the global animal productivity should proportionally increase to meet the food needs of a growing population. this article presents an overview of the current and promising nano-applications in poultry and livestock production systems that could offer opportunities for improved efficiencies and productivity. some basic information on nanotechnology and the economics of nanotechnology is provided. poultry and animal production systems, current situation and available tools and techniques are presented in parallel with animal health care, animal nutrition, animal shelter and food processing nano-applications and their advantages. these applications are directly or indirectly related to the human food chain and may affect the food safety and food quality. lastly, the expected risks and hazards related to nano-application in poultry and livestock production systems that can affect animal, human and environment are described. it is concluded that nanoapplications have the potential to provide smarter solutions for various applications in the poultry and livestock production systems, which can help in reducing costs and enhancing the final product quality. however, concerns over safety of some nano-applications hamper their immediate implementation. extensive risk assessments should be conducted to ensure the safety of the nanoproducts before making them available for animal or human use. key words: nano-application, animal feed, health applications, food processing, housing, environmental hazard Nano-materials with at least one dimension in the 1-100 nm range (National Nanotechnology Initiative, 2011) may have different physical and chemical characteristics compared to the bulk material (Scott, 2005; Duncan, 2011; The Scien-

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Modern methods of industrial poultry and egg production systems involve stressful practices that stimulate Escherichia coli (E. coli) activity causing endotoxic shock. This investigation was conducted to evaluate the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and cell death program genes and DNA damage induced by E. coli in the brain and liver tissues of laying hens. A total of two hundred and ten H&N brown layer hens with 20 week age, were used in this research. First, preliminary experiments were designed (60 hens in total) to establish the optimal exposure dose of E. coli and to determine the nearest time of notable response to be used in the remainder studies of this research. At 35-wk of age, 150 hens were randomly assigned into 2 groups with 3 replicates of 25 birds each; the first group was injected in the brachial wing vein with 107 E. coli colony/hen, while the second group was injected with saline and served as a control. The body temperature and plasma corticosterone concentration were measured 3 hr after injection. Specimens of liver and brain were obtained from each group and the gene expression of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase, interlukin-1β (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), Bax, and caspase-3 genes were measured by quantitative real-time PCR. DNA damage in the brain and liver tissues were also measured by comet assay. Hens treated with E. coli showed significant (P<0.05) increase of body temperature and plasma corticosterone (42.6°C and 14.5 ng/ml, respectively) compared to the control group (41.1°C and 5.5 ng/ml, respectively). Additional remarkable over-inflammation gene expression of p38, IL-1β and TNF-α.genes were also detected in the brain (2.2-fold, 2.0-fold and 3.3-fold, respectively) and the liver (2.1-fold, 1.9-fold and 3.0-fold, respectively) tissues of the infected chickens. It is also important to note that hens injected with E. coli showed an increase in DNA damage in the brain and liver cells (P<0.05). These results were synchronized with activating cell death program since our data showed significant high expression of Bax gene by 2.8- and 2.7-fold and caspase-3 gene by 2.5- and 2.7-fold in the brain and liver tissues of infected chickens, respectively (P<0.05). In conclusion, the current study indicates that E. coli injection induces inflammatory physiological response and triggers cell death program in the brain and liver. Our results provide more understanding to endotoxic shock by E. coli in chickens at cellular level. Further studies are required to confirm if such responses are destructive or protective to set the means through which a chicken mounts a successful defense against avian pathogenic E. coli.

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