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This study aimed to evaluate the effects of dietary Lasia spinosa Thw. (LST) powder supplementation on growth performance, blood metabolites, antioxidant status, intestinal morphology, and cecal microbiome in broiler chickens. A total of 400 1-day-old male Guangxi partridge broilers (initial body weight: 42.52 ± 0.06 g) were randomly allotted to 4 dietary treatments: LST0 group (a basal diet), LST1 group (a basal diet with 1% LST powder), LST2 group (a basal diet with 2% LST powder), LST4 group (a basal diet with 4% LST powder), 10 replicates for each treatment, and 10 broilers in each treatment group. Results indicated that the average daily feed intake of broilers during 22–42 days and the average daily gain of chickens during 1–42 days significantly increased by dietary supplementation of LST powder (p < 0.01), while the feed conversion ratio during the overall periods was decreased by dietary supplementation of LST powder (p < 0.01). Except for the levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in liver (p > 0.05), the levels of SOD, catalase (CAT) and GSH-Px in serum, liver, and breast muscle were significantly increased in the LST supplemented groups (p < 0.05), while the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in serum, liver, and breast muscle were significantly decreased in the LST supplemented groups (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the levels of triglyceride (TG) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were significantly decreased by the addition of dietary LST powder (p < 0.01), while the levels of HDL-C, Ca, Fe, Mg, and P were linearly increased by the addition of dietary LST powder (p < 0.01). With respect to the gut morphometric, crypt depth was significantly decreased by LST supplementation (p < 0.05), while villus height and the ratio of villus height to crypt depth were notably increased by LST supplementation (p < 0.05). Sequencing of 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) from the cecal contents of broilers revealed that the composition of the chicken gut microbiota was altered by LST supplementation. The α-diversity of microbiota in broilers was increased (p < 0.05) in the LST1 group, but was decreased (p < 0.05) in the LST2 and LST4 groups compared with the LST0 group. The differential genera enriched in the LST1 group, such as Bacillus, Odoribacter, Sutterella, Anaerofilum, Peptococcus, were closely related to the increased growth performance, antioxidant status, intestinal morphology, Ca, Mg, and reduced blood lipid in the treated broilers.

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The world's first cloned swamp buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) derived from adult ear skin fibroblast has been reported. Donor fibroblast cells were produced from biopsies taken from adult male ear skin and in vitro matured oocytes obtained from a slaughterhouse were used as cytoplasts. A total of 39 blastocysts and 19 morulae fresh embryos were transferred into 12 recipient buffaloes. Progesterone assays indicated establishment of pregnancy in 10 of the 12 buffaloes (83.3%) after 45 days, with six animals still pregnant at 3 months. One recipient maintained pregnancy to term and naturally delivered a 40 kg male calf after 326 days of gestation. DNA analysis showed that the cloned calf was genetically identical to the donor cells. Genotype analyses, using 12 buffalo microsatellite markers, confirmed that the cloned calf was derived from the donor cell lines. In conclusion, the present study reports, for the first time, the establishment of pregnancy and birth of the first cloned Thai swamp buffalo derived from adult ear skin fibroblast cells.

ABSTRACT:Superovulation is an important step in assisted reproductive technology. Due to its short half-life, follicle stimulating hormone is usually given twice daily to ewes for three to five days, which is both time-and labour-intensive. However, dissolving follicle stimulating hormone in degradable polymers to delay absorbtion has been effective in ruminants. Experiment 1 was performed to compare a split-single follicle stimulating hormone dissolved in hyaluronan (S group; 150 mg follicle stimulating hormone on the first day and 30 mg 48 h later; n = 21) and six decreasing doses of follicle stimulating hormone (M group; 50, 50, 30, 30, 10 and 10 mg; n = 22) at 12-h intervals. Ovarian responses and numbers of recovered ova/embryos did not differ significantly between groups. However, there tended to be more Grade 1 and 2 embryos in S vs M groups (mean ± SEM, 5.1 ± 4.9 vs 2.9 ± 2.9, respectively; P = 0.08). Experiment 2 tested the effectiveness of a simplified split-single follicle stimulating hormone in purebred sheep on a commercial farm. The numbers of recovered good-grade embryos (day 2) were 4.8 ± 5.0 and 4.0 ± 2.5 per donors in Corriedale and Bond sheep breeds, respectively. We conclude that this modified technique for ewe superovulation improved animal welfare, reduced animal handling and labour and yielded results similar to or better than conventional twice-daily follicle stimulating hormone treatments.