis spinosa) fruit (DCF) on egg production and quality characteristics of laying hens between 20 and 32 weeks of age. Four groups of commercial hens (ATAK-S) were fed with diets containing 0, 5, 10 and 15 g DCF/kg. The results showed that final body weight, feed intake, shape index (SI) and morning hen - day egg yield were influenced by dietary supplementation of DCF (P 0.05) during the entire experiment. The lightness (L*) and redness (a*) values for egg shell color were similar (P>0.05) in the DCL supplemented groups as compared to the control group. The yellowness (b*), Hue angle (H), chroma (C*) and E* values were lower (P<0.05) in 15 g DFC/kg group when compared with the control. Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and total phenolics amount of DCF were 43.75+-0.680 mmol trolox/kg, 60.03+-3.710 mmol TEAC/kg and 3.16+-0.060 g gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/kg, respectively. Based on the results from the current study, the dietary supplementation with dry DCF had adverse effects on productivity performance traits and egg quality. (author)

  4. Floral-dip transformation of flax (Linum usitatissimum) to generate transgenic progenies with a high transformation rate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bastaki, Nasmah K; Cullis, Christopher A

    2014-12-19

    Agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation via floral-dip is a widely used technique in the field of plant transformation and has been reported to be successful for many plant species. However, flax (Linum usitatissimum) transformation by floral-dip has not been reported. The goal of this protocol is to establish that Agrobacterium and the floral-dip method can be used to generate transgenic flax. We show that this technique is simple, inexpensive, efficient, and more importantly, gives a higher transformation rate than the current available methods of flax transformation. In summary, inflorescences of flax were dipped in a solution of Agrobacterium carrying a binary vector plasmid (T-DNA fragment plus the Linum Insertion Sequence, LIS-1) for 1 - 2 min. The plants were laid flat on their side for 24 hr. Then, plants were maintained under normal growth conditions until the next treatment. The process of dipping was repeated 2 - 3 times, with approximately 10 - 14 day intervals between dipping. The T1 seeds were collected and germinated on soil. After approximately two weeks, treated progenies were tested by direct PCR; 2 - 3 leaves were used per plant plus the appropriate T-DNA primers. Positive transformants were selected and grown to maturity. The transformation rate was unexpectedly high, with 50 - 60% of the seeds from treated plants being positive transformants. This is a higher transformation rate than those reported for Arabidopsis thaliana and other plant species, using floral-dip transformation. It is also the highest, which has been reported so far, for flax transformation using other methods for transformation.

  5. Identification of a pair of phospholipid:diacylglycerol acyltransferases from developing flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) seed catalyzing the selective production of trilinolenin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pan, Xue; Siloto, Rodrigo M P; Wickramarathna, Aruna D; Mietkiewska, Elzbieta; Weselake, Randall J

    2013-08-16

    The oil from flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) has high amounts of α-linolenic acid (ALA; 18:3(cis)(Δ9,12,15)) and is one of the richest sources of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3-PUFAs). To produce ∼57% ALA in triacylglycerol (TAG), it is likely that flax contains enzymes that can efficiently transfer ALA to TAG. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a systematic characterization of TAG-synthesizing enzymes from flax. We identified several genes encoding acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferases (DGATs) and phospholipid:diacylglycerol acyltransferases (PDATs) from the flax genome database. Due to recent genome duplication, duplicated gene pairs have been identified for all genes except DGAT2-2. Analysis of gene expression indicated that two DGAT1, two DGAT2, and four PDAT genes were preferentially expressed in flax embryos. Yeast functional analysis showed that DGAT1, DGAT2, and two PDAT enzymes restored TAG synthesis when produced recombinantly in yeast H1246 strain. The activity of particular PDAT enzymes (LuPDAT1 and LuPDAT2) was stimulated by the presence of ALA. Further seed-specific expression of flax genes in Arabidopsis thaliana indicated that DGAT1, PDAT1, and PDAT2 had significant effects on seed oil phenotype. Overall, this study indicated the existence of unique PDAT enzymes from flax that are able to preferentially catalyze the synthesis of TAG containing ALA acyl moieties. The identified LuPDATs may have practical applications for increasing the accumulation of ALA and other polyunsaturated fatty acids in oilseeds for food and industrial applications.

  6. Identification of a Pair of Phospholipid:Diacylglycerol Acyltransferases from Developing Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) Seed Catalyzing the Selective Production of Trilinolenin*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pan, Xue; Siloto, Rodrigo M. P.; Wickramarathna, Aruna D.; Mietkiewska, Elzbieta; Weselake, Randall J.

    2013-01-01

    The oil from flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) has high amounts of α-linolenic acid (ALA; 18:3cisΔ9,12,15) and is one of the richest sources of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3-PUFAs). To produce ∼57% ALA in triacylglycerol (TAG), it is likely that flax contains enzymes that can efficiently transfer ALA to TAG. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a systematic characterization of TAG-synthesizing enzymes from flax. We identified several genes encoding acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferases (DGATs) and phospholipid:diacylglycerol acyltransferases (PDATs) from the flax genome database. Due to recent genome duplication, duplicated gene pairs have been identified for all genes except DGAT2-2. Analysis of gene expression indicated that two DGAT1, two DGAT2, and four PDAT genes were preferentially expressed in flax embryos. Yeast functional analysis showed that DGAT1, DGAT2, and two PDAT enzymes restored TAG synthesis when produced recombinantly in yeast H1246 strain. The activity of particular PDAT enzymes (LuPDAT1 and LuPDAT2) was stimulated by the presence of ALA. Further seed-specific expression of flax genes in Arabidopsis thaliana indicated that DGAT1, PDAT1, and PDAT2 had significant effects on seed oil phenotype. Overall, this study indicated the existence of unique PDAT enzymes from flax that are able to preferentially catalyze the synthesis of TAG containing ALA acyl moieties. The identified LuPDATs may have practical applications for increasing the accumulation of ALA and other polyunsaturated fatty acids in oilseeds for food and industrial applications. PMID:23824186

  7. Selection of reference genes for quantitative gene expression normalization in flax (Linum usitatissimum L.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Neutelings Godfrey

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR is currently the most accurate method for detecting differential gene expression. Such an approach depends on the identification of uniformly expressed 'housekeeping genes' (HKGs. Extensive transcriptomic data mining and experimental validation in different model plants have shown that the reliability of these endogenous controls can be influenced by the plant species, growth conditions and organs/tissues examined. It is therefore important to identify the best reference genes to use in each biological system before using qRT-PCR to investigate differential gene expression. In this paper we evaluate different candidate HKGs for developmental transcriptomic studies in the economically-important flax fiber- and oil-crop (Linum usitatissimum L. Results Specific primers were designed in order to quantify the expression levels of 20 different potential housekeeping genes in flax roots, internal- and external-stem tissues, leaves and flowers at different developmental stages. After calculations of PCR efficiencies, 13 HKGs were retained and their expression stabilities evaluated by the computer algorithms geNorm and NormFinder. According to geNorm, 2 Transcriptional Elongation Factors (TEFs and 1 Ubiquitin gene are necessary for normalizing gene expression when all studied samples are considered. However, only 2 TEFs are required for normalizing expression in stem tissues. In contrast, NormFinder identified glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GADPH as the most stably expressed gene when all samples were grouped together, as well as when samples were classed into different sub-groups. qRT-PCR was then used to investigate the relative expression levels of two splice variants of the flax LuMYB1 gene (homologue of AtMYB59. LuMYB1-1 and LuMYB1-2 were highly expressed in the internal stem tissues as compared to outer stem tissues and other samples. This result was confirmed with both ge

  8. Selection of reference genes for quantitative gene expression normalization in flax (Linum usitatissimum L.).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huis, Rudy; Hawkins, Simon; Neutelings, Godfrey

    2010-04-19

    Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) is currently the most accurate method for detecting differential gene expression. Such an approach depends on the identification of uniformly expressed 'housekeeping genes' (HKGs). Extensive transcriptomic data mining and experimental validation in different model plants have shown that the reliability of these endogenous controls can be influenced by the plant species, growth conditions and organs/tissues examined. It is therefore important to identify the best reference genes to use in each biological system before using qRT-PCR to investigate differential gene expression. In this paper we evaluate different candidate HKGs for developmental transcriptomic studies in the economically-important flax fiber- and oil-crop (Linum usitatissimum L). Specific primers were designed in order to quantify the expression levels of 20 different potential housekeeping genes in flax roots, internal- and external-stem tissues, leaves and flowers at different developmental stages. After calculations of PCR efficiencies, 13 HKGs were retained and their expression stabilities evaluated by the computer algorithms geNorm and NormFinder. According to geNorm, 2 Transcriptional Elongation Factors (TEFs) and 1 Ubiquitin gene are necessary for normalizing gene expression when all studied samples are considered. However, only 2 TEFs are required for normalizing expression in stem tissues. In contrast, NormFinder identified glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GADPH) as the most stably expressed gene when all samples were grouped together, as well as when samples were classed into different sub-groups.qRT-PCR was then used to investigate the relative expression levels of two splice variants of the flax LuMYB1 gene (homologue of AtMYB59). LuMYB1-1 and LuMYB1-2 were highly expressed in the internal stem tissues as compared to outer stem tissues and other samples. This result was confirmed with both geNorm-designated- and Norm

  9. Effect of different dietary concentrations of brown marine algae (Sargassum dentifebium prepared by different methods on plasma and yolk lipid profiles, yolk total carotene and lutein plus zeaxanthin of laying hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmed A. El-Deek

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available The effect of different concentrations (0%, 3% and 6% of brown marine algae (BMA, Sargassum dentifebium prepared according to different methods (sun-dried, SBMA; boiled, BBMA; autoclaved, ABMA on plasma and yolk lipid profiles, carotene, and lutein plus zeaxanthin in egg yolks was studied in hens aged from 23 to 42 weeks (30 hens per treatment. We determined the fatty acid profiles in BMA and in the egg yolk of hens fed different levels of BMA prepared according to different methods. In addition, plasma and yolk lipid profiles, yolk total carotene, and lutein plus zeaxanthin were determined at week 42 of age. Plasma and yolk cholesterol were significantly lower in groups fed diets containing either 3% or 6% BMA than in the control group, but high-density lipoprotein (HDL significantly decreased as BMA concentration increased. There was a significant similar decline in yolk triglycerides with inclusion of either 3% or 6% BMA in the laying hen diet. Palmitic acid was the main saturated fatty acid (SFA found in BMA and oleic acid (omega-9 and linoleic acid (omega-6 were the main unsaturated fatty acids (UFA, while there was a significant increase in palmitic acid in egg yolk when BMA was included at 6%. There was a significant increase in oleic acid (omega-9 when feed containing 3% BMA was given compared to the control group, but this decreased with a further increase in BMA. Linoleic acid (omega-6 also significantly decreased with inclusion of either 3% or 6% BMA. There was a significant increase in total carotene and lutein plus zeaxanthin in the laying hen eggs as a result of feeding diets containing 3% and 6% BMA.

  10. Genetic diversity of cultivated flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) germplasm assessed by retrotransposon-based markers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smýkal, P; Bačová-Kerteszová, N; Kalendar, R; Corander, J; Schulman, A H; Pavelek, M

    2011-05-01

    Retrotransposon segments were characterized and inter-retrotransposon amplified polymorphism (IRAP) markers developed for cultivated flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) and the Linum genus. Over 75 distinct long terminal repeat retrotransposon segments were cloned, the first set for Linum, and specific primers designed for them. IRAP was then used to evaluate genetic diversity among 708 accessions of cultivated flax comprising 143 landraces, 387 varieties, and 178 breeding lines. These included both traditional and modern, oil (86), fiber (351), and combined-use (271) accessions, originating from 36 countries, and 10 wild Linum species. The set of 10 most polymorphic primers yielded 141 reproducible informative data points per accession, with 52% polymorphism and a 0.34 Shannon diversity index. The maximal genetic diversity was detected among wild Linum species (100% IRAP polymorphism and 0.57 Jaccard similarity), while diversity within cultivated germplasm decreased from landraces (58%, 0.63) to breeding lines (48%, 0.85) and cultivars (50%, 0.81). Application of Bayesian methods for clustering resulted in the robust identification of 20 clusters of accessions, which were unstratified according to origin or user type. This indicates an overlap in genetic diversity despite disruptive selection for fiber versus oil types. Nevertheless, eight clusters contained high proportions (70-100%) of commercial cultivars, whereas two clusters were rich (60%) in landraces. These findings provide a basis for better flax germplasm management, core collection establishment, and exploration of diversity in breeding, as well as for exploration of the role of retrotransposons in flax genome dynamics.

  11. miR319, miR390, and miR393 Are Involved in Aluminum Response in Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dmitriev, Alexey A; Kudryavtseva, Anna V; Bolsheva, Nadezhda L; Zyablitsin, Alexander V; Rozhmina, Tatiana A; Kishlyan, Natalya V; Krasnov, George S; Speranskaya, Anna S; Krinitsina, Anastasia A; Sadritdinova, Asiya F; Snezhkina, Anastasiya V; Fedorova, Maria S; Yurkevich, Olga Yu; Muravenko, Olga V; Belenikin, Maxim S; Melnikova, Nataliya V

    2017-01-01

    Acid soils limit agricultural production worldwide. Major reason of crop losses in acid soils is the toxicity of aluminum (Al). In the present work, we investigated expression alterations of microRNAs in flax ( Linum usitatissimum L.) plants under Al stress. Flax seedlings of resistant (TMP1919 and G1071/4_k) and sensitive (Lira and G1071/4_o) to Al cultivars and lines were exposed to AlCl 3 solution for 4 and 24 hours. Twelve small RNA libraries were constructed and sequenced using Illumina platform. In total, 97 microRNAs from 18 conserved families were identified. miR319, miR390, and miR393 revealed expression alterations associated with Al treatment of flax plants. Moreover, for miR390 and miR393, the alterations were distinct in sensitive and resistant to Al genotypes. Expression level changes of miR319 and miR390 were confirmed using qPCR analysis. In flax, potential targets of miR319 are TCPs, miR390-TAS3 and GRF5, and miR393-AFB2-coding transcripts. TCPs, TAS3, GRF5, and AFB2 participate in regulation of plant growth and development. The involvement of miR319, miR390, and miR393 in response to Al stress in flax was shown here for the first time. We speculate that these microRNAs play an important role in Al response via regulation of growth processes in flax plants.

  12. Molecular details of secretory phospholipase A2 from flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) provide insight into its structure and function.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gupta, Payal; Dash, Prasanta K

    2017-09-11

    Secretory phospholipase A 2 (sPLA 2 ) are low molecular weight proteins (12-18 kDa) involved in a suite of plant cellular processes imparting growth and development. With myriad roles in physiological and biochemical processes in plants, detailed analysis of sPLA 2 in flax/linseed is meagre. The present work, first in flax, embodies cloning, expression, purification and molecular characterisation of two distinct sPLA 2 s (I and II) from flax. PLA 2 activity of the cloned sPLA 2 s were biochemically assayed authenticating them as bona fide phospholipase A 2 . Physiochemical properties of both the sPLA 2 s revealed they are thermostable proteins requiring di-valent cations for optimum activity.While, structural analysis of both the proteins revealed deviations in the amino acid sequence at C- & N-terminal regions; hydropathic study revealed LusPLA 2 I as a hydrophobic protein and LusPLA 2 II as a hydrophilic protein. Structural analysis of flax sPLA 2 s revealed that secondary structure of both the proteins are dominated by α-helix followed by random coils. Modular superimposition of LusPLA 2 isoforms with rice sPLA 2 confirmed monomeric structural preservation among plant phospholipase A 2 and provided insight into structure of folded flax sPLA 2 s.

  13. Supplementation of laying-hen feed with palm tocos and algae astaxanthin for egg yolk nutrient enrichment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walker, Laurie A; Wang, Tong; Xin, Hongwei; Dolde, David

    2012-02-29

    Adding supplements to hen feed can increase egg nutritional value. Astaxanthin, tocotrienols, and tocopherols are potent antioxidants that provide health benefits to humans. We hypothesized that the addition of these nutrients to hen feed would result in an increased nutrient content in egg yolk with minimum changes in functional properties. Laying hens (Hy-Line W-36 breed) were fed four diets with different supplementation levels of palm toco concentrate and algae biomass containing astaxanthin for 8 weeks. Egg yolks were analyzed for physical, chemical, and functional properties. The feed with the highest nutrient concentration was also studied for stability of these antioxidants using the Arrhenius approach. No significant differences were observed in functional properties except for emulsification capacity and sensory characteristics among eggs from different diet treatments. Changes in egg yolk color reached the maximum values at day 8. Incorporation of tocopherols and tocotrienols increased until day 8, astaxanthin incorporation increased until day 10, and all decreased thereafter. Feed nutrients resulted in a dose-response relationship of these compounds in the egg yolk. The transfer efficiency ranged from 0 to 9.9% for tocotrienols and tocopherols and from 7.6 to 14.9% for astaxanthin at their peak values. Results of the Arrhenius accelerated stability study showed significant differences in the shelf life of various nutrients, and these results can be used to properly formulate and store the feed materials.

  14. Comparative analysis of proteomic changes in contrasting flax cultivars upon cadmium exposure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hradilová, Jana; Rehulka, Pavel; Rehulková, Helena; Vrbová, Miroslava; Griga, Miroslav; Brzobohatý, Bretislav

    2010-01-01

    Cadmium (Cd) is classified as a serious pollutant due to its high toxicity, high carcinogenicity, and widespread presence in the environment. Phytoremediation represents an effective low-cost approach for removing pollutants from contaminated soils, and a crop with significant phytoremediation potential is flax. However, significant differences in Cd accumulation and tolerance were previously found among commercial flax cultivars. Notably, cv. Jitka showed substantially higher tolerance to elevated Cd levels in soil and plant tissues than cv. Tábor. Here, significant changes in the expression of 14 proteins (related to disease/defense, metabolism, protein destination and storage, signal transduction, energy and cell structure) were detected by image and mass spectrometric analysis of two-dimensionally separated proteins extracted from Cd-treated cell suspension cultures derived from these contrasting cultivars. Further, two proteins, ferritin and glutamine synthetase (a key enzyme in glutathione biosynthesis), were only up-regulated by Cd in cv. Jitka, indicating that Cd tolerance mechanisms in this cultivar may include maintenance of low Cd levels at sensitive sites by ferritin and low-molecular weight thiol peptides binding Cd. The identified changes could facilitate marker-assisted breeding for Cd tolerance and the development of transgenic flax lines with enhanced Cd tolerance and accumulation capacities for phytoremediating Cd-contaminated soils.

  15. Fractographic observations of the microstructural characteristics of flax fibre composites

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Bo; Asian, Mustafa; Lilholt, Hans

    2016-01-01

    Natural fibre composites possess a number of special microstructural characteristics, which need to be documented to aid in the further development of these materials. Using field emission scanning electron microscopy, fractographic observations of the microstructural characteristics of aligned f...... novel observations, measurements and interpretations to be used in the further analysis and understanding of the properties of natural fibre composites. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.......Natural fibre composites possess a number of special microstructural characteristics, which need to be documented to aid in the further development of these materials. Using field emission scanning electron microscopy, fractographic observations of the microstructural characteristics of aligned...... flax fibre/thermoplastic composites are presented. The findings are presented in relation to the three operational parts in composites: fibres, matrix and fibre/matrix interface. For the flax fibres, the striated structure on the fibre surface is shown to consist of cellulose macrofibrils oriented...

  16. The biomedical potential of genetically modified flax seeds overexpressing the glucosyltransferase gene

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Background Flax (Linum usitatissimum) is a potential source of many bioactive components that can be found in its oil and fibers, but also in the seedcake, which is rich in antioxidants. To increase the levels of medically beneficial compounds, a genetically modified flax type (named GT) with an elevated level of phenylopropanoids and their glycoside derivatives was generated. In this study, we investigated the influence of GT seedcake extract preparations on human fibroblast proliferation and migration, and looked at the effect on a human skin model. Moreover, we verified its activity against bacteria of clinical relevance. Methods The GT flax used in this study is characterized by overexpression of the glucosyltransferase gene derived from Solanum sogarandinum. Five GT seedcake preparations were generated. Their composition was assessed using ultra pressure liquid chromatography and confirmed using the UPLC-QTOF method. For the in vitro evaluation, the influence of the GT seedcake preparations on normal human dermal fibroblast proliferation was assessed using the MTT test and the wound scratch assay. A human skin model was used to evaluate the potential for skin irritation. To assess the antimicrobial properties of GT preparations, the percentage of inhibition of bacterial growth was calculated. Results The GT seedcake extract had elevated levels of phenylopropanoid compounds in comparison to the control, non-transformed plants. Significant increases in the content of ferulic acid, p-coumaric acid and caffeic acid, and their glucoside derivatives, kaempferol, quercitin and secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG) were observed in the seeds of the modified plants. The GT seedcake preparations were shown to promote the proliferation of normal human dermal fibroblasts and the migration of fibroblasts in the wound scratch assay. The superior effect of GT seedcake extract on fibroblast migration was observed after a 24-hour treatment. The skin irritation test indicated

  17. Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) - a natural resource for food and textiles for 8000 years. Cross-disciplinary investigations on the evolution and cultural history of flax and linen. Programme and abstracts of the first workshop 24-26 November 2009 in the Carlsberg Academy Copenhagen, Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Karg, Sabine

    Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) - a natural resource for food and textiles for 8000 years. Cross-disciplinary investigations on the evolution and cultural history of flax and linen. Programme and abstracts of the first workshop 24-26 November 2009 in the Carlsberg Academy Copenhagen, Denmark...

  18. Effect of different levels of feed restriction and fish oil fatty acid supplementation on fat deposition by using different techniques, plasma levels and mRNA expression of several adipokines in broiler breeder hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mellouk, Namya; Ramé, Christelle; Marchand, Maxime; Staub, Christophe; Touzé, Jean-Luc; Venturi, Éric; Mercerand, Frédéric; Travel, Angélique; Chartrin, Pascal; Lecompte, François; Ma, Linlin; Froment, Pascal; Dupont, Joëlle

    2018-01-01

    Reproductive hens are subjected to a restricted diet to limit the decline in fertility associated with change in body mass. However, endocrine and tissue responses to diet restriction need to be documented. We evaluated the effect of different levels of feed restriction, with or without fish oil supplementation, on metabolic parameters and adipokine levels in plasma and metabolic tissues of reproductive hens. We designed an in vivo protocol involving 4 groups of hens; RNS: restricted (Rt) unsupplemented, ANS: ad libitum (Ad, receiving an amount of feed 1.7 times greater than animals on the restricted diet) unsupplemented, RS: Rt supplemented, and AS: Ad supplemented. The fish oil supplement was used at 1% of the total diet composition. Hens fed with the Rt diet had a significantly (P hens, while the fish oil supplementation had no effect on these parameters. Furthermore, the bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and the fat ultrasonographic examinations produced similar results to the other methods that required animals to be killed (carcass analysis and weight of adipose tissue). In addition, the Rt diet significantly (P hen age. Rt diet and fish oil supplementation are able to modulate metabolic parameters and the expression of adipokines and their receptors in metabolic tissue.

  19. Effects of essential oils on performance, egg quality, nutrient digestibility and yolk fatty acid profile in laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ding, Xuemei; Yu, Yang; Su, Zhuowei; Zhang, Keying

    2017-06-01

    The study was conducted to investigate the effect of essential oils on performance, egg quality, nutrient digestibility and yolk fatty acid profile in laying hens. A total of 960 Lohmann laying hens aged 53 weeks were enrolled, under 4 different treatment diets supplemented with 0, 50, 100 and 150 mg/kg essential oils (Enviva EO, Dupont Nutrition Biosciences ApS, Denmark), respectively. Each treatment was replicated 8 times with 30 birds each. Birds were fed dietary treatment diets for 12 weeks (54 to 65 weeks). For data recording and analysis, a 12-week period was divided into 3 periods of 4 weeks' duration each: period 1 (54 to 57 weeks), period 2 (58 to 61 weeks), and period 3 (62 to 65 weeks). For the diet supplemented with Enviva EO, hen-day egg production and the feed conversion ratio (FCR) were significantly improved ( P  digestibility in the 100 mg/kg Enviva EO treatment group was significantly increased ( P  digestibility in the 100 and 150 mg/kg Enviva EO treatment groups was significantly decreased ( P  digestibility. Saturated fatty acid (SFA) and monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) gradually decreased and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) increased with Enviva EO supplementation, but the difference was not significant. The data suggested that the supplementation of essential oils (Enviva EO) in laying hen diet did not show a significant positive effect on performance and yolk fatty acid composition but it tended to increase eggshell thickness and protein digestibility, especially at the dose of 50 mg/kg.

  20. Effect of the Feed Additive Clinoptilolite (ZeoFeed on Nutrient Metabolism and Production Performance of Laying Hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Miroslav Macháček

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to assess the effects of two levels of clinoptilolite administered in feed (2% and 4% on some selected performance indicators, metabolic utilization of basic nutrients and the health status of laying hens. The selected 24 Bovans Goldline hybrid laying hens were divided into three equal groups, two experimental groups (E1 and E2 and one control group (C. The laying hens were housed individually in cages with an automatic supply of drinking water, manual feeding, in a setting with controlled light and temperature regimens. Hens from individual groups were all fed a complete feed mix of the same composition and the only difference was in clinoptilolite supplementation: feed mixes for E1 and E2 groups contained 2% and 4% of clinoptilolite (commercial additive ZeoFeed respectively, replacing the same amounts of wheat. The hens received feed mixes and drinking water ad libitum. During this 28-day experiment, feed consumption and the number and weight of eggs laid were monitored individually for each hen. At the end of the experiment, the balance test using the indicator method (Cr2O3 was performed in all eight hens in each of the groups. The results of balance tests were then used to calculate the metabolic utilization of selected nutrients (nitrogen, fat, ash, nitrogen-free extracts, starch, gross energy, Ca, P. After the balance tests, blood samples for haematological and biochemical examinations were collected via puncture of the vena basilica. The addition of 2% clinoptilolite to feed mix resulted in a highly significant (P ⪬ 0.01 increase in mean egg weight to 64.69 g, but the addition of 4% clinoptilolite in group E2 resulted in a highly significant (P ⪬ 0.01 decrease in mean egg weight to 62.20 g compared to the control (63.73 g. Moreover, daily feed mix consumption in group E1 decreased to 114 g per one laying hen/day compared to the controls (118 g per one laying hen/day. In group E2 (4% clinoptilolite, daily

  1. Osmotic stress alters the balance between organic and inorganic solutes in flax (Linum usitatissimum).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quéro, Anthony; Molinié, Roland; Elboutachfaiti, Redouan; Petit, Emmanuel; Pau-Roblot, Corinne; Guillot, Xavier; Mesnard, François; Courtois, Josiane

    2014-01-01

    Flax (Linum usitatissimum) is grown for its oil and its fiber. This crop, cultivated in temperate regions, has seen a renewed interest due to the presence of abundant molecules of interest for many applications. Little information is available about the behavior of flax during osmotic stress; yet this is considered a major stress that causes significant yield losses in most crops. To control the presence of this stress better, flax behavior was investigated following the application of osmotic stress and the response was examined by applying increasing concentrations of PEG 8000. This resulted in the reorganization of 32 metabolites and 6 mineral ions in the leaves. The analysis of these two types of solute highlighted the contrasting behavior between a higher metabolite content (particularly fructose, glucose and proline) and a decrease in mineral ions (especially nitrate and potassium) following PEG treatment. However, this reorganization did not lead to a greater accumulation of solutes, with the total amount remaining unchanged in leaves during osmotic stress. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  2. Abaca fibre reinforced PP composites and comparison with jute and flax fibre PP composites

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    2007-11-01

    Full Text Available Abaca fibre reinforced PP composites were fabricated with different fibre loadings (20, 30, 40, 50wt% and in some cases 35 and 45 wt%. Flax and jute fibre reinforced PP composites were also fabricated with 30 wt% fibre loading. The mechanical properties, odour emission and structure properties were investigated for those composites. Tensile, flexural and Charpy impact strengths were found to increase for fibre loadings up to 40 wt% and then decreased. Falling weight impact tests were also carried out and the same tendency was observed. Owing to the addition of coupling agent (maleated polypropylene -MAH-PP, the tensile, flexural and falling weight impact properties were found to increase in between 30 to 80% for different fibre loadings. When comparing jute and flax fibre composites with abaca fibre composites, jute fibre composites provided best tensile properties but abaca fibre polypropylene composites were shown to provide best notch Charpy and falling weight impact properties. Odours released by flax fibre composites were smaller than jute and abaca fibre composites.

  3. "Green" composites from renewable resources: preparation of epoxidized soybean oil and flax fiber composites.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Zengshe; Erhan, Sevim Z; Akin, Danny E; Barton, Franklin E

    2006-03-22

    In recent years there has been considerable interest in using natural plant fibers as reinforcements for plastics. The motivation includes cost, performance enhancement, weight reduction, and environment concerns. High performance flax fiber could potentially substitute for glass or carbon fibers as reinforcements for plastics. This study reports the "green" composites obtained from a mixture of epoxidized soybean oil and epoxy resin, 1,1,1-tris(p-hydroxyphenyl)ethane triglycidyl ether (THPE-GE), reinforced with flax fiber. The compression molding method is used for making the composites. Curing agents triethylenetetramine and diethylenetriamine provide better physical properties of the composites than Jeffamine agents D-230 and EDR-148. Both the flexural modulus and the tensile modulus of the composites increase as the amount of THPE-GE increases. The flexural modulus increased at a fiber content of fiber content until a maximum at 13.5 wt %, and then it decreases. The flax fiber length affected the mechanical properties of the composites: the longer the fiber length, the better are the mechanical properties observed.

  4. Effect of Dietary Supplementation of Red Ginseng By-product on Laying Performance, Blood Biochemistry, Serum Immunoglobulin and Microbial Population in Laying Hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, H K; Park, S-B; Kim, C H

    2016-10-01

    This study was carried out to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of red ginseng by-product (RGB) on the laying performance, blood biochemistry, and microbial population in laying hens. A total of 120 Hy-Line Brown laying hens (75 weeks old) were randomly allotted to 1 of 3 dietary treatments with 4 replicates per treatment. A commercial-type basal diet was prepared, and 2 additional diets were prepared by supplementing 5.0 or 10.0 g/kg of RGB to the basal diet at the expense of corn. The diets were fed to hens on an ad libitum basis for 4 weeks. There were no differences in feed intake, egg weight, and feed conversion ratio during 4 weeks of the feeding trial. However, hen-day egg production was significantly greater (p<0.05) for the RGB treatment groups than that for the basal treatment group. There were no differences in triglyceride, aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase during the 4-week feeding trial. However, RGB supplementation increased (p<0.05) the serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM content compared with basal treatment group. The total cholesterol was lower (p<0.05) in the RGB treatments groups than that in the basal treatment group. The intestinal Lactobacillus population was greater (p<0.05) for the RGB treatments groups than that for the basal treatment group. However, the numbers of Salmonella and Escherichia coli were not different among dietary treatments. During the entire experiment, there was no significant difference in egg quality among all the treatments. In conclusion, in addition to improving hen-day production, there were positive effects of dietary RGB supplementation on serum immunoglobulin and cholesterol levels in laying hens.

  5. Genome-wide identification, phylogenetic classification, and exon-intron structure characterisation of the tubulin and actin genes in flax (Linum usitatissimum).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pydiura, Nikolay; Pirko, Yaroslav; Galinousky, Dmitry; Postovoitova, Anastasiia; Yemets, Alla; Kilchevsky, Aleksandr; Blume, Yaroslav

    2018-06-08

    Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) is a valuable food and fiber crop cultivated for its quality fiber and seed oil. α-, β-, γ-tubulins and actins are the main structural proteins of the cytoskeleton. α- and γ-tubulin and actin genes have not been characterized yet in the flax genome. In this study, we have identified 6 α-tubulin genes, 13 β-tubulin genes, 2 γ-tubulin genes, and 15 actin genes in the flax genome and analysed the phylogenetic relationships between flax and A. thaliana tubulin and actin genes. Six α-tubulin genes are represented by 3 paralogous pairs, among 13 β-tubulin genes 7 different isotypes can be distinguished, 6 of which are encoded by two paralogous genes each. γ-tubulin is represented by a paralogous pair of genes one of which may be not functional. Fifteen actin genes represent 7 paralogous pairs - 7 actin isotypes and a sequentially duplicated copy of one of the genes of one of the isotypes. Exon-intron structure analysis has shown intron length polymorphism within the β-tubulin genes and intron number variation among the α-tubulin gene: 3 or 4 introns are found in two or four genes, respectively. Intron positioning occurs at conservative sites, as observed in numerous other plant species. Flax actin genes show both intron length polymorphisms and variation in the number of intron that may be 2 or 3. These data will be useful to support further studies on the specificity, functioning, regulation and evolution of the flax cytoskeleton proteins. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

  6. Gregarious nesting - An anti-predator response in laying hens

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Riber, Anja Brinch

    2012-01-01

    Gregarious nesting can be defined as a behaviour that occurs when a laying hen (Gallus gallus domesticus) given the choice between an occupied and an unoccupied nest site chooses the occupied nest site. It occurs frequently in flocks of laying hens kept under commercial conditions, contrasting...... the behaviour displayed by feral hens that isolate themselves from the flock during nesting activities. What motivates laying hens to perform gregarious nesting is unknown. One possibility is that gregarious nesting is an anti-predator response to the risk of nest predation emerging from behavioural flexibility...

  7. Effect of dietary γ-aminobutyric acid on laying performance, egg quality, immune activity and endocrine hormone in heat-stressed Roman hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Min; Zou, Xiao-Ting; Li, Hui; Dong, Xin-Yang; Zhao, Wenjing

    2012-02-01

    This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) on laying performance, egg quality, digestive enzyme activity, hormone level and immune activities in Roman hens under heat stress. Roman hens (320 days old) were fed with 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 mg/kg GABA, respectively during a 60-day experiment. Compared with control, supplementation of 50 mg/kg GABA improved the laying performance and egg quality by significantly increasing egg production, average egg weight and shell strength (P level. Anti-oxidation activity was improved by significantly increasing the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), but decreasing malondialdehyde level in serum (P level, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), estradiol (E(2) ), insulin, triiodothyronine (T(3) ) and free triiodothyronine (FT(3) ) levels, and IgG, IgA and complement (C3)activity in serum (P GABA improved laying performance and physical condition mainly by modulating hormone secretion, enhancing anti-oxidation and immune activity, and maintaining electrolyte balance. Fifty mg/kg was the optimum level for laying hens under heat stress in the present study. © 2011 The Authors. Animal Science Journal © 2011 Japanese Society of Animal Science.

  8. UGT74S1 is the key player in controlling secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG) formation in flax.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fofana, Bourlaye; Ghose, Kaushik; McCallum, Jason; You, Frank M; Cloutier, Sylvie

    2017-02-02

    Flax lignan, commonly known as secoisolariciresinol (SECO) diglucoside (SDG), has recently been reported with health-promoting activities, including its positive impact in metabolic diseases. However, not much was reported on the biosynthesis of SDG and its monoglucoside (SMG) until lately. Flax UGT74S1 was recently reported to sequentially glucosylate SECO into SMG and SDG in vitro. However, whether this gene is the only UGT achieving SECO glucosylation in flax was not known. Flax genome-wide mining for UGTs was performed. Phylogenetic and gene duplication analyses, heterologous gene expression and enzyme assays were conducted to identify family members closely related to UGT74S1 and to establish their roles in SECO glucosylation. A total of 299 different UGTs were identified, of which 241 (81%) were duplicated. Flax UGTs diverged 2.4-153.6 MYA and 71% were found to be under purifying selection pressure. UGT74S1, a single copy gene located on chromosome 7, displayed no evidence of duplication and was deemed to be under positive selection pressure. The phylogenetic analysis identified four main clusters where cluster 4, which included UGT74S1, was the most diverse. The duplicated UGT74S4 and UGT74S3, located on chromosomes 8 and 14, respectively, were the most closely related to UGT74S1 and were differentially expressed in different tissues. Heterologous expression levels of UGT74S1, UGT74S4 and UGT74S3 proteins were similar but UGT74S4 and UGT74S3 glucosylation activity towards SECO was seven fold less than UGT74S1. In addition, they both failed to produce SDG, suggesting neofunctionalization following their divergence from UGT74S1. We showed that UGT74S1 is closely related to two duplicated genes, UGT74S4 and UGT74S3 which, unlike UGT74S1, failed to glucosylate SMG into SDG. The study suggests that UGT74S1 may be the key player in controlling SECO glucosylation into SDG in flax although its closely related genes may also contribute to a minor extent in supplying

  9. Assessment of lighting needs by W-36 laying hens via preference test.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, H; Xin, H; Zhao, Y; Li, B; Shepherd, T A; Alvarez, I

    2016-04-01

    Light intensity, spectrum and pattern may affect laying hen behaviors and production performance. However, requirements of these lighting parameters from the hens' standpoint are not fully understood. This study was conducted to investigate hens' needs for light intensity and circadian rhythm using a light tunnel with five identical compartments each at a different fluorescent light intensity of hens were able to move freely among the respective compartments. A group of four W-36 laying hens (23 to 30 weeks of age) were tested each time, and six groups or replicates were conducted. Behaviors of the hens were continuously recorded, yielding data on daily time spent, daily feed intake, daily feeding time, and eggs laid under each light intensity and daily inter-compartment movement. The results show that the hens generally spent more time in lower light intensities. Specifically, the hens spent 6.4 h (45.4%) at 5 lux, 3.0 h (22.1%) at 15 lux, 3.1 h (22.2%) at 30 lux and 1.5 h (10.3%) at 100 lux under light condition; and an accumulation of 10.0 h in darkness (feed intake (87.3 g/hen) among the different light conditions mirrored the trend of time spent in the respective light intensity, that is, highest at 5 lux (28.4 g/hen, 32.5% daily total) and lowest at 100 lux (5.8 g/hen, 6.7%). Hen-day egg production rate was 96.0%. Most of the eggs were laid in hens. Further studies to assess or verify welfare and performance responses of the hens to the preferred lighting conditions and rhythm over extended periods are recommended.

  10. Consumer acceptance of eggs from Hy-Line Brown layers fed soybean or soybean-free diets using cage or free-range rearing systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Ajeeli, M N; Miller, R K; Leyva, H; Hashim, M M; Abdaljaleel, R A; Jameel, Y; Bailey, C A

    2018-05-01

    Consumers have begun to awaken to the food on their plates with respect to human health and the environment, as well as animal welfare. They have become more demanding about what they buy or prefer in their food, such as soy-free, gluten-free, or organic products. The objective of this study was to evaluate consumer acceptance of eggs from hens fed soybean meal or soybean-free diets utilizing cottonseed meal and distillers' dried grains, using cage or free-range rearing systems. All eggs were stored at the sensory lab at Texas A&M University (TAMU) for a d prior to each test at 4°C. A panel of consumers (n = 60) made up of TAMU students, faculty, and staff, ages 18 to 50, were recruited to evaluate consumer acceptance based on 2 tests using scrambled and hard cooked eggs. Samples were placed in separate weigh boats labeled with 3-digit codes to avoid visual bias. Sensory ballots were based on overall like or dislike of flavor, texture, odor, and color using the 9-point hedonic scales. For scrambled eggs, flavor did not differ (P > 0.05), but texture liking was higher (P = 0.064) for scrambled eggs from the soybean-free diet (7.08) vs. scrambled eggs from the soybean meal diet (6.65). With respect to the hard cooked eggs, the consumer panel preferred the flavor of the eggs from the caged rearing system (7.11) vs. eggs from the free-range system (6.60; P = 0.014). Consumers liked the texture (P = 0.018) for eggs collected from hens fed soybean meal (6.91) vs. eggs from hens fed the soybean-free diet (6.30).

  11. The genome of flax (Linum usitatissimum) assembled de novo from short shotgun sequence reads

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wang, Zhiwen; Hobson, Neil; Galindo, Leonardo

    2012-01-01

    Flax (Linum usitatissimum) is an ancient crop that is widely cultivated as a source of fiber, oil and medicinally relevant compounds. To accelerate crop improvement, we performed whole-genome shotgun sequencing of the nuclear genome of flax. Seven paired-end libraries ranging in size from 300 bp...... these results show that de novo assembly, based solely on whole-genome shotgun short-sequence reads, is an efficient means of obtaining nearly complete genome sequence information for some plant species....

  12. Turkey-hen amino acid composition of brain and eyes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Adeyeye, E.I.

    2015-01-01

    The amino acids composition of the brain and eyes of the mature Turkey-hen (Meleagris gallopavo L.), were determined on dry weight basis. Total essential amino acids ranged from 35.1-36.0 g/100 g as 49.5-49.8% of the total amino acids. The amino acid score showed that lysine ranged from 0.76-0.91 (on whole hen.s egg comparison), 0.85-1.03 (on provisional essential amino acid scoring pattern), and 0.81-0.98 (on suggested requirement of the essential amino acid of a preschool child). The predicted protein efficiency ratio was 1.94-2.41, whilst essential amino acid index range was 1.06-1.08 and the calculated isoelectric point range was 3.97-4.18. The correlation coefficient (rxy) was positively high and significant at r = 0.01 for the total amino acids, amino acid scores (on the whole hen.s egg comparisons made) and the isoelectric point. On the whole, the eyes were better in 12/18 or 66.7% parameters of the amino acids than the brain of Turkey-Hen. (author)

  13. The influence of hen age on fatty acid composition of commercial eggs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tina Lešić

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to investigate the nutritional composition of commercial eggs from Lohman Brown hens through fat and fatty acid content analysis, as well as to evaluate the effect of hen age on the above parameters. Egg samples (n=108 were collected every two weeks from 21- to 55- week old hens during the 2015/2016 autumn/winter period. The results revealed significant differences in fatty acid composition dependent on hen age (p 0.05. The total polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA content was statistically significantly higher in eggs laid by 55- week old hens as compared to those laid by 21- week old hens. The n-6/n-3 and PUFA/SFA ratios were more favourable in the elder hens. In general, the results revealed hen ageing-based variations in fatty acid composition of their eggs, in particular in the representation of linoleic (LA, alpha-linolenic (ALA and arachidonic acid (AA, for which statistically significant hen age-based differences were found.

  14. Impact of Indian Mustard (Brassica juncea and Flax (Linum usitatissimum Seed Meal Applications on Soil Carbon, Nitrogen, and Microbial Dynamics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Autumn S. Wang

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available There is a critical need to investigate how land application of dedicated biofuel oilseed meals affects soil ecosystems. In this study, mustard (Brassica juncea and flax (Linum usitatissimum seed meals and sorghum-sudangrass (Sorghum bicolor were added to soil at levels of 0, 1, 2.5, and 5% (w/w. Both the type of amendment and application rate affected soil organic C, total C & N, and C & N mineralization. Mustard meal amendment initially inhibited C mineralization as compared to flax, but >50% of mustard and flax organic C was mineralized within 51 d. Nitrogen mineralization was similar for flax and mustard, except for the 2.5% rate for which a lower proportion of mustard N was converted to nitrate. The mustard meal greatly impacted microbial community composition, appearing to select for specific fungal populations. The potential varying impacts of different oilseed meals on soil ecosystems should be considered when developing recommendations for land application.

  15. Evaluation of production parameters and nutrient utilization of hens ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Two hundred and fifty Babcock hens in their 10th week of lay were divided into 5 groups of 50 hens each and randomly assigned to the 5 treatment rations in a completely randomized design (CRD). Data were collected on average final weight, body weight change, average feed intake, average hen-day lay, average egg ...

  16. Improving productive performance and mitigating harmful emissions from laying hen excreta via feeding on graded levels of corn DDGS with or without Bacillus subtilis probiotic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abd El-Hack, M E; Mahgoub, S A; Alagawany, M; Ashour, E A

    2017-10-01

    An experiment that included some inclusions of corn distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) with or without supplementation of probiotic bacteria to Hi-sex Brown laying hen diets was conducted to evaluate the impacts on performance, egg quality, blood metabolites and nitrogen and phosphorus excretion in the manure. A total of 216 twenty-two-week-old Hi-sex Brown laying hens were randomly divided into eight treatment groups in a factorial design (4 × 2) experiment, which included four levels of DDGS (0, 50, 100 and 150 g/kg diet) plus two levels of Bacillus subtilis probiotic (0 or 1000 mg/kg diet, with a concentration of 1.5 × 108 CFU/g of dried product). The experimental period extended from 22 to 34 weeks of age. The results showed that linear increase in DDGS level up to 150 g/kg improved (p ≤ 0.01) the values of feed consumption, egg shape index and yolk colour compared to the control and other treatment groups. Inclusion of dietary DDGS up to 150 g/kg in layer diets led to a significant decrease in egg mass and a significant increase in Haugh unit score compared to other groups. In the bacillus group, the values of feed conversion, egg weight and egg mass enhanced by 6.45, 3.27 and 7.60% respectively compared with the control diet. Total protein, albumin, triglycerides, cholesterol, calcium and ammonia in serum were significantly (p ≤ 0.01) influenced by DDGS inclusion. The excreted nitrogen decreased by 8.62 and 4.31% in hens fed 50 or 100 g/kg of DDGS respectively, while excreted phosphorous decreased by 3.33, 7.22 and 10.56% in hens fed 50, 100 or 150 g/kg of DDGS respectively as compared to the control group. It could be concluded that increasing DDGS inclusion level in the diet up to 10% and the supplementation of probiotic bacteria improved the productive performance of laying hens and mitigated the harmful emissions from chicken manure; this means better production within environmentally friendly conditions. Journal of Animal

  17. Genome-Wide Association Study Identifying Candidate Genes Influencing Important Agronomic Traits of Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) Using SLAF-seq.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Dongwei; Dai, Zhigang; Yang, Zemao; Sun, Jian; Zhao, Debao; Yang, Xue; Zhang, Liguo; Tang, Qing; Su, Jianguang

    2017-01-01

    Flax ( Linum usitatissimum L.) is an important cash crop, and its agronomic traits directly affect yield and quality. Molecular studies on flax remain inadequate because relatively few flax genes have been associated with agronomic traits or have been identified as having potential applications. To identify markers and candidate genes that can potentially be used for genetic improvement of crucial agronomic traits, we examined 224 specimens of core flax germplasm; specifically, phenotypic data for key traits, including plant height, technical length, number of branches, number of fruits, and 1000-grain weight were investigated under three environmental conditions before specific-locus amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq) was employed to perform a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for these five agronomic traits. Subsequently, the results were used to screen single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci and candidate genes that exhibited a significant correlation with the important agronomic traits. Our analyses identified a total of 42 SNP loci that showed significant correlations with the five important agronomic flax traits. Next, candidate genes were screened in the 10 kb zone of each of the 42 SNP loci. These SNP loci were then analyzed by a more stringent screening via co-identification using both a general linear model (GLM) and a mixed linear model (MLM) as well as co-occurrences in at least two of the three environments, whereby 15 final candidate genes were obtained. Based on these results, we determined that UGT and PL are candidate genes for plant height, GRAS and XTH are candidate genes for the number of branches, Contig1437 and LU0019C12 are candidate genes for the number of fruits, and PHO1 is a candidate gene for the 1000-seed weight. We propose that the identified SNP loci and corresponding candidate genes might serve as a biological basis for improving crucial agronomic flax traits.

  18. Genome-Wide Association Study Identifying Candidate Genes Influencing Important Agronomic Traits of Flax (Linum usitatissimum L. Using SLAF-seq

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dongwei Xie

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Flax (Linum usitatissimum L. is an important cash crop, and its agronomic traits directly affect yield and quality. Molecular studies on flax remain inadequate because relatively few flax genes have been associated with agronomic traits or have been identified as having potential applications. To identify markers and candidate genes that can potentially be used for genetic improvement of crucial agronomic traits, we examined 224 specimens of core flax germplasm; specifically, phenotypic data for key traits, including plant height, technical length, number of branches, number of fruits, and 1000-grain weight were investigated under three environmental conditions before specific-locus amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq was employed to perform a genome-wide association study (GWAS for these five agronomic traits. Subsequently, the results were used to screen single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP loci and candidate genes that exhibited a significant correlation with the important agronomic traits. Our analyses identified a total of 42 SNP loci that showed significant correlations with the five important agronomic flax traits. Next, candidate genes were screened in the 10 kb zone of each of the 42 SNP loci. These SNP loci were then analyzed by a more stringent screening via co-identification using both a general linear model (GLM and a mixed linear model (MLM as well as co-occurrences in at least two of the three environments, whereby 15 final candidate genes were obtained. Based on these results, we determined that UGT and PL are candidate genes for plant height, GRAS and XTH are candidate genes for the number of branches, Contig1437 and LU0019C12 are candidate genes for the number of fruits, and PHO1 is a candidate gene for the 1000-seed weight. We propose that the identified SNP loci and corresponding candidate genes might serve as a biological basis for improving crucial agronomic flax traits.

  19. Nest sharing under semi-natural conditions in laying hens

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Riber, Anja Brinch

    2012-01-01

    problems to laying hens, and egg production may also be negatively affected. Understanding what causes this difference in nest location selection may provide solutions to the problems associated with simultaneous nest sharing. The aims were to investigate whether a commercial strain of laying hens normally...... daily of each nest with regard to number of eggs, position, and materials used. On five mornings nesting behaviour was observed. Nest sharing occurred on all but the first 5 days of egg-laying. The majority of hens (n = 14) chose to visit an occupied nest at least once, but no hens exclusively used...

  20. Age-Related Variations in Intestinal Microflora of Free-Range and Caged Hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cui, Yizhe; Wang, Qiuju; Liu, Shengjun; Sun, Rui; Zhou, Yaqiang; Li, Yue

    2017-01-01

    Free range feeding pattern puts the chicken in a mixture of growth materials and enteric bacteria excreted by nature, while it is typically unique condition materials and enteric bacteria in commercial caged hens production. Thus, the gastrointestinal microflora in two feeding patterns could be various. However, it remains poorly understood how feeding patterns affect development and composition of layer hens' intestinal microflora. In this study, the effect of feeding patterns on the bacteria community in layer hens' gut was investigated using free range and caged feeding form. Samples of whole small intestines and cecal digesta were collected from young hens (8-weeks) and mature laying hens (30-weeks). Based on analysis using polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and sequencing of bacterial 16S rDNA gene amplicons, the microflora of all intestinal contents were affected by both feeding patterns and age of hens. Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Fusobacteria were the main components. Additionally, uncultured environmental samples were found too. There were large differences between young hens and adult laying hens, the latter had more Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes, and bacterial community is more abundant in 30-weeks laying hens of all six phyla than 8-weeks young hens of only two phyla. In addition, the differences were also observed between free range and caged hens. Free range hens had richer Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria. Most of strains found were detected more abundant in small intestines than in cecum. Also the selected Lactic acid bacteria from hens gut were applied in feed and they had beneficial effects on growth performance and jejunal villus growth of young broilers. This study suggested that feeding patterns have an importance effect on the microflora composition of hens, which may impact the host nutritional status and intestinal health.

  1. Variability in amino acid digestibility of triticale grain from diverse genotypes as studied in cecectomized laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zuber, T; Maurer, H P; Möhring, J; Nautscher, N; Siegert, W; Rosenfelder, P; Rodehutscord, M

    2016-12-01

    Triticale, an anthropogenic hybrid grain, is increasing in importance as a feed grain for laying hens. However, our limited knowledge of its nutritional qualities and their impact on hen performance prevents optimization of its use. The present study investigated the digestibility of amino acids ( AA: ) in triticale grain in laying hens, and additionally examined relationships between AA digestibility and chemical and physical characteristics of the grain. Twenty genotypes of triticale were grown under standardized agronomic and environmental conditions and were characterized according to their physical properties (thousand-seed weight, test weight, falling number, extract viscoelasticity), chemical composition (proximate nutrients, non-starch polysaccharides, AA, minerals, inositol phosphates) and gross energy concentration. Additionally, the in vitro solubility of nitrogen was determined. The animal trial comprised 4 Latin Squares (6 × 6) distributed among 2 subsequent runs. Twelve cecectomized LSL-Classic hens were individually housed in metabolism cages and either fed a basal diet containing 500 g/kg cornstarch or one of 20 triticale diets, each replacing the cornstarch with one triticale genotype, for 8 d. During the last 4 d, feed intake was recorded and excreta were collected quantitatively. Amino acid digestibility of the triticale genotypes was calculated by linear regression. The digestibility of all AA differed significantly between the 20 genotypes, including Lys (digestibility range 68 to 80%), Met (77 to 86%), Thr (68 to 78%) and Trp (74 to 83%). However, AA digestibility only correlated with characteristics of the grain in few cases, without a consistent pattern among AA. Equations to predict AA digestibility based on the grain's physical and chemical characteristics were calculated by multiple linear regression. The explanatory power (adjusted R 2 ;) of these prediction equations was below 0.7 for most AA and thus not sufficiently precise to be

  2. Flax lignan concentrate attenuate hypertension and abnormal left ventricular contractility via modulation of endogenous biomarkers in two-kidney-one-clip (2K1C hypertensive rats

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sameer Hanmantrao Sawant

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT The present investigation was designed to study the effect of flax lignan concentrate obtained from Linum usitatissimum L., Linaceae, in two-kidney, one clip (2K1C hypertension model in Wistar rats. 2K1C Goldblatt model rats were divided randomly into six groups: sham, 2K1C control, captopril (30 mg/kg, flax lignan concentrate (200, 400 and 800 mg/kg. Flax lignan concentrate and captopril were administered daily for eight consecutive weeks. Sham-operated, and 2K1C control rats received the vehicle. Treatment with flax lignan concentrate (400 and 800 mg/kg significantly and dose-dependently restored the hemodynamic parameters systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial blood pressure and left ventricular functions. The flax lignan concentrate significantly restored the elevated hepatic, renal and cardiac marker enzymes in the serum. It also restored the organs weights (kidney and heart, serum electrolyte level and histological abnormalities. Furthermore, flax lignan concentrate significantly elevated the level of biochemical markers that is enzymatic antioxidants superoxide dismutase, glutathione and decreased malondialdehyde in the heart and kidney tissues. Meanwhile, we found that plasma nitric oxide and plasma nitric oxide synthase contents were significantly increased in the flax lignan concentrate-treated group, and plasma endothelin-1 and renal angiotensin-II levels were significantly lower than 2K1C hypertensive group. In conclusion, the antihypertensive and antioxidant effect of flax lignan concentrate were dose-dependent and at the highest dose (i.e. 800 mg/kg similar to those of captopril (30 mg/kg. It is suggested that flax lignan concentrate reduced blood pressure by reduction of renal angiotensin-II level, inhibition of plasma endothelin-1 production, induction of the nitric oxide, nitric oxide synthase and in vivo antioxidant defense system.

  3. The Effect of Calcium Source in Laying Hen Diet on Egg and Tibia Bone Characteristics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Elsayed, M.A.; Basuony, H.A.; Hatab, M.H.

    2014-01-01

    One hundred and twenty, 37-week-old Lohmann strain layers were used in the current study to evaluate the effect of using ground, sterilized chicken eggshell (ES) as calcium (Ca) source in their diets on the productive performance, egg and eggshell quality, serum Ca and inorganic P concentrations and bone mineralization. Feed and water ad libitum were provided and hens were kept under 16:8 hrs light:dark cycle. Birds were randomly divided into 3 groups (GP), 1, was a control group fed a layer diet containing finely ground limestone as the Ca source. 2 was fed a layer diet that contained a combination of 50% limestone and 50% ground eggshell (50% ES) as the Ca source, whereas group 3 received a layer diet containing 100% ground eggshell (100% ES) as the Ca source in the diet. After 2 wk of acclimation, the birds were fed the experimental diets for 6 wk, initial and final body weights (BW) and feed intake was recorded. Eggs production was expressed as a percentage of hen-day egg production, egg weight and the internal egg quality were measured. Serum Ca, P concentrations, Ca:P ratio and aldosterone level were determined. Finally, tibia weight, length and its contents of Ca, P concentrations were measured. Results of this study indicated that, there was no significant effect of dietary treatment on BW and feed consumption. Replacing limestone in the current study diet with ground, sterilized eggshell had no any significant effect on egg production, egg weight, eggshell quality and tibia characteristics among between groups. Finally, there were no significant effect for treatment on blood hematocrit, total serum Ca, P concentrations, Ca:P ratio and aldosterone level. It is concluded that hatchery waste, as chicken egg shells, can be used as the Ca source in layer diets without an adverse effect on BW, feed consumption, egg weight, egg production, egg and eggshell quality, serum Ca concentration and bone characteristics

  4. Selected pharmacokinetic parameters for Cefovecin in hens and green iguanas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thuesen, L R; Bertelsen, M F; Brimer, L; Skaanild, M T

    2009-12-01

    The third generation cephalosporin cefovecin has been shown to have an exceptionally long elimination half-life in dogs and cats, making it suitable for antibacterial treatment with a 14-day dosing interval in these species. Pharmacokinetic parameters for cefovecin were investigated in juvenile hens and green iguanas, following subcutaneous injections with 10 mg cefovecin/kg bodyweight. Preliminary studies in eight additional species of birds and reptiles were performed and results were compared with the parameters found in hens and green iguanas. The kinetics were characterized by rapid absorption with peak plasma concentration of 6 +/- 2 microg/mL in hens and 35 +/- 12 microg/mL in green iguanas. The mean plasma half-life for cefovecin was 0.9 +/- 0.3 h for hens and 3.9 h in green iguanas. Volume of distribution was 1.6 +/- 0.5 L/kg for hens and 0.3 L/kg for green iguanas and clearance was 1252 +/- 185 mL.h/kg for hens and 53 mL.h/kg for green iguanas. Results from preliminary studies did not differ notably from those seen in hens and green iguanas. Cefovecin is not suitable for the treatment of bacterial infections with a 14-day dosing interval in hens or green iguanas and seems not to be in a number of other bird and retile species either.

  5. Karg S. (ed.) Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) - a natural resource for food and textiles for 8000 years. Cross-disciplinary investigations on the evolution and cultural history of flax and linen. Programme and abstracts of the second workshop 28-30 June 2010 at Sonnerupgaard and in the Land

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Karg, Sabine

    2010-01-01

    Karg S. (ed.) Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) - a natural resource for food and textiles for 8000 years. Cross-disciplinary investigations on the evolution and cultural history of flax and linen. Programme and abstracts of the second workshop 28-30 June 2010 at Sonnerupgaard and in the Land...

  6. The effect of composition feed mixtures on curve of hens laying intensity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emil Mareček

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available The experiment was done in the experimental station ÚKZÚZ Havlíčkův Brod. There were four experimental groups (N1, N2, N3, N4 of laying hens and weekly laying intensity was observed. Hybrid ISA BROWN was used in the experiment, 405 hens in each group. The laying intensity was observed from the start of laying for 44 weeks. During laying four different diets were fed to laying hens (N1 – control group with fish meal, N2 – control group containing only of plant protein sources, N3 – experimental group with higher content of rapeseed, N4 – experimental group containing treated rapeseed. Yang model was used for the evaluation of laying curves and we found following parameters of the curves:Yang model N1: y = 97.28 * e – 0.004 * t / [1 + e – 2.054 (t – 2.549]\tR2 = 0.97Yang model N2: y = 98.29 * e – 0.006 * t / [1 + e – 2.071 (t – 2.668]\tR2 = 0.96Yang model N3: y = 98.49 * e – 0.005 * t / [1 + e – 1.856 (t – 2.568]\tR2 = 0.97Yang model N4: y = 98.55 * e – 0.005 * t / [1 + e – 2.251 (t – 2.615].\tR2 = 0.97The results document that experimental treatments had small effect on the parameters of laying curves. It means that rapeseed had only small effect on the laying intensity and also the elimination of animal protein from the diet for laying hens had not effect on laying intensity. On the base of our results we estimated the standard equation for evaluation of laying curve:Yang model: y = 98.15 * e – 0.005 * t / [1 + e – 2.058 (t – 2.601].\tR2 = 0.99This equation can be used as standard for evaluation of laying intensity after experimental treatments or for evaluation of laying intensity of different hybrids.

  7. IR and Raman studies of oil and seedcake extracts from natural and genetically modified flax seeds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Żuk, M.; Dymińska, L.; Kulma, A.; Boba, A.; Prescha, A.; Szopa, J.; Mączka, M.; Zając, A.; Szołtysek, K.; Hanuza, J.

    2011-03-01

    Flax plant of the third generation (F3) overexpressing key genes of flavonoid pathway cultivated in field in 2008 season was used as the plant material throughout this study. The biochemical properties of seed, oil and seedcake extracts from natural and transgenic flax plants were compared. Overproduction of flavonoids (kaempferol), phenolic acids (coumaric, ferulic/synapic) and lignan-secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG) in oil and extracts from transgenic seeds has been revealed providing a valuable source of these compounds for biotechnological application. The changes in fatty acids composition and increase in their stability against oxidation along three plant generations were also detected. The analysis of oil and seedcake extracts was performed using Raman and IR spectroscopy. The wavenumbers and integral intensities of Raman and IR bands were used to identify the components of phenylpropanoid pathway in oil and seedcake extracts from control and transgenic flax seeds. The spectroscopic data were compared to those obtained from biochemical analysis.

  8. Methyl Salicylate Level Increase in Flax after Fusarium oxysporum Infection Is Associated with Phenylpropanoid Pathway Activation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boba, Aleksandra; Kostyn, Kamil; Kostyn, Anna; Wojtasik, Wioleta; Dziadas, Mariusz; Preisner, Marta; Szopa, Jan; Kulma, Anna

    2016-01-01

    Flax ( Linum usitatissimum ) is a crop plant valued for its oil and fiber. Unfortunately, large losses in cultivation of this plant are caused by fungal infections, with Fusarium oxysporum being one of its most dangerous pathogens. Among the plant's defense strategies, changes in the expression of genes of the shikimate/phenylpropanoid/benzoate pathway and thus in phenolic contents occur. Among the benzoates, salicylic acid, and its methylated form methyl salicylate play an important role in regulating plants' response to stress conditions. Upon treatment of flax plants with the fungus we found that methyl salicylate content increased (4.8-fold of the control) and the expression profiles of the analyzed genes suggest that it is produced most likely from cinnamic acid, through the β-oxidative route. At the same time activation of some genes involved in lignin and flavonoid biosynthesis was observed. We suggest that increased methyl salicylate biosynthesis during flax response to F. oxysporum infection may be associated with phenylpropanoid pathway activation.

  9. Exogenous salicylic acid protects phospholipids against cadmium stress in flax (Linum usitatissimum L.).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belkadhi, Aïcha; De Haro, Antonio; Obregon, Sara; Chaïbi, Wided; Djebali, Wahbi

    2015-10-01

    Salicylic acid (SA) promotes plant defense responses against toxic metal stresses. The present study addressed the hypothesis that 8-h SA pretreatment, would alter membrane lipids in a way that would protect against Cd toxicity. Flax seeds were pre-soaked for 8h in SA (0, 250 and 1000µM) and then subjected, at seedling stage, to cadmium (Cd) stress. At 100µM CdCl2, significant decreases in the percentages of phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylglycerol (PG), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG) and changes in their relative fatty acid composition were observed in Cd-treated roots in comparison with controls. However, in roots of 8-h SA pretreated plantlets, results showed that the amounts of PC and PE were significantly higher as compared to non-pretreated plantlets. Additionally, in both lipid classes, the proportion of linolenic acid (18:3) increased upon the pretreatment with SA. This resulted in a significant increase in the fatty acid unsaturation ratio of the root PC and PE classes. As the exogenous application of SA was found to be protective of flax lipid metabolism, the possible mechanisms of protection against Cd stress in flax roots were discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Natural Hypolignification Is Associated with Extensive Oligolignol Accumulation in Flax Stems1[C][W

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huis, Rudy; Morreel, Kris; Fliniaux, Ophélie; Lucau-Danila, Anca; Fénart, Stéphane; Grec, Sébastien; Neutelings, Godfrey; Chabbert, Brigitte; Mesnard, François; Boerjan, Wout; Hawkins, Simon

    2012-01-01

    Flax (Linum usitatissimum) stems contain cells showing contrasting cell wall structure: lignified in inner stem xylem tissue and hypolignified in outer stem bast fibers. We hypothesized that stem hypolignification should be associated with extensive phenolic accumulation and used metabolomics and transcriptomics to characterize these two tissues. 1H nuclear magnetic resonance clearly distinguished inner and outer stem tissues and identified different primary and secondary metabolites, including coniferin and p-coumaryl alcohol glucoside. Ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance-mass spectrometry aromatic profiling (lignomics) identified 81 phenolic compounds, of which 65 were identified, to our knowledge, for the first time in flax and 11 for the first time in higher plants. Both aglycone forms and glycosides of monolignols, lignin oligomers, and (neo)lignans were identified in both inner and outer stem tissues, with a preponderance of glycosides in the hypolignified outer stem, indicating the existence of a complex monolignol metabolism. The presence of coniferin-containing secondary metabolites suggested that coniferyl alcohol, in addition to being used in lignin and (neo)lignan formation, was also utilized in a third, partially uncharacterized metabolic pathway. Hypolignification of bast fibers in outer stem tissues was correlated with the low transcript abundance of monolignol biosynthetic genes, laccase genes, and certain peroxidase genes, suggesting that flax hypolignification is transcriptionally regulated. Transcripts of the key lignan genes Pinoresinol-Lariciresinol Reductase and Phenylcoumaran Benzylic Ether Reductase were also highly abundant in flax inner stem tissues. Expression profiling allowed the identification of NAC (NAM, ATAF1/2, CUC2) and MYB transcription factors that are likely involved in regulating both monolignol production and polymerization as well as (neo)lignan production. PMID:22331411

  11. Feed Supplementation with Red Seaweeds, Chondrus crispus and Sarcodiotheca gaudichaudii, Reduce Salmonella Enteritidis in Laying Hens

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kulshreshtha, Garima; Rathgeber, Bruce; MacIsaac, Janice; Boulianne, Martine; Brigitte, Lehoux; Stratton, Glenn; Thomas, Nikhil A.; Critchley, Alan T.; Hafting, Jeff; Prithiviraj, Balakrishnan

    2017-01-01

    Salmonella Enteritidis is vertically transmitted to eggs from laying hens through infected ovaries and oviducts. S. Enteritidis can also penetrate the eggshell from contaminated feces. Reducing S. Enteritidis in laying hens is vital to provide safer eggs and minimize the spread of salmonellosis to humans. Antibiotics have been widely used to control bacterial diseases in broilers and laying hens. However, there is a major concern that the use of antibiotics leads to the development of antibiotic resistance and adverse effects on microbiota of the treated birds. Thus, there is an interest in developing alternatives to antibiotics, such as dietary prebiotics. In the present study, feed supplemented with the red seaweeds: Chondrus crispus (CC) or Sarcodiotheca gaudichaudii (SG), was offered to laying hens late in production to control S. Enteritidis. Diets contained one of the following; 2% or 4% Chondrus crispus (CC2, and CC4, respectively) or Sarcodiotheca gaudichaudii (SG2 and SG4, respectively). Chlortetracycline was used in the positive control diet. During week-4, 48 birds were orally challenged with 2 × 109 CFU/mL of S. Enteritidis. Eggs and fecal samples were collected 1, 3, 5, and 7 days’ post inoculation. Birds were euthanized and organs (ceca, ovary, liver, and spleen) were sampled and analyzed for the presence of S. Enteritidis, 7 days’ post inoculation. Results showed that seaweed reduced the negative effect on body weight and egg production in S. Enteritidis-challenged laying hens. Analysis of fecal samples showed that the antibiotic (CTC) reduced S. Enteritidis in the intestinal tract and fecal samples, 3 days’ post inoculation. Fecal samples from Chlortetracycline and CC4 supplemented birds tested negative for S. Enteritidis on days 5 and 7 post inoculation (lowest detection limit = 10-1). S. Enteritidis colonization in the ceca was also significantly reduced in birds fed CC (4%) and Chlortetracycline. Blood serum profiles revealed that there

  12. Feed Supplementation with Red Seaweeds, Chondrus crispus and Sarcodiotheca gaudichaudii, Reduce Salmonella Enteritidis in Laying Hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kulshreshtha, Garima; Rathgeber, Bruce; MacIsaac, Janice; Boulianne, Martine; Brigitte, Lehoux; Stratton, Glenn; Thomas, Nikhil A; Critchley, Alan T; Hafting, Jeff; Prithiviraj, Balakrishnan

    2017-01-01

    Salmonella Enteritidis is vertically transmitted to eggs from laying hens through infected ovaries and oviducts. S. Enteritidis can also penetrate the eggshell from contaminated feces. Reducing S. Enteritidis in laying hens is vital to provide safer eggs and minimize the spread of salmonellosis to humans. Antibiotics have been widely used to control bacterial diseases in broilers and laying hens. However, there is a major concern that the use of antibiotics leads to the development of antibiotic resistance and adverse effects on microbiota of the treated birds. Thus, there is an interest in developing alternatives to antibiotics, such as dietary prebiotics. In the present study, feed supplemented with the red seaweeds: Chondrus crispus (CC) or Sarcodiotheca gaudichaudii (SG), was offered to laying hens late in production to control S. Enteritidis. Diets contained one of the following; 2% or 4% Chondrus crispus (CC2, and CC4, respectively) or Sarcodiotheca gaudichaudii (SG2 and SG4, respectively). Chlortetracycline was used in the positive control diet. During week-4, 48 birds were orally challenged with 2 × 10 9 CFU/mL of S. Enteritidis. Eggs and fecal samples were collected 1, 3, 5, and 7 days' post inoculation. Birds were euthanized and organs (ceca, ovary, liver, and spleen) were sampled and analyzed for the presence of S. Enteritidis, 7 days' post inoculation. Results showed that seaweed reduced the negative effect on body weight and egg production in S. Enteritidis-challenged laying hens. Analysis of fecal samples showed that the antibiotic (CTC) reduced S. Enteritidis in the intestinal tract and fecal samples, 3 days' post inoculation. Fecal samples from Chlortetracycline and CC4 supplemented birds tested negative for S. Enteritidis on days 5 and 7 post inoculation (lowest detection limit = 10 -1 ). S. Enteritidis colonization in the ceca was also significantly reduced in birds fed CC (4%) and Chlortetracycline. Blood serum profiles revealed that there were

  13. Alternations in Cholesterol and Fatty Acids Composition in Egg Yolk of Rhode Island Red x Fyoumi Hens Fed with Hemp Seeds (Cannabis sativa L.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Suhaib Shahid

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The present study was designed to evaluate the influence of hemp seed (HS supplementation on egg yolk cholesterol and fatty acid composition in laying hens. Sixty hens (Rhode Island Red x Fyoumi were evenly distributed into four groups (three replicates per group at the peak production (34 weeks. HS was included into the ration at the level of 0.0 (HS-0, 15 (HS-15, 20 (HS-20, and 25% (HS-25 and continued the supplementation for consecutively three weeks. At the end of the experiment, three eggs per replicate were randomly collected and analyzed for egg yolk fatty acids and cholesterol profile. The statistical analysis of the result revealed that supplementation of HS-25 significantly (P<0.05 decreased egg yolk total cholesterol, myristic (C14:0, palmitic (C16:0, and stearic (C18:0. Similarly, total as well as individual monounsaturated fatty acids decreased significantly (P<0.05 while total and individual polyunsaturated fatty acids increased significantly in the HS-25. In addition, total omega-3 and omega-6 increased significantly in the HS-25 group. From the present result, we concluded that addition of HS at the rate of 25% to the diet of laying hens augmented the cholesterol and fatty acids profile in egg yolk.

  14. Effects of non-feed removal molting methods on egg quality traits in commercial brown egg laying hens in Turkey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petek, Metin; Gezen, S Sule; Alpay, Fazli; Cibik, Recep

    2008-08-01

    Non-feed removal molting programme in commercial brown laying hens and its influence on pre-molting, post-molting and end of cycle egg quality traits were investigated. Overall 54 birds were randomly divided into three treatment groups and each group was fed with one of the following diets during 10 days of molting period: (i) grain barley, (ii) alfalfa meal, or (iii) commercial layer ration (non-molted control group). Eggs obtained from groups in pre-molting, post-molting and end of cycle periods were examined for several quality performance traits such as egg weight, specific gravity, shape index, shell strength, shell thickness, eggshell weight, haugh unit, albumen index, yolk index and yolk color. Results indicated that non-feed removal molting programme based particularly on grain barley had positive effect on egg quality traits in laying hens. Notably, yolk color and haugh unit, which are considered as the most important quality parameters from the consumer point of view, were relatively improved in barley molted group.

  15. Radiation-grafting of flame retardants on flax fabrics - A comparison between different flame retardant structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teixeira, Marie; Sonnier, Rodolphe; Otazaghine, Belkacem; Ferry, Laurent; Aubert, Mélanie; Tirri, Teija; Wilén, Carl-Eric; Rouif, Sophie

    2018-04-01

    Three unsaturated compounds bearing respectively phosphate, aryl bromide and sulfenamide moieties were used as flame retardants (FR) for flax fabrics. Due to the presence of carbon-carbon double bonds, radiation-grafting was considered to covalently bond these FR onto fiber structure. Grafting efficiency and location of FR molecules were investigated by weight measurements and SEM-EDX observations. Flammability and especially self-extinguishment were assessed by thermogravimetric analysis, pyrolysis-combustion flow calorimetry and a non-standardized fire test already used in previous studies. All FRs were able to diffuse into elementary fiber bulk. Nevertheless only the phosphonated monomer (noted FR-P) was significantly grafted onto flax. Self-extinguishment was obtained for fabrics containing at least around 0.5 wt% of phosphorus. On the contrary the FR content of flax fibers after radiation-grafting procedure and washing was negligible for FR-S and FR-Br, evidencing that these molecules have not been grafted upon irradiation. Moreover, the combination of these molecules prevents the radiation-grafting of other molecules which showed good grafting rate when used alone.

  16. Effects of Furnished Cage Type on Behavior and Welfare of Laying Hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xiang; Chen, Donghua; Li, Jianhong; Bao, Jun

    2016-06-01

    This study was conducted to compare the effects of layout of furniture (a perch, nest, and sandbox) in cages on behavior and welfare of hens. Two hundred and sixteen Hyline Brown laying hens were divided into five groups (treatments) with four replicates per group: small furnished cages (SFC), medium furnished cages type I (MFC-I), medium furnished cages type II (MFC-II), and medium furnished cages type III (MFC-III) and conventional cages (CC). The experiment started at 18 week of age and finished at 52 week of age. Hens' behaviors were filmed during the following periods: 8:00 to 10:00; 13:00 to 14:00; 16:00 to 17:00 on three separate days and two hens from each cage were measured for welfare parameters at 50 wk of age. The results showed that feeding and laying of all hens showed no effect by cage type (p>0.05), and the hens in the furnished cages had significantly lower standing and higher walking than CC hens (p0.05). The hens in MFC-I, -II, and -III showed a significant higher socializing behavior than SFC and CC (p<0.05). The lowest perching was for the hens in SFC and the highest perching found for the hens in MFC-III. Overall, the hens in CC showed poorer welfare conditions than the furnished cages, in which the feather condition score, gait score and tonic immobility duration of the hens in CC was significantly higher than SFC, MFC-I, MFC-II, and MFC-III (p<0.05). In conclusion, the furnished cage design affected both behavior and welfare states of hens. Overall, MFC-III cage design was better than SFC, MFC-I, and MFC-II cage designs.

  17. Seed Yield of Long Fiber Flax (Linum usitatissimum L. Plants Depending on Rates of Sawing of Seed and Mineral Fertilization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    М. Ф. Рибак

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Impact of rates of sawing of seed and fertilization on seed productivity of Kameniar and Irma Long Fiber Flax in the conditions of Ukrainian Woodlands are highlighted. A trustworthy proportion is established of factors influence, in particular, of the sawing and fertilization rates, on Long Fiber Flax yield formation.

  18. Effect of Genotypic and Environmental Differences on Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Amer, I.M; Moustafa, H.A.M.

    2006-01-01

    Genotype X environment (GE) interactions for some flax characters nd their effects on yield of three divergent mutant lines two local cultivars were studied over five environmental conditions (three years and different soils) at Inshas, Egypt. the obtained results reveled that the variance due to environmental conditions were greater than the variance due to genotypes, or GE interaction for all studied traits. the variances due to GE interactions were greater than the variances for genotypes in seed yield and its related traits and vice versa in straw yield and its related traits. the environmental conditions exhibited greater effect on the local cultivars than on mutant lines. the mutant line 25 gave the highest seeds and straw yield / plant over all environments. adaptability and performance stability of a line over years and sites are interested for flax producer for growing a cultivar with high yield and performance stability at his location

  19. Identification, Expression Analysis, and Target Prediction of Flax Genotroph MicroRNAs Under Normal and Nutrient Stress Conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Melnikova, Nataliya V.; Dmitriev, Alexey A.; Belenikin, Maxim S.; Koroban, Nadezhda V.; Speranskaya, Anna S.; Krinitsina, Anastasia A.; Krasnov, George S.; Lakunina, Valentina A.; Snezhkina, Anastasiya V.; Sadritdinova, Asiya F.; Kishlyan, Natalya V.; Rozhmina, Tatiana A.; Klimina, Kseniya M.; Amosova, Alexandra V.; Zelenin, Alexander V.; Muravenko, Olga V.; Bolsheva, Nadezhda L.; Kudryavtseva, Anna V.

    2016-01-01

    Cultivated flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) is an important plant valuable for industry. Some flax lines can undergo heritable phenotypic and genotypic changes (LIS-1 insertion being the most common) in response to nutrient stress and are called plastic lines. Offspring of plastic lines, which stably inherit the changes, are called genotrophs. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in a crucial regulatory mechanism of gene expression. They have previously been assumed to take part in nutrient stress response and can, therefore, participate in genotroph formation. In the present study, we performed high-throughput sequencing of small RNAs (sRNAs) extracted from flax plants grown under normal, phosphate deficient and nutrient excess conditions to identify miRNAs and evaluate their expression. Our analysis revealed expression of 96 conserved miRNAs from 21 families in flax. Moreover, 475 novel potential miRNAs were identified for the first time, and their targets were predicted. However, none of the identified miRNAs were transcribed from LIS-1. Expression of seven miRNAs (miR168, miR169, miR395, miR398, miR399, miR408, and lus-miR-N1) with up- or down-regulation under nutrient stress (on the basis of high-throughput sequencing data) was evaluated on extended sampling using qPCR. Reference gene search identified ETIF3H and ETIF3E genes as most suitable for this purpose. Down-regulation of novel potential lus-miR-N1 and up-regulation of conserved miR399 were revealed under the phosphate deficient conditions. In addition, the negative correlation of expression of lus-miR-N1 and its predicted target, ubiquitin-activating enzyme E1 gene, as well as, miR399 and its predicted target, ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2 gene, was observed. Thus, in our study, miRNAs expressed in flax plastic lines and genotrophs were identified and their expression and expression of their targets was evaluated using high-throughput sequencing and qPCR for the first time. These data provide new insights

  20. Ty1-copia elements reveal diverse insertion sites linked to polymorphisms among flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) accessions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galindo-González, Leonardo; Mhiri, Corinne; Grandbastien, Marie-Angèle; Deyholos, Michael K

    2016-12-07

    Initial characterization of the flax genome showed that Ty1-copia retrotransposons are abundant, with several members being recently inserted, and in close association with genes. Recent insertions indicate a potential for ongoing transpositional activity that can create genomic diversity among accessions, cultivars or varieties. The polymorphisms generated constitute a good source of molecular markers that may be associated with phenotype if the insertions alter gene activity. Flax, where accessions are bred mainly for seed nutritional properties or for fibers, constitutes a good model for studying the relationship of transpositional activity with diversification and breeding. In this study, we estimated copy number and used a type of transposon display known as Sequence-Specific Amplification Polymorphisms (SSAPs), to characterize six families of Ty1-copia elements across 14 flax accessions. Polymorphic insertion sites were sequenced to find insertions that could potentially alter gene expression, and a preliminary test was performed with selected genes bearing transposable element (TE) insertions. Quantification of six families of Ty1-copia elements indicated different abundances among TE families and between flax accessions, which suggested diverse transpositional histories. SSAPs showed a high level of polymorphism in most of the evaluated retrotransposon families, with a trend towards higher levels of polymorphism in low-copy number families. Ty1-copia insertion polymorphisms among cultivars allowed a general distinction between oil and fiber types, and between spring and winter types, demonstrating their utility in diversity studies. Characterization of polymorphic insertions revealed an overwhelming association with genes, with insertions disrupting exons, introns or within 1 kb of coding regions. A preliminary test on the potential transcriptional disruption by TEs of four selected genes evaluated in three different tissues, showed one case of significant

  1. Flammability and thermal properties studies of nonwoven flax reinforced acrylic based polyester composites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rasyid, M. F. Ahmad; Salim, M. S.; Akil, H. M.; Ishak, Z. A. Mohd.

    2017-12-01

    In the pursuit of green and more sustainable product, natural fibre reinforced composites originating from renewable resources has gained interest in recent years. These natural fibres exhibit good mechanical properties, low production costs, and good environmental properties. However, one of the disadvantages of natural fibre reinforced composites is their high flammability that limits their application in many fields. Within this research, the effect of sodium silicate on the flammability and thermal properties of flax reinforced acrylic based polyester composites has been investigated. Sodium silicate is applied as binder and flame retardant system in impregnation process of the natural flax fiber mats. The addition of sodium silicate significantly improved the flame retardant efficiency but reduced the degree of crosslinking of the composites.

  2. Effects of Furnished Cage Type on Behavior and Welfare of Laying Hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiang Li

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available This study was conducted to compare the effects of layout of furniture (a perch, nest, and sandbox in cages on behavior and welfare of hens. Two hundred and sixteen Hyline Brown laying hens were divided into five groups (treatments with four replicates per group: small furnished cages (SFC, medium furnished cages type I (MFC-I, medium furnished cages type II (MFC-II, and medium furnished cages type III (MFC-III and conventional cages (CC. The experiment started at 18 week of age and finished at 52 week of age. Hens’ behaviors were filmed during the following periods: 8:00 to 10:00; 13:00 to 14:00; 16:00 to 17:00 on three separate days and two hens from each cage were measured for welfare parameters at 50 wk of age. The results showed that feeding and laying of all hens showed no effect by cage type (p>0.05, and the hens in the furnished cages had significantly lower standing and higher walking than CC hens (p0.05. The hens in MFC-I, −II, and −III showed a significant higher socializing behavior than SFC and CC (p<0.05. The lowest perching was for the hens in SFC and the highest perching found for the hens in MFC-III. Overall, the hens in CC showed poorer welfare conditions than the furnished cages, in which the feather condition score, gait score and tonic immobility duration of the hens in CC was significantly higher than SFC, MFC-I, MFC-II, and MFC-III (p<0.05. In conclusion, the furnished cage design affected both behavior and welfare states of hens. Overall, MFC-III cage design was better than SFC, MFC-I, and MFC-II cage designs.

  3. Housing system and laying hen strain impacts on egg microbiology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, D R; Anderson, K E

    2013-08-01

    Alternative hen housing is becoming more commonplace in the egg market. However, a complete understanding of the implications for alternative housing systems on egg safety has not been achieved. The current study examines the impact of housing Hy-Line Brown, Hy-Line Silver Brown, and Barred Plymouth Rock hens in conventional cage, cage-free, and free range egg production systems on shell microbiology. Eggs were collected at 4 sampling periods. Egg shell emulsion pools were formed and enumerated for total aerobic organisms, Enterobacteriaceae, and yeast and mold counts. Hy-Line Brown and Hy-Line Silver Brown hens produced eggs with significantly (P Eggs from conventional cages had significantly different (P eggs with significantly different (P eggs having the lowest level of contamination for the hen strains. There were no differences within each strain among housing systems for yeast and mold contamination. The study shows that hen strain has an effect on egg microbial levels for various housing systems, and egg safety should be considered when making hen strain selections for each housing system.

  4. Obesity-associated cardiac pathogenesis in broiler breeder hens: Pathological adaption of cardiac hypertrophy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, C Y; Lin, H Y; Chen, Y W; Ko, Y J; Liu, Y J; Chen, Y H; Walzem, R L; Chen, S E

    2017-07-01

    Broiler hens consuming feed to appetite (ad libitum; AL) show increased mortality. Feed restriction (R) typically improves reproductive performance and livability of hens. Rapidly growing broilers can exhibit increased mortality due to cardiac insufficiency but it is unknown whether the increased mortality of non-R broiler hens is also due to cardiac compromise. To assess cardiac growth and physiology in fully mature birds, 45-week-old hens were either continued on R rations or assigned to AL feeding for 7 or 21 days. AL hens exhibited increased bodyweight, adiposity, absolute and relative heart weight, ventricular hypertrophy, and cardiac protein/DNA ratio by d 21 (P hens (P Hens allowed AL feeding for 70 d exhibited a higher incidence of mortality (40% vs. 10%) in association with ascites, pericardial effusion, and ventricle dilation. A higher incidence of irregular ECG patterns and rhythmicity consistent with persistently elevated systolic blood pressure and ventricle fibrosis were observed in AL hens (P feeding in broiler hens results in maladaptive cardiac hypertrophy that progresses to overt pathogenesis in contractility and thereby increases mortality. Feed restriction provides clear physiological benefit to heart function of adult broiler hens. © 2017 Poultry Science Association Inc.

  5. Fatty acid composition and desaturase gene expression in flax (Linum usitatissimum L.).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thambugala, Dinushika; Cloutier, Sylvie

    2014-11-01

    Little is known about the relationship between expression levels of fatty acid desaturase genes during seed development and fatty acid (FA) composition in flax. In the present study, we looked at promoter structural variations of six FA desaturase genes and their relative expression throughout seed development. Computational analysis of the nucleotide sequences of the sad1, sad2, fad2a, fad2b, fad3a and fad3b promoters showed several basic transcriptional elements including CAAT and TATA boxes, and several putative target-binding sites for transcription factors, which have been reported to be involved in the regulation of lipid metabolism. Using semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR, the expression patterns throughout seed development of the six FA desaturase genes were measured in six flax genotypes that differed for FA composition but that carried the same desaturase isoforms. FA composition data were determined by phenotyping the field grown genotypes over four years in two environments. All six genes displayed a bell-shaped pattern of expression peaking at 20 or 24 days after anthesis. Sad2 was the most highly expressed. The expression of all six desaturase genes did not differ significantly between genotypes (P = 0.1400), hence there were no correlations between FA desaturase gene expression and variations in FA composition in relatively low, intermediate and high linolenic acid genotypes expressing identical isoforms for all six desaturases. These results provide further clues towards understanding the genetic factors responsible for FA composition in flax.

  6. Effect of Dietary Sodium Nitrate Consumption on Egg Production, Egg Quality Characteristics and Some Blood Indices in Native Hens of West Azarbaijan Province

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Safary

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of sodium nitrate consumption on egg quality and quantity, and some blood parameters of native breeder hens of West Azerbaijan province. One hundred native hens were used from wk 25 to 32 of age. These birds were divided into two groups. One group was fed the control diet (CD but the other fed the same diet supplemented with 4.2 g/kg sodium nitrate (ND. After 2 wks of adaptation, eggs were collected daily and egg mass and egg production were measured weekly for five weeks. To assess the egg quality parameters, two eggs from each replicate pen were collected for three consecutive days each week. At the end of experimental period (wk 32 of age, blood samples of 5 birds per replicate were collected from the wing vein into anticoagulant tubes. Dietary sodium nitrate didn’t affect the egg production, shell stiffness, shell thickness and Haugh unit (p>0.05 but it decreased the both egg production and egg mass during the last three weeks (wks 30, 31 and 32 (p0.05. No effect of time or treatment×time were observed for shell stiffness (p>0.05. Over time, shell thickness was decreased while Haugh unit increased (p0.05. Sodium nitrite decreased both the TAC and TC at wk 32 of age (p<0.001. It was concluded that the lower body antioxidant capacity of nitrate fed birds resulted in the lower performance (egg weight, egg production and egg mass.

  7. Response of shaver brown hens to feeds of different sources in the ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    A twelve-week study was conducted to determine the effect of feed type on performance of Shaver brown hens in the humid tropical environment. One hundred and twenty (120) Shaverbrown hens of 28 weeks of age were used for the study.The hens were divided into five groups of 24 hens each and each group was ...

  8. Depopulation of Caged Layer Hens with a Compressed Air Foam System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gurung, Shailesh; Hoffman, John; Stringfellow, Kendre; Abi-Ghanem, Daad; Zhao, Dan; Caldwell, David; Lee, Jason; Styles, Darrel; Berghman, Luc; Byrd, James; Farnell, Yuhua; Archer, Gregory

    2018-01-01

    Simple Summary Reportable diseases, such as avian influenza, spread rapidly among poultry, resulting in the death of a large number of birds. Once such a disease has been diagnosed at a farm, infected and susceptible birds are rapidly killed to prevent the spread of the disease. The methods to eliminate infected caged laying hens are limited. An experiment was conducted to study the effectiveness of foam made from compressed air, water, and soap to kill laying hens in cages. The study found that stress levels of the hens killed using compressed air foam in cages to be similar to the hens killed by carbon dioxide or the negative control. Hens exposed to carbon dioxide died earlier as compared to the foam methods. The authors conclude that application of compressed air foam in cages is an alternative to methods such as gas inhalation and ventilation shutdown to rapidly and humanely kill laying hens during epidemics. Abstract During the 2014–2015 US highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak, 50.4 million commercial layers and turkeys were affected, resulting in economic losses of $3.3 billion. Rapid depopulation of infected poultry is vital to contain and eradicate reportable diseases like HPAI. The hypothesis of the experiment was that a compressed air foam (CAF) system may be used as an alternative to carbon dioxide (CO2) inhalation for depopulating caged layer hens. The objective of this study was to evaluate corticosterone (CORT) and time to cessation of movement (COM) of hens subjected to CAF, CO2 inhalation, and negative control (NEG) treatments. In Experiment 1, two independent trials were conducted using young and spent hens. Experiment 1 consisted of five treatments: NEG, CO2 added to a chamber, a CO2 pre-charged chamber, CAF in cages, and CAF in a chamber. In Experiment 2, only spent hens were randomly assigned to three treatments: CAF in cages, CO2 added to a chamber, and aspirated foam. Serum CORT levels of young hens were not significantly

  9. Apparent interfacial shear strength of short-flax-fiber/starch acetate composites

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersons, J.; Modniks, J.; Joffe, R.

    2016-01-01

    The paper deals with an indirect industry-friendly method for identification of the interfacial shear strength (IFSS) in a fully bio-based composite. The IFSS of flax fiber/starch acetate is evaluated by a modified Bowyer and Bader method based on an analysis of the stress-strain curve of a short......-fiber-reinforced composite in tension. A shear lag model is developed for the tensile stress-strain response of short-fiber-reinforced composites allowing for an elastic-perfectly plastic stress transfer. Composites with different fiber volume fractions and a variable content of plasticizer have been analyzed. The apparent...... IFSS of flax/starch acetate is within the range of 5.5-20.5 MPa, depending on composition of the material. The IFSS is found to be greater for composites with a higher fiber loading and to decrease with increasing content of plasticizer. The IFSS is equal or greater than the yield strength of the neat...

  10. Effects of Dietary Garlic Powder on Productive Performance and Certain Biochemical Aspects of Laying Hens

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Elsayed, M.A.

    2013-01-01

    Sixty six, 37-wk-old laying hens, of Lohmann strain, were used in the current study to evaluate the effects of dietary garlic powder (GP) on productive performance and certain biochemical aspects of laying hens. Hens were randomly allotted into 3 dietary treatment groups, a control (no garlic addition) and 3 and 6 % GP additions to the basal diet on weight: weight ratio basis and fed for six week. Body weights (BW), egg weight (EW) and feed consumption were determined weekly. Daily egg production was recorded. Serum concentrations of lipids profile ( triglycerides (Trig), total cholesterol (Chol), high density lipids (HDL) and low density lipids (LDL) cholesterol levels) and triiodothyronine (T3) concentration were measured. Results indicated that feed efficiency and BW gain were significantly increased as garlic powder percentage increased in the diet. Garlic powder supplementation at 3 and 6 % lower serum Chol concentrations on an average by 15.3 and 22.3%, respectively, as compared to the control group. Serum Trig concentration was significantly lower by 18 and 33% respectively as compared to the control group. TLs were highly significantly decreased as the garlic powder increase by 13.9 and 27.8% respectively, and as compared to the control group. Moreover, HDL-cholesterol was significantly increased and LDL- cholesterol was significantly decreased with garlic powder increased in the diet. Serum T3 concentration was significantly higher on average by 23.2 and 28.4%, in laying hens given the 3 and 6 % garlic powder supplementation as compared to the control group. It could be concluded from the results of the current study that supplementing the diet with 3 and to a greater extent with 6 % of garlic powder decreases the major risk factors for the development and progression of atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease by lowing concentrations of serum total cholesterol, triglycerides concentrations, and HDL cholesterol, and increasing levels of HDL

  11. Outlier Loci and Selection Signatures of Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs) in Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soto-Cerda, Braulio J; Cloutier, Sylvie

    2013-01-01

    Genomic microsatellites (gSSRs) and expressed sequence tag-derived SSRs (EST-SSRs) have gained wide application for elucidating genetic diversity and population structure in plants. Both marker systems are assumed to be selectively neutral when making demographic inferences, but this assumption is rarely tested. In this study, three neutrality tests were assessed for identifying outlier loci among 150 SSRs (85 gSSRs and 65 EST-SSRs) that likely influence estimates of population structure in three differentiated flax sub-populations ( F ST  = 0.19). Moreover, the utility of gSSRs, EST-SSRs, and the combined sets of SSRs was also evaluated in assessing genetic diversity and population structure in flax. Six outlier loci were identified by at least two neutrality tests showing footprints of balancing selection. After removing the outlier loci, the STRUCTURE analysis and the dendrogram topology of EST-SSRs improved. Conversely, gSSRs and combined SSRs results did not change significantly, possibly as a consequence of the higher number of neutral loci assessed. Taken together, the genetic structure analyses established the superiority of gSSRs to determine the genetic relationships among flax accessions, although the combined SSRs produced the best results. Genetic diversity parameters did not differ statistically ( P  > 0.05) between gSSRs and EST-SSRs, an observation partially explained by the similar number of repeat motifs. Our study provides new insights into the ability of gSSRs and EST-SSRs to measure genetic diversity and structure in flax and confirms the importance of testing for the occurrence of outlier loci to properly assess natural and breeding populations, particularly in studies considering only few loci.

  12. Effect of water absorption on mechanical properties of flax fibre reinforced composites

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Guduri, BBR

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Scutched and line flax fibres, with mean linear density of about 19.5 decitex, were utilized for this study. Mechanical properties of fibre and resin were measured for assessing their contribution in the composite matrix. Polypropylene (PP)/ short...

  13. Hot Electron Nanoscopy and Spectroscopy (HENs)

    KAUST Repository

    Giugni, Andrea; Torre, Bruno; Allione, Marco; Perozziello, Gerardo; Candeloro, Patrizio; Di Fabrizio, Enzo M.

    2017-01-01

    This chapter includes a brief description of different laser coupling methods with guided surface plasmon polariton (SPP) modes at the surface of a cone. It shows some devices, their electromagnetic simulations, and their optical characterization. A theoretical section illustrates the optical and quantum description of the hot charge generation rate as obtained for the SPP propagation along the nanocone in adiabatic compression. The chapter also shows some experimental results concerning the application of the hot electron nanoscopy and spectroscopy (HENs) in the so-called Schottky configuration, highlighting the sensitivity and the nanoscale resolution of the technique. The comparison with Kelvin probe and other electric atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques points out the intrinsic advantages of the HENs. In the end, some further insights are given about the possibility of exploiting HENs with a pulsed laser at the femtosecond time scale without significant pulse broadening and dispersion.

  14. Hot Electron Nanoscopy and Spectroscopy (HENs)

    KAUST Repository

    Giugni, Andrea

    2017-08-17

    This chapter includes a brief description of different laser coupling methods with guided surface plasmon polariton (SPP) modes at the surface of a cone. It shows some devices, their electromagnetic simulations, and their optical characterization. A theoretical section illustrates the optical and quantum description of the hot charge generation rate as obtained for the SPP propagation along the nanocone in adiabatic compression. The chapter also shows some experimental results concerning the application of the hot electron nanoscopy and spectroscopy (HENs) in the so-called Schottky configuration, highlighting the sensitivity and the nanoscale resolution of the technique. The comparison with Kelvin probe and other electric atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques points out the intrinsic advantages of the HENs. In the end, some further insights are given about the possibility of exploiting HENs with a pulsed laser at the femtosecond time scale without significant pulse broadening and dispersion.

  15. Report of a Working Group on Fibre Crops (Flax and Hemp)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bas, N.; Pavelek, M.; Maggioni, L.; Lipman, E.

    2007-01-01

    Members of the newly established ECPGR Working Group on Fibre Crops (Flax and Hemp), in the framework of Sugar, Starch and Fibre Crops Network, met for the first time at Wageningen, the Netherlands on 14–16 June 2006. Fifteen participants from the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia,

  16. Thermal behavior of flax and jute reinforced in matrix acrylic composite

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Samal, Sneha Manjaree; Stuchlík, M.; Petrikova, I.

    2017-01-01

    Roč. 131, č. 2 (2017), s. 1-6 ISSN 1388-6150 Institutional support: RVO:68378271 Keywords : flax * jute * acrylic resin * composite * DMA * TG * FTIR Subject RIV: BM - Solid Matter Physics ; Magnetism OBOR OECD: Condensed matter physics (including formerly solid state physics, supercond.) Impact factor: 1.953, year: 2016

  17. A genome-wide analysis of the flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) dirigent protein family: from gene identification and evolution to differential regulation.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Corbin, Cyrielle; Drouet, Samantha; Markulin, Lucija; Auguin, Daniel; Laine, Eric; Davin, Laurence B.; Cort, John R.; Lewis, Norman G.; Hano, Christophe

    2018-04-30

    Identification of DIR encoding genes in flax genome. Analysis of phylogeny, gene/protein structures and evolution. Identification of new conserved motifs linked to biochemical functions. Investigation of spatio-temporal gene expression and response to stress. Dirigent proteins (DIRs) were discovered during 8-8' lignan biosynthesis studies, through identification of stereoselective coupling to afford either (+)- or (-)-pinoresinols from E-coniferyl alcohol. DIRs are also involved or potentially involved in terpenoid, allyl/propenyl phenol lignan, pterocarpan and lignin biosynthesis. DIRs have very large multigene families in different vascular plants including flax, with most still of unknown function. DIR studies typically focus on a small subset of genes and identification of biochemical/physiological functions. Herein, a genome-wide analysis and characterization of the predicted flax DIR 44-membered multigene family was performed, this species being a rich natural grain source of 8-8' linked secoisolariciresinol-derived lignan oligomers. All predicted DIR sequences, including their promoters, were analyzed together with their public gene expression datasets. Expression patterns of selected DIRs were examined using qPCR, as well as through clustering analysis of DIR gene expression. These analyses further implicated roles for specific DIRs in (-)-pinoresinol formation in seed-coats, as well as (+)-pinoresinol in vegetative organs and/or specific responses to stress. Phylogeny and gene expression analysis segregated flax DIRs into six distinct clusters with new cluster-specific motifs identified. We propose that these findings can serve as a foundation to further systematically determine functions of DIRs, i.e. other than those already known in lignan biosynthesis in flax and other species. Given the differential expression profiles and inducibility of the flax DIR family, we provisionally propose that some DIR genes of unknown function could be involved

  18. A genome-wide analysis of the flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) dirigent protein family: from gene identification and evolution to differential regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corbin, Cyrielle; Drouet, Samantha; Markulin, Lucija; Auguin, Daniel; Lainé, Éric; Davin, Laurence B; Cort, John R; Lewis, Norman G; Hano, Christophe

    2018-05-01

    Identification of DIR encoding genes in flax genome. Analysis of phylogeny, gene/protein structures and evolution. Identification of new conserved motifs linked to biochemical functions. Investigation of spatio-temporal gene expression and response to stress. Dirigent proteins (DIRs) were discovered during 8-8' lignan biosynthesis studies, through identification of stereoselective coupling to afford either (+)- or (-)-pinoresinols from E-coniferyl alcohol. DIRs are also involved or potentially involved in terpenoid, allyl/propenyl phenol lignan, pterocarpan and lignin biosynthesis. DIRs have very large multigene families in different vascular plants including flax, with most still of unknown function. DIR studies typically focus on a small subset of genes and identification of biochemical/physiological functions. Herein, a genome-wide analysis and characterization of the predicted flax DIR 44-membered multigene family was performed, this species being a rich natural grain source of 8-8' linked secoisolariciresinol-derived lignan oligomers. All predicted DIR sequences, including their promoters, were analyzed together with their public gene expression datasets. Expression patterns of selected DIRs were examined using qPCR, as well as through clustering analysis of DIR gene expression. These analyses further implicated roles for specific DIRs in (-)-pinoresinol formation in seed-coats, as well as (+)-pinoresinol in vegetative organs and/or specific responses to stress. Phylogeny and gene expression analysis segregated flax DIRs into six distinct clusters with new cluster-specific motifs identified. We propose that these findings can serve as a foundation to further systematically determine functions of DIRs, i.e. other than those already known in lignan biosynthesis in flax and other species. Given the differential expression profiles and inducibility of the flax DIR family, we provisionally propose that some DIR genes of unknown function could be involved in

  19. 'As I told Henning the other day'

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Nina Møller

    2008-01-01

    En analyse af sætningen 'Som jeg også sagde til Henning forleden dag' ud fra henholdsvis en klassisk argumentationsanalytisk synsvinkel, en sproghandlingsanalytisk synsvinkel og en dialogisk sysnvinkel (BAchtin)......En analyse af sætningen 'Som jeg også sagde til Henning forleden dag' ud fra henholdsvis en klassisk argumentationsanalytisk synsvinkel, en sproghandlingsanalytisk synsvinkel og en dialogisk sysnvinkel (BAchtin)...

  20. Mallard Use of Hen HousesTM in Eastern Ontario

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Ryan Zimmerling

    2006-06-01

    Full Text Available Nesting structures for ground-nesting waterfowl may be an effective technique for increasing nesting success in regions in which nest success is below the 15% threshold needed to maintain a stable population. We studied the occupancy rate of artificial nesting structures called hen housesTM by Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos nesting in two different wetland habitats, beaver ponds and sewage lagoons, in eastern Ontario during 1999-2001. We hypothesized that, because natural cover was sparse on sewage lagoons, Mallards would occupy hen houses at a higher rate on sewage lagoons than on beaver ponds. However, of the 248 hen houses distributed between beaver ponds and sewage lagoons, none was occupied by waterfowl. Common Grackles (Quiscalus quiscula were the only avian species that nested in hen houses. However, Mallards successfully nested directly under several structures (n = 6 when water levels were low enough to expose the ground beneath them. Mayfield daily nest survival estimates for Mallards nesting in natural cover were similar on sewage lagoons and beaver ponds for all years (mean = 0.99 and were higher than most published estimates. Factors such as nesting cover, predation pressures, and structure design and material may influence the use of artificial hen houses and should be considered when planning a hen house program outside of the Prairie Pothole Region.

  1. Browse Title Index

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Items 701 - 750 of 2200 ... ... (2007), Effects of dietary energy density and L-carnitine supplementation on growth performance, carcass traits and blood parameters of broiler chickens ... Effects of dietary fish oil and flax seed on cholesterol and fatty acid composition of egg yolk and blood parameters of laying hens, Abstract PDF.

  2. Laying hen movement in a commercial aviary: Enclosure to floor and back again.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campbell, D L M; Makagon, M M; Swanson, J C; Siegford, J M

    2016-01-01

    Many producers in the laying hen industry, including in North America, are phasing out conventional cages in response to consumer demands and sometimes subsequent legislation. Alternative housing systems such as aviaries are being implemented in an attempt to improve hen welfare. Aviaries provide additional space and resources to groups of hens, including a litter area on the floor. However, little is known about hen movement between tiered enclosures and floor litter areas in aviary systems. Diurnal rhythms and social attraction may result in peak times of movement that could lead to overcrowding of areas, or alternatively hen preferences may lead to some areas not being fully utilized. We monitored hen movement between tiered enclosures and litter areas, including movement on and off the outer perch, across the day at peak, mid and end of lay in a commercial aviary. Hens moved onto and off of the open litter area across the day, transitioning between tiered enclosures, outer perches, open litter areas, and litter areas under tiered enclosures. At certain times of day, there were periods of greater hen movement down to the open litter area and between litter areas. For example, more hens were typically observed exiting enclosures, jumping from perches to open litter, and traveling between open litter and litter under tiered enclosures in the morning (all P ≤ 0.001). In all but one instance, more hens were observed on open litter areas in the afternoon than at other times of day (all P ≤ 0.029). However, hen re-entry to tiered enclosures showed less circadian patterning. Hen movement was observed between areas of interest at all sampled time periods, indicating hens use all areas of the system. Further research should examine whether all individual hens do move between areas equally, including within levels of the tiered enclosure, or if crowding occurs on the outer perches or in the litter during times of peak movement. © 2015 Poultry Science Association Inc.

  3. Obesity-associated cardiac pathogenesis in broiler breeder hens: Development of metabolic cardiomyopathy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, C Y; Huang, Y F; Ko, Y J; Liu, Y J; Chen, Y H; Walzem, R L; Chen, S E

    2017-07-01

    Feed intake is typically restricted (R) in broiler hens to avoid obesity and improve egg production and livability. To determine whether improved heart health contributes to improved livability, fully adult 45-week-old R hens were allowed to consume feed to appetite (ad libitum; AL) up to 10 wk (70 d). Mortality, contractile functions, and morphology at 70 d, and measurements of cardiac hypertrophic remodeling at 7 d and 21 d were made and compared between R and AL hens. Outcomes for cardiac electrophysiology and mortality, reported separately, found increased mortality in AL hens in association with cardiac pathological hypertrophy and contractile dysfunction. The present study aimed to delineate metabolic cardiomyopathies underlying the etiology of obesity-associated cardiac pathology. Metabolic measurements were made in hens continued on R rations or assigned to AL feeding after 7 d and 21 days. AL feeding increased plasma insulin, glucose, and non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) concentrations by 21 d (P hens was confirmed by cardiac triacylglycerol (TG) and ceramide accumulation consistent with up-regulation of related enzyme gene expressions, and by increased indices of oxidation stress (P hens, cardiac pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) activity and glucose transporter (GLUT) gene expressions increased progressively while carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1 (CPT-1) transcript levels in AL hens declined from 7 d to 21 d (P hens was further indicated by increased leukocyte infiltrates, interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and IL-6 production, cellular apoptosis, interstitial fibrosis, and expression of the heart failure marker myosin heavy chain (MHC-β; cardiac muscle beta) (P hens. © 2017 Poultry Science Association Inc.

  4. Combinations of cholecalciferol and 25-hydroxycholecalciferol as vitamin D sources in white laying hen feed diets

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diego Fernando Remolina Rivera

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The effect of cholecalciferol (D3 and 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (25-OHD3 as isolated or associated sources of vitamin D (100%-0%, 75%-25%, 50%-50%, 25%-75%, 0%-100% on the productive performance, egg quality, and bone characteristics was evaluated in white egg-laying hens fed two levels of calcium (Ca and phosphorus (P in the basal diet (BD (BD1 = 0.38% Ca - 0.36% available P and BD2 = 3.2% Ca - 0.30% available P. Nine hundred and sixty Dekalb White hens (24 weeks old were distributed into 80 cages, under a completely randomized factorial design for 16 weeks. The use of associated sources of vitamin D reduced the feed intake and feed conversion ratio, as well as BD1, which also increased the egg production and egg mass. The association of vitamin D sources with up to 50% 25-OHD3 increased the eggshell percentage. There was interaction (p<0.05 between the sources of vitamin D and the concentrations of Ca and available P, sources with at least 50% 25-OHD3 increased ash percentage and bone radiographic densitometry (BRD with BD1; in BD2 the use of 25-OHD3 as isolated vitamin D source increased BRD. The association of D3 and 25-OHD3 improved the productive performance, increased the percentage of eggshell and had different positive effects on the bone characteristics that depend on the concentrations of Ca and available P in the balanced feed of white egg-laying hens.

  5. The distribution of carotenoids in hens fed on biofortified maize is influenced by feed composition, absorption, resource allocation and storage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moreno, Jose Antonio; Díaz-Gómez, Joana; Nogareda, Carmina; Angulo, Eduardo; Sandmann, Gerhard; Portero-Otin, Manuel; Serrano, José C E; Twyman, Richard M; Capell, Teresa; Zhu, Changfu; Christou, Paul

    2016-10-14

    Carotenoids are important dietary nutrients with health-promoting effects. The biofortification of staple foods with carotenoids provides an efficient delivery strategy but little is known about the fate and distribution of carotenoids supplied in this manner. The chicken provides a good model of human carotenoid metabolism so we supplemented the diets of laying hens using two biofortified maize varieties with distinct carotenoid profiles and compared the fate of the different carotenoids in terms of distribution in the feed, the hen's livers and the eggs. We found that after a period of depletion, pro-vitamin A (PVA) carotenoids were preferentially diverted to the liver and relatively depleted in the eggs, whereas other carotenoids were transported to the eggs even when the liver remained depleted. When retinol was included in the diet, it accumulated more in the eggs than the livers, whereas PVA carotenoids showed the opposite profile. Our data suggest that a transport nexus from the intestinal lumen to the eggs introduces bottlenecks that cause chemically-distinct classes of carotenoids to be partitioned in different ways. This nexus model will allow us to optimize animal feed and human diets to ensure that the health benefits of carotenoids are delivered in the most effective manner.

  6. Mixed crude glycerin in laying hen diets: live performance and egg quality and fatty acid profile

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    CRA Duarte

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available This study evaluated the performance and the quality and fatty acid profile of eggs from laying hens fed diets containing mixed crude glycerin (MCG; 80% vegetable fat + 20% animal fat. A total of 240 39-week-old Hy-Line W36 laying hens were distributed according to a completely randomized experimental design into six treatments consisting of graded MCG dietary inclusion levels (0, 1.5, 3.0, 4.5, 6.0, and 7.5%, with five replicates of eight birds each. Feed intake linearly decreased (p<0.05 with increasing MCG inclusion levels. The percentages of myristic, palmitic, and α-linolenic acids in the eggs linearly decreased as MCG dietary levels increased (p<0.05, while α-linoleic acid, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA and ω-6/ω-3 ratio linearly increased. Excreta moisture linearly increased with increasing levels of MCG inclusion (p<0.05. MCG may be included in up to 7.5% in layer feeds without impairing performance or egg quality, but levels up to 5.54% reduce SFA egg content. However, the inclusion of MCG in layer diets increases ω-6/ω-3 ratio in the eggs.

  7. Relationship between welfare and individual ranging behaviour in commercial free-range laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larsen, H; Hemsworth, P H; Cronin, G M; Gebhardt-Henrich, S G; Smith, C L; Rault, J-L

    2018-01-24

    Laying hens housed in free-range systems have access to an outdoor range, and individual hens within a flock differ in their ranging behaviour. Whether there is a link between ranging and laying hen welfare remains unclear. We analysed the relationships between ranging by individual hens on a commercial free-range layer farm and behavioural, physiological and health measures of animal welfare. We hypothesised that hens that access the range more will be (1) less fearful in general and in response to novelty and humans, (2) have better health in terms of physical body condition and (3) have a reduced physiological stress response to behavioural tests of fear and health assessments than hens that use the range less. Using radio frequency identification tracking across two flocks, we recorded individual hens' frequency, duration and consistency of ranging. We also assessed how far hens ventured into the range based on three zones: 0 to 2.4, 2.4 to 11.4 or >11.4 m from the shed. We assessed hen welfare using a variety of measures including: tonic immobility, open field, novel object, human approach, and human avoidance (HAV) behavioural tests; stress-induced plasma corticosterone response and faecal glucocorticoid metabolites; live weight, comb colour, and beak, plumage, footpad, and keel bone condition. Range use was positively correlated with plasma corticosterone response, faecal glucocorticoid metabolites, and greater flight distance during HAV. Hens that used the range more, moved towards rather than away from the novel object more often than hens that ranged less. Distance ranged from the shed was significantly associated with comb colour and beak condition, in that hens with darker combs and more intact beaks ranged further. Overall the findings suggest that there is no strong link between outdoor range usage and laying hen welfare. Alternatively, it may be that hens that differed in their ranging behaviour showed few differences in measures of welfare because

  8. High, low, or familiar? Nest site preferences of experienced laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krause, E T; Schrader, L

    2018-05-22

    1. The aim of this study was to investigate which nest heights are preferred by laying hens in the absence of familiar nest locations and whether preferred nest heights are more attractive than a familiar location. In two experiments, a total of 108 hens of four different layer breeds, which were at least 50 weeks of age, were studied. 2. In the first experiment, hens were given individual free choice between nests for 1-week at four different heights (0 cm, 39 cm, 78 cm, and 117 cm above ground). Hens of the four breeds differed in their nest height preferences (P = 0.0013). However, hens of three breeds preferred ground level nests (P < 0.007) and the fourth line showed an equal preference for the ground level and level three, the latter level corresponding to the height of the nests in their home compartments. 4. In the second experiment, hens from the four breeds were given a choice between ground level nests and nests at a familiar location, i.e. at the same location as in their home compartment. Hens of all strains preferred the familiar nest location (P = 0.002) and preferences did not differ between strains (P = 0.77). 5. Laying hens seem to prefer nests at ground level in the absence of a familiar nest. However, if possible, experienced 50 week old hens continue to use a familiar nest location instead of a ground nest location. The results are discussed with respect to a potential primary preference that may be modifiable by experience and with respect to possible relevance in commercial housing.

  9. Comparison of flax (Linum usitatissimum) and Salba-chia (Salvia hispanica L.) seeds on postprandial glycemia and satiety in healthy individuals: a randomized, controlled, crossover study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vuksan, V; Choleva, L; Jovanovski, E; Jenkins, A L; Au-Yeung, F; Dias, A G; Ho, H V T; Zurbau, A; Duvnjak, L

    2017-02-01

    Flax and Salba-chia seeds have risen in popularity owing to their favorable nutrient composition, including a high fiber content. Despite having comparable nutritional profiles, preliminary observations suggest differences in gelling properties, an attribute that may alter the kinetics of food digestion. Thus, we compared the effect of two seeds on postprandial glycemia and satiety scores. Fifteen healthy participants (M/F: 5/10; age: 23.9±3 years; BMI: 22.2±0.8 kg/m 2 ) were randomized to receive a 50 g glucose challenge, alone or supplemented with either 25 g ground Salba-chia or 31.5 g flax, on three separate occasions. Blood glucose samples and satiety ratings were collected at fasting and over 2-h postprandially. In addition, in vitro viscosity of the beverages was assessed utilizing standard rheological methodology. Both Salba-chia and flax reduced blood glucose area under the curve over 120 min by 82.5±19.7 mmol/l (P<0.001) and 60.0±19.7 mmol/l (P=0.014), respectively, relative to a glucose control. Salba-chia reduced peak glucose (-0.64±0.24 mmol/l; P=0.030) and increased time to peak (11.3±3.8 min; P=0.015) compared with flax. Salba-chia significantly reduced the mean ratings of desire to eat (-7±2 mm; P=0.005), prospective consumption (-7±2 mm; P=0.010) and overall appetite score (-6±2 mm; P=0.012), when compared with flax. The viscosity of Salba-chia, flax and control was 49.9, 2.5, and 0.002 Pa·s, respectively. Despite the similarities in nutritional composition, Salba-chia appears to have the ability to convert glucose into a slow-release carbohydrate and affect satiety to a greater extent than flax, possibly due to the higher fiber viscosity. Incorporation of either flax or Salba-chia into the diet may be beneficial, although use of Salba-chia may confer additional benefit.

  10. Intestinal and total tract phytate digestibility and phytase activity in the digestive tract of hens fed a wheat – maize – soybean diet

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Marounek, Milan; Skřivan, M.; Rosero, O.; Rop, O.

    2010-01-01

    Roč. 19, - (2010), s. 430-439 ISSN 1230-1388 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA523/07/0673 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z50450515 Keywords : digestive tract * phytate activity * hens Subject RIV: GH - Livestock Nutrition Impact factor: 0.659, year: 2010

  11. The LuWD40-1 gene encoding WD repeat protein regulates growth and pollen viability in flax (Linum Usitatissimum L.).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Santosh; Jordan, Mark C; Datla, Raju; Cloutier, Sylvie

    2013-01-01

    As a crop, flax holds significant commercial value for its omega-3 rich oilseeds and stem fibres. Canada is the largest producer of linseed but there exists scope for significant yield improvements. Implementation of mechanisms such as male sterility can permit the development of hybrids to assist in achieving this goal. Temperature sensitive male sterility has been reported in flax but the leakiness of this system in field conditions limits the production of quality hybrid seeds. Here, we characterized a 2,588 bp transcript differentially expressed in male sterile lines of flax. The twelve intron gene predicted to encode a 368 amino acid protein has five WD40 repeats which, in silico, form a propeller structure with putative nucleic acid and histone binding capabilities. The LuWD40-1 protein localized to the nucleus and its expression increased during the transition and continued through the vegetative stages (seed, etiolated seedling, stem) while the transcript levels declined during reproductive development (ovary, anthers) and embryonic morphogenesis of male fertile plants. Knockout lines for LuWD40-1 in flax failed to develop shoots while overexpression lines showed delayed growth phenotype and were male sterile. The non-viable flowers failed to open and the pollen grains from these flowers were empty. Three independent transgenic lines overexpressing the LuWD40-1 gene had ∼80% non-viable pollen, reduced branching, delayed flowering and maturity compared to male fertile genotypes. The present study provides new insights into a male sterility mechanism present in flax.

  12. Simple sequence repeat marker development from bacterial artificial chromosome end sequences and expressed sequence tags of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cloutier, Sylvie; Miranda, Evelyn; Ward, Kerry; Radovanovic, Natasa; Reimer, Elsa; Walichnowski, Andrzej; Datla, Raju; Rowland, Gordon; Duguid, Scott; Ragupathy, Raja

    2012-08-01

    Flax is an important oilseed crop in North America and is mostly grown as a fibre crop in Europe. As a self-pollinated diploid with a small estimated genome size of ~370 Mb, flax is well suited for fast progress in genomics. In the last few years, important genetic resources have been developed for this crop. Here, we describe the assessment and comparative analyses of 1,506 putative simple sequence repeats (SSRs) of which, 1,164 were derived from BAC-end sequences (BESs) and 342 from expressed sequence tags (ESTs). The SSRs were assessed on a panel of 16 flax accessions with 673 (58 %) and 145 (42 %) primer pairs being polymorphic in the BESs and ESTs, respectively. With 818 novel polymorphic SSR primer pairs reported in this study, the repertoire of available SSRs in flax has more than doubled from the combined total of 508 of all previous reports. Among nucleotide motifs, trinucleotides were the most abundant irrespective of the class, but dinucleotides were the most polymorphic. SSR length was also positively correlated with polymorphism. Two dinucleotide (AT/TA and AG/GA) and two trinucleotide (AAT/ATA/TAA and GAA/AGA/AAG) motifs and their iterations, different from those reported in many other crops, accounted for more than half of all the SSRs and were also more polymorphic (63.4 %) than the rest of the markers (42.7 %). This improved resource promises to be useful in genetic, quantitative trait loci (QTL) and association mapping as well as for anchoring the physical/genetic map with the whole genome shotgun reference sequence of flax.

  13. The LuWD40-1 gene encoding WD repeat protein regulates growth and pollen viability in flax (Linum Usitatissimum L..

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Santosh Kumar

    Full Text Available As a crop, flax holds significant commercial value for its omega-3 rich oilseeds and stem fibres. Canada is the largest producer of linseed but there exists scope for significant yield improvements. Implementation of mechanisms such as male sterility can permit the development of hybrids to assist in achieving this goal. Temperature sensitive male sterility has been reported in flax but the leakiness of this system in field conditions limits the production of quality hybrid seeds. Here, we characterized a 2,588 bp transcript differentially expressed in male sterile lines of flax. The twelve intron gene predicted to encode a 368 amino acid protein has five WD40 repeats which, in silico, form a propeller structure with putative nucleic acid and histone binding capabilities. The LuWD40-1 protein localized to the nucleus and its expression increased during the transition and continued through the vegetative stages (seed, etiolated seedling, stem while the transcript levels declined during reproductive development (ovary, anthers and embryonic morphogenesis of male fertile plants. Knockout lines for LuWD40-1 in flax failed to develop shoots while overexpression lines showed delayed growth phenotype and were male sterile. The non-viable flowers failed to open and the pollen grains from these flowers were empty. Three independent transgenic lines overexpressing the LuWD40-1 gene had ∼80% non-viable pollen, reduced branching, delayed flowering and maturity compared to male fertile genotypes. The present study provides new insights into a male sterility mechanism present in flax.

  14. Investigation on the effects of dietary protein reduction with constant ratio of digestible sulfur amino acids and threonine to lysine on performance, egg quality and protein retention in two strains of laying hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Farhad Foroudi

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available An experiment was conducted to determine the possibility of using various levels of crude protein (CP by providing laying hens with constant levels of digestible sulfur amino acid, threonine and lysine to improve performance and egg quality. The experiment was conducted as a completely randomized block design in a factorial arrangement (4 × 2 with 8 replicates of 10 hens in each. Factors included 4 levels of CP (18.5%, 17.5%, 16.5% and 15.5% and 2 strains (LSL and Hy-Line W-36 of laying hens. Hens were fed experimental diets from 25 to 33 weeks of age. Production performance was measured for eight weeks and egg quality characteristics were determined at 29 and 33 weeks of age. Protein reduction decreased egg weight, egg mass and hen body weight linearly (P≤0.01. Egg production was not affected by protein reduction but feed efficiency, and average daily feed intake increased significantly (P≤0.01. Lohmann Selected Leghorn laying hens showed significantly higher egg production, egg weight, egg mass, weight gain, feed efficiency and feed intake compared to the W-36 laying hens (P≤0.01. Shell thickness increased linearly as protein levels decreased (P≤0.05. There were significant differences between two strains on the egg quality characteristics (P≤0.01. Significant (P≤0.05 CP × strain interactions were observed for hen weight, albumen height, Haugh units, yolk and shell percentage. Based on the results of this experiment, a reduction in dietary protein level (from 18.5% to 15.5%, without any alteration in digestible TSAA and Thr: Lys ratio, led to inferior egg mass and feed conversion ratio during the peak production period.

  15. Effect of Feeding Low-Oil Ddgs to Laying Hens and Broiler Chickens on Performance and Egg Yolk and Skin Pigmentation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A Cortes-Cuevas

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the nutritional quality of two sources of low-oil distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS and their pigmenting ability for broiler chicken skin and egg yolks. In Experiment 1, 360 Bovan-White hens between 69 and 77 weeks of age were randomly assigned to five dietary treatments with 6 replicates of 12 hens each. In Experiment 2, 375 Ross 308 broiler chickens were randomly assigned to five treatments with three replicates of 25 birds each. The chickens were fed the experimental diets from one to 42 d of age. In both experiments, treatments consisted of a basal diet with no DDGS, and diets with 6% or 12% inclusion of DDGS from two sources. In Experiment 1, no significant differences in performance were detected among treatments (p> 0.05. Egg yolk pigmentation, according to CR-400 Minolta Colorimeter redness (a and yellowness (b, linearly increased (p0.05 were detected among treatments in growth performance, carcass yield, or abdominal fat at 42 d of age. Yellowness linearly increased (p<0.05 in the skin and abdominal fat of the birds that consumed diets with DDGS. The results of the current study indicate that feeding two sources of low-oil DDGS to broiler chicks or laying hens does not negatively affect egg production or growth performance while improves egg yolk and skin yellowness.

  16. Genetic characterization of a core collection of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) suitable for association mapping studies and evidence of divergent selection between fiber and linseed types.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soto-Cerda, Braulio J; Diederichsen, Axel; Ragupathy, Raja; Cloutier, Sylvie

    2013-05-06

    Flax is valued for its fiber, seed oil and nutraceuticals. Recently, the fiber industry has invested in the development of products made from linseed stems, making it a dual purpose crop. Simultaneous targeting of genomic regions controlling stem fiber and seed quality traits could enable the development of dual purpose cultivars. However, the genetic diversity, population structure and linkage disequilibrium (LD) patterns necessary for association mapping (AM) have not yet been assessed in flax because genomic resources have only recently been developed. We characterized 407 globally distributed flax accessions using 448 microsatellite markers. The data was analyzed to assess the suitability of this core collection for AM. Genomic scans to identify candidate genes selected during the divergent breeding process of fiber flax and linseed were conducted using the whole genome shotgun sequence of flax. Combined genetic structure analysis assigned all accessions to two major groups with six sub-groups. Population differentiation was weak between the major groups (F(ST) = 0.094) and for most of the pairwise comparisons among sub-groups. The molecular coancestry analysis indicated weak relatedness (mean = 0.287) for most individual pairs. Abundant genetic diversity was observed in the total panel (5.32 alleles per locus), and some sub-groups showed a high proportion of private alleles. The average genome-wide LD (r²) was 0.036, with a relatively fast decay of 1.5 cM. Genomic scans between fiber flax and linseed identified candidate genes involved in cell-wall biogenesis/modification, xylem identity and fatty acid biosynthesis congruent with genes previously identified in flax and other plant species. Based on the abundant genetic diversity, weak population structure and relatedness and relatively fast LD decay, we concluded that this core collection is suitable for AM studies targeting multiple agronomic and quality traits aiming at the improvement of flax as a

  17. Effects of Furnished Cage Type on Behavior and Welfare of Laying Hens

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xiang; Chen, Donghua; Li, Jianhong; Bao, Jun

    2016-01-01

    This study was conducted to compare the effects of layout of furniture (a perch, nest, and sandbox) in cages on behavior and welfare of hens. Two hundred and sixteen Hyline Brown laying hens were divided into five groups (treatments) with four replicates per group: small furnished cages (SFC), medium furnished cages type I (MFC-I), medium furnished cages type II (MFC-II), and medium furnished cages type III (MFC-III) and conventional cages (CC). The experiment started at 18 week of age and finished at 52 week of age. Hens’ behaviors were filmed during the following periods: 8:00 to 10:00; 13:00 to 14:00; 16:00 to 17:00 on three separate days and two hens from each cage were measured for welfare parameters at 50 wk of age. The results showed that feeding and laying of all hens showed no effect by cage type (p>0.05), and the hens in the furnished cages had significantly lower standing and higher walking than CC hens (phens between the furnished cages (p>0.05). The hens in MFC-I, −II, and −III showed a significant higher socializing behavior than SFC and CC (phens in SFC and the highest perching found for the hens in MFC-III. Overall, the hens in CC showed poorer welfare conditions than the furnished cages, in which the feather condition score, gait score and tonic immobility duration of the hens in CC was significantly higher than SFC, MFC-I, MFC-II, and MFC-III (phens. Overall, MFC-III cage design was better than SFC, MFC-I, and MFC-II cage designs. PMID:26954171

  18. Laying hens behave differently in artificially and naturally sourced ammoniated environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pokharel, B B; Dos Santos, V M; Wood, D; Van Heyst, B; Harlander-Matauschek, A

    2017-12-01

    Laying hens are chronically exposed to high levels of ammonia (NH3), one of the most abundant aerial pollutants in poultry houses. Tests for aversion to NH3 in laying hens have used artificially sourced NH3/air mixtures (i.e., from a gas cylinder) showing that birds prefer fresh air to NH3. However, artificially sourced NH3/air mixtures may not accurately reflect barn air conditions, where manure emits a variety of gases. Herein, we investigated whether laying hens differentiate between artificially and naturally sourced NH3/air mixtures and how exposure to NH3 affects foraging and aversive behavior. A total of 20 laying hens was exposed to artificially sourced [A] (from an anhydrous NH3 cylinder) and naturally sourced [N] (from conspecific laying hen excreta) gas mixtures. Hens were exposed to A and N mixtures with NH3 concentrations of 25 and 45 ppm, as well as fresh air [FA]. During the experiment, all birds were exposed to each treatment 3 times using a custom-built polycarbonate chamber, containing a foraging area (containing raisins, mealworms, and feed mix) and a gas delivery system. All testing sessions were video recorded, analyzed with INTERACT® software, and subjected to a GLIMMIX procedure in SAS. Our results showed that the laying hens spent less time foraging overall (P hens were more likely to forage for a longer time (with fewer interruptions) in N than in A treatments (P hens also reacted with greater aversion towards treatment A compared to treatment N (P hens of our study preferred fresh to ammoniated air and that they behaved differently in artificially and naturally sourced NH3/air mixtures, possibly due to the presence of familiar stimuli from the excreta. These findings have implications for new developments in methodological approaches for behavioral testing and for recommendations regarding NH3 levels inside poultry barns. © 2017 Poultry Science Association Inc.

  19. Characterization of Bacterial and Fungal Community Dynamics by High-Throughput Sequencing (HTS Metabarcoding during Flax Dew-Retting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christophe Djemiel

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Flax dew-retting is a key step in the industrial extraction of fibers from flax stems and is dependent upon the production of a battery of hydrolytic enzymes produced by micro-organisms during this process. To explore the diversity and dynamics of bacterial and fungal communities involved in this process we applied a high-throughput sequencing (HTS DNA metabarcoding approach (16S rRNA/ITS region, Illumina Miseq on plant and soil samples obtained over a period of 7 weeks in July and August 2014. Twenty-three bacterial and six fungal phyla were identified in soil samples and 11 bacterial and four fungal phyla in plant samples. Dominant phyla were Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes (bacteria and Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, and Zygomycota (fungi all of which have been previously associated with flax dew-retting except for Bacteroidetes and Basidiomycota that were identified for the first time. Rare phyla also identified for the first time in this process included Acidobacteria, CKC4, Chlorobi, Fibrobacteres, Gemmatimonadetes, Nitrospirae and TM6 (bacteria, and Chytridiomycota (fungi. No differences in microbial communities and colonization dynamics were observed between early and standard flax harvests. In contrast, the common agricultural practice of swath turning affects both bacterial and fungal community membership and structure in straw samples and may contribute to a more uniform retting. Prediction of community function using PICRUSt indicated the presence of a large collection of potential bacterial enzymes capable of hydrolyzing backbones and side-chains of cell wall polysaccharides. Assignment of functional guild (functional group using FUNGuild software highlighted a change from parasitic to saprophytic trophic modes in fungi during retting. This work provides the first exhaustive description of the microbial communities involved in flax dew-retting and will provide a valuable benchmark in future studies aiming

  20. Study of ecologo-biological reactions of common flax to finely dispersed metallurgical wastes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zakharova, O.; Gusev, A.; Skripnikova, E.; Skripnikova, M.; Krutyakov, Yu; Kudrinsky, A.; Mikhailov, I.; Senatova, S.; Chuprunov, C.; Kuznetsov, D.

    2015-11-01

    Study was carried out on the influence of metallurgic industrial sludge on morphometric and biochemical indicators as well as productivity of common flax under laboratory and field conditions. In laboratory settings negative influence on seed germinating ability and positive influence on sprouts biomass production in water medium were observed. In sand medium suppression of biological productivity under the influence of sludge together with photosynthetic system II (FS II) activity stimulation were registered. Biochemical study showed peroxidase activity decrease in laboratory, while activity of polyphenol oxidase, superoxide dismutase and catalase were given a mild boost under the influence of sludge. In the field trial, positive influence of sludge on flax photosynthetic apparatus was shown. Positive influence of sludge on vegetation and yield indicators was observed. The analysis of heavy metals content showed excess over maximum allowable concentration (MAC) of copper and zinc in control plants, it may point to the background soil pollution. In the plants from the trial groups receiving 0.5 and 2 ton/ha heavy metals content below the control values was registered. Application of 4 ton/ha led to the maximum content of copper and zinc in the plants among the trial groups. The analysis of soils from the test plots indicated no excess over maximum allowable concentrations of heavy metals. Thus, further study of possibilities of using metallurgic industrial sludge as a soil stimulator in flax cultivation at the application rate of 0.5 t/ha seems promising.

  1. Depopulation of Caged Layer Hens with a Compressed Air Foam System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gurung, Shailesh; Hoffman, John; Stringfellow, Kendre; Abi-Ghanem, Daad; Zhao, Dan; Caldwell, David; Lee, Jason; Styles, Darrel; Berghman, Luc; Byrd, James; Farnell, Yuhua; Archer, Gregory; Farnell, Morgan

    2018-01-11

    During the 2014-2015 US highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak, 50.4 million commercial layers and turkeys were affected, resulting in economic losses of $3.3 billion. Rapid depopulation of infected poultry is vital to contain and eradicate reportable diseases like HPAI. The hypothesis of the experiment was that a compressed air foam (CAF) system may be used as an alternative to carbon dioxide (CO₂) inhalation for depopulating caged layer hens. The objective of this study was to evaluate corticosterone (CORT) and time to cessation of movement (COM) of hens subjected to CAF, CO₂ inhalation, and negative control (NEG) treatments. In Experiment 1, two independent trials were conducted using young and spent hens. Experiment 1 consisted of five treatments: NEG, CO₂ added to a chamber, a CO₂ pre-charged chamber, CAF in cages, and CAF in a chamber. In Experiment 2, only spent hens were randomly assigned to three treatments: CAF in cages, CO₂ added to a chamber, and aspirated foam. Serum CORT levels of young hens were not significantly different among the CAF in cages, CAF in a chamber, NEG control, and CO₂ inhalation treatments. However, spent hens subjected to the CAF in a chamber had significantly higher CORT levels than birds in the rest of the treatments. Times to COM of spent hens subjected to CAF in cages and aspirated foam were significantly greater than of birds exposed to the CO₂ in a chamber treatment. These data suggest that applying CAF in cages is a viable alternative for layer hen depopulation during a reportable disease outbreak.

  2. Identification and characterization of miRNAs and targets in flax (Linum usitatissimum) under saline, alkaline, and saline-alkaline stresses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Ying; Wu, Guangwen; Yuan, Hongmei; Cheng, Lili; Zhao, Dongsheng; Huang, Wengong; Zhang, Shuquan; Zhang, Liguo; Chen, Hongyu; Zhang, Jian; Guan, Fengzhi

    2016-05-27

    MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a critical role in responses to biotic and abiotic stress and have been characterized in a large number of plant species. Although flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) is one of the most important fiber and oil crops worldwide, no reports have been published describing flax miRNAs (Lus-miRNAs) induced in response to saline, alkaline, and saline-alkaline stresses. In this work, combined small RNA and degradome deep sequencing was used to analyze flax libraries constructed after alkaline-salt stress (AS2), neutral salt stress (NSS), alkaline stress (AS), and the non-stressed control (CK). From the CK, AS, AS2, and NSS libraries, a total of 118, 119, 122, and 120 known Lus-miRNAs and 233, 213, 211, and 212 novel Lus-miRNAs were isolated, respectively. After assessment of differential expression profiles, 17 known Lus-miRNAs and 36 novel Lus-miRNAs were selected and used to predict putative target genes. Gene ontology term enrichment analysis revealed target genes that were involved in responses to stimuli, including signaling and catalytic activity. Eight Lus-miRNAs were selected for analysis using qRT-PCR to confirm the accuracy and reliability of the miRNA-seq results. The qRT-PCR results showed that changes in stress-induced expression profiles of these miRNAs mirrored expression trends observed using miRNA-seq. Degradome sequencing and transcriptome profiling showed that expression of 29 miRNA-target pairs displayed inverse expression patterns under saline, alkaline, and saline-alkaline stresses. From the target prediction analysis, the miR398a-targeted gene codes for a copper/zinc superoxide dismutase, and the miR530 has been shown to explicitly target WRKY family transcription factors, which suggesting that these two micRNAs and their targets may significant involve in the saline, alkaline, and saline-alkaline stress response in flax. Identification and characterization of flax miRNAs, their target genes, functional annotations, and gene

  3. Can Plant-Based Natural Flax Replace Basalt and E-Glass for Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Tubular Energy Absorbers? A Comparative Study on Quasi-Static Axial Crushing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Libo Yan

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Using plant-based natural fibers to substitute glass fibers as reinforcement of composite materials is of particular interest due to their economic, technical, and environmental significance. One potential application of plant-based natural fiber reinforced polymer (FRP composites is in automotive engineering as crushable energy absorbers. Current study experimentally investigated and compared the energy absorption efficiency of plant-based natural flax, mineral-based basalt, and glass FRP (GFRP composite tubular energy absorbers subjected to quasi-static axial crushing. The effects of number of flax fabric layer, the use of foam filler and the type of fiber materials on the crashworthiness characteristics, and energy absorption capacities were discussed. In addition, the failure mechanisms of the hollow and foam-filled flax, basalt, and GFRP tubes in quasi-static axial crushing were analyzed and compared. The test results showed that the energy absorption capabilities of both hollow and foam-filled energy absorbers made of flax were superior to the corresponding energy absorbers made of basalt and were close to energy absorbers made of glass. This study, therefore, indicated that flax fiber has the great potential to be suitable replacement of basalt and glass fibers for crushable energy absorber application.

