Digestion of cell wall fractions of forage in the rumen is incomplete due to the complex links which limit their degradation. It is therefore necessary to find options to optimize the use of forages in ruminant production systems. One alternative is to use exogenous enzymes. Exogenous fibrolytic enzymes are of fungal or bacterial origin and increase nutrient availability from the cell wall, which consists of three fractions in different proportions depending on the species of forage: digestible, potentially digestible, and indigestible. The response to addition of exogenous enzymes varies with the type of forage; many researchers infer that there are enzyme-forage interactions but fail to explain the biological mechanism. We hypothesize that the response is related to the proportion of the potentially digestible fraction. The exogenous enzyme activity depends on several factors but if the general conditions for enzyme action are available, the potentially digestible fraction may determine the magnitude of the response. Results of experiments with exogenous fibrolytic enzymes in domestic ruminants are inconsistent. This, coupled with their high cost, has made their use unattractive to farmers. Development of cheaper products exploring other microorganisms with fibrolytic activity, such as Fomes fomentarius or Cellulomonas flavigena, is required.

The objective of this study is to present progress on management and conservation of with tailed-deer (Odocoileus virginianus) at the Mixteca poblana; an ethnic region whit 47 municipalities and 10,565.7 km 2 , whit semiarid and arid climates, rangeland slopes with tropical dry forest and xerophytes shrubs, where the Mexican subspecie of whitetailed deer mexicanus is distributed in 547,500 ha which represents 51.8% of the regionThe conservation and management of the deer is carried under the technological model denominated diversified livestock, a silvopastoril system which combines the intensive production of bovine meat, with the sustainable use of deer and other wildlife species and their habitat, by hunting and ecotourism in Units for the Management and Wildlife Conservation (UMAs). Under this management, there are 72 UMAs in 35 municipalities whit 82,522 ha in the region. The mexicanus subspecie is considerate as a hunt trophy by the Safari Club International. In the hunting season 2009-2010, 32 UMAs harvested 152 game permissions; 20 of those UMAs are located in Chiautla County. The deer is fed with 139 species of plants, mainly 40 herbs and 36 shrubs; the population density varies from 12.8 to 45.45 ha/deer. The environmental benefits from deer management and their habitat have resulted in environmental services such as conservation of soil, water and biodiversity. The socioeconomic benefits include increments in rate of incomes and regional employment, as well as conservation of cultural traditions. Actually in the region are involved three group of researchers, three Non Governmental Organization and seven and technical advisors.

Choline chloride is used to provide choline in dog foods; however, in other domestic species, it has been replaced with a polyherbal containing phosphatidylcholine. A polyherbal containing Achyrantes aspera, Trachyspermum ammi, Citrullus colocynthis, Andrographis paniculata, and Azadirachta indica was evaluated in adult dogs through body weight changes, subcutaneous fat thickness, blood metabolites, and gene expression. Forty dogs (4.6 ± 1.6 years old) who were individually housed in concrete kennels were randomly assigned to the following treatments: unsupplemented diet (377 mg choline/kg), choline chloride (3850 mg/kg equivalent to 2000 mg choline/kg diet), and polyherbal (200, 400, and 800 mg/kg) for 60 days. Blood samples were collected on day 59 for biochemistry, biometry, and gene expression analysis through microarray assays. Intake, final body weight, and weight changes were similar for the two choline sources. Feed intake variation among dogs (p = 0.01) and dorsal fat (p = 0.03) showed a quadratic response to herbal choline. Dogs that received the polyherbal diet had reduced blood cholesterol levels (Quadratic, p = 0.02). The gene ontology analysis indicated that 15 biological processes were modified (p ≤ 0.05) with implications for preventing cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, cancer prevention, inflammatory and immune response, and behavior and cognitive process. According to these results that were observed in a 60 day trial, the polyherbal form could replace choline chloride in dog diets at a concentration of 400 mg/kg.

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-The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of four levels of fish oil on lamb performance, carcass yield, ruminal fermentation, and leptin gene expression in perirenal fat. Thirty-two lambs (24.10±2.15 kg, Katahdin × Pelibuey) were used in a completely randomized experimental design. The lambs were assigned to one of four dietary treatments (n = 8 lambs/treatment), expressed as g/kg DM basis: 0 fish oil and 300 corn; 10 fish oil and 250 corn; 20 fish oil and 205 corn; and 30 fish oil and 170 corn. The lambs were weighed on consecutive days at the beginning (days 0 and 1) and at the end (days 55 and 56) of the trial. Ruminal fluid samples were collected on day 56 to evaluate the ruminal fermentation pattern. The lambs were slaughtered on day 56; perirenal adipose tissue samples were collected and the carcass yields were recorded. Volatile fatty acids, ammonia N, and leptin mRNA expression were not affected by the dietary treatments. However, the dry matter intake, average daily gain, final body weight, and the hot carcass yield showed either increased linear or quadratic responses as the proportion of fish oil increased in the ration; the estimated optimal level obtained of fish oil levels for average daily gain was 11.2±0.21 g/kg and 12.8±4.67 g/kg for feed conversion. Additionally, feed efficiency and backfat thickness had an increment, showing quadratic response as the proportion of fish oil increased in the diet. Increasing the fish oil concentration in the diet does not affect leptin messenger ribonucleic acid expression. The lamb performance can be improved with 12 g/kg fish oil in diets of finishing lambs.Key Words: finshing lambs, oils, carcasss quality Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia