Livestock Science最新文献

{"title":"Ingestive behavior, intake and digestibility of nutrients, and water and nitrogen balance of lactating goats fed dehydrated grape pomace","authors":"Eduardo Michelon do Nascimento ,&nbsp;Thadeu Mariniello Silva ,&nbsp;Américo Fróes Garcez Neto ,&nbsp;Félix Barbosa Reis ,&nbsp;Elice Brunelle Lessa Santos ,&nbsp;Viviane Azevêdo Silva ,&nbsp;Anny Graycy Vasconcelos de Oliveira Lima ,&nbsp;Salete Alves de Moraes ,&nbsp;Tadeu Vinhas Voltolini ,&nbsp;Mário Adriano Ávila Queiroz ,&nbsp;Sanara Adrielle França Melo ,&nbsp;Steyce Neves Barbosa ,&nbsp;Daniel Ribeiro Menezes","doi":"10.1016/j.livsci.2025.105726","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.livsci.2025.105726","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The use of agro-industrial waste as feed for dairy goats allows farmers to integrate alternative sources with conventional feeds. This study aimed to assess the ingestive behavior, intake, nutrient digestibility, and water and nitrogen balance in lactating Saanen goats. Eight multiparous Saanen goats, approximately four years old and weighing an average of 41.2±5.57 kg of body weight (BW; mean ± standard error of the mean), were included in a double Latin square (4×4) design. The treatments consisted of partially replacing the cactus pear with dehydrated grape pomace at 0, 90, 150, and 210 g/kg levels based on dry matter (DM). The diets were isoproteic (151 g/kg of crude protein; DM) and had a 60:40 roughage:concentrate ratio. Ingestive behavior was evaluated through visual observations. Samples of the ingredients, leftovers, and feces were analyzed to determine the content of DM, crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), lignin, and ash. The total feces production was used to determine indigestible neutral detergent fiber (NDFi). Water intake was measured to assess the water balance. The nitrogen balance was calculated using urine and feces. The data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and linear and quadratic regression at a significance level of 5%. Rumination time and neutral detergent fiber intake efficiency increased (30.4%; P = 0.001 and 46.9%; P = 0.046, respectively), while idling time decreased (12.3%; P = 0.008) with the inclusion of 210 g/kg of pomace. The digestibility of the crude protein decreased (51.4%; P &lt; 0.001) at the highest pomace level. A quadratic effect (P = 0.008) on fecal N was observed with highest value estimated to 175 g/kg of pomace. Milk urea N increased (55.6%; P = 0.016) at 210 g/kg of pomace. In conclusion, replacing cactus pear with dehydrated grape pomace in the diet of lactating goats increased the intake. Still, it reduced the digestibility of certain nutrients and led to greater N excretion through feces and milk.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18152,"journal":{"name":"Livestock Science","volume":"298 ","pages":"Article 105726"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144205119","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Efficacy of in ovo feeding with Lactobacillus acidophilus and oregano essential oil in improving growth performance, immunity, microbial enumeration, and gene expression of ostrich chicks","authors":"Ahmed M. Elbaz ,&nbsp;Ahmed Ateya ,&nbsp;Said A.M. Youssef ,&nbsp;Ahmed Sabry Arafa ,&nbsp;Mohamed G. Sallam ,&nbsp;Ayman Abd El-Aziz ,&nbsp;Mohammed Al-Rasheed ,&nbsp;Manal A. Babaker ,&nbsp;Doaa O. Othman ,&nbsp;Ghada G. Gad ,&nbsp;AbdelRahman Y. Abdelhady","doi":"10.1016/j.livsci.2025.105723","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.livsci.2025.105723","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The present study investigated the effect of in-ovo injection of <em>Lactobacillus acidophilus</em>, oregano essential oil, and their mixture on growth performance, antioxidant status, immunity, microbial population, and gene expression in ostrich chicks during summer. On day 36.5 of incubation, 500 fertile embryonic ostrich eggs were distributed equally into five groups. The first group included untreated eggs (PCN), the second group included in-ovo injected with distilled water (NCN), and the third, fourth, and fifth groups included in-ovo injected with L. <em>acidophilus</em> (LA), oregano essential oil (OEO), and their mixture (LOM), respectively. At hatching, 25 ostrich chicks from each group were randomly divided into 5 replicates. Adding L. <em>acidophilus</em> and oregano essential oil mixture to ostrich eggs increased body weight gain and decreased feed conversion ratio compared to the other groups in week 12. The administration of L. <em>acidophilus</em> and oregano essential oil mixture to ostrich eggs resulted in stronger antioxidant defense systems through increasing SOD levels and decreasing MDA levels. L. <em>acidophilus</em> and oregano essential oil mixture enhanced immunity and liver function by increasing the IgA and IgM levels and reducing the AST levels. Furthermore, the L. <em>acidophilus</em> and oregano essential oil mixture enhanced gut health via modifying the microbial content (increased <em>Lactobacillus</em> counts) and gene expression by upregulating the IL-10 and MUC2 genes and downregulating the IL-6 gene. Therefore, our study concluded that the in-ovo L. <em>acidophilus</em> and oregano essential oil mixture enhanced the ostrich chick's growth performance, immune response, and gut integrity during summer. However, further studies are needed to track the effects of these supplements on the growth and health of adult ostriches.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18152,"journal":{"name":"Livestock Science","volume":"298 ","pages":"Article 105723"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144240522","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Milk recording data highlight improvements in fertility and somatic cell counts but worsening longevity for the UK national dairy herd","authors":"Emma N. Taylor-Holt ,&nbsp;Mohamad A. Kossaibati ,&nbsp;Kulwant Channa ,&nbsp;James Hanks ,&nbsp;Nicholas M. Taylor","doi":"10.1016/j.livsci.2025.105739","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.livsci.2025.105739","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Benchmarking of key performance indicators (KPIs) can be used by farmers and technical advisors to indicate areas for improvement and enable them to make more informed management decisions. Data for selected KPIs are readily available from a variety of sources. However, longitudinal data covering a mixture of KPIs in the same dataset are limited. Herein, milk recording data are used from a cross-section of 195 UK Friesian/Holstein herds which have milk recorded for a minimum of 10 years to examine trends in the median herds’ KPIs from 2014 to 2023. Herd size has increased by 15.8 % but cows are being culled at a younger age. Fertility parameters have improved, most notably conception rates increased from 32.9 % to 40.0 % and the percent of cows conceived 100 days post-partum (DPP) increased from 30.4 % to 39.0 %. From 2014 to 2021, milk yield per cow per year increased from 8394 kg to 8797 kg and lifetime milk yield per cow per day increased from 11.7 kg to 12.8 kg, but both decreased slightly in 2022 and 2023. Many somatic cell count (SCC) related parameters improved between 2014 and 2023. Notably, the percent of cows dried-off with no SCC recordings ≥ 200,000 cells/ml during a completed lactation increased from 39.7 % in 2014 to 51.0 % in 2023. Therefore, fertility and SCC related KPIs have demonstrated improvements but milk production appears to have peaked and recently plateaued, and the longevity of cows appears to have shortened. Decreased longevity appears at odds with pressure on farmers to attain environmental targets which would favour cows with longer, more productive lives.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18152,"journal":{"name":"Livestock Science","volume":"298 ","pages":"Article 105739"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144185743","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Relationship between liver copper status and breed of UK finished lambs, and consideration of correlation to topsoil copper content","authors":"AH Clarkson,&nbsp;NR Kendall","doi":"10.1016/j.livsci.2025.105727","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.livsci.2025.105727","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Recent publications for sheep have noted both an increase in the prevalence of elevated hepatic copper, and cases of ovine copper toxicity. The liver copper status of the UK dairy herd has been well documented but little is known about sheep. This paper aims to establish a similar benchmark for finished lambs across the UK and to determine if any relationship exists between liver copper status and breed or topsoil concentration.</div><div>Ovine livers (<em>n</em> = 255) were collected from 3 abattoirs. The data for feeding system, breed and supplementation strategy were obtained via questionnaire posted to participants by the abattoir. The collected livers were acid-digested and analysed for copper concentration using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Topsoil data was obtained from the British Geological Society.</div><div>Most livers (60 %) were within ‘normal’ range (1405–5618 µmol/kg DM), with the majority of remaining livers (31 %) were classed as low-deficient (&lt;1404 µmol/kg DM). Only 2.8 % reported as ‘high’ (&gt;8000 µmol/kg DM). Despite not suspecting a mineral imbalance, most farms (61 %) already implemented a supplementation strategy. No correlation was found between liver status and topsoil concentration. The liver copper status of British finished lambs appears to be more comparable to the findings in beef cattle, therefore increasing supplementation without defined diagnosis or history of deficiency could lead to accumulation and toxicity in this susceptible species.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18152,"journal":{"name":"Livestock Science","volume":"298 ","pages":"Article 105727"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144167034","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impact of probiotic blend on rumen fermentation, nutrient digestibility, and blood biochemistry in sheep","authors":"Ali S.A. Saleem ,&nbsp;Mohamed Y. Elaref ,&nbsp;Sabry M. Bassiony ,&nbsp;Sameh A. Abdelnour ,&nbsp;Amera A. Helal ,&nbsp;Usama M. Abdel-Monem ,&nbsp;Khaled M. Al-Marakby","doi":"10.1016/j.livsci.2025.105728","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.livsci.2025.105728","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The significant contribution of ruminants to methane emissions has received considerable global attention in recent years. While dietary strategies have been implemented to mitigate this issue, probiotics have increasingly attracted research interest due to their potential as sustainable, effective, and eco-friendly solutions. Hence, the current study examines the potential of a proprietary probiotic blend (ABLB), both alone and in combination with <em>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</em> (SC), on rumen characteristics, nutrient digestibility, and blood biochemical parameters in sheep. Animals were fed a basal diet or supplemented daily with 1 g/animal of a probiotics blend containing <em>Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Bacillus licheniformis</em>, and <em>Bifidobacterium bifidum</em> (1:1:1:1) at two concentrations: 2 × 10⁹ CFU/g (ABLB2) and 4 × 10⁹ CFU/g (ABLB4), representing the 2^nd and 3^rd dietary treatments, respectively. The 4^th (ABLB2+SC) and 5^th (ABLB4+SC) dietary treatments consisted of the bacterial blend at the same two concentrations combined with SC (1 g/animal/day). Probiotic supplementation significantly (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05) decreased ruminal ammonia-nitrogen (NH₃-N) concentrations and pH, while significantly (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05) increasing total volatile fatty acid (TVFA) concentration, microbial crude protein (MCP) production, and protozoal counts, with the most pronounced effects observed in the ABLB2+SC group. Compared to the control group, significant improvements (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05) were observed with ABLB2+SC in the digestibility of dry matter (DM), crude fiber (CF), crude protein (CP), and ether extract (EE), as well as in the total digestible nutrients (TDN), starch value (SV), and digestible crude protein (DCP) (%) values of the tested diets. Additionally, all probiotic supplements significantly increased serum protein and glucose concentrations, while significantly decreasing serum urea, creatinine, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), triglycerides, and cholesterol compared with the basal diet (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05). This study underscores the potential of a blended probiotic supplementation in sheep nutrition to enhance rumen function, improve blood health, and optimize nutrient utilization.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18152,"journal":{"name":"Livestock Science","volume":"298 ","pages":"Article 105728"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144167570","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impact of feeding grass clover press cake silage to late lactation dairy cows on rumen fermentation parameters, nitrogen and phosphorus excretion and utilization","authors":"E. Serra ,&nbsp;K.P. McDonnell ,&nbsp;J.B. Sweeney ,&nbsp;M. Markiewicz-Keszycka ,&nbsp;D. van Acken ,&nbsp;M.G. Mandl ,&nbsp;K.M. Pierce","doi":"10.1016/j.livsci.2025.105725","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.livsci.2025.105725","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the green biorefinery process, the biomass is mechanically separated into a solid and a liquid fraction. The biorefined silage obtained from this process has been shown to have potential as feed source for ruminants. However, little is known regarding the optimum level of biorefined silage in the diet of lactating dairy cows and the impact on production parameters and N and P excretion in late lactation cows. Six late lactation cows were used in a Crossover experiment consisting of 3 periods of 21-d each. Dietary treatments were offered <em>ad libitum</em> as TMR and were as follow: Grass-clover silage only (GS); 25 % grass-clover press cake silage (PC25); 50 % grass-clover press cake silage (PC50). All cows received 4 kg DM of concentrate per day. Milk production, milk composition, and rumen fermentation parameters were not affected by treatment. Milk urea (mg/100 mL) was lower for cows offered the PC25 and PC50 diet compared to those offered the GS diet. Dry matter intake and N digestibility were lower in cows offered PC50 diet, N intake (kg/d) was lower, urinary N output (kg/d) was 10 % lower but a higher proportion of N was excreted in feces. The PC50 diets also has a 24 % lower P intake and a 19 % lower fecal P (kg/d). Nitrogen use efficiency and PUE was higher for cows offered PC50. Compared to GS the PC50 diet maintains milk production and could potentially reduce the environmental impact of dairy production.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18152,"journal":{"name":"Livestock Science","volume":"297 ","pages":"Article 105725"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144146995","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of low levels of mango peels (Mangifera indica L.) and apple pectin on in vitro-fermentability, digestive-physiological, and microbiological parameters in piglet nutrition","authors":"Jürgen Zentek ,&nbsp;Lisa Brucker ,&nbsp;Reinhold Carle ,&nbsp;Philip Krüsselmann ,&nbsp;Beatriz Martínez-Vallespín ,&nbsp;Łukasz Grześkowiak ,&nbsp;Johannes Schulze Holthausen ,&nbsp;Eva-Maria Saliu ,&nbsp;Wilfried Vahjen","doi":"10.1016/j.livsci.2025.105724","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.livsci.2025.105724","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Food processing by-products such as mango peel and apple pectin present valuable sources of dietary fibre, pectins and various other beneficial compounds for pig nutrition. The study's objective was to explore the effects of incorporating mango peel and apple pectin into pig feed. Batch fermentations using sow faeces were conducted to assess the fermentability of the substrates over a 24-hour incubation period. Subsequently, a feeding experiment was conducted using post-weaning piglets to examine the impact of adding 1 % or 2 % (w/w) mango peel and apple pectin to their diet. The <em>in vitro</em> fermentation studies with sow faeces showed increasing lactate and short-chain fatty acid concentrations when apple and mango pectin were added as substrates. The feeding trial indicated no significant impact on piglets' performance, nor the apparent praecaecal digestibility of crude protein was altered, while the apparent praecaecal digestibility of crude fat decreased with the addition of 1 % apple pectin, but increased with 2 % mango peel. Concentrations of microbial metabolites in the digesta were similar, and only slight variations were observed in the bacterial levels as determined by qPCR. In the treatment groups, enhanced utilisation of mango peel and apple pectin by the faecal microbiota was noted compared to the control group (BIOLOG test). In summary, incorporating small quantities of mango peel and apple pectin resulted in only mild alterations within the piglets' digestive system. Additional research to determine the optimal levels for effective usage of mango peels and apple pectin in piglet diets is required.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18152,"journal":{"name":"Livestock Science","volume":"297 ","pages":"Article 105724"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144105733","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of cowpea protein hydrolysates on the growth performance, lipid profile, antioxidant status, tissue histomorphology, and expression of caspase-3 and tumor necrosis factor-α in broiler chickens","authors":"S.M. Ibrahim ,&nbsp;S.A. Amer ,&nbsp;G.E. Elshopakey ,&nbsp;E.M. Younis ,&nbsp;A.A. Abdel-Warith ,&nbsp;A. Osman ,&nbsp;A. Gouda ,&nbsp;R. Reda ,&nbsp;H.A. Mohammed ,&nbsp;A.A.A. Abdel-Wareth ,&nbsp;J. Lohakare ,&nbsp;M.I.M. Darwish","doi":"10.1016/j.livsci.2025.105722","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.livsci.2025.105722","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The impact of cowpea protein hydrolysate (CPH) dietary supplementation was assessed on the growth performance, blood hematology, liver histomorphology, antioxidant status, and inflammatory responses in broiler chickens. Five hundred 3-d-old broiler chickens (88.72 g ± 0.20) were assigned to 5 experimental treatments (10 replicates/treatment), the basal diet supplemented with 5 inclusion rates of CPH: 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8 g/kg. Throughout the experimental periods, broiler chickens fed diets supplemented with CPH showed no change in the growth rate. The 2 g CPH/kg treatment increased the red blood cell count, hemoglobin concentration, packed cell volume percentage, white blood cell count, and lymphocyte count (linear, <em>P</em> &lt; 0.01; quadratic, <em>P</em> &lt; 0.05). Uric acid concentration increased in the CPH-supplemented treatments (linear, <em>P</em> = 0.031). The inclusion of CPH reduced the total cholesterol (Linear, <em>P</em> = 0.03; quadratic, <em>P</em> = 0.02), the low-density lipoprotein concentrations (linear, <em>P</em> = 0.012), and the triglyceride concentrations (linear, <em>P</em> = 0.01). Dietary supplementation of CPH increased the total antioxidant capacity, catalase (linear, <em>P</em> &lt; 0.001), and superoxide dismutase activity (linear, quadratic, <em>P</em> &lt; 0.01). Supplementation of CPH showed a down-regulation of the expression of caspase-3 antibodies in the liver tissues (Linear, <em>P</em> &lt; 0.01). Liver histoarchitecture was normal in all experimental treatments. It can be concluded that dietary cowpea protein hydrolysate can be used as a potential protein supplement in broiler chicken diets to improve antioxidant status and lower the blood lipids without affecting the broiler chickens’ growth rate.