  4. Identification and functional characterization of a flax UDP-glycosyltransferase glucosylating secoisolariciresinol (SECO) into secoisolariciresinol monoglucoside (SMG) and diglucoside (SDG).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghose, Kaushik; Selvaraj, Kumarakurubaran; McCallum, Jason; Kirby, Chris W; Sweeney-Nixon, Marva; Cloutier, Sylvie J; Deyholos, Michael; Datla, Raju; Fofana, Bourlaye

    2014-03-28

    Lignans are a class of diphenolic nonsteroidal phytoestrogens often found glycosylated in planta. Flax seeds are a rich source of secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG) lignans. Glycosylation is a process by which a glycosyl group is covalently attached to an aglycone substrate and is catalyzed by uridine diphosphate glycosyltransferases (UGTs). Until now, very little information was available on UGT genes that may play a role in flax SDG biosynthesis. Here we report on the identification, structural and functional characterization of 5 putative UGTs potentially involved in secoisolariciresinol (SECO) glucosylation in flax. Five UGT genes belonging to the glycosyltransferases' family 1 (EC 2.4.x.y) were cloned and characterized. They fall under four UGT families corresponding to five sub-families referred to as UGT74S1, UGT74T1, UGT89B3, UGT94H1, UGT712B1 that all display the characteristic plant secondary product glycosyltransferase (PSPG) conserved motif. However, diversity was observed within this 44 amino acid sequence, especially in the two peptide sequences WAPQV and HCGWNS known to play a key role in the recognition and binding of diverse aglycone substrates and in the sugar donor specificity. In developing flax seeds, UGT74S1 and UGT94H1 showed a coordinated gene expression with that of pinoresinol-lariciresinol reductase (PLR) and their gene expression patterns correlated with SDG biosynthesis. Enzyme assays of the five heterologously expressed UGTs identified UGT74S1 as the only one using SECO as substrate, forming SECO monoglucoside (SMG) and then SDG in a sequential manner. We have cloned and characterized five flax UGTs and provided evidence that UGT74S1 uses SECO as substrate to form SDG in vitro. This study allowed us to propose a model for the missing step in SDG lignan biosynthesis.

  5. The Dietary Effects of Fermented (CBT on Production Performance, Liver Lipids and Intestinal Microflora in Laying Hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. Zheng

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available Fermented Chlorella vulgaris CBT® was evaluated for its effects on egg production, egg quality, liver lipids and intestinal microflora in laying hens. One hundred and eight Hy-line Brown layers (n = 108, 80 wk of age, were fed a basal diet supplemented with CBT® at the level of 0, 1,000 or 2,000 mg/kg, respectively for 42 d. Egg production was measured daily and egg quality was measured every two weeks. Five eggs from each replicate were collected randomly to determine egg quality. Egg production increased linearly with increasing levels of CBT® supplementation (p<0.05, although there was no significant effect of treatment on feed intake. Egg yolk color (p<0.001 and Haugh unit (p<0.01 improved linearly with increasing dietary CBT®. Hepatic triacylglycerol level was linearly decreased with increasing dietary CBT® (p<0.05. The supplemental CBT® resulted in linear (p<0.001 and quadratic (p<0.01 response in population of cecal lactic acid bacteria. In conclusion, fermented Chlorella vulgaris supplemented to laying hen diets improved egg production, egg yolk color, Haugh unit and positively affected the contents of hepatic triacylglycerol and the profiles of cecal microflora.

  6. RESPONSE SURFACE METHODOLOGY FOR OPTIMIZATION OF THE EXTRACTION OF FLAX (LINUM USITATISSIMUM SEED OIL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tibor Maliar

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Flax seed is an important source of ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids essential for human physiology. The aim of this paper is to investigate the effects of major parameters of the lipid extraction from flax seed, in relation to the recovery of oil as well as the oil quality properties. The independent variables of extraction were proposed as: organic solvents, temperature, extraction time and solid-liquid ratio. The following quantitative and qualitative parameters were chosen as dependent variables: yield of the lipid fraction, acid value of oil and the absorbance at 490 nm. After calculating the optimal values of the extraction, the validation analysis was carried out and it was found out that the predicted and experimentally verified dependent variables were in agreement with the optimal extraction parameters.doi:10.5219/168

  7. Depopulation of Caged Layer Hens with a Compressed Air Foam System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shailesh Gurung

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available During the 2014–2015 US highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI outbreak, 50.4 million commercial layers and turkeys were affected, resulting in economic losses of $3.3 billion. Rapid depopulation of infected poultry is vital to contain and eradicate reportable diseases like HPAI. The hypothesis of the experiment was that a compressed air foam (CAF system may be used as an alternative to carbon dioxide (CO2 inhalation for depopulating caged layer hens. The objective of this study was to evaluate corticosterone (CORT and time to cessation of movement (COM of hens subjected to CAF, CO2 inhalation, and negative control (NEG treatments. In Experiment 1, two independent trials were conducted using young and spent hens. Experiment 1 consisted of five treatments: NEG, CO2 added to a chamber, a CO2 pre-charged chamber, CAF in cages, and CAF in a chamber. In Experiment 2, only spent hens were randomly assigned to three treatments: CAF in cages, CO2 added to a chamber, and aspirated foam. Serum CORT levels of young hens were not significantly different among the CAF in cages, CAF in a chamber, NEG control, and CO2 inhalation treatments. However, spent hens subjected to the CAF in a chamber had significantly higher CORT levels than birds in the rest of the treatments. Times to COM of spent hens subjected to CAF in cages and aspirated foam were significantly greater than of birds exposed to the CO2 in a chamber treatment. These data suggest that applying CAF in cages is a viable alternative for layer hen depopulation during a reportable disease outbreak.

  8. Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and zinc in southeastern USA harvested flax

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) is a winter crop in the Southeast USA that has potential in double cropping systems. This research was conducted to provide estimates of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and zinc (Zn) removal in the harvested portions of the cro...

  9. Effect of cadmium doses on chickens. 3. Long term influence of cadmium on feed consumption weight gain, egg performance and egg shell quality of laying hens

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Suelz, M; Hardebeck, H; Krampitz, G

    1974-01-01

    In long-lasting experiments the application of Cd resulted in a decreased state of health (nephritis) of hens. Feed consumption, weight gain and egg production were reduced. Egg shell quality was not changed under practical Cd-concentrations. Studies of the ultrastructure of egg shells of animals fed with Cd did not yield any hints of damages. The protein-profiles of egg shells revealed an additional component under Cd-application. 17 references, 2 figures, 2 tables.

  10. Digestibility of organic processed feed ingredients in laying hens

    OpenAIRE

    van Krimpen, M.M.; van Diepen, J.T.M; Reuvekamp, B.F.J.; van Harn, J.

    2011-01-01

    In two experiments, digestibility and nutritive value for laying hens of organically-grown feed raw materials was assessed. Digestibility and metabolisable energy content of the products differed considerably compared to those listed in the CVB Feedstuff Table. Laying hens, organic feed raw materials, digestibility, nutritive value

  11. Mineral content of eggs differs with hens strain, age and rearing environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Egg nutrient quality is strongly influenced by hen diet but is also affected by rearing environment, hen strain and hen age. The objective of the current study was to determine the effect of: 1) conventional battery cages 2) enrichable cage systems 3) enriched colony housing 4) cage free and 5) free...

  12. EGG QUALITY OF CREOLE HENS REARED IN THE BACKYARD

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aureliano Juárez-Caratachea

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available The egg quality from Creole backyard hens was determined by collecting samples from 11 municipalities from the central area of Michoacan State, Mexico. It was measured: egg weight (EW, longitude diameter (LD of the egg, transversal diameter (TD of the egg, shell weight (SW, shell thickness (ST, shell index (SI, white diameter (WD, yolk diameter (YD, white high (WH, yolk high (YH, air chamber high (ACH and Haugh units (HU. The averages obtained were: EW 50.7 g; LD 5.6 cm; TD 4.2 cm; SW 4.5 g.; ST 0.28 mm; SI 8.9 %; WD 10.0 cm; YD 4.5 cm; WH 6.3 mm; YH 1.6 cm; ACH 5.4 mm; HU 73.4, YP 12.1. In conclusion, the eggs of backyard hens were smaller than commercial eggs. However, the internal quality indicators suggested that backyard hen eggs have similar quality to that of commercial hens.

  13. Enhancement of the Mechanical Properties of a Polylactic Acid/Flax Fiber Biocomposite by WPU, WPU/Starch, and TPS Polyurethanes Using Coupling Additives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miskolczi, N.; Sedlarik, V.; Kucharczyk, P.; Riegel, E.

    2018-01-01

    This work is addressed to the synthesis of bio-based polymers and investigation of their application in a flax-fiber-reinforced polylactic acid. Polyurethane polymers were synthesized from polyphenyl-methane-diisocyanate, poly (ethylene oxide) glycol, and ricinoleic acid, and their structure was examined by the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry. It was established that the introduction of flax fibers and different compatibilizers into the polymers improved their mechanical properties. A vinyl-trimetoxy-silane and polyalkenyl-polymaleic-anhydride derivative with a high acid number produced the best effect on the properties, but samples without additives had the highest water absorption capacity. SEM micrographs showed a good correlation between the morphology of fracture structure of the composites and the mechanical properties of flax fibers.

  14. Outdoor stocking density in free-range laying hens: effects on behaviour and welfare.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campbell, D L M; Hinch, G N; Downing, J A; Lee, C

    2017-06-01

    Free-range laying hen systems are increasing within Australia and research is needed to determine optimal outdoor stocking densities. Six small (n=150 hens) experimental flocks of ISA Brown laying hens were housed with access to ranges simulating one of three outdoor stocking densities with two pen replicates per density: 2000 hens/ha, 10 000 hens/ha or 20 000 hens/ha. Birds were provided daily range access from 21 to 36 weeks of age and the range usage of 50% of hens was tracked using radio-frequency identification technology. Throughout the study, basic external health assessments following a modified version of the Welfare Quality® protocol showed most birds were in visibly good condition (although keel damage was increasingly present with age) with few differences between stocking densities. Toenail length at 36 weeks of age was negatively correlated with hours spent ranging for all pens of birds (all r⩾-0.23, P⩽0.04). At 23 weeks of age, there were no differences between outdoor stocking densities in albumen corticosterone concentrations (P=0.44). At 35 weeks of age, density effects were significant (Prange and indoors showed more dust bathing and foraging (scratching followed by ground-pecking) was performed outdoors, but more resting indoors (all Prange but the most resting outdoors, with hens from the 20 000 hens/ha densities showing the least amount of resting outdoors (all Pfree-range system management practices.

  15. Effect of γ-Aminobutyric Acid-producing Lactobacillus Strain on Laying Performance, Egg Quality and Serum Enzyme Activity in Hy-Line Brown Hens under Heat Stress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Y Z; Cheng, J L; Ren, M; Yin, L; Piao, X S

    2015-07-01

    Heat-stress remains a costly issue for animal production, especially for poultry as they lack sweat glands, and alleviating heat-stress is necessary for ensuring animal production in hot environment. A high γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-producer Lactobacillus strain was used to investigate the effect of dietary GABA-producer on laying performance and egg quality in heat-stressed Hy-line brown hens. Hy-Line brown hens (n = 1,164) at 280 days of age were randomly divided into 4 groups based on the amount of freeze-dried GABA-producer added to the basal diet as follows: i) 0 mg/kg, ii) 25 mg/kg, iii) 50 mg/kg, and iv) 100 mg/kg. All hens were subjected to heat-stress treatment through maintaining the temperature and the relative humidity at 28.83±3.85°C and 37% to 53.9%, respectively. During the experiment, laying rate, egg weight and feed intake of hens were recorded daily. At the 30th and 60th day after the start of the experiment, biochemical parameters, enzyme activity and immune activity in serum were measured. Egg production, average egg weight, average daily feed intake, feed conversion ratio and percentage of speckled egg, soft shell egg and misshaped egg were significantly improved (pGABA-producer. Shape index, eggshell thickness, strength and weight were increased linearly with increasing GABA-producer supplementation. The level of calcium, phosphorus, glucose, total protein and albumin in serum of the hens fed GABA-producing strain supplemented diet was significantly higher (plevel was decreased. Compared with the basal diet, GABA-producer strain supplementation increased serum level of glutathione peroxidase (p = 0.009) and superoxide dismutase. In conclusion, GABA-producer played an important role in alleviating heat-stress, the isolated GABA-producer strain might be a potential natural and safe probiotic to use to improve laying performance and egg quality in heat-stressed hens.

  16. studies agronomic and technological characteristics of fiber and oil flax types induced by irradiation treatments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Amer, I.M.A.

    1984-01-01

    Thirty three entries of flax (Linum usitatissimum L-) were tested in seven field trails representing seven environmental conditions the experiments were carried out at the Agric. Res . center, Fac. of agric., cairo univ., giza, egypt, the 33-entries consisted of thirty promosing mutants plus three local cultivars(i.e., giza 4, giza 5 and giza 6) . The mutants were outcome of gamma rays irradiated local cultivar giza 4 flax. the entries in M 4 and M 5 were arranged in a randomized complete block design in six environments. in the last environment, the entries in M 6 were arranged in an augmented complete block design to study yield responses and stability indices for the selected mutant lines produced via irradiation treatments

  17. Outdoor stocking density in free-range laying hens: radio-frequency identification of impacts on range use.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campbell, D L M; Hinch, G N; Dyall, T R; Warin, L; Little, B A; Lee, C

    2017-01-01

    The number and size of free-range laying hen (Gallus gallus domesticus) production systems are increasing within Australia in response to consumer demand for perceived improvement in hen welfare. However, variation in outdoor stocking density has generated consumer dissatisfaction leading to the development of a national information standard on free-range egg labelling by the Australian Consumer Affairs Ministers. The current Australian Model Code of Practice for Domestic Poultry states a guideline of 1500 hens/ha, but no maximum density is set. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tracking technology was used to measure daily range usage by individual ISA Brown hens housed in six small flocks (150 hens/flock - 50% of hens tagged), each with access to one of three outdoor stocking density treatments (two replicates per treatment: 2000, 10 000, 20 000 hens/ha), from 22 to 26, 27 to 31 and 32 to 36 weeks of age. There was some variation in range usage across the sampling periods and by weeks 32 to 36 individual hens from the lowest stocking density on average used the range for longer each day (Prange with 2% of tagged hens in each treatment never venturing outdoors and a large proportion that accessed the range daily (2000 hens/ha: 80.5%; 10 000 hens/ha: 66.5%; 20 000 hens/ha: 71.4%). On average, 38% to 48% of hens were seen on the range simultaneously and used all available areas of all ranges. These results of experimental-sized flocks have implications for determining optimal outdoor stocking densities for commercial free-range laying hens but further research would be needed to determine the effects of increased range usage on hen welfare.

  18. SSR and morphological trait based population structure analysis of 130 diverse flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) accessions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choudhary, Shashi Bhushan; Sharma, Hariom Kumar; Kumar, Arroju Anil; Maruthi, Rangappa Thimmaiah; Mitra, Jiban; Chowdhury, Isholeena; Singh, Binay Kumar; Karmakar, Pran Gobinda

    2017-02-01

    A total of 130 flax accessions of diverse morphotypes and worldwide origin were assessed for genetic diversity and population structure using 11 morphological traits and microsatellite markers (15 gSSRs and 7 EST-SSRs). Analysis performed after classifying these accessions on the basis of plant height, branching pattern, seed size, Indian/foreign origin into six categories called sub-populations viz. fibre type exotic, fibre type indigenous, intermediate type exotic, intermediate type indigenous, linseed type exotic and linseed type indigenous. The study assessed different diversity indices, AMOVA, population structure and included a principal coordinate analysis based on different marker systems. The highest diversity was exhibited by gSSR markers (SI=0.46; He=0.31; P=85.11). AMOVA based on all markers explained significant difference among fibre type, intermediate type and linseed type populations of flax. In terms of variation explained by different markers, EST-SSR markers (12%) better differentiated flax populations compared to morphological (9%) and gSSR (6%) markers at P=0.01. The maximum Nei's unbiased genetic distance (D=0.11) was observed between fibre type and linseed type exotic sub-populations based on EST-SSR markers. The combined structure analysis by using all markers grouped Indian fibre type accessions (63.4%) in a separate cluster along with the Indian intermediate type (48.7%), whereas Indian accessions (82.16%) of linseed type constituted an independent cluster. These findings were supported by the results of the principal coordinate analysis. Morphological markers employed in the study found complementary with microsatellite based markers in deciphering genetic diversity and population structure of the flax germplasm. Copyright © 2016 Académie des sciences. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  19. Vold, svensk uro og Henning Mankell

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Kim Toft

    Paperet undersøger den fiktionelle repræsentation af vold hos Henning Mankell med fokus på Innan frosten fra 2002 og filmatiseringen heraf fra 2005, men med fyldige udblik til såvel andre af Mankells fortællinger og ikke mindst sociologiske og filosofiske diskussioner af volden, voldens forstyrre......Paperet undersøger den fiktionelle repræsentation af vold hos Henning Mankell med fokus på Innan frosten fra 2002 og filmatiseringen heraf fra 2005, men med fyldige udblik til såvel andre af Mankells fortællinger og ikke mindst sociologiske og filosofiske diskussioner af volden, voldens...

  20. Long term administration of low doses of mycotoxins in poultry. 2. Residues of ochratoxin A and aflatoxins in broilers and laying hens after combined administration of ochratoxin A and aflatoxin B1.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Micco, C; Miraglia, M; Benelli, L; Onori, R; Ioppolo, A; Mantovani, A

    1988-01-01

    The effects of combined administration of ochratoxin A (OA) and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) on the occurrence and the levels of residues of mycotoxins in poultry have been investigated. Male broilers and laying hens were fed from 14 days old with standard diets contaminated with 50 micrograms/kg OA and 50 micrograms/kg AFB1. Two groups of broilers and hens were withdrawn from contaminated feed at 37 and 88 days, respectively. At the time of sacrifice no significant lesions were found. Residues were compared with those found after administration of either toxin alone in former trials. Combined treatment resulted in higher content of OA in broiler livers (40 versus 5.0 micrograms/kg) and, to a lesser extent, in kidneys and skin, and of AFB1 in broiler liver and kidney (0.15 versus 0.02 microgram/kg and 0.40 versus 0.05 microgram/kg respectively). Laying hens showed smaller differences (0.20 versus 0.10 microgram/kg in liver and 0.32 versus 0.08 in kidneys). Withdrawal from treatment led to the almost complete disappearance of OA residues in broilers and in hens. These results show a synergistic effect of OA and AFB1, particularly in broilers.

  1. Identification and functional analysis of two alternatively spliced transcripts of ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE3 (ABI3) in linseed flax (Linum usitatissimum L.).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yanyan; Zhang, Tianbao; Song, Xiaxia; Zhang, Jianping; Dang, Zhanhai; Pei, Xinwu; Long, Yan

    2018-01-01

    Alternative splicing is a popular phenomenon in different types of plants. It can produce alternative spliced transcripts that encode proteins with altered functions. Previous studies have shown that one transcription factor, ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE3 (ABI3), which encodes an important component in abscisic acid (ABA) signaling, is subjected to alternative splicing in both mono- and dicotyledons. In the current study, we identified two homologs of ABI3 in the genome of linseed flax. We screened two alternatively spliced flax LuABI3 transcripts, LuABI3-2 and LuABI3-3, and one normal flax LuABI3 transcript, LuABI3-1. Sequence analysis revealed that one of the alternatively spliced transcripts, LuABI3-3, retained a 6 bp intron. RNA accumulation analysis showed that all three transcripts were expressed during seed development, while subcellular localization and transgene experiments showed that LuABI3-3 had no biological function. The two normal transcripts, LuABI3-1 and LuABI3-2, are the important functional isoforms in flax and play significant roles in the ABA regulatory pathway during seed development, germination, and maturation.

  2. Stimulating effects of two plant growth-promoting bacteria, Enterobacter ludwigii Ez-185-17 and Raoultella terrigena Ez-555-6, on flax culture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarron, Elodie; Clément, Nathalie; Pawlicki-Jullian, Nathalie; Gaillard, Isabelle; Boitel-Conti, Michèle

    2018-04-01

    Two bacteria, Enterobacter ludwigii Ez-185-17 and Raoultella terrigena Ez-555-6, isolated from root nodules of Medicago lupulina from the Chernobyl exclusion zone, were identified in a previous study and shown not to disturb plant growth. The main goal of this work is to elucidate the relationships between these bacteria and flax, in particular whether they display activities such as plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) properties or modulation hairy root development. In order to better understand their role in plants, some known PGPB properties were determined in comparison with several control bacteria. The influence of these bacteria on Linum usitatissimum growth under hydroponic conditions was also investigated. Our study shows that both bacteria belong to PGPB since they were able to increase considerably the root surface area of flax, especially Raoultella terrigena Ez-555-6. Significant IAA production and phosphate solubilization of Enterobacter ludwigii Ez-185-17 were highlighted, which enabled these biochemical PGPB properties to be correlated with their effects on flax growth. However, Raoultella terrigena Ez-555-6 did not express high biochemical activities, suggesting that other PGPB abilities should be studied in order to establish the link with flax growth improvement.

  3. Identification and functional analysis of two alternatively spliced transcripts of ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE3 (ABI3 in linseed flax (Linum usitatissimum L..

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yanyan Wang

    Full Text Available Alternative splicing is a popular phenomenon in different types of plants. It can produce alternative spliced transcripts that encode proteins with altered functions. Previous studies have shown that one transcription factor, ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE3 (ABI3, which encodes an important component in abscisic acid (ABA signaling, is subjected to alternative splicing in both mono- and dicotyledons. In the current study, we identified two homologs of ABI3 in the genome of linseed flax. We screened two alternatively spliced flax LuABI3 transcripts, LuABI3-2 and LuABI3-3, and one normal flax LuABI3 transcript, LuABI3-1. Sequence analysis revealed that one of the alternatively spliced transcripts, LuABI3-3, retained a 6 bp intron. RNA accumulation analysis showed that all three transcripts were expressed during seed development, while subcellular localization and transgene experiments showed that LuABI3-3 had no biological function. The two normal transcripts, LuABI3-1 and LuABI3-2, are the important functional isoforms in flax and play significant roles in the ABA regulatory pathway during seed development, germination, and maturation.

  4. The influence of the plant essential oils on internal qualitative parameters and microbiological indicators of hens eggs content

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Henrieta Arpášová

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Essential oils are aromatic oily liquids obtained from plant material (flowers, buds, seeds, leaves, twigs, bark, herbs, wood, fruits and roots. Besides antibacterial properties, essential oils or their components have been shown to exhibit antiviral, antimycotic, antitoxigenic, antiparasitic, and insecticidal properties. In this experiment the effects of supplementation of the diet for laying hens with thyme and hyssop essential oils on physical and microbiological egg parameters were studied. Hens of laying hybrid ISA Brown (n = 72 were randomly divided at the day of hatching into 3 groups (n = 26 and fed for 41 weeks on diets which differed in kind of essential oil supplemented. In the first ex­pe­ri­men­tal group the feed mixture was supplemented with thyme essential oil addition 0.25ml . kg−1, in the second one got hyssop essential oil the same dose of 0.25ml . kg−1. The results suggest that the supplementation of thyme essential oil into laying hens diet statistically significantly increased egg albumen weight, egg albumen percentage portion (P < 0.05 and egg yolk colour (9.07a, 9.47b, 9.06a; P < 0.01, compared to the control group and decreased egg yolk percentage ratio. However, the most of qualitative parameters of internal content egg were not with thyme and hyssop essential oils addition significantly influenced. Significant differences in microbiological indicators were found among coliforms bacteria, enterococci, total number count (P < 0.001, lactobacilli and mesophilic sporulating aerobes bacteria (P < 0.05.

  5. Effect of dietary protein sources on production performance, egg quality, and plasma parameters of laying hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaocui Wang

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Objective This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary protein sources (soybean meal, SBM; low-gossypol cottonseed meal, LCSM; double-zero rapeseed meal, DRM on laying performance, egg quality, and plasma parameters of laying hens. Methods A total of 432 32-wk-old laying hens were randomly divided into 6 treatments with 6 replicates of 12 birds each. The birds were fed diets containing SBM, LCSM100, or DRM100 individually or in combination with an equal amount of crude protein (CP (LCSM50, DRM50, and LCSM50-DRM50. The experimental diets, which were isocaloric (metabolizable energy, 11.11 MJ/kg and isonitrogenous (CP, 16.5%, had similar digestible amino acid profile. The feeding trial lasted 12 weeks. Results The daily egg mass was decreased in the LCSM100 and LCSM50-DRM50 groups (p0.05 and showed increased yolk color at the end of the trial (p0.05. Conclusion Together, our results suggest that the LCSM100 or DRM100 diets may produce the adverse effects on laying performance and egg quality after feeding for 8 more weeks. The 100.0 g/kg LCSM diet or the148.7 g/kg DRM diet has no adverse effects on laying performance and egg quality.

  6. Origin and evolution of group XI secretory phospholipase A2 from flax (Linum usitatissimum) based on phylogenetic analysis of conserved domains.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gupta, Payal; Saini, Raman; Dash, Prasanta K

    2017-07-01

    Phospholipase A 2 (PLA 2 ) belongs to class of lipolytic enzymes (EC 3.1.1.4). Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and free fatty acids (FFAs) are the products of PLA 2 catalyzed hydrolysis of phosphoglycerides at sn-2 position. LPA and FFA that act as second mediators involved in the development and maturation of plants and animals. Mining of flax genome identified two phospholipase A 2 encoding genes, viz., LusPLA 2 I and LusPLA 2 II (Linum usitatissimum secretory phospholipase A 2 ). Molecular simulation of LusPLA 2 s with already characterized plant sPLA 2 s revealed the presence of conserved motifs and signature domains necessary to classify them as secretory phospholipase A 2 . Phylogenetic analysis of flax sPLA 2 with representative sPLA 2 s from other organisms revealed that they evolved rapidly via gene duplication/deletion events and shares a common ancestor. Our study is the first report of detailed phylogenetic analysis for secretory phospholipase A 2 in flax. Comparative genomic analysis of two LusPLA 2 s with earlier reported plant sPLA 2 s, based on their gene architectures, sequence similarities, and domain structures are presented elucidating the uniqueness of flax sPLA 2 .

  7. The result of sunflower and flax breeding in the Agricultural and Technological Research Center Zaječar

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stanković Vesna

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available In the Agricultural & Technological Research Centar in Zajecar the work on improvement of sunflower were initiated in 1980s. Besides improvement, in relation to the main components of yield and high genetic potential for yield in improvement programmes of consuming genotypes of sunflower, there are some specific aims, such as: increasing the of 1000 seeds, reducing the portion of a shell, uniformity of the seed color and size. The latest achievements of the sunflower improvement carried out in the Centre in Zajecar are: obtaining the consuming-type hybrid PROTEINAC 94 (released in 1998, the hybrid JUNIOR (released in 2001, and the synthetic protein cultivar ZENIT (released in 2003. At the start of the 1990s, it was initiated the work on researching the agronomic characteristics of the existing assortment of oil-flax, as well as on preparation for plant improvement is to obtain high-yielding cultivars of brown and yellow seed color that can be used both for oil extraction and for consummation. During the research, a certain number of lines of oil-flax with positive characteristics were created. In 2003 the flax cultivar with the yellow color of seed, ZLATKO, was released. .

  8. ANALYSIS OF STABILITY OF TRINUCLEOTIDE TTC MOTIFS IN COMMON FLAX PLANTED IN THE CHERNOBYL AREA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Veronika Lancíková

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Flax (Linum usitatissimum L. is one of the oldest domesticated plants — it was cultivated as early as in ancient Egypt and Samaria 10,000 years ago to serve as a source of fiber and oil, whence it later spread around the world. Compared with other plants, the flax genome consists of a high number of repetitive sequences, middle repetitive sequences and small repetitive sequences of nucleotides. The aim of the study was to analyze the stability of the existing trinucleotides motifs of microsatellite DNA of the flax genome (genotype Kyivskyi, growing in the Chernobyl conditions. The Chernobyl area is the most extensive “natural” laboratory suitable for the study of radiation effects. Over the last 20 years, the researches collected important knowledge about the effects of low and high radiation doses on the DNA isolated from the plant material growing on the remediated fields near Chernobyl and the plant material from fields contaminated by radioactive cesium 137Cs and strontium 90Sr. Using eight pairs of microsatellite primers, we successfully amplified the samples from the remediated fields. For each primer in the control samples and remediated samples, we detected 1 to 3 fragments per locus, each in size up to 120 to 250 base pairs. The applied microsatellite primers confirmed the monomorphic condition of microsatellite loci.

  9. Relatedness of Indian flax genotypes (Linum usitatissimum L.): an inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) primer assay.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rajwade, Ashwini V; Arora, Ritu S; Kadoo, Narendra Y; Harsulkar, Abhay M; Ghorpade, Prakash B; Gupta, Vidya S

    2010-06-01

    The objective of this study was to analyze the genetic relationships, using PCR-based ISSR markers, among 70 Indian flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) genotypes actively utilized in flax breeding programs. Twelve ISSR primers were used for the analysis yielding 136 loci, of which 87 were polymorphic. The average number of amplified loci and the average number of polymorphic loci per primer were 11.3 and 7.25, respectively, while the percent loci polymorphism ranged from 11.1 to 81.8 with an average of 63.9 across all the genotypes. The range of polymorphism information content scores was 0.03-0.49, with an average of 0.18. A dendrogram was generated based on the similarity matrix by the Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean (UPGMA), wherein the flax genotypes were grouped in five clusters. The Jaccard's similarity coefficient among the genotypes ranged from 0.60 to 0.97. When the omega-3 alpha linolenic acid (ALA) contents of the individual genotypes were correlated with the clusters in the dendrogram, the high ALA containing genotypes were grouped in two clusters. This study identified SLS 50, Ayogi, and Sheetal to be the most diverse genotypes and suggested their use in breeding programs and for developing mapping populations.

  10. Digital gene expression profiling of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) stem peel identifies genes enriched in fiber-bearing phloem tissue.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Yuan; Qiu, Caisheng; Long, Songhua; Chen, Ping; Hao, Dongmei; Preisner, Marta; Wang, Hui; Wang, Yufu

    2017-08-30

    To better understand the molecular mechanisms and gene expression characteristics associated with development of bast fiber cell within flax stem phloem, the gene expression profiling of flax stem peels and leaves were screened, using Illumina's Digital Gene Expression (DGE) analysis. Four DGE libraries (2 for stem peel and 2 for leaf), ranging from 6.7 to 9.2 million clean reads were obtained, which produced 7.0 million and 6.8 million mapped reads for flax stem peel and leave, respectively. By differential gene expression analysis, a total of 975 genes, of which 708 (73%) genes have protein-coding annotation, were identified as phloem enriched genes putatively involved in the processes of polysaccharide and cell wall metabolism. Differential expression genes (DEGs) was validated using quantitative RT-PCR, the expression pattern of all nine genes determined by qRT-PCR fitted in well with that obtained by sequencing analysis. Cluster and Gene Ontology (GO) analysis revealed that a large number of genes related to metabolic process, catalytic activity and binding category were expressed predominantly in the stem peels. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis of the phloem enriched genes suggested approximately 111 biological pathways. The large number of genes and pathways produced from DGE sequencing will expand our understanding of the complex molecular and cellular events in flax bast fiber development and provide a foundation for future studies on fiber development in other bast fiber crops. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. PERFORMANCE AND EGGS QUALITY OF HENS OF GENETIC RESOURCES OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC AND SLOVAKIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zdeněk Ledvinka

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to assess the performance and technological values of eggs of Czech Hen and Oravka breeds housed on litter. The assumption was that the genotype of hens affects their performance, egg weight, and parameters of yolk, albumen and eggshell quality. A total of 30 pullets of Czech Hen breed and 30 pullets of Oravka breed in the age of 17 weeks were included in to the experiment. Environmental conditions corresponded to the standard requirements for laying hens in observed type of housing system. Hen day egg production, egg yield, daily feed consumption per hen, feed consumption per egg and egg weight, egg shape index, proportion and index of yolk and albumen,yolk colour and Haugh units score were monitored in the experiment. From the parameters of eggshell, proportion, thickness, strength and colour of eggshell were observed. Performance parameters of laying hens weren't affected by the genotype of hens. Czech Hen breed showed insignificantly the higher value in all indicators. The significantly (P≤0.01 and P≤0.001 better values of eggshell quality parameters were detected in Czech Hen breed. We found out that Czech Hen breed had also statistically significantly lighter colour of eggshell. There were no significant interbreed differences in egg weight, proportion of yolk and albumen. The egg shape index was significantly higher in Oravka. Index of yolk and albumen was also significantly (P≤0.001 higher in Oravka. Haugh units score, that reflect the quality of the eggs, were found significantly (P≤0.001higher in Oravka too. On the other hand, yolk colour was detected significantly (P≤0.001 darker for the Czech Hen.

  12. Computer image analysis of seed shape and seed color for flax cultivar description

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Wiesnerová, Dana; Wiesner, Ivo

    2008-01-01

    Roč. 61, č. 2 (2008), s. 126-135 ISSN 0168-1699 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA521/03/0019 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z50510513 Keywords : image analysis * cultivar description * flax Subject RIV: EA - Cell Biology Impact factor: 1.273, year: 2008

  13. Fermented feed for laying hens: effect on egg production, egg quality, plumage condition and composition and activity of the intestinal microflora

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Engberg, Ricarda M; Hammershøj, M; Johansen, N F

    2009-01-01

    1. An experiment with a total of 480 hens (Babcock) was carried out from 16 to 38 weeks of age to evaluate the suitability of wet fermented feed (feed water ratio, 1:1·2-1:1·4) for layers, taking aspects of nutrition and gastrointestinal health into consideration. The production performance, egg...... mash. Presumably because of an extended adaptation time to the feed, the onset of lay occurred later when hens were fed on fermented feed, resulting in non-significantly reduced total egg production (75 vs. 82%). 5. There was no significant difference between groups with respect to the total egg mass...... with the dry mash (g feed DM/g egg mass, 2·28 vs. 2·53). 6. The use of fermented feed increased egg weight in the period from 34 to 37 weeks (61·4 vs. 60·0) and increased shell weight (g/100 g egg weight, 10·2 vs. 9·9) and shell stiffness (N/mm, 161 vs. 150) of eggs collected at 37 weeks. 7. The feeding...

  14. Genetic analysis of feather pecking behavior in laying hens

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Buitenhuis, A.J.

    2003-01-01

    This thesis describes the genetic analysis of feather pecking behavior in laying hens. Feather pecking (FP) is a major welfare problem in laying hens.In the European

  15. SEQUENCING OF FLAX LIS-1 INSERTION SITE IN THE ALBIDUM GENOTYPE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jana Žiarovská

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents a methodology of identifying the insertion site of LIS-1-1 (Linum Insertion Sequence 1 element in flax Albidum variety when growing under the in vitro combined with environmental stress conditions. Abiotic stress was induced by a reduced nutrient content in a growth medium. The LIS-1 insertion site amplification was reaLIS-1ed using the forward LIS-L: 5'-GGG CAG TTT AAC TGT AAC GAA - 3 'and revers LIS-R: 5'-GCT TGG ATT TAG ACT TGG CAA C - 3' primers by PCR. PCR product was sequenced by direct sequencing method to proove the nucleotide sequence for matching with database LIS-1 sequence. A comparison has been matched with the sequence of the amplified segment in the database for all nucleotides except the 11-position in the 5'-3 ' direction, where instead of the three adenine pair is a couple in the Albidum variety. Changes caused by mobile elements or insertion sequences result in common flax in variability that can be used for the purposes of development of effective marker identification or environment based markers development.

  16. Effects of essential oils on performance, egg quality, nutrient digestibility and yolk fatty acid profile in laying hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xuemei Ding

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The study was conducted to investigate the effect of essential oils on performance, egg quality, nutrient digestibility and yolk fatty acid profile in laying hens. A total of 960 Lohmann laying hens aged 53 weeks were enrolled, under 4 different treatment diets supplemented with 0, 50, 100 and 150 mg/kg essential oils (Enviva EO, Dupont Nutrition Biosciences ApS, Denmark, respectively. Each treatment was replicated 8 times with 30 birds each. Birds were fed dietary treatment diets for 12 weeks (54 to 65 weeks. For data recording and analysis, a 12-week period was divided into 3 periods of 4 weeks' duration each: period 1 (54 to 57 weeks, period 2 (58 to 61 weeks, and period 3 (62 to 65 weeks. For the diet supplemented with Enviva EO, hen-day egg production and the feed conversion ratio (FCR were significantly improved (P < 0.05 at weeks 58 to 61, and the eggshell thickness was significantly increased (P < 0.05 at week 65. However, egg production, egg weight, feed intake, FCR and other egg quality parameters (albumen height, Haugh unit, egg yolk color and eggshell strength were not affected by the dietary treatment. In addition, compared with the control diet, protein digestibility in the 100 mg/kg Enviva EO treatment group was significantly increased (P < 0.05, and fat digestibility in the 100 and 150 mg/kg Enviva EO treatment groups was significantly decreased (P < 0.05, but Enviva EO had no effect on energy apparent digestibility. Saturated fatty acid (SFA and monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA gradually decreased and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA increased with Enviva EO supplementation, but the difference was not significant. The data suggested that the supplementation of essential oils (Enviva EO in laying hen diet did not show a significant positive effect on performance and yolk fatty acid composition but it tended to increase eggshell thickness and protein digestibility, especially at the dose of 50 mg/kg.

  17. Biodegradation of flax fiber reinforced poly lactic acid

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Kumar, R

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available and dried in an oven at 60°C for 24 h to remove moisture. PLA pellets equivalent to 0.8 and 0.7 weight fractions of the nonwoven web and woven fabric, respectively were dissolved in chloroform. It is to be noted that nonwoven flax fiber requires higher... amount of PLA than woven ones. The dried nonwoven web/woven fabric was then placed inside a square metal frame mold of 15 cm×15 cm in dimensions and the PLA solution was poured over the nonwoven web or woven fab- ric. It was observed that 5 to 6 g...

  18. Selected pharmacokinetic parameters for cefovecin in hens and green iguanas

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thuesen, Line Risager; Bertelsen, Mads Frost; Brimer, Leon

    2009-01-01

    hens and green iguanas, following subcutaneous injections with 10 mg cefovecin / kg bodyweight. Preliminary studies in eight additional species of birds and reptiles were performed and results were compared with the parameters found in hens and green iguanas. The kinetics were characterized by rapid...

  19. Production properties of flax (Linum usitatissimum L. cultivated in Strumica region, Republic of Macedonia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. Vuckov

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract. The purpose of this research was to determine the production properties of 5 flax genotypes cultivated in agro-ecological conditions in the Strumica region, Republic of Macedonia.The research was conducted in a period of two years (2014 and 2015, on the research fields in Strumica at Uni Service - Agro, Faculty of Agriculture, University Goce Delchev, Stip.The research was conducted on 5 genotypes of flax, 4 of which are domestic intermediate genotypes (transitive flax (Velusina, Duferin, Belan, Belinka and one French introduced fiber flax variety (Viking. The experiment consisted of five variants in three iterations, divided by the method of random block system for each genotype.The number of fruit per plant in both years of testing is statistically different among different genotypes. In the first year of the examination (2014, the largest number of fruit per plant had genotype Velusina (156 and the lowest (70 3 genotype Belan. In the second year of the examination (2015, the largest number of fruit per plant had the genotype Velusina (102.3 and the lowest (54 7, genotype Belinka.There is no statistically significant difference in number of seeds in the fruit among the tested genotypes. In the first year of the examination (2014, the largest number of seeds in fruit had genotype Velusina (4 63 and the lowest (2 26 - genotype Viking. In the second year of the examination (2015, the largest number of seeds in fruit had genotype Belan (9.96 and the lowest (7.06 - genotype Duferin. In the first year of the examination (2014, the largest number of seed yield per plant in kg/ha had the genotype Viking (500 kg/ha and the lowest - genotype Belinka (210 kg/ha. In the second year of the examination (2015, the largest number of seed yield per plant in kg/ha had genotype Velusina (1100 kg/ha and the lowest - genotype Belinka (780 kg/ha. In both years of research (2014 and 2015 there were statistically significant differences on the level of

  20. Variability in amino acid digestibility and metabolizable energy of corn studied in cecectomized laying hens1.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zuber, T; Rodehutscord, M

    2017-06-01

    To optimize the use of corn grain in diets for laying hens, differences in amino acid (AA) digestibility and metabolizable energy among different corn samples should be considered in feed formulation. The present study investigated the variability of AA digestibility and AMEn concentration of 20 corn samples in cecectomized laying hens. Corn grains were characterized based on their physical properties (thousand seed weight, test weight, grain density, and extract viscoelasticity), chemical composition (proximate nutrients, AA, minerals, and inositol phosphates), gross energy concentration, and in vitro solubility of nitrogen to study any relationship with AA digestibility or AMEn. The animal study comprised 4 Latin squares (6 × 6) distributed between 2 subsequent runs. Cecectomized LSL-Classic hens were individually housed in metabolism cages and fed either a basal diet containing 500 g/kg cornstarch or one of 20 corn diets, each replacing the cornstarch with one corn batch, for 8 days. During the last 4 d, feed intake was recorded and excreta were collected quantitatively. A linear regression approach was used to calculate AA digestibility of the corn. The digestibility of all AA differed significantly between the 20 corn batches, including Lys (digestibility range 64 to 85%), Met (86 to 94%), Thr (72 to 89%), and Trp (21 to 88%). The AMEn of the corn batches ranged between 15.7 and 17.1 MJ/kg DM. However, consistent correlations between AA digestibility or AMEn and the physical and chemical characteristics of the grains were not detected. Equations to predict AA digestibility or AMEn based on the grain's physical and chemical characteristics were calculated by multiple linear regressions. The explanatory power (adjusted R2;) of prediction equations was below 0.6 for the majority of AA and AMEn, and, thus, was not sufficiently precise for practical use. Possible explanations for the variation in AA digestibility and AMEn beyond the determined characteristics

  1. High renewable content sandwich structures based on flax-basalt hybrids and biobased epoxy polymers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colomina, S.; Boronat, T.; Fenollar, O.; Sánchez-Nacher, L.; Balart, R.

    2014-05-01

    In the last years, a growing interest in the development of high environmental efficiency materials has been detected and this situation is more accentuated in the field of polymers and polymer composites. In this work, green composite sandwich structures with high renewable content have been developed with core cork materials. The base resin for composites was a biobased epoxy resin derived from epoxidized vegetable oils. Hybrid basalt-flax fabrics have been used as reinforcements for composites and the influence of the stacking sequence has been evaluated in order to optimize the appropriate laminate structure for the sandwich bases. Core cork materials with different thickness have been used to evaluate performance of sandwich structures thus leading to high renewable content composite sandwich structures. Results show that position of basalt fabrics plays a key role in flexural fracture of sandwich structures due to differences in stiffness between flax and basalt fibers.

  2. Chemical features, cholesterol and energy content of table hen eggs ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Chemical features, cholesterol and energy content of table hen eggs from conventional and alternative farming systems. ... South African Journal of Animal Science ... This study was carried out to investigate the effect of conventional farming systems for laying hens (standard cage batteries) and new alternative systems ...

  3. Spatial Cognition and Range Use in Free-Range Laying Hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campbell, Dana L M; Talk, Andrew C; Loh, Ziyang A; Dyall, Tim R; Lee, Caroline

    2018-02-08

    Radio-frequency identification tracking shows individual free-range laying hens vary in range use, with some never going outdoors. The range is typically more environmentally complex, requiring navigation to return to the indoor resources. Outdoor-preferring hens may have improved spatial abilities compared to indoor-preferring hens. Experiment 1 tested 32 adult ISA Brown hens in a T-maze learning task that showed exclusively-indoor birds were slowest to reach the learning success criterion ( p 0.05), the age that coincided with the onset of lay. Enriched birds that were faster to learn the maze task showed more range visits in the first 4 weeks of range access. Enriched and non-enriched birds showed no differences in telencephalon or hippocampal volume ( p > 0.05). Fear may reduce spatial abilities but further testing with more pen replicates per early rearing treatments would improve our understanding of the relationship between spatial cognitive abilities and range use.

  4. Health and Welfare in Dutch Organic Laying Hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Monique Bestman

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available From 2007–2008, data on animal health and welfare and farm management during rearing and laying periods were collected from 49 flocks of organic laying hens in the Netherlands. Our aim was to investigate how organic egg farms performed in terms of animal health and welfare and which farm factors affected this performance. The flocks in our study were kept on farms with 34 to 25,000 hens (average 9,300 hens. Seventy-one percent of the flocks consisted of ‘silver hybrids’: white hens that lay brown eggs. Fifty-five percent of the flocks were kept in floor-based housing and 45% of the flocks in aviaries. No relation was found between the amount of time spent outdoors during the laying period and mortality at 60 weeks. Flocks that used their outdoor run more intensively had better feather scores. In 40% of the flocks there was mortality caused by predators. The average feed intake was 129 g/day at 30 weeks and 133 g/day at 60 weeks of age. The average percentage of mislaid eggs decreased from three at 30 weeks to two at 60 weeks. The average mortality was 7.8% at 60 weeks. Twenty-five percent of the flocks were not treated for worms in their first 50 weeks. Flubenol© was applied to the flocks that were treated. Ten percent of the flocks followed Flubenol© instructions for use and were wormed five or more times. The other 65% percent were treated irregularly between one and four times. Sixty-eight percent of the flocks showed little or no feather damage, 24% showed moderate damage and 8% showed severe damage. The feather score was better if the hens used the free-range area more intensely, the laying percentage at 60 weeks was higher, and if they were allowed to go outside sooner after arrival on the laying farm. In 69% of the flocks, hens had peck wounds in the vent area: on average this was 18% of the hens. Keel bone deformations were found in all flocks, on average in 21% of the birds. In 78% of the flocks, an average of 13% of the hens

  5. Health and Welfare in Dutch Organic Laying Hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bestman, Monique; Wagenaar, Jan-Paul

    2014-06-20

    From 2007-2008, data on animal health and welfare and farm management during rearing and laying periods were collected from 49 flocks of organic laying hens in the Netherlands. Our aim was to investigate how organic egg farms performed in terms of animal health and welfare and which farm factors affected this performance. The flocks in our study were kept on farms with 34 to 25,000 hens (average 9,300 hens). Seventy-one percent of the flocks consisted of 'silver hybrids': white hens that lay brown eggs. Fifty-five percent of the flocks were kept in floor-based housing and 45% of the flocks in aviaries. No relation was found between the amount of time spent outdoors during the laying period and mortality at 60 weeks. Flocks that used their outdoor run more intensively had better feather scores. In 40% of the flocks there was mortality caused by predators. The average feed intake was 129 g/day at 30 weeks and 133 g/day at 60 weeks of age. The average percentage of mislaid eggs decreased from three at 30 weeks to two at 60 weeks. The average mortality was 7.8% at 60 weeks. Twenty-five percent of the flocks were not treated for worms in their first 50 weeks. Flubenol(©) was applied to the flocks that were treated. Ten percent of the flocks followed Flubenol(©) instructions for use and were wormed five or more times. The other 65% percent were treated irregularly between one and four times. Sixty-eight percent of the flocks showed little or no feather damage, 24% showed moderate damage and 8% showed severe damage. The feather score was better if the hens used the free-range area more intensely, the laying percentage at 60 weeks was higher, and if they were allowed to go outside sooner after arrival on the laying farm. In 69% of the flocks, hens had peck wounds in the vent area: on average this was 18% of the hens. Keel bone deformations were found in all flocks, on average in 21% of the birds. In 78% of the flocks, an average of 13% of the hens had foot-sole wounds

  6. Cultivation of flax in spoil-bank clay: Mycorrhizal inoculation vs. high organic amendments

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Püschel, David; Rydlová, Jana; Sudová, Radka; Gryndler, Milan

    2008-01-01

    Roč. 171, č. 6 (2008), s. 872-877 ISSN 1436-8730 R&D Projects: GA MŠk 1M0571 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60050516; CEZ:AV0Z50200510 Keywords : arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi * compost * flax Subject RIV: EF - Botanics Impact factor: 1.284, year: 2008

  7. Influence of Hybridizing Flax and Hemp-Agave Fibers with Glass Fiber as Reinforcement in a Polyurethane Composite

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pankaj Pandey

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available In this study, six combinations of flax, hemp, and glass fiber were investigated for a hybrid reinforcement system in a polyurethane (PU composite. The natural fibers were combined with glass fibers in a PU composite in order to achieve a better mechanical reinforcement in the composite material. The effect of fiber hybridization in PU composites was evaluated through physical and mechanical properties such as water absorption (WA, specific gravity (SG, coefficient of linear thermal expansion (CLTE, flexural and compression properties, and hardness. The mechanical properties of hybridized samples showed mixed trends compared to the unhybridized samples, but hybridization with glass fiber reduced water absorption by 37% and 43% for flax and hemp-agave PU composites respectively.

  8. Badania nad patogenicznością grzyba Rhizoctonia solani Kühn na lnie [Investigations of Rhizoctonia solani Kühn pathogenicity to flax

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    St. Sadowski

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available The investigations on the pathogenicity of four Rhizoctonia solani isolates were carried out in relation to three varieties of flax; LCSD - 210, LCSD - 200 and Wiera. Variety LCSD - 210 was found to be the most resistant. Isolates obtaind from flax and potatoes were especially pathogenic. Rhizoctonia solani was parasitic during the whole vegetation season, but particularly in the course of emergence. Parasitism of this fungus is of great economical significance.

  9. Integration of Physical, Genetic, and Cytogenetic Mapping Data for Cellulose Synthase (CesA) Genes in Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yurkevich, Olga Y; Kirov, Ilya V; Bolsheva, Nadezhda L; Rachinskaya, Olga A; Grushetskaya, Zoya E; Zoschuk, Svyatoslav A; Samatadze, Tatiana E; Bogdanova, Marina V; Lemesh, Valentina A; Amosova, Alexandra V; Muravenko, Olga V

    2017-01-01

    Flax, Linum usitatissimum L., is a valuable multi-purpose plant, and currently, its genome is being extensively investigated. Nevertheless, mapping of genes in flax genome is still remaining a challenging task. The cellulose synthase ( CesA ) multigene family involving in the process of cellulose synthesis is especially important for metabolism of this fiber crop. For the first time, fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH)-based chromosomal localization of the CesA conserved fragment (KF011584.1), 5S, and 26S rRNA genes was performed in landrace, oilseed, and fiber varieties of L. usitatissimum . Intraspecific polymorphism in chromosomal distribution of KF011584.1 and 5S DNA loci was revealed, and the generalized chromosome ideogram was constructed. Using BLAST analysis, available data on physical/genetic mapping and also whole-genome sequencing of flax, localization of KF011584.1, 45S, and 5S rRNA sequences on genomic scaffolds, and their anchoring to the genetic map were conducted. The alignment of the results of FISH and BLAST analyses indicated that KF011584.1 fragment revealed on chromosome 3 could be anchored to linkage group (LG) 11. The common LG for 45S and 5S rDNA was not found probably due to the polymorphic localization of 5S rDNA on chromosome 1. Our findings indicate the complexity of integration of physical, genetic, and cytogenetic mapping data for multicopy gene families in plants. Nevertheless, the obtained results can be useful for future progress in constructing of integrated physical/genetic/cytological maps in L. usitatissimum which are essential for flax breeding.

  10. Ranging Behaviour of Commercial Free-Range Laying Hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chielo, Leonard Ikenna; Pike, Tom; Cooper, Jonathan

    2016-04-26

    In this study, the range use and behaviour of laying hens in commercial free-range flocks was explored. Six flocks were each visited on four separate days and data collected from their outdoor area (divided into zones based on distance from shed and available resources). These were: apron (0-10 m from shed normally without cover or other enrichments); enriched belt (10-50 m from shed where resources such as manmade cover, saplings and dust baths were provided); and outer range (beyond 50 m from shed with no cover and mainly grass pasture). Data collection consisted of counting the number of hens in each zone and recording behaviour, feather condition and nearest neighbour distance (NND) of 20 birds per zone on each visit day. In addition, we used techniques derived from ecological surveys to establish four transects perpendicular to the shed, running through the apron, enriched belt and outer range. Number of hens in each 10 m × 10 m quadrat was recorded four times per day as was the temperature and relative humidity of the outer range. On average, 12.5% of hens were found outside. Of these, 5.4% were found in the apron; 4.3% in the enriched zone; and 2.8% were in the outer range. This pattern was supported by data from quadrats, where the density of hens sharply dropped with increasing distance from shed. Consequently, NND was greatest in the outer range, least in the apron and intermediate in the enriched belt. Hens sampled in outer range and enriched belts had better feather condition than those from the apron. Standing, ground pecking, walking and foraging were the most commonly recorded activities with standing and pecking most likely to occur in the apron, and walking and foraging more common in the outer range. Use of the outer range declined with lower temperatures and increasing relative humidity, though use of apron and enriched belt was not affected by variation in these measures. These data support previous findings that outer range areas tend to be

  11. Keel-bone damage and foot injuries in commercial laying hens in Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Riber, Anja Brinch; Hinrichsen, Lena Karina

    2016-01-01

    . There was no difference between barn and organic production systems in the risk of having keel-bone fractures and foot injuries, except that barn hens were more likely to have foot-pad lesions than organic hens(32 weeks: 16.1 vs 3.1%). Hens in multi-tiered systems were more likely to have keel-bone fractures compared...... to hens in single-tiered systems (62 weeks: 11.6 vs 4.9 %). Of the four hybrids, Lohmann Brown Lite had a higher risk of keel-bone fractures, whereas bumble feet were found more frequently in Lohmann LSL. Keel-bone damage and foot injuries are less common in Danish non-cage systems compared to most...

  12. Fatty acid intake alters growth and immunity in milk-fed calves.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hill, T M; Vandehaar, M J; Sordillo, L M; Catherman, D R; Bateman, H G; Schlotterbeck, R L

    2011-08-01

    The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of supplementing milk replacer (MR) with NeoTec4 (Provimi North America, Brookville, OH), a commercially available blend of butyric acid, coconut oil, and flax oil, on calf growth, efficiency, and indices of immune function. In trial 1a, 48 male Holstein calves were fed either a control MR that contained only animal fat or the same MR with NeoTec4 (treatment) along with free-choice starter. The MR (28.7% crude protein, 15.6% fat) was fed at an average of 1 kg of dry matter (DM)/d. In trial 1b, weaned calves from trial 1a were all fed dry starter for 28 d without NeoTec4 (phase 1), and then half the calves were fed NeoTec4 for 28 d (phase 2). In trial 2, 40 male Holstein calves were fed a control MR with lard, coconut oil, and soy lecithin or the same MR supplemented with NeoTec4 (treatment). The MR (22.8% crude protein, 18.9% fat) was fed at an average of 1 kg of DM/d; no starter was fed. In trial 1a, NeoTec4 improved average daily gain, feed intake, and feed efficiency, reduced the number of days that calves experienced scours, and reduced the medical treatments for clostridium sickness. In trials 1a and 2, NeoTec4 altered the inflammatory response to vaccination with Pasteurella at 5 wk of age and to challenge with Salmonella toxin at less than 2 wk of age (fed NeoTec4 for 6 d), as observed by reduced hyperthermia and hypophagia, and altered the tumor necrosis factor-α response. In addition, NeoTec4 enhanced the response in IL-4 and globular protein estimates postchallenge and enhanced titers for bovine viral diarrhea and respiratory parainfluenza-3. Postchallenge serum concentrations of albumin were lower and urea nitrogen concentrations were greater in control calves than in calves fed NeoTec4. In trial 1b, performance did not differ during the first 28 d when no calves received NeoTec4, but calves receiving NeoTec4 in the second 28 d had greater average daily gain and feed efficiency. We conclude that

  13. Sleep in the domestic hen (Gallus domesticus).

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Luijtelaar, E L; van der Grinten, C P; Blokhuis, H J; Coenen, A M

    1987-01-01

    Electrophysiological recordings were made of five closely observed hens, all permanently implanted with both EEG and EMG electrodes. Five behavioural postures were distinguished and percentages of wakefulness, sleep and presumably paradoxical sleep (PS) were determined during the third and sixth hour of the dark period. Substantial agreement was generally found between behaviour and sleep with the exception of sitting or standing motionless with at least one eye open. During two thirds of this behavioural posture, the EEG showed large amplitude slow waves undistinguishable from slow wave sleep. Characteristics of PS were determined: periods were short, whereas its percentage increased during the night. Furthermore, EMG atonia was never found. An all night recording was made, and delta activity (2-5 Hz) was filtered and plotted against time for three of the hens. A significant decrease in delta activity across the night was found. Differences and similarities between sleep in hens and in mammals are discussed. Although large similarities exist it is concluded that some properties of birds' sleep make it unique and are a challenge for further study.

  14. Robustness in laying hens

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Star, L.

    2008-01-01

    The aim of the project ‘The genetics of robustness in laying hens’ was to investigate nature and regulation of robustness in laying hens under sub-optimal conditions and the possibility to increase robustness by using animal breeding without loss of production. At the start of the project, a robust

  15. Efeitos do fracionamento do cálcio dietário e granulometria do calcário sobre o desempenho e qualidade dos ovos de poedeiras comerciais - DOI: 10.4025/actascianimsci.v28i2.645 Effects of dietary calcium fractionation and limestone particle size on performance and egg quality of commercial laying hens - DOI: 10.4025/actascianimsci.v28i2.645

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Otto Mack Junqueira

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Avaliou-se o desempenho e a qualidade dos ovos de poedeiras submetidas ao fracionamento de cálcio (Ca da dieta e diferentes granulometrias de calcário calcítico. Foram utilizadas 270 poedeiras ISA Babcock, com 40 semanas, por quatro períodos de 28 dias, em um delineamento inteiramente casualizado em arranjo fatorial 3x3: fracionamento do Ca – g manhã:g tarde (2:2; 1:3 e 3:1 e granulometria do calcário calcítico (mista, grossa e fina, com cinco repetições de seis aves cada. As aves alimentadas com 3 g de Ca, de manhã ou à tarde, consumiram mais ração e Ca no entanto, o consumo total diário de Ca não foi influenciado. O calcário fino influenciou negativamente a qualidade da casca. Conclui-se que o fracionamento de cálcio não influenciou os parâmetros estudados e que utilizar calcário fino prejudica a qualidade da casca dos ovos.The performance and egg quality of 270 ISA Babcock layers, aged 40 weeks, fed diets with different calcium (Ca levels and limestone particle size were evaluated. The experimental design was randomized in a 3x3 factorial scheme: Ca fractionation – g morning : g afternoon (2:2, 1:3 and 3:1 and limestone particle size (coarse, fine and blended totalizing nine treatments with five replications of six hens each. Performance was not influenced by the treatments, except feed and Ca intakes. Hens fed with 3:3g Ca, in the morning or in the afternoon, had higher Ca and feed intake. However, there was no effect on daily total Ca intake. Egg specific gravity was improved when hens were fed with coarse and blended limestones. Results showed that Ca fractionation did not influence performance and egg shell quality. Egg specific gravity is improved when hens are fed with coarse and blended limestones.

  16. Both feather peckers and victims are more asymmetrical than control hens

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Machado Tahamtani, Fernanda; Forkman, Björn; Hinrichsen, Lena Karina

    2017-01-01

    Feather pecking is the major welfare issue facing the egg farming industry worldwide. Previous research has found a relationship between cannibalistic behaviour, fluctuating asymmetry of bilateral traits (FA) and body weight in laying hens. As cannibalism is linked to severe feather pecking......, it could be suggested that a relationship between feather pecking, FA and body weight also exists. The purpose of this study was to analyse the association between feather pecking behaviour and a) FA, b) body weight and c) comb size in laying hens. Sixty-four laying hens were categorised as feather peckers...

  17. Effect of different levels of methionine, protein and tallow on the productive performance and egg quality of laying hens in the late-phase production

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H Nassiri Moghaddam

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of different levels of methionine, protein and tallow on productive performance and egg quality of laying hens in the late phase of production. A completely randomized design with a 3×2×2 factorial arrangement, with three levels (0.34, 0.31, and 0.27% of methionine (MET, two levels (12.8 and 14.7% of protein (PRO and two levels (1 and 3% of tallow (TAL with constant level of linoleic acid (1.55 ± 0.02%, was used. A number of 144 Hi-Line W-36 layers from 70 to 76 wk of age was randomly distributed into 12 treatment groups with 4 replicates of 3 hens each. Egg production and egg weight were daily recorded and feed intake and egg quality traits were recorded every 2 wk. There was a significant interaction between PRO levels and TAL for egg weight. Low levels of TAL and PRO decreased egg weight throughout the experiment. High levels of MET and TAL with concomitant reduced PRO, increased eggshell thickness, and a significant interaction between levels of MET, PRO and TAL was observed during the experiment (70 to 76 wk. Low level of protein (12.8% significantly decreased albumen weight in the third 2-wk period. Yolk color increased when hens were fed low levels of PRO and TAL. Results of this experiment indicated that the simultaneous reduction of dietary PRO and MET in diets of Hi-Line W-36 laying hens in the late phase of production, reduced egg weight (P<0.05. Productive performance and egg quality were not affected by 12 and 20% reduction of PRO and MET, respectively. It seems that decreasing the levels of MET and PRO to lower than the recommended values can decrease egg weight without negative effects on productive performance and egg quality of laying hens in the late phase of production.

  18. Performance, egg quality, and liver lipid reserves of free-range laying hens naturally infected with Ascaridia galli.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, N; Hunt, P W; Hine, B C; Sharma, N K; Chung, A; Swick, R A; Ruhnke, I

    2018-03-16

    A study was conducted to determine the performance, egg quality, and liver lipid reserves of laying hens exposed to ranges contaminated with Ascaridia galli. Sixteen-week-old Lohmann Brown laying hens (n = 200) were divided into 4 treatments with 5 replicates containing 10 hens per pen. Hens of treatment 1 [negative control (NC)] ranged on a decontaminated area, and hens of treatments 2 (low infection) and 3 (medium infection) ranged on areas previously contaminated by hens artificially infected with 250 and 1,000 embryonated A. galli eggs, respectively. The hens of treatment 4 [positive control (PC)] ranged on areas previously contaminated by hens artificially infected with 2,500 embryonated A. galli eggs, and in addition these hens were orally inoculated with 1,000 embryonated eggs. Results indicated that hens of the medium infection group had a higher number of intestinal A. galli worms and A. galli eggs in the coprodeum excreta (43.9 ± 4.0 and 3,437 ± 459 eggs/g) compared to hens of the low infection group (23.8 ± 4.0 and 1,820 ± 450 eggs/g) (P  0.05). Egg production, egg mass, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were not affected by A. galli infection (P > 0.05). Egg quality parameters (egg weight, shell reflectivity, shell weight, shell thickness, shell percentage, shell breaking strength, deformation, albumen height, Haugh unit, and yolk score) were not affected by A. galli infection (P > 0.05). Highly infected hens had lower liver lipid content (2.72 ± 0.51 g) compared to uninfected hens (4.46 ± 0.58 g, P ranges contaminated with A. galli resulted in infection of the ranging hens, but this did not affect egg production or egg quality. Infection with A. galli lowered the liver lipid reserves of the host significantly, suggesting infected hens use more energy reserves for maintenance and production.

  19. Egg fertility and hatchability in Avians broiler-breeder hens under ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Impact of temperature and humidity in different month of lay was evaluated on fertility and hatchability in broiler breeder hens reared in Sapele, Nigeria. Six million, six hundred and nineteen thousand, seven hundred and forty six eggs from flocks of Avians broiler-breeder hens reared between 2005 and 2006 in a farm ...

  20. Construction of an SNP-based high-density linkage map for flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) using specific length amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq) technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yi, Liuxi; Gao, Fengyun; Siqin, Bateer; Zhou, Yu; Li, Qiang; Zhao, Xiaoqing; Jia, Xiaoyun; Zhang, Hui

    2017-01-01

    Flax is an important crop for oil and fiber, however, no high-density genetic maps have been reported for this species. Specific length amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq) is a high-resolution strategy for large scale de novo discovery and genotyping of single nucleotide polymorphisms. In this study, SLAF-seq was employed to develop SNP markers in an F2 population to construct a high-density genetic map for flax. In total, 196.29 million paired-end reads were obtained. The average sequencing depth was 25.08 in male parent, 32.17 in the female parent, and 9.64 in each F2 progeny. In total, 389,288 polymorphic SLAFs were detected, from which 260,380 polymorphic SNPs were developed. After filtering, 4,638 SNPs were found suitable for genetic map construction. The final genetic map included 4,145 SNP markers on 15 linkage groups and was 2,632.94 cM in length, with an average distance of 0.64 cM between adjacent markers. To our knowledge, this map is the densest SNP-based genetic map for flax. The SNP markers and genetic map reported in here will serve as a foundation for the fine mapping of quantitative trait loci (QTLs), map-based gene cloning and marker assisted selection (MAS) for flax.

  1. The effect of clomiphene-citrate on broody turkey hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinzon, B; Shafir, Z; Perek, M; Snapir, N

    1984-11-01

    The effect of clomiphene-citrate (CC) on broody turkey hens was examined in three experiments. Turkey hens were categorized as broody if found in the laying nest during 6 successive checks per day, if they were reluctant to leave the nest for a period of 24 hr or more, if they had ruffled feathers, and if their cloacal orifices were contracted so as to prevent vaginal exposure by abdominal massage during artificial insemination. In each experiment, 20 hens, selected as broody from commercial breeding flocks, were treated; half were treated with CC at a dosage of 6 mg/kg body weight/day (per os) for 5 consecutive days, and the rest (control) received parallel treatment with a placebo (CaCO3). In all experiments, the CC administration alleviated brooding behavior and increased egg production.

  2. Effect of different levels of feed restriction and fish oil fatty acid supplementation on fat deposition by using different techniques, plasma levels and mRNA expression of several adipokines in broiler breeder hens.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Namya Mellouk

    Full Text Available Reproductive hens are subjected to a restricted diet to limit the decline in fertility associated with change in body mass. However, endocrine and tissue responses to diet restriction need to be documented.We evaluated the effect of different levels of feed restriction, with or without fish oil supplementation, on metabolic parameters and adipokine levels in plasma and metabolic tissues of reproductive hens.We designed an in vivo protocol involving 4 groups of hens; RNS: restricted (Rt unsupplemented, ANS: ad libitum (Ad, receiving an amount of feed 1.7 times greater than animals on the restricted diet unsupplemented, RS: Rt supplemented, and AS: Ad supplemented. The fish oil supplement was used at 1% of the total diet composition.Hens fed with the Rt diet had a significantly (P < 0.0001 lower growth than Ad hens, while the fish oil supplementation had no effect on these parameters. Furthermore, the bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA and the fat ultrasonographic examinations produced similar results to the other methods that required animals to be killed (carcass analysis and weight of adipose tissue. In addition, the Rt diet significantly (P < 0.05 decreased plasma levels of triglycerides, phospholipids, glucose and ADIPOQ, and fish oil supplementation decreased plasma levels of RARRES2. We also showed a positive correlation between insulin values and ADIPOQ or NAMPT or RARRES2 values, and a negative correlation of fat percentage to RARRES2 values. Moreover, the effects of the Rt diet and fish oil supplementation on the mRNA expression depended on the factors tested and the hen age.Rt diet and fish oil supplementation are able to modulate metabolic parameters and the expression of adipokines and their receptors in metabolic tissue.

  3. Anaphylactic reaction to probiotics. Cow's milk and hen's egg allergens in probiotic compounds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martín-Muñoz, María Flora; Fortuni, Monserrat; Caminoa, Magdalena; Belver, Teresa; Quirce, Santiago; Caballero, Teresa

    2012-12-01

    Probiotics are used in the treatment of allergic diseases. We investigated the safety of probiotics for subjects with food allergy. Labels of probiotics commercially available in Spain were examined to assess their content of cow's milk or hen's egg. Skin prick tests with these compounds (20 mg/ml) were performed in five children allergic to cow's milk, five children allergic to hen's white egg, and five control subjects non-allergic to food. Three serum pools: I (positive-specific IgE to cow's milk and hen's egg white proteins), II (positive-specific IgE to cow's milk and negative to hen's egg white proteins), and III (negative-specific IgE to cow's milk and positive to hen's egg white proteins) were used to detect cow's milk and hen's egg white allergens in probiotics. ImmunoCAP(®) (Phadia), in-house ELISA, SDS-PAGE immunoblotting, and inhibition studies of these assays were performed. Proteins were quantified by enzyme-immunoassay. Eleven probiotics were studied. No label advertised about egg content, eight labels warned about lactose, lactic acid or cow's milk, one label claimed to be milk-free, and two gave no information. Cow's milk proteins were detected, by at least one lab technique, in 10/11 probiotics, three over 2.5 mg/kg (21, 52, 112 mg/kg). Hen's egg white proteins were detected in 3/11 probiotics, only one had more than 2.5 mg/kg (47 mg/kg). Probiotic compounds may contain hidden allergens of food and may not be safe for subjects with allergy to cow's milk or hen's egg. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

  4. Effect of superdosing phytase on productive performance and egg quality in laying hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jong Hyuk Kim

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Objective An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of superdosing phytase on productive performance and egg quality in laying hens. Methods A total of 200 42-wk-old Hy-Line Brown laying hens were allotted into 1 of 5 dietary treatments with 5 replicates consisting of 8 hens per replicate. The positive control (PC and negative control diets (NC were prepared based on the recommended P levels in layer diets. Supplemental phytase was added to the negative control diet at 10,000 (SD10, 20,000 (SD20, or 30,000 (SD30 fytase units (FTU/kg. Productive performance was summarized for 6 weeks from 42 weeks to 47 weeks of age. Egg quality was assessed from 4 eggs per replicate randomly collected at the conclusion of the experiment. Results The SD20 treatment had greater (p<0.05 hen-day egg production than PC, NC, and SD10 treatment groups. There was no difference in hen-day egg production between SD20 and SD30 treatment groups. However, SD30 treatment had greater (p<0.05 hen-day egg production than PC treatment, but showed no difference in hen-day egg production as compared to NC and SD10 treatment groups. However, egg weight, egg mass, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio were not affected by dietary treatments. Egg quality including eggshell strength, eggshell color, egg yolk color, and haugh unit was not influenced by dietary treatments. Conclusion Superdosing level of 20,000 FTU/kg phytase in diets has a positive effect on egg production rate, but no beneficial effect on egg quality in laying hens.