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18152,"journal":{"name":"Livestock Science","volume":"297 ","pages":"Article 105722"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144105732","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Faecal microbial profiles of Angus beef cattle with divergent immune responses","authors":"Brianna N. Maslen ,&nbsp;Brad C. Hine ,&nbsp;Christian Duff ,&nbsp;Pamela A. Alexandre ,&nbsp;Sam A. Clark ,&nbsp;Julius van der Werf ,&nbsp;Jason D. White ,&nbsp;Sameer D. Pant","doi":"10.1016/j.livsci.2025.105719","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.livsci.2025.105719","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Microorganisms inhabiting the gut (gut microbiota) have been shown to influence host immune responsiveness in a variety of species including cattle. The ability of cattle to cope with disease challenges is economically important to the beef industry, for example, disease associated costs in Australia are estimated to reach almost $1 billion Australian dollars (<strong>AUD</strong>) per annum. Therefore, the aim of this study was to characterise faecal microbiota of beef cattle at weaning and to investigate its association with immune response phenotypes assessed at the same time. Faecal samples were obtained from Angus cattle, phenotyped for cell-mediated and antibody-mediated immune responses at weaning. Immune response phenotypes, as well as an immune index score, were calculated and animals ranked to identify high, medium, and low immune response cohorts (<em>n</em> = 20/cohort). 16S rRNA gene sequence data was used to infer relative abundances and alpha and beta diversity metrics of microbial profiles. Further statistical testing involved a multivariate analysis of variance (<strong>MANOVA</strong>) to identify individual microbiota whose abundance significantly differed between the high, medium, and low cohorts for each of the immune response phenotypes. Moreover, a regression analysis was undertaken to determine significant associations between phyla or genera and immune response phenotype. A total of six phyla and three genera were found to significantly differ in relative abundances and six phyla and two genera were significantly associated with at least one of the immune response phenotypes. Notably, Bacteroidota, Euryarchaeota, and Proteobacteria may be biologically relevant due to their relationship with gut health and disease. The limitation of the current study was only conducting faecal matter sampling and subsequent immune response phenotyping at weaning stage. Future efforts should be made to explore whether the number of significant differences in faecal microbial profiles increase at a later stage.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18152,"journal":{"name":"Livestock Science","volume":"297 ","pages":"Article 105719"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144098916","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cataloguing deleterious variants in domestic animal species: motivation, applications and challenges","authors":"Marcel Amills","doi":"10.1016/j.livsci.2025.105721","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.livsci.2025.105721","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>By altering the function of genes or their regulatory elements, deleterious variants may have a negative impact on the survivability of individuals through the elicitation of disease, reproductive failure and other adverse pathological conditions. While more than 6000 single-gene disorders have been described so far in humans and phenotype-causing mutations are known for 4,925 genes, only a few hundred or tens (depending on the species) of Mendelian diseases with at least one known likely causal variant have been reported in domestic animals. Even more, variants affecting susceptibility to complex diseases are mostly unknown in farm animals. This and other evidence suggest that, despite its negative impact on the profitability of the animal production sector, just a very small number of deleterious variants have been discovered so far. In this context, the construction of comprehensive catalogues of deleterious variants with functional annotations and predictive value would be critical to be able to estimate the individual genetic load of elite breeders, an information that could be used as a selection criterium. The molecular characterization of deleterious variants would be also extraordinarily useful to shed light on complex biological phenomena such as inbreeding depression, transmission ratio distortion, domestication and susceptibility to Mendelian and complex diseases, to mention a few. Here I discuss the motivation and current challenges to build such catalogues as well as the potential avenues to overcome them.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18152,"journal":{"name":"Livestock Science","volume":"298 ","pages":"Article 105721"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144240523","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}