  5. Effects of Dietary Calcium Levels on Productive Performance, Eggshell Quality and Overall Calcium Status in Aged Laying Hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. H. An

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available This study was conducted to investigate the effects of diets with varying levels of calcium on egg production, shell quality and overall calcium status in aged laying hens. A total of five hundred 70-wk-old Hy-Line Brown layers were divided five groups and fed one of the five experimental diets with 3.5%, 3.8%, 4.1%, 4.4%, or 4.7% Ca, for 10 weeks. There were no significant differences in feed intake, egg production and egg weight among groups. The cracked eggs were linearly reduced as dietary Ca levels increased to 4.7% (p<0.01. A significant linear improvement for eggshell strength and thickness were determined with increasing dietary Ca levels (p<0.01. The contents of serum Ca and phosphorus were not affected by dietary Ca levels. With increase in dietary Ca levels, the tibial breaking strength slightly increased. There were no significant differences in the tibial contents of ash, Ca and phosphorus among groups. In conclusion, eggshell quality, as measured by appearance, strength and thickness of eggshell, were influenced by dietary Ca content as expected (p<0.05. These results suggested that aged laying hens require relatively higher level of Ca than required levels from current Korean feeding standards for poultry.

  6. Utilization of sunflower seed in laying hen rations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tsuzuki ET

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this trial was to evaluate the effect of sunflower seed inclusion (0, 1.4, 2.8, 4.2 and 5.6% in a laying hen diet containing corn, soybean meal, wheat meal and soybean oil as main ingredients on performance and egg quality. The evaluated variables were daily feed intake, average egg weight, feed conversion (kg.kg-1 and kg.dz-1, eggshell percentage, yolk color and Haugh unit. One hundred and sixty 25 week-old Lohmann laying hens were used in a completely randomized design with five treatments and four replications of eight birds per experimental unit. Four periods of 28 days were evaluated during 112 days. The inclusion of sunflower seed in the diet had no effect on production parameters during the experimental period. Thus, can be concluded that sunflower seed might be used at concentrations up to 5.6% in laying hen diets without affecting performance and egg quality.

  7. Utilization of flax (Linum usitatissimum) cellulose nanocrystals as reinforcing material for chitosan films.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mujtaba, Muhammad; Salaberria, Asier M; Andres, María A; Kaya, Murat; Gunyakti, Ayse; Labidi, Jalel

    2017-11-01

    Use of plastic based packaging tools is causing both health and economic problems. To overcome this situation, researchers are focusing on the use of different biomaterials such as chitosan and cellulose. The current study was conducted to check the effect of flax (Linum usitatissimum) cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) on mechanical and barrier properties of chitosan-based films. CNC was incorporated in different concentrations (5, 10, 20 and 30%). CNC was isolated from flax fiber using acid hydrolysis method. Tensile strength (TS) and young modulus (YM) values increased with the increase of CNC concentration. Chitosan film with 20% CNC revealed the highest YM value as 52.35MPa. No significant improvement was recorded in water vapor permeability due to overall lower film crystallinity. All the films were observed to be transparent up to an acceptable level. SEM and AFM analysis confirmed the homogeneity of films. A gradual enhancement was recorded in the antimicrobial activity of chitosan/CNC composite films. No significant improvement revealed in the thermal stability of composites. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Enzymatic grafting of simple phenols on flax and sisal pulp fibres using laccases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aracri, Elisabetta; Fillat, Amanda; Colom, José F; Gutiérrez, Ana; Del Río, José C; Martínez, Angel T; Vidal, Teresa

    2010-11-01

    Flax and sisal pulps were treated with two laccases (from Pycnoporus cinnabarinus, PcL and Trametes villosa, TvL, respectively), in the presence of different phenolic compounds (syringaldehyde, acetosyringone and p-coumaric acid in the case of flax pulp, and coniferaldehyde, sinapaldehyde, ferulic acid and sinapic acid in the case of sisal pulp). In most cases the enzymatic treatments resulted in increased kappa number of pulps suggesting the incorporation of the phenols into fibres. The covalent binding of these compounds to fibres was evidenced by the analysis of the treated pulps, after acetone extraction, by pyrolysis coupled with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry in the absence and/or in the presence of tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) as methylating agent. The highest extents of phenol incorporation were observed with the p-hydroxycinnamic acids, p-coumaric and ferulic acids. The present work shows for the first time the use of analytical pyrolysis as an effective approach to study fibre functionalization by laccase-induced grafting of phenols. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Mechanical characterisation of hybrid composite laminates based on basalt fibres in combination with flax, hemp and glass fibres manufactured by vacuum infusion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Petrucci, R.; Santulli, C.; Puglia, D.; Sarasini, F.; Torre, L.; Kenny, J.M.

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► For the first time, hybrid laminates with three different fibres were produced. ► Concerns are confirmed on the brittleness of hybrid laminates with basalt fibre core. ► An optimal configuration (FHB) for flexural properties was singled out. ► Differences between tensile and flexural properties of hybrids were identified. ► In general, the specific mechanical properties of the hybrids are quite high. - Abstract: This work concerns the production by vacuum infusion and the comparison of the properties of different hybrid composite laminates, based on basalt fibre composites as the inner core, and using also glass, flax and hemp fibre laminates to produce symmetrical configurations, all of them with a 21–23% fibre volume, in an epoxy resin. The laminates have been subjected to tensile, three-point flexural and interlaminar shear strength tests and their fracture surfaces have been characterised by scanning electron microscopy. The mechanical performance of all the hybrid laminates appears superior to pure hemp and flax fibre reinforced laminates and inferior to basalt fibre laminates. Among the hybrids, the best properties are offered by those obtained by adding glass and flax to basalt fibre reinforced laminates. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation of hybrid laminates showed the diffuse presence of fibre pull-out in hemp and flax fibre reinforced layers and a general trend of brittle failure

  10. Efeito do uso de enzimas sobre o desempenho e metabolismo de poedeiras Effect of the use of enzymes on the performance and metabolism of laying hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maurício Tárcio dos Santos Viana

    2009-06-01

    hens was estimated. Two hundred and sixteen Bovans Goldline hens were assigned to a completely randomized design, with 12 replicates of 6 birds per unit and three experimental treatments arranged as follows: positive control (PC, negative control (NC, NC + Rovábio® Max (100 g/t. The positive control diets were formulated to contain adequate levels of nutrients according to the recommendations of the Brazilian tables. Diets of NC and NC + Rovábio® Max were calculated with reduced contents of nutrients present in the nutritional contribution of the enzyme complex evaluated according to the recommendations from the manufacturer. The parameters evaluated were: feed intake, egg production, egg weight, egg mass, feed:gain ratio (per g of egg mass and per dozen of egg in the period from 24 to 36 weeks of age. In the metabolism trial, feed intake and total excreta production per replicate were measured to determine the metabolizable energy values (apparent ME and apparent Nitrogen Corrected MEn, metabolizability coefficients of gross energy and nitrogen retention and P and Ca balance. When compared to hens fed both negative and positive control diets, the addition of Rovábio® Max to the NC diet improved the hen day egg production an the feed:gain ratio (kg/dz. The reduction in the levels of nutritional diets resulted in lower ME and MEn values. The supplementation of the enzyme complex to diets with lower nutritional levels improved the ME values, resulting in values similar to those presented by hens fed PC diet. The addition of the enzyme complex to the NC diet increase P retention and resulte in lower P excretion when compared to the hens fed NC diet. Layers fed PC diet show higher P intake, excretion and retention.

  11. Influence of age and housing systems on properties of tibia and humerus of Lohmann White hens1: Bone properties of laying hens in commercial housing systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Regmi, P; Nelson, N; Haut, R C; Orth, M W; Karcher, D M

    2017-10-01

    This study was aimed at analyzing bone properties of Lohmann White hens in different commercial housing systems at various points throughout production. Pullets reared in conventional cages (CC) were either continued in CC or moved to enriched colony cages (EN) at 19 weeks. Pullets reared in cage-free aviaries (AV) were moved to AV hen houses. Bone samples were collected from 60 hens at each of 18 and 72 wk and 30 hens at 26 and 56 wk from each housing system. Left tibiae and humeri were broken under uniform bending to analyze mechanical properties. Cortical geometry was analyzed using digital calipers at the fracture site. Contralateral tibiae and humeri were used for measurement of ash percentage. AV pullets' humeri had 41% greater cortical areas, and tibiae had 19% greater cortical areas than the CC pullets (P < 0.05). Average humeri diameter was greater in AV pullets than in CC pullets (P < 0.05), whereas the tibiae outer dimensions were similar. Aviary pullet bones had greater stiffness (31 and 7% greater for tibiae and humeri, respectively) and second moment of inertia (43 and 13% greater for tibiae and humeri, respectively) than CC pullets (P < 0.05). The differences between bones of AV and CC hens persisted throughout the laying cycle. Moving CC pullets to EN resulted in decreased endosteal resorption in humeri, evident by a 7.5% greater cortical area in the EN hens (P < 0.05). Whole-bone breaking strength did not change with age. Stiffness increased with age, while energy to failure decreased in both the tibiae and humeri. These results indicated that tibiae and humeri of laying hens become stiffer but lose toughness and become brittle with age. Furthermore, AV and EN systems can bring positive changes in mechanical and structural properties that are more pronounced in the humerus than the tibia. © 2017 Poultry Science Association Inc.

  12. Egg production and egg quality in free-range laying hens housed at different outdoor stocking densities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campbell, D L M; Lee, C; Hinch, G N; Roberts, J R

    2017-09-01

    Free-range laying hen systems are increasing in number within Australia. Variation in outdoor stocking densities has led to development of a national information standard on free-range egg labeling, including setting a maximum density of 10,000 hens per hectare. However, there are few data on the impacts of differing outdoor densities on production and egg quality. ISA Brown hens in small (150 hens) flocks were housed in identical indoor pens, each with access (from 21 weeks) to different sized ranges simulating one of three outdoor stocking densities (2 replicates each: 2,000 hens/hectare (ha), 10,000 hens/ha, 20,000 hens/ha). Hen-day production was tracked from 21 through 35 weeks with eggs visually graded daily for external deformities. All eggs laid on one day were weighed each week. Eggs were collected from each pen at 25, 30, and 36 weeks and analyzed for egg quality. There were no effects of outdoor stocking density on average hen-day percentage production (P = 0.67), egg weight (P = 0.09), percentages of deformed eggs (P = 0.30), shell reflectivity (P = 0.74), shell breaking strength (P = 0.07), shell deformation (P = 0.83), or shell thickness (P = 0.24). Eggs from hens in the highest density had the highest percentage shell weight (P = 0.004) and eggs from the lowest density had the highest yolk color score (P egg quality is warranted. © 2017 Poultry Science Association Inc.

  13. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and Pseudomonas in reduce drought stress damage in flax (Linum usitatissimum L.): a field study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahimzadeh, Saeedeh; Pirzad, Alireza

    2017-08-01

    Drought stress, which is one of the most serious world environmental threats to crop production, might be compensated by some free living and symbiotic soil microorganisms. The physiological response of flax plants to inoculation with two species of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi (Funneliformis mosseae or Rhizophagus intraradices) and a phosphate solubilizing bacterium (Pseudomonas putida P13; PSB) was evaluated under different irrigation regimes (irrigation after 60, 120, and 180 mm of evaporation from Class A pan as well-watered, mild, and severe stress, respectively). A factorial (three factors) experiment was conducted for 2 years (2014-2015) based on a randomized complete block design with three replications at Urmia University, Urmia, located at North-West of Iran (37° 39' 24.82″ N44° 58' 12.42″ E). Water deficit decreased biomass, showing that flax was sensitive to drought, and AM root colonization improved the performance of the plant within irrigation levels. In all inoculated and non-inoculated control plants, leaf chlorophyll decreased with increasing irrigation intervals. Water deficit-induced oxidative damage (hydrogen peroxide, malondialdehyde, and electrolyte leakage) were significantly reduced in dual colonized plants. All enzymatic (catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione reductase, and ascorbate peroxidase) and non-enzymatic (glutathione, ascorbic acid, total carotenoids) antioxidants were reduced by water-limiting irrigation. Dual inoculated plants with AM plus Pseudomonas accumulated more enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants than plants with bacterial or fungal inoculation singly. Dual colonized plants significantly decreased the water deficit-induced glycine betaine and proline in flax leaves. These bacterial-fungal interactions in enzymatic and non-enzymatic defense of flax plants demonstrated equal synergism with both AM fungi species. In conclusion, increased activity of enzymatic antioxidants and higher production of non

  14. The effect of phytobiotics, organic acids and humic acids on the utility and egg quality of laying hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Henrieta Arpášová

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was the assessment of an influence of supplement of dietary herbal additive in combination with organic acids into feed mixture or drinking water of laying hens on performance parameters and egg quality. The Lohmann Brown Lite laying hens (n = 30 were divided into 3 groups (n = 10, and fed for 20 weeks ad libitum with complete feed mixtures (CFM. Hens in the control group received the complete feed mixture (CFM and drank drinking water without any supplements. In the first experimental group hens received CFM without supplements but phytobiotics (bergamot oil (Citrus bergamia, thyme (Thymus vulgaris, clove (Syzygium aromaticum, pepper (Piper nigrum in combination with the fumaric acid and citric acid at 60 mg per 1 liter of water were added to their drinking water. In the second experimental group was CFM enriched with humic acids in the concentration of 0.5%, and phytobiotcs with organic acids at the same dose as in the first experimental group were added to their drinking water. Monitored parameters: body weight (g, egg production (%, the weight of all produced eggs (g, egg albumen weight (g, egg albumen index, Haugh unit (HU, egg yolk weight (g, egg yolk index, egg yolk colour (° HLR, egg shell weight (g and egg shell strength (N.cm-2. The results showed no significant differences between the both experimental groups and the control group in the parameter body weight of hens (P>0.05. The highest average body weight was found in the hens from the second experimental group (values in the order of groups:  1792.22 ± 80.85; 1768.42 ±55.55; 1820.12 ±78.56 g±S.D.. We observed positive trend of increasing of egg production by adding of used supplements, especially in the second experimental group with the addition of humic acids, although with no statistically significant difference compared to the control group (P>0.05. The mean laying intensity in the order of groups: 90.42; 91.16; 91.56%. We observed statistically

  15. Integration of Physical, Genetic, and Cytogenetic Mapping Data for Cellulose Synthase (CesA Genes in Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olga Y. Yurkevich

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Flax, Linum usitatissimum L., is a valuable multi-purpose plant, and currently, its genome is being extensively investigated. Nevertheless, mapping of genes in flax genome is still remaining a challenging task. The cellulose synthase (CesA multigene family involving in the process of cellulose synthesis is especially important for metabolism of this fiber crop. For the first time, fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH-based chromosomal localization of the CesA conserved fragment (KF011584.1, 5S, and 26S rRNA genes was performed in landrace, oilseed, and fiber varieties of L. usitatissimum. Intraspecific polymorphism in chromosomal distribution of KF011584.1 and 5S DNA loci was revealed, and the generalized chromosome ideogram was constructed. Using BLAST analysis, available data on physical/genetic mapping and also whole-genome sequencing of flax, localization of KF011584.1, 45S, and 5S rRNA sequences on genomic scaffolds, and their anchoring to the genetic map were conducted. The alignment of the results of FISH and BLAST analyses indicated that KF011584.1 fragment revealed on chromosome 3 could be anchored to linkage group (LG 11. The common LG for 45S and 5S rDNA was not found probably due to the polymorphic localization of 5S rDNA on chromosome 1. Our findings indicate the complexity of integration of physical, genetic, and cytogenetic mapping data for multicopy gene families in plants. Nevertheless, the obtained results can be useful for future progress in constructing of integrated physical/genetic/cytological maps in L. usitatissimum which are essential for flax breeding.

  16. Computational identification and phylogenetic analysis of the oil-body structural proteins, oleosin and caleosin, in castor bean and flax.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hyun, Tae Kyung; Kumar, Dhinesh; Cho, Young-Yeol; Hyun, Hae-Nam; Kim, Ju-Sung

    2013-02-25

    Oil bodies (OBs) are the intracellular particles derived from oilseeds. These OBs store lipids as a carbon resource, and have been exploited for a variety of industrial applications including biofuels. Oleosin and caleosin are the common OB structural proteins which are enabling biotechnological enhancement of oil content and OB-based pharmaceutical formations via stabilizing OBs. Although the draft whole genome sequence information for Ricinus communis L. (castor bean) and Linum usitatissimum L. (flax), important oil seed plants, is available in public database, OB-structural proteins in these plants are poorly indentified. Therefore, in this study, we performed a comprehensive bioinformatic analysis including analysis of the genome sequence, conserved domains and phylogenetic relationships to identify OB structural proteins in castor bean and flax genomes. Using comprehensive analysis, we have identified 6 and 15 OB-structural proteins from castor bean and flax, respectively. A complete overview of this gene family in castor bean and flax is presented, including the gene structures, phylogeny and conserved motifs, resulting in the presence of central hydrophobic regions with proline knot motif, providing an evolutionary proof that this central hydrophobic region had evolved from duplications in the primitive eukaryotes. In addition, expression analysis of L-oleosin and caleosin genes using quantitative real-time PCR demonstrated that seed contained their maximum expression, except that RcCLO-1 expressed maximum in cotyledon. Thus, our comparative genomics analysis of oleosin and caleosin genes and their putatively encoded proteins in two non-model plant species provides insights into the prospective usage of gene resources for improving OB-stability. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Effect of thermal processing on retinol levels of free-range and caged hen eggs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramalho, Héryka M M; Santos, Videanny V A; Medeiros, Vanessa P Q; Silva, Keith H D; Dimenstein, Roberto

    2006-01-01

    Purpose Eggs are a food item of high nutritional value, a source of vitamin A and readily accessible to the general population. Methods This paper analysed the effect of cooking on the retinol levels of free-range and caged hen eggs, using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The retinol levels of hen and quail eggs were also compared. Results The raw egg yolk retinol concentrations of free-range and caged hen eggs were 476.53+/-39.44 and 474.93+/-41.10 microg/100 g and cooked egg yolk concentrations were 393.53+/-24.74 and 379.01+/-30.78 microg/100 g, respectively; quail egg concentration was 636.56+/-32.71 microg retinol/100 g. No significant difference was found between the retinol of free-range and caged hen egg yolks; however, cooking diminished retinol levels, causing a loss of 17 and 20% in the free-range and caged hen egg yolks, respectively. Quail egg retinol concentration was significantly higher than that of the hens. Conclusion The retinol found in 100 g of hen and quail egg yolks could supply around 42 and 70.7% of the vitamin A requirements of an adult man, and is accordingly considered an excellent source of this vitamin.

  18. Differential abundance of egg white proteins in laying hens treated with corticosterone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jimin; Choi, Yang-Ho

    2014-12-24

    Stressful environments can affect not only egg production and quality but also gene and protein abundance in the ovary and oviduct in laying hens. The oviductal magnum of laying hens is the organ responsible for the synthesis and secretion of egg white proteins. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary corticosterone as a stress model on the abundance of proteins in the egg white and of mRNA and proteins in the magnum in laying hens. After a 14-day acclimation, 40 laying hens were divided into two groups which were provided for the next 14 days with either control (Control) or corticosterone (Stress) diet containing at 30 mg/kg. Corticosterone treatment resulted in increased feed intake (P ≤ 0.05) and decreased egg production. Two-dimensional electrophoresis (2DE) with MALDI-TOF/TOF MS/MS using eggs obtained on days 0 and 5 revealed differential abundance of egg white proteins by Stress: transiently expressed in neural precursors (TENP), hemopexin (HPX), IgY-Fcυ3-4, and extracellular fatty acid-binding protein (Ex-FABP) were decreased while ovoinhibitor and ovalbumin-related protein X (OVAX) were increased on days 5 vs 0 (P ≤ 0.05). Expression of mRNAs and proteins was also significantly modulated in the magnum of hens in Stress on day 14 (P ≤ 0.05). In conclusion, the current study provides the first evidence showing that dietary corticosterone modulates protein abundance in the egg white in laying hens, and it suggests that environmental stress can differentially modify expression of egg white proteins in laying hens.

  19. Causes of mortality in laying hens in different housing systems in 2001 to 2004

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Etterlin Pernille

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The husbandry systems for laying hens were changed in Sweden during the years 2001 – 2004, and an increase in the number of submissions for necropsy from laying hen farms was noted. Hence, this study was initiated to compare causes of mortality in different housing systems for commercial laying hens during this change. Methods Based on results from routine necropsies of 914 laying hens performed at the National Veterinary Institute (SVA in Uppsala, Sweden between 2001 and 2004, a retrospective study on the occurrence of diseases and cannibalism, i.e., pecking leading to mortality, in different housing systems was carried out. Using the number of disease outbreaks in caged flocks as the baseline, the expected number of flocks with a certain category of disease in the other housing systems was estimated having regard to the total number of birds in the population. Whether the actual number of flocks significantly exceeded the expected number was determined using a Poisson distribution for the variance of the baseline number, a continuity correction and the exact value for the Poisson distribution function in Excel 2000. Results Common causes of mortality in necropsied laying hens included colibacillosis, erysipelas, coccidiosis, red mite infestation, lymphoid leukosis and cannibalism. Less common diagnoses were Newcastle Disease, pasteurellosis and botulism. Considering the size of the populations in the different housing systems, a larger proportion of laying hens than expected was submitted for necropsy from litter-based systems and free range production compared to hens in cages (P P P Conclusion The results of the present study indicated that during 2001–2004 laying hens housed in litter-based housing systems, with or without access to outdoor areas, were at higher risk of infectious diseases and cannibalistic behaviour compared to laying hens in cages. Future research should focus on finding suitable prophylactic

  20. Ghrelin plasma concentration does not covary with energy demand in adult laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Höhne, A; Schrader, L; Weigend, S; Petow, S

    2017-10-01

    The peptide hormone ghrelin is suggested to be involved in food intake regulation in young growing chicken. Whether ghrelin is involved in the regulation of energetic balance associated with laying performance in adult laying hens was studied by use of 4 chicken lines that differ in laying performance and phylogeny (4 lines; 16 hens per line). As housing conditions are also known to affect energy demand, half of the hens per line were housed in single cages and the other half of hens were maintained in a floor housing system. Plasma samples were collected at 17 to 19, 33 to 35, 49 to 51, and 72 wk of age and analyzed with a chicken ghrelin ELISA Kit. From caged hens, individual food consumption and laying performance additionally was recorded. Due to its function in growth and its relationship with ghrelin, also GH plasma concentrations were analyzed. Ghrelin concentrations did not differ between the 4 lines at any of the test periods (all P > 0.05). Ghrelin was negatively related to food consumption only in the growing period of the high-performing lines (both P ghrelin concentrations compared with caged hens (P ghrelin is not involved in regulating energy intake related to laying performance but rather seems to be related to body growth and housing condition before start of lay, the latter possibly due to differences in hens' behavioral activity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Effects of dietary mixture of garlic (Allium sativum), coriander (Coriandrum sativum) and probiotics on immune responses and caecal counts in young laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, J S; Kim, M J; Park, S H; Lee, S B; Wang, T; Jung, U S; Im, J; Kim, E J; Lee, K W; Lee, H G

    2017-10-01

    This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of a combined mixture of phytogenic extracts (garlic and coriander) and probiotics on growth performance and immune responses in laying hens based on the results of in vitro studies to screen for immunomodulatory potency of each ingredient. Several parameters of immunomodulatory potency were estimated using lamina propria leucocytes (LPLs) isolated from rat intestinal mucosa tissue. Results show that the combined mixture enhanced LPLs proliferation, increased LPL-mediated cytotoxicity against YAC-1 tumour cells, and decreased lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced cytokine production including tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) in LPLs. For in vivo study, laying hens (n = 50/each diet group) were fed with control diet, a diet containing antibiotics (0.01% per kg feed) or the combined mixture (0.02% per kg feed) for 21 days. The dietary combined mixture improved egg production (p < 0.05) but not growth performance and carcass traits. Interestingly, the patterns of suppressing plasma IFN-γ productions during inflammation by LPS injection and decreasing caecal E. coli counts in the combined mixture group were comparable to those in the antibiotics group. Taken together, our results suggested that the 0.02% of combined mixture of phytogenic extracts and probiotics as ingredients has potential immunomodulatory effects in laying hens. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition © 2016 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

  2. Food restriction but not fish oil increases fertility in hens: role of RARRES2?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mellouk, Namya; Ramé, Christelle; Delaveau, Joël; Rat, Christophe; Marchand, Maxime; Mercerand, Frédéric; Travel, Angélique; Brionne, Aurélien; Chartrin, Pascal; Ma, Linlin; Froment, Pascal; Dupont, Joëlle

    2018-04-01

    Overfed hens selected for their rapid growth become fatter and develop reproductive disorders. Herein, we aimed to demonstrate that food restriction leading to a weight reduction and/or a supplementation with fish oil may be effective in preventing reproductive disorders through the regulation of adipokine expression in broiler hens. This study included four groups of food restricted (Rt) or ad libitum hens (Ad, feeding at a rate 1.7 times greater than Rt hens) supplemented or unsupplemented with fish oil (1%). The Rt diet significantly increased plasma chemerin (RARRES2) levels during the laying period, delayed sexual maturity by one week and improved egg quality and fertility. These effects were associated with higher progesterone production in response to IGF1 (or LH) in cultured granulosa cells and in vivo egg yolk, as compared with Ad hens. Fish oil supplementation had similar effects to the Rt diet on progesterone ( P  food restriction but not fish oil supplementation improved fertility, and this was associated with variations in RARRES2 plasma and ovarian expression in hens. © 2018 Society for Reproduction and Fertility.

  3. Ranging Behaviour of Commercial Free-Range Laying Hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leonard Ikenna Chielo

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available In this study, the range use and behaviour of laying hens in commercial free-range flocks was explored. Six flocks were each visited on four separate days and data collected from their outdoor area (divided into zones based on distance from shed and available resources. These were: apron (0–10 m from shed normally without cover or other enrichments; enriched belt (10–50 m from shed where resources such as manmade cover, saplings and dust baths were provided; and outer range (beyond 50 m from shed with no cover and mainly grass pasture. Data collection consisted of counting the number of hens in each zone and recording behaviour, feather condition and nearest neighbour distance (NND of 20 birds per zone on each visit day. In addition, we used techniques derived from ecological surveys to establish four transects perpendicular to the shed, running through the apron, enriched belt and outer range. Number of hens in each 10 m × 10 m quadrat was recorded four times per day as was the temperature and relative humidity of the outer range. On average, 12.5% of hens were found outside. Of these, 5.4% were found in the apron; 4.3% in the enriched zone; and 2.8% were in the outer range. This pattern was supported by data from quadrats, where the density of hens sharply dropped with increasing distance from shed. Consequently, NND was greatest in the outer range, least in the apron and intermediate in the enriched belt. Hens sampled in outer range and enriched belts had better feather condition than those from the apron. Standing, ground pecking, walking and foraging were the most commonly recorded activities with standing and pecking most likely to occur in the apron, and walking and foraging more common in the outer range. Use of the outer range declined with lower temperatures and increasing relative humidity, though use of apron and enriched belt was not affected by variation in these measures. These data support previous findings that outer range

  4. The value of feed consumption data for breeding in laying hens

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Luiting, P.

    1991-01-01

    The results of statistical and experimental analyses of residual feed consumption (RFC) in White Leghorn laying hens are presented. RFC is defined as the difference between the observed feed consumption of a hen and its feed consumption predicted from its egg mass production, body weight

  5. Impact of Flax Seed and Canola Oils Mixture Supplementation on The Physiological and Biochemical Changes Induced by Monosodium Glutamate in Rats

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anwar, M.M.; Mohamed, N.E.

    2010-01-01

    One of the most important problems in the human health nutrition field is the use of food flavor. Monosodium glutamate is one of the main flavors used as an ingredient in various food products, however it produces physiological and biochemical changes. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the supplementation of flax seed and canola oils mixture against the physiological and biochemical changes induced by monosodium glutamate in rats. In addition to analyses the physical and chemical characteristics of flax seed and canola oil and fatty acids composition by using gas liquid chromatography. The results concerning that unsaturated fatty acids of flax seed oil were oleic (18:1) 22%, linoleic acid (18:2) 30 % and linolenic acid (18:3) 36%. Total unsaturated fatty acids percentage in flaxseed oil was 88% and total saturated fatty acids 12%. The unsaturated fatty acids of canola oil were oleic (18:1) 66%, linoleic acid (18:2) 18% and linolenic acid (18:3) 7%, total unsaturated fatty acids percentage in canola oil was 92% and total saturated fatty acids was 8%. On the other hand, treatment of rats with monosodium glutamate for ten consecutive days led to a decrease in RBCs, Hb, Hct % and increased platelet count with decrease in WBCs and undesirable changes in its differential count. There is also, high significant increase in testicular thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) which is accompanied with significant reduction in catalase (CAT) activity, reduced glutathione (GSH) content and serum testosterone level. These disturbances were associated with significant increase in the liver enzymes ALT,AST and ALP and increase in the level of total biluribin and glucose. Also, significant increase in urea, creatinine and uric acid were recorded. The supplementation with mixture of flax seed and canola oils mixture for one month after the injection of monosodium glutamate caused noticeable amelioration in the damage occurred as a result of this flavor. To

  6. Effects of perch on feed consumption and behaviour of caged laying hens

    OpenAIRE

    E. VALKONEN; R. RINNE; J. VALAJA

    2008-01-01

    This experiment studied the effects of perches in furnished cages on behaviour and feed consumption of laying hens. The study used 352 Lohmann Selected Leghorn (LSL) hens. The hens were housed at 16 weeks of age in furnished cages in groups of 8 birds. The experiment lasted for 205 days. The treatments were: perches present from 16 weeks of age (P16), perches present from 19 weeks of age (P19), and no perches present (NP). Feed consumption and egg production were measured over the pre-laying ...

  7. Composition and distribution of cell wall phenolic compounds in flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) stem tissues

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gorshkova, T.A.; Salnikov, V.V.; Pogodina, N.M.; Chemikosova, S.B.; Yablokova, E.V.; Ulanov, A.V.; Ageeva, M.V.; Dam, van J.E.G.; Lozovaya, V.V.

    2000-01-01

    Cell wall phenolic compounds were analysed in xylem and bast fibre-rich peels of flax stems by biochemical, histochemical and ultrastructural approaches. Localization of cell wall phenolics by the enzyme-gold method using laccase revealed several gold particle distribution patterns. One of the major

  8. EFFECT OF THE DIETARY PELLET:MEAL RATIO ON THE PRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE OF LAYING HENS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luis Armando Sarmiento-Franco

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available The effect of dietary pellet:meal ratio on the performance of laying hens was evaluated using 60 Plymouth Barred Rock 30 week old hens. Hens were distributed at random to three treatments: 100:0, 75:25 and 50:50% of pellet:meal ratio in the diet along 49 days, with 20 replicates each. Final body weight of hens, polar and ecuatorial diameters of the egg, eggshell weight, eggshell thickness, and yolk colour were not different between treatments (p>0.05. However, egg production, egg weight, egg mass, food consumption, food conversion and production cost were affected by treatments (p

  9. Performance of commercial laying hen genotypes on free range and organic farms in Switzerland, France and The Netherlands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leenstra, F; Maurer, V; Bestman, M; van Sambeek, F; Zeltner, E; Reuvekamp, B; Galea, F; van Niekerk, T

    2012-01-01

    1. A total of 257 farmers with free ranging laying hens (organic and conventional) in Switzerland, France and The Netherlands with 273 flocks were interviewed to determine the relationships between the genotype of the hens, management conditions and performance. 2. Almost 20 different genotypes (brands) were present on the farms. In France, all birds were brown feathered hens laying brown eggs. In Switzerland and The Netherlands, there were brown, white (white feathered hens laying white eggs) and silver (white feathered hens laying brown eggs) hens. In Switzerland, mixed flocks were also present. 3. The overall effect of system (organic vs. conventional free range) on egg production and mortality was significant, with higher mortality and lower egg production among organic hens. In pair wise comparisons within country, the difference was highly significant in The Netherlands, and showed a non-significant tendency in the same direction in Switzerland and France. 4. White hens tended to perform better than brown hens. Silver hens appeared to have a higher mortality and lower production per hen housed at 60 weeks of age. 5. There were no significant relationships between production, mortality, feather condition and use of outside run or with flock size. 6. There was more variation in mortality and egg production among farms with a small flock size than among farms with a large flock size.

  10. The effect of cytokinins on flax seed germination at low temperature

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irena Niedźwiedź-Siegień

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Germination of flax seeds (Linum usitatissimum L., cv. Szafir at 5oC was enhanced by continuous white light, gibberellin A3 (GA3, kinetin and benzylaminopurine. GA3 and kinetin at physiological concentrations (10-8-10-6 M improved significantly germination in darkness. Stimulatory effect of benzylaminopurine was visible only in the light. Almost no effect of zeatin and isopentenyladenine (2iP on germination was observed. Possible causes of this differences were suggested.

  11. Identification of Potential Plasma Biomarkers for Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease by Integrating Transcriptomics and Proteomics in Laying Hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsai, Meng-Tsz; Chen, Yu-Jen; Chen, Ching-Yi; Tsai, Mong-Hsun; Han, Chia-Li; Chen, Yu-Ju; Mersmann, Harry J; Ding, Shih-Torng

    2017-03-01

    Background: Prevalent worldwide obesity is associated with increased incidence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and metabolic syndrome. The identification of noninvasive biomarkers for NAFLD is of recent interest. Because primary de novo lipogenesis occurs in chicken liver as in human liver, adult chickens with age-associated steatosis resembling human NAFLD is an appealing animal model. Objective: The objective of this study was to screen potential biomarkers in the chicken model for NAFLD by transcriptomic and proteomic analysis. Methods: Hy-Line W-36 laying hens were fed standard feed from 25 to 45 wk of age to induce fatty liver. They were killed every 4 wk, and liver and plasma were collected at each time point to assess fatty liver development and for transcriptomic and proteomic analysis. Next, selected biomarkers were confirmed in additional experiments by providing supplements of the hepatoprotective nutrients betaine [300, 600, or 900 parts per million (ppm) in vivo; 2 mM in vitro] or docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 1% in vivo; 100 μM in vitro) to 30-wk-old Hy-Line W-36 laying hens for 4 mo and to Hy-Line W-36 chicken primary hepatocytes with oleic acid-induced steatosis. Liver or hepatocyte lipid contents and the expression of biomarkers were then examined. Results: Plasma acetoacetyl-CoA synthetase (AACS), dipeptidyl-peptidase 4 (DPP4), glutamine synthetase (GLUL), and glutathione S -transferase (GST) concentrations are well-established biomarkers for NAFLD. Selected biomarkers had significant positive associations with hepatic lipid deposition ( P steatosis accompanied by the reduced expression of selected biomarkers in vivo and in vitro ( P < 0.05). Conclusion: This study used adult laying hens to identify biomarkers for NAFLD and indicated that AACS, DPP4, GLUL, and GST could be considered to be potential diagnostic indicators for NAFLD in the future. © 2017 American Society for Nutrition.

  12. Protein turnover in the breast muscle of broiler chicks and studies addressing chlorine dioxide sanitation of hatching eggs, poultry leg problems and wheat middling diets for laying hens

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Patterson, P.H.

    1988-01-01

    Developmental changes occurred in breast muscle Ks measured by 14 C-tyrosine incorporation at 10, 16, 22 and 34 days of age. Protein synthesis rates decreased as the birds matures: 30 to 11.2%/d between 10 and 34 days of age. In a second study birds fed diets low in lysine or protein-energy had reduced fractional rates of protein synthesis and free tyrosine, branched chain and large neutral amino acid concentrations as compared to control birds the same body weight. Artificial weight loading and reduced dietary protein levels were used to study the effects of body weight on the severity of leg deformities in chicks and poults. Experiments investigating the practicality of wheat middlings as an alternate feedstuff for laying hens suggested that high levels in the diet will reduce egg production, feed conversion, hen livability and egg yolk color. Lastly, chlorine dioxide foam and dipping solutions were compared with formaldehyde fumigation for sanitizing hatching eggs

  13. Fish oil in various doses or flax oil in pregnancy and timing of spontaneous delivery

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Knudsen, V.K.; Hansen, Harald S.; Østerdal, M.L.

    2006-01-01

    treatment. Setting: The Danish National Birth Cohort. Sample: A total of 3098 women allocated into six treatment groups and one control group. Methods: The six intervention groups were offered fish oil capsules in doses of 0.1, 0.3, 0.7, 1.4 and 2.8 g of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid per......Objectives: To test the earlier suggested hypothesis that intake of long-chain n-3 fatty acids from fish oil may delay the timing of spontaneous delivery and to test if alpha-linolenic acid, provided as flax oil capsules, shows the same effect. Design: Randomised controlled trial including women...... reporting low dietary fish intake. The women were allocated in the proportions of 1:1:1:1:1:1:2 into six treatment groups and a control group, respectively, from week 17-27 of gestation. The treatment groups received fish oil, in various doses, or flax oil, and the control group did not receive any...

  14. Effect of UV and water spraying on the mechanical properties of flax fabric reinforced polymer composites used for civil engineering applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yan, Libo; Chouw, Nawawi; Jayaraman, Krishnan

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • UV weathering degraded mechanical properties of flax/epoxy composites. • SEM confirmed degradation in fibre/matrix interfacial bonding. • UV weathering caused discolouration, matrix erosion, microcracking. - Abstract: The lack of data related to durability is one major challenge that needed to be addressed prior to the widespread acceptance of natural fibre reinforced polymer composites for engineering applications. In this work, the combined effect of ultraviolet (UV) radiation and water spraying on the mechanical properties of flax fabric reinforced epoxy composite was investigated to assess the durability performance of this composite used for civil engineering applications. Specimens fabricated by hand lay-up process were exposed in an accelerated weathering chamber for 1500 h. Tensile and three-point bending tests were performed to evaluate the mechanical properties. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to analyse the microstructures of the composites. In addition, the durability performance of flax/epoxy composite was compared with synthetic (glass and carbon) and hybrid fibre reinforced composites. The test results show that the tensile strength/modulus of the weathered composites decreased 29.9% and 34.9%, respectively. The flexural strength/modulus reduced 10.0% and 10.2%, respectively. SEM study confirmed the degradation in fibre/matrix interfacial bonding after exposure. Comparisons with other composites implies that flax fabric/epoxy composite has potential to be used for civil engineering applications when taking its structural and durability performance into account. Proper treatments to enhance its durability performance will make it more comparable to synthetic fibre reinforced composites when considering as construction building materials

  15. Effect of corticosterone on gene expression of feed intake regulatory peptides in laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Lei; Song, Zhigang; Sheikhahmadi, Ardashir; Jiao, Hongchao; Lin, Hai

    2012-08-01

    The present study was conducted to explore the effects of corticosterone (CORT) on the regulation of appetite-associated genes in laying hens. Forty eight laying hens were randomly divided into two groups: one received subcutaneous injection of CORT (2mg/kg body weight, CORT-exposed) and the other received sham-treatment (Control). Treatment of hens with CORT stimulated an increase (P0.05) on the mRNA levels of neuropeptide Y (NPY), corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), melanocortin receptor 4 and 5 (MCR-4 and MCR-5) and cholecystokinin (CCK) in the hypothalamus when compared with control hens. However, the expression of pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC), agouti-related protein (AgRP) and melanocortin recepter 1 (MCR-1) were significantly (Phens. Treatment of laying hens with CORT had no significant (P>0.05) effect on the mRNA levels of CCK in the glandular stomach and the duodenum, and those of ghrelin in the glandular stomach, the duodenum and the jejunum. However, the mRNA levels of CCK in the jejunum and the ileum, and those of ghrelin in the ileum were significantly (Pfeeding status of CORT-exposed laying hens. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. The layering and physical characteristics of Shaver Brown Hens in a ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Eggs were collected from 120 Shaver Brown hens for a period of 56 days in order to determine their oviposition time, sequence of laying, lag time, laying intensity and egg weight. The hens were subsequently divided into three classes on the basis of their laying performance namely: good layers, intermediate layers and ...

  17. RNAi-mediated pinoresinol lariciresinol reductase gene silencing in flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) seed coat: consequences on lignans and neolignans accumulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Renouard, Sullivan; Tribalatc, Marie-Aude; Lamblin, Frederic; Mongelard, Gaëlle; Fliniaux, Ophélie; Corbin, Cyrielle; Marosevic, Djurdjica; Pilard, Serge; Demailly, Hervé; Gutierrez, Laurent; Hano, Christophe; Mesnard, François; Lainé, Eric

    2014-09-15

    RNAi technology was applied to down regulate LuPLR1 gene expression in flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) seeds. This gene encodes a pinoresinol lariciresinol reductase responsible for the synthesis of (+)-secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG), the major lignan accumulated in the seed coat. If flax lignans biological properties and health benefits are well documented their roles in planta remain unclear. This loss of function strategy was developed to better understand the implication of the PLR1 enzyme in the lignan biosynthetic pathway and to provide new insights on the functions of these compounds. RNAi plants generated exhibited LuPLR1 gene silencing as demonstrated by quantitative RT-PCR experiments and the failed to accumulate SDG. The accumulation of pinoresinol the substrate of the PLR1 enzyme under its diglucosylated form (PDG) was increased in transgenic seeds but did not compensate the overall loss of SDG. The monolignol flux was also deviated through the synthesis of 8-5' linked neolignans dehydrodiconiferyl alcohol glucoside (DCG) and dihydro-dehydrodiconiferyl alcohol glucoside (DDCG) which were observed for the first time in flax seeds. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  18. Phosphorus requirement in laying hens

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lambert, W.; Krimpen, van M.M.; Star, L.

    2014-01-01

    It was hypothesized that P supply by feed in alternative housing systems can be lowered without negative effects on bone quality and production performance. Therefore, the objectives of the current study were 1) to update the retainable phosphorus (rP) needs of two modern laying hen breeds from 36

  19. Characterization, Long-Term Behavior Evaluation and Thermomechanical Properties of Untreated and Treated Flax Fiber-Reinforced Composites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amiri, Ali

    In recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in the usage of natural fiber reinforced composites in more advanced structural applications. Consequently, the need for improving their mechanical properties as well as service life and long-term behavior modeling and predictions has arisen. In a step towards further development of these materials, in this study, two newly developed biobased resins, derived from soybean oil, methacrylated epoxidized sucrose soyate and double methacrylated epoxidized sucrose soyate are combined with untreated and alkaline treated flax fiber to produce novel biocomposites. Vinyl ester reinforced with flax fiber is used as control in addition to comparing properties of biobased composites against commercial pultruded composites. Effects of alkaline treatment of flax fiber as well as addition of 1% acrylic resin to vinyl ester and the two mentioned biobased resins on mechanical properties are studied. Properties are evaluated in short-term and also, after being exposed to accelerated weathering (i.e. UV and moisture). Moreover, long-term creep of these novel biobased composites and effect of fiber and matrix treatment on viscoelastic behavior is investigated using Time-temperature superposition (TTS) principle. Based on the results of this study, the TTS provides an accelerated method for evaluation of mechanical properties of biobased composites, and satisfactory master curves are achieved by use of this principle. Also, fiber and matrix treatments were effective in increasing mechanical properties of biobased composites in short-term, and treatments delayed the creep response and slowed the process of creep in composites under study in the steady state region. Overall, results of this study reveal the successful production of biocomposites having properties that meet or exceed those of conventional pultruded members while maintaining high biocontent. Composites using treated flax fiber and newly developed resins showed less

  20. Enantioselective Characteristics and Montmorillonite-Mediated Removal Effects of α-Hexachlorocyclohexane in Laying Hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Xueke; Shen, Zhigang; Wang, Peng; Liu, Chang; Yao, Guojun; Zhou, Zhiqiang; Liu, Donghui

    2016-06-07

    α-Hexachlorocyclohexane (α-HCH) is a chiral organochlorine pesticide that is often ubiquitously detected in various environmental matrices and may be absorbed by the human body via food consumption, with serious detriments to human health. In this study, enantioselective degradation kinetics and residues of α-HCH in laying hens were investigated after a single dose of exposure to the pesticide, whereas enantioselectivity and residues of α-HCH in eggs, droppings, and various tissues were investigated after long-term exposure. Meanwhile, montmorillonite (MMT), a feed additive with high capacity of adsorption, was investigated for its ability to remove α-HCH from laying hens. Most non-brain tissues enantioselectively accumulated (-)-α-HCH, while (+)-α-HCH was preferentially accumulated in the brain. The enantiomer fractions (EFs) in most tissues gradually decreased, implying continuous depletion of (+)-α-HCH in laying hens. After 30 days of exposure and 31 days of elimination, the concentration of α-HCH in eggs and tissues of laying hens with MMT-containing feed was lower than that with MMT-free feed, indicating the removal effects of MMT for α-HCH in laying hens. The findings presented herein suggest that modified MMT may potentially be useful in reducing the enrichment of α-HCH in laying hens and eggs, thus lowering the risk of human intake of α-HCH.

  1. A Screen-Peck Task for Investigating Cognitive Bias in Laying Hens.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amanda Deakin

    Full Text Available Affect-induced cognitive judgement biases occur in both humans and animals. Animals in a more negative affective state tend to interpret ambiguous cues more negatively than animals in a more positive state and vice versa. Investigating animals' responses to ambiguous cues can therefore be used as a proxy measure of affective state. We investigated laying hens' responses to ambiguous stimuli using a novel cognitive bias task. In the 'screen-peck' task, hens were trained to peck a high/low saturation orange circle presented on a computer screen (positive cue-P to obtain a mealworm reward, and to not peck when the oppositely saturated orange circle was presented (negative cue-N to avoid a one second air puff. Ambiguous cues were orange circles of intermediate saturation between the P and N cue (near-positive-NP; middle-M; near-negative-NN, and were unrewarded. Cue pecking showed a clear generalisation curve from P through NP, M, NN to N suggesting that hens were able to associate colour saturation with reward or punishment, and could discriminate between stimuli that were more or less similar to learnt cues. Across six test sessions, there was no evidence for extinction of pecking responses to ambiguous cues. We manipulated affective state by changing temperature during testing to either ~20°C or ~29°C in a repeated measures cross-over design. Hens have been shown to prefer temperatures in the higher range and hence we assumed that exposure to the higher temperature would induce a relatively positive affective state. Hens tested under warmer conditions were significantly more likely to peck the M probe than those tested at cooler temperatures suggesting that increased temperature in the ranges tested here may have some positive effect on hens, inducing a positive cognitive bias.

  2. Thermo-Mechanical Behaviour of Flax-Fibre Reinforced Epoxy Laminates for Industrial Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giuseppe Pitarresi

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The present work describes the experimental mechanical characterisation of a natural flax fibre reinforced epoxy polymer composite. A commercial plain woven quasi-unidirectional flax fabric with spun-twisted yarns is employed in particular, as well as unidirectional composite panels manufactured with three techniques: hand-lay-up, vacuum bagging and resin infusion. The stiffness and strength behaviours are investigated under both monotonic and low-cycle fatigue loadings. The analysed material has, in particular, shown a typical bilinear behaviour under pure traction, with a knee yield point occurring at a rather low stress value, after which the material tensile stiffness is significantly reduced. In the present work, such a mechanism is investigated by a phenomenological approach, performing periodical loading/unloading cycles, and repeating tensile tests on previously “yielded” samples to assess the evolution of stiffness behaviour. Infrared thermography is also employed to measure the temperature of specimens during monotonic and cyclic loading. In the first case, the thermal signal is monitored to correlate departures from the thermoelastic behaviour with the onset of energy loss mechanisms. In the case of cyclic loading, the thermoelastic signal and the second harmonic component are both determined in order to investigate the extent of elastic behaviour of the material.

  3. Turnover of galactans and other cell wall polysaccharides during development of flax plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gorshkova, T.A.; Chemikosova, S.B.; Lozovaya, V.V.; Carpita, N.C.

    1997-01-01

    We investigated the synthesis and turnover of cell wall polysaccharides of the flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) plant during development of the phloem fibers. One-month-old flax plants were exposed to a 40-min pulse with 14CO2 followed by 8-h, 24-h, and 1-month periods of chase with ambient CO2, and radioactivity in cell wall sugars was determined in various plant parts. The relative radioactivity of glucose in noncellulosic polysaccharides was the highest compared with all other cell wall sugars immediately after the pulse and decreased substantially during the subsequent chase. The relative radioactivities of the other cell wall sugars changed with differing rates, indicating turnover of specific polysaccharides. Notably, after 1 month of chase there was a marked decrease in the proportional mass and total radioactivity in cell wall galactose, indicating a long-term turnover of the galactans enriched in the fiber-containing tissues. The ratio of radiolabeled xylose to arabinose also increased during the chase, indicating a turnover of arabinose-containing polymers and interconversion to xylose. The pattern of label redistribution differed between organs, indicating that the cell wall turnover processes are tissue- and cell-specific

  4. Low-Frequency Noise Reduction by Earmuffs with Flax Fibre-Reinforced Polypropylene Ear Cups

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Linus Yinn Leng Ang

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Soldiers and supporting engineers are frequently exposed to high low-frequency (<500 Hz cabin noise in military vehicles. Despite the use of commercial hearing protection devices, the risk of auditory damage is still imminent because the devices may not be optimally customised for such applications. This study considers flax fibre-reinforced polypropylene (Flax-PP as an alternative to the material selection for the ear cups of commercial earmuffs, which are typically made of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS. Different weaving configurations (woven and nonwoven and various noise environments (pink noise, cabin booming noise, and firing noise were considered to investigate the feasibility of the proposed composite earmuffs for low-frequency noise reduction. The remaining assembly components of the earmuff were kept consistent with those of a commercial earmuff, which served as a benchmark for results comparison. In contrast to the commercial earmuff, the composite earmuffs were shown to be better in mitigating low-frequency noise by up to 16.6 dB, while compromising midfrequency acoustical performance. Consequently, the proposed composite earmuffs may be an alternative for low-frequency noise reduction in vehicle cabins, at airports, and at construction sites involving heavy machineries.

  5. Enhanced impact properties of cementitious composites reinforced with pultruded flax/polymeric matrix fabric

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Magdi El-Messiry

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Fiber reinforced concrete (FRC has become increasingly applied in civil engineering in the last decades. Natural fiber fabric reinforced cement composites are considered to prevent damage resulting from an impact loading on the cementite plate. Flax woven fabric that has a high energy absorption capability was chosen. To increase the interfacial shear properties, the fabric was pultruded with different matrix properties that affect the strength and toughness of the pultruded fabric. In this study, three fabric structures are used to increase the anchoring of the cement in the fabric. The compressive strength and the impact energy were measured. The results revealed that pultruded fabric reinforced cement composite (PFRC absorbs much more impact energy. PFRC under impact loading has more micro cracks, while plain cement specimen shows brittle failure. The compressive test results of PFRC indicate that flax fiber fabric polymer enhanced compressive strength remarkably. Fiber reinforcement is a very effective in improving the impact resistance of PFRC. The study defines the influence factors that control the energy dissipation of the composite, which are the hardness of the polymer and the fabric cover factor. Significant correlation between impact energy and compressive strength was proved.

  6. Feed intake alters immune cell functions and ovarian infiltration in broiler hens: implications for reproductive performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Zu-Chen; Xie, Yi-Lun; Chang, Chai-Ju; Su, Chia-Ming; Chen, Yu-Hui; Huang, San-Yuan; Walzem, Rosemary L; Chen, Shuen-Ei

    2014-06-01

    Leukocytes are known to participate in ovarian activities in several species, but there is a surprising lack of information for the common chicken. Broiler hens consuming feed ad libitum (AL) exhibit a number of ovarian irregularities, but leukocyte functions are unstudied. In contrast to feed-restricted (R) hens, AL feeding for 7 wk significantly reduced egg production and clutch length while increasing pause length and atretic follicle numbers (P hens contained less progesterone, and follicle walls were thicker with loose fibrous morphology and had less collagenase-3-like gelatinolytic activity but more IL-1beta (P hen peripheral heterophils and monocytes (P hens. © 2014 by the Society for the Study of Reproduction, Inc.

  7. Paul Henning Krogh on Soil Ecotoxicology

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Krogh, Paul Henning

    2008-01-01

    In a recent analysis of data from Essential Science Indicators SM from Thomson Reuters , Dr. Paul Henning Krogh was named a Rising Star in the field of Environment & Ecology. His current record in this field includes 48 papers cited a total of 410 times. Dr. Krogh is a Senior Scientist in the Dep......In a recent analysis of data from Essential Science Indicators SM from Thomson Reuters , Dr. Paul Henning Krogh was named a Rising Star in the field of Environment & Ecology. His current record in this field includes 48 papers cited a total of 410 times. Dr. Krogh is a Senior Scientist...... in the Department of Terrestrial Ecology at the National Environmental Research Institute, part of the University of Aarhus in Silkeborg, Denmark. This month, he talks with ScienceWatch.com correspondent Simon Mitton about his highly cited work. View Article...

  8. Aspects of resistance of flax and linseed (Linum usitatissimum) to Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lini = Aspecten van de resistentie in vezel- en olievlas (Linum usitatissimum) tegen Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lini

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kroes, I.

    1997-01-01

    In the thesis aspects have been described of the flax and linseed interaction to Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lini, the causal agent of flax wilt. Two in vitro tests were established to screen for resistance, to investigate race specificity

  9. INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY OF SYMBIOTIC STARS. XI. ORBITS FOR SOUTHERN S-TYPE SYSTEMS: HEN 3-461, SY MUS, HEN 3-828, AND AR PAV

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fekel, Francis C.; Hinkle, Kenneth H.; Joyce, Richard R.; Wood, Peter R.

    2017-01-01

    Employing new infrared radial velocities, we have computed spectroscopic orbits of the cool giants in four southern S-type symbiotic systems. The orbits for two of the systems, Hen 3-461 and Hen 3-828, have been determined for the first time, while orbits of the other two, SY Mus and AR Pav, have previously been determined. For the latter two systems, we compare our results with those in the literature. The low mass of the secondary of SY Mus suggests that it has gone through a common envelope phase. Hen 3-461 has an orbital period of 2271 days, one of the longest currently known for S-type symbiotic systems. That period is very different from the orbital period proposed previously from its photometric variations. The other three binaries have periods between 600 and 700 day, values that are typical for S-type symbiotic orbits. Basic properties of the M giant components and the distance to each system are determined.

  10. Effect of dietary supplementation of organic zinc on laying performance, egg quality and some biochemical parameters of laying hens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abd El-Hack, M E; Alagawany, M; Amer, S A; Arif, M; Wahdan, K M M; El-Kholy, M S

    2018-04-01

    This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of zinc methionine (Zn-Met) supplementation on the performance, egg quality, antioxidant status and some biochemical parameters of blood serum in laying hens from 22 to 34 weeks of age. A total of 120 Hisex Brown laying hens of 22-week-old were randomly allocated into five treatments with six cage replicates for each (four hens/replicate). Dietary treatments consisted of the basal diet with no Zn-Met supplementation (control group) and basal diet supplemented with 25, 50, 75 or 100 mg Zn-Met/kg diet. No significant differences were observed on body weight, body weight gain or feed conversion ratio due to dietary Zn-Met supplementation. However, highly significant impact was observed on daily feed intake. Egg number, egg weight and egg mass were increased in the group fed diet supplemented with the highest level of Zn-Met (100 mg/kg of diet) as compared to other groups. All egg quality traits were statistically (p > .05 or .01) affected as a response to dietary Zn-Met supplementation except egg shape index, shell percentage and yolk index. In comparison with the control group, dietary supplementation of 25, 50, 75 or 100 mg Zn-Met/kg decreased serum triglyceride and LDL-cholesterol levels. Serum cholesterol level was increased with all dietary levels of Zn-Met in comparison with the control group. Dietary Zn-Met supplementation increased the serum content of zinc, where the highest values were recorded with 50 and 100 mg Zn-Met/kg diet. Dietary Zn-Met levels did not affect the antioxidant indices in blood serum except for the activity of copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu-Zn-SOD). The activity of Cu-Zn-SOD was increased with Zn-Met supplementations with no differences among supplemental zinc levels. It is concluded that dietary Zn-Met supplementation reduced serum triglyceride, LDL-cholesterol and increased Zn status and resulted in promoting antioxidant ability of laying hens, and the addition of 100 mg Zn

  11. Genetic correlations between behavioural responses and performance traits in laying hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iwona Rozempolska-Rucińska

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Objective The aim of the study was to evaluate genetic correlations between the behavioural profile and performance in laying hens as an indirect answer to the question whether the observed behavioural responses are associated with increased levels of stress in these birds. Methods The assessment of birds’ temperament was carried out using the novel objects test. The behavioural test was conducted in two successive generations comprising 9,483 Rhode Island White (RIW birds (approx. 4,700 individuals per generation and 4,326 Rhode Island Red (RIR birds (approx. 2,100 individuals per generation. Based on the recorded responses, the birds were divided into two groups: a fearful profile (1,418 RIW hens and 580 RIR hens and a brave/curious profile (8,065 RIW hens and 3,746 RIR hens. The birds were subjected to standard assessment of their performance traits, including SM, age at sexual maturity; ST, shell thickness; SG, egg specific gravity; EW, mean egg weight; IP, initial egg production; and HC, number of hatched chicks. The pedigree was three generations deep (including two behaviour-recorded generations. Estimation of the (covariance components was performed with the Gibbs sampling method, which accounts for the discrete character of the behavioural profile denotation. Results The analyses revealed negative correlations between the performance traits of the laying hens and the behavioural profile defined as fearful. In the group of fearful RIW birds, delayed sexual maturation (0.22 as well as a decrease in the initial egg production (−0.30, egg weight (−0.54, egg specific gravity (−0.331, shell thickness (−0.11, and the number of hatched chicks (−0.24 could be expected. These correlations were less pronounced in the RIR breed, in which the fearful birds exhibited a decline in hatchability (−0.37, egg specific gravity (−0.11, and the number of hatched chicks (−0.18. There were no correlations in the case of the other traits or

  12. THE EFFECT OF NON-STARCH POLYSACCHARIDES DERIVED FROM DIFFERENT GRAINS ON PERFORMANCE AND DIGESTIVE ACTIVITY IN LAYING HENS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Hartini

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available An experiment was conducted to observe the effect of non-starch polysaccharides (NSP onperformance and digestive activity of laying hens. Thirty-two ISA Brown hens were individually cagedand offered four diets (wheat-based, millrun-based, barley-based, and barley-enzymes diets for 10weeks. The present experiment was assigned in a completely randomized design with 8 replicates perdietary treatment. Wheat- and barley diets caused significantly higher (P<0.05 viscosity than otherdiets. Increased viscosity caused lower digesta dry matter (DM (P<0.01 and higher excreta moisture(P<0.05. The wheat diet did not cause a negative effect on intestinal starch digestibility, feed intake, andbird performance (P>0.05. Birds fed the barley-based diet had lower weight gain (P<0.05 and highercaecal weight (P<0.05 than those given other diets. Enzyme supplementation on barley dietssignificantly (P<0.05 reduced jejunal digesta viscosity and caecal weight, increased weight gain(P<0.05 and ileal digesta DM (P<0.01, and numerically reduced excreta moisture. The current studydemonstrated that NSP have a profound effect on digesta viscosity, performance, and digestive organs ofbirds; however, the NSP action may be modified by an interaction with each other and with other cellwallcomponents of grains in the gut. Enzyme supplementation reduced the negative effect of digestaviscosity.

  13. Role of ascorbic acid and α tocopherol in alleviating salinity stress on flax plant (Linum usitatissimum L.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mervat Sh. Sadak

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Salinity is one of the environmental challenges in the world affecting on several physiological processes and the most limiting factor of plant productivity and quality. Two pot experiments were conducted at the wire house of National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt during two successive seasons of 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 to assess the efficiency of two antioxidant vitamins (ascorbic acid at 1.13 and 2.27 mM or α tocopherol at 0.46 and 0.93 mM and/or salinity stress at (0.0, 3.08, 6.16, 9.23 ds/m on photosynthetic pigments, protein, carbohydrate, minerals, oil contents and yield as well as fatty acids composition of the yielded oils of three flax cultivars (Sakha 3, Giza 8 and Ariane. The data revealed that salinity stress caused significant and gradual decreases in total photosynthetic pigments, polysaccharides, total carbohydrates, total proteins and the uptake of Mg, K, Ca and P in the leaves of three flax cultivars with increasing salinity levels (3.08, 6.16, 9.23 ds/m. Otherwise, significant and gradual increase appeared in both Na and Cl. Ascorbic acid and α tocopherol at different concentrations caused significant increases in photosynthetic pigments, total carbohydrates and protein contents in the leaves of flax plants irrigated either with tap water or saline solution as compared with their corresponding controls. Exogenous application of ascorbic and α tocopherol at different concentrations exhibited decreases in Na and Cl whereas increases appeared in Mg, K, Ca and P relative to their corresponding control. Ascorbic acid (1.13 and 2.27 mM and α tocopherol (0.46 and 0.93 mM caused marked increases in yield and yield attributes of three flax cultivars either in plants irrigated with tap water or saline solution as compared to corresponding control. Ascorbic acid effects were more pronounced than α tocopherol effects. In addition, the higher level of two vitamins was more pronounced than the lower level. Regarding plants irrigated

  14. Applying the principles of welfare and quality of production in the organic farm of the laying hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jana Zdechovanová

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available European Union  banned with Council Directive No. 74/1999/EC use of the conventional battery cages for laying hens in European Union with effect from January 1, 2012. By this time much attention was paid to the assessment of laying hens welfare in the modified breeding system,namely from aspect of behavior and expression fyziological stress. At present are used the enriched cages,   which device is defined by the Code of laying hens living conditions. Quantification of intensity and sequence of the events in different behaviour and a time regime can contribute to knowledge of time spending of the laying hens  in the breeding area and to determining of prioritizing their behavior.The aim of our research was assessment an application of principles laying hens welfare in the farm, their production and egg quality. An object of investigation was ecological farm of laying hens. In the experiment were observed thehousing conditions and nutrition of laying hens in farm, egg production, egg weight at laying hens old 42 weeks and selected indicators of chemical formation of the eggs. In the farm were reared laying hens ISA Brown, which are high-productive and the most   the most widely used in EU. The informations and data on farm, laying hen hall, breeding facility, breeding conditions, the behavior of the laying hens, nutrition, feeding and egg production were obtained by personal visit an organic farm and informations which  the farmer records and stores. The informations about the behavior of laying hens were obtained by observing and comparing with the knowledge and data of the Slovak Government regulation on December 11, 2002, which   minimum standards determine for the protection of laying hens.The informations on feed were obtained  directly from an organic farm and   feed company that followed by accordance  the minimum content of nutrients and energy in accordance with the needs of the laying hens. Egg production was

  15. Improved method for fibre content and quality analysis and their application to flax genetic diversity investigations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Oever, van den M.J.A.; Bas, N.; Soest, van L.J.M.; Melis, C.; Dam, van J.E.G.

    2003-01-01

    Evaluation for fibre content and quality in a breeding selection program is time consuming and costly. Therefore, this study aims to develop a method for fast and reproducible fibre content analysis on small flax straw samples. A protocol has been developed and verified with fibre screening methods

  16. Role of protein farnesylation events in the ABA-mediated regulation of the Pinoresinol-Lariciresinol Reductase 1 (LuPLR1) gene expression and lignan biosynthesis in flax (Linum usitatissimum L.).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corbin, Cyrielle; Decourtil, Cédric; Marosevic, Djurdjica; Bailly, Marlène; Lopez, Tatiana; Renouard, Sullivan; Doussot, Joël; Dutilleul, Christelle; Auguin, Daniel; Giglioli-Guivarc'h, Nathalie; Lainé, Eric; Lamblin, Frédéric; Hano, Christophe

    2013-11-01

    A Linum usitatissimum LuERA1 gene encoding a putative ortholog of the ERA1 (Enhanced Response to ABA 1) gene of Arabidopsis thaliana (encoding the beta subunit of a farnesyltransferase) was analyzed in silico and for its expression in flax. The gene and the protein sequences are highly similar to other sequences already characterized in plants and all the features of a farnesyltransferase were detected. Molecular modeling of LuERA1 protein confirmed its farnesyltransferase nature. LuERA1 is expressed in the vegetative organs and also in the outer seedcoat of the flaxseed, where it could modulate the previously observed regulation operated by ABA on lignan synthesis. This effect could be mediated by the regulation of the transcription of a key gene for lignan synthesis in flax, the LuPLR1 gene, encoding a pinoresinol lariciresinol reductase. The positive effect of manumycin A, a specific inhibitor of farnesyltransferase, on lignan biosynthesis in flax cell suspension systems supports the hypothesis of the involvement of such an enzyme in the negative regulation of ABA action. In Arabidopsis, ERA1 is able to negatively regulate the ABA effects and the mutant era1 has an enhanced sensitivity to ABA. When expressed in an Arabidopsis cell suspension (heterologous system) LuERA1 is able to reverse the effect of the era1 mutation. RNAi experiments in flax targeting the farnesyltransferase β-subunit encoded by the LuERA1 gene led to an increase LuPLR1 expression level associated with an increased content of lignan in transgenic calli. Altogether these results strongly suggest a role of the product of this LuERA1 gene in the ABA-mediated upregulation of lignan biosynthesis in flax cells through the activation of LuPLR1 promoter. This ABA signaling pathway involving ERA1 probably acts through the ABRE box found in the promoter sequence of LuPLR1, a key gene for lignan synthesis in flax, as demonstrated by LuPLR1 gene promoter-reporter experiments in flax cells using wild

  17. Bacterial succession and metabolite changes during flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) retting with Bacillus cereus HDYM-02.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Dan; Liu, Pengfei; Pan, Chao; Du, Renpeng; Ping, Wenxiang; Ge, Jingping

    2016-09-02

    High-throughput sequencing and GC-MS (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry) were jointly used to reveal the bacterial succession and metabolite changes during flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) retting. The inoculation of Bacillus cereus HDYM-02 decreased bacterial richness and diversity. This inoculum led to the replacement of Enterobacteriaceae by Bacillaceae. The level of aerobic Pseudomonadaceae (mainly Azotobacter) and anaerobic Clostridiaceae_1 gradually increased and decreased, respectively. Following the addition of B. cereus HDYM-02, the dominant groups were all degumming enzyme producers or have been proven to be involved in microbial retting throughout the entire retting period. These results could be verified by the metabolite changes, either degumming enzymes or their catalytic products galacturonic acid and reducing sugars. The GC-MS data showed a clear separation between flax retting with and without B. cereus HDYM-02, particularly within the first 72 h. These findings reveal the important bacterial groups that are involved in fiber retting and will facilitate improvements in the retting process.

  18. Screening for hen's egg and chicken meat specific IgE antibodies in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Background: Allergy to hen's egg and meat contributes significantly to the manifestations of food allergy all over the world. Objectives: This study was performed to assess the presence of hen's egg and meat specific IgE antibodies among patients investigated for various allergic disorders. Methods. This is a retrospective ...

  19. Screening for hen's egg and chicken meat specific IgE antibodies in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Abstract. Background: Allergy to hen's egg and meat contributes significantly to the manifestations of food allergy all over the world. Objectives: This study was performed to assess the presence of hen's egg and meat specific IgE antibodies among patients investigated for various allergic disorders. Methods. This is a ...

  20. Colour and viscosity of egg yolk after addition of beetroot to feed for laying hens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vladimír Kopřiva

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The colour and viscosity of egg yolk are among major indicators assessed by consumers and food technology. This study attempts to evaluate the colour and viscosity of yolk in laying hens’ eggs after the addition of dried beetroot (Beta vulgaris L. ssp. esculenta var. rubra at the amount of 1% and 2% per feeding dose (in July and August 2012. The experiment was performed on 24 hens that were divided into three groups of 8 laying hens. The preparatory phase lasted one week (standard diet, followed by four weeks during which experimental layers received a diet enriched with beetroot. Then, all layers were fed a mixture without beetroot for the following four weeks. Eggs were collected during the whole period of 8 weeks. In total, 30 eggs from each group were subjected to analysis. The colour of eggs was determined using spectrophotometry, by the Colour-guide sphere spex portable colorimeter. The results showed a significant (P ab did not show a significant difference (P < 0.05 between the control and experimental groups. The egg yolk viscosity was lower in experimental groups compared to the control group but the difference was not significant. The addition of dried beetroot at the amount of 1 and 2% per feeding dose had no effect on colour and viscosity. This paper supported the null hypothesis that the addition of dried beetroot to the feeding dose at the amount of 1% and 2% has no effect on the colour and viscosity of egg yolk.