Deep Sequencing Analysis of miRNA Expression in Breast Muscle of Fast-Growing and Slow-Growing Broilers

Growth performance is an important economic trait in chicken. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to play important roles in various biological processes, but their functions in chicken growth are not yet clear. To investigate the function of miRNAs in chicken growth, breast muscle tissues of the two-tail samples (highest and lowest body weight) from Recessive White Rock (WRR) and Xinghua Chickens (XH) were performed on high throughput small RNA deep sequencing. In this study, a total of 921 miRNAs were identified, including 733 known mature miRNAs and 188 novel miRNAs. There were 200, 279, 257 and 297 differentially expressed miRNAs in the comparisons of WRRh vs. WRRl, WRRh vs. XHh, WRRl vs. XHl, and XHh vs. XHl group, respectively. A total of 22 highly differentially expressed miRNAs (fold change > 2 or < 0.5; p-value < 0.05; q-value < 0.01), which also have abundant expression (read counts > 1000) were found in our comparisons. As far as two analyses (WRRh vs. WRRl, and XHh vs. XHl) are concerned, we found 80 common differentially expressed miRNAs, while 110 miRNAs were found in WRRh vs. XHh and WRRl vs. XHl. Furthermore, 26 common miRNAs were identified among all four comparisons. Four differentially expressed miRNAs (miR-223, miR-16, miR-205a and miR-222b-5p) were validated by quantitative real-time RT-PCR (qRT-PCR). Regulatory networks of interactions among miRNAs and their targets were constructed using integrative miRNA target-prediction and network-analysis. Growth hormone receptor (GHR) was confirmed as a target of miR-146b-3p by dual-luciferase assay and qPCR, indicating that miR-34c, miR-223, miR-146b-3p, miR-21 and miR-205a are key growth-related target genes in the network. These miRNAs are proposed as candidate miRNAs for future studies concerning miRNA-target function on regulation of chicken growth.     

鸡毛角蛋白的制备及其护发性能

采用还原C法提取了鸡毛角蛋白,考察了反应时间和温度对角蛋白产率和黏度影响。采用傅里叶变换红外光谱仪对提取物进行了表征。利用透析得到的角蛋白对头发进行处理,考察了其保湿及抗紫外线的效果。结果表明:当温度70℃、时间4 h时能够制得产率和黏度均较为理想的角蛋白溶液。红外谱图表明提取物为β-折叠结构的角蛋白。经角蛋白处理后的头发具有较好的保湿性,紫外谱图表明浓度6.7 g/L的羽毛角蛋白溶液对波长200～350 nm的紫外线有较好的吸收作用。     

Synthesis and Evaluation of a Molecularly Imprinted Polymer for Solid Phase Extraction of Ethopabate from Chicken Tissue

In this paper the development and evaluation of a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for ethopabate is described. Ethopabate (ETP), 4-acetamido-2-ethoxybenzoic acid methyl ester, is one of the antibiotics which is used as coccidiostat in poultry feeds. In the present study, two widely used functional monomers, methacrylic acid (MAA) and 4-vinylpyridine (4-VP) were compared theoretically and experimentally as the candidates for MIP preparation. Hyperchem software was employed to estimate binding energies between ETP and functional monomers and batch rebinding experiments were performed to study the binding characteristics of the polymers. The results showed that MAA is a better functional monomer to prepare MIP. UV/Vis and NMR spectroscopy were used as two common tools to study the interactions between ETP and MAA in the pre-polymerization mixture. Liquid chromatography experiments showed that the prepared MIP has recognition capability toward ETP in comparison with other structurally related compounds. The ETP-imprinted polymer was further applied for selective solid phase extraction (SPE) of ETP from a chicken tissue sample. The extraction yield of ETP was found to be quantitative (87 ± 3%) and the LOD and LOQ based on 3 and 10 times of the noise of HPLC profile were 0.05 and 0.32 ng ml^?1, respectively. It was confirmed that the binding ability of the prepared MIP for ETP was essentially sufficient in the presence of other compounds coexisting in tissue sample. Therefore, as a selective and efficient solid phase material, ETP-imprinted polymer has a high potential application in the analysis of residues of this antibiotic in chicken tissue samples.     

城市污水厂污泥热风与浸泡油炸干燥特性研究

在120-180℃下对污泥样品进行热风和浸泡油炸实验。结果表明,污泥热风干燥过程中存在"塑性结壳"现象,严重阻碍水分的向外迁移,降低干燥速率;污泥浸泡油炸过程不存在"塑性结壳"现象,干燥效率较高;经热风干燥后的样品热值仅为12.69 MJ/kg,而经油炸干化后,其热值达到21.56-24.08 MJ/kg,是一种高热值固体燃料。     

多级接触氧化工艺脱氮效果及不同运行方式的对比研究

重点考察了中试规模的多级接触氧化工艺处理不同浓度养鸡厂污水的脱氮效果,对接触氧化槽中的固定填料进行取样测量附着污泥的反硝化速率,发现好氧环境的填料表面污泥存在一定的反硝化性能,证明本工艺中存在同步硝化反硝化现象。通过分段进水以改善碳源不足、通过2#槽间歇曝气以强化缺氧环境,结果表明,缺氧环境不足是脱氮效果的主要限制因素,碳源不足对脱氮也有较大的负面影响。通过分析确定了本工艺的最佳运行方式为2#槽间歇曝气并联运行,当进水总氮质量浓度为203～408 mg/L时,其总氮去除率在81%左右,比最初的串联连续曝气方式时的总氮去除率提高37.9个百分点。     

利用鸡粪为原料生产保水有机肥

从国内肥料使用的发展趋势和养鸡业的现状和发展出发，分析了当前大型养鸡场中鸡粪产生的环境污染问题及鸡粪肥料化利用的可能性，介绍了一种以新鲜鸡粪为原料，经EM菌群发酵，添加一定量的保水剂生产保水有机肥的生产工艺，产品经使用效果良好。     

Frying quality and stability of low-and ultra-low-linolenic acid soybean oils

To determine effects of very low levels of linolenic acid on frying stabilities of soybean oils, tests were conducted with 2% (low) linolenic acid soybean oil (LLSBO) and 0.8% (ultra-low) linolenic acid soybean oil (ULLSBO) in comparison with cottonseed oil (CSO). Potato chips were fried in the oils for a total of 25 h of oil use. No significant differences were found for either total polar compounds or FFA between samples of LLSBO and ULLSBO; however, CSO had significantly higher percentage of polar compounds and FFA than the soybean oils at all sampling times. Flavor evaluations of fresh and aged (1, 3, 5, and 7 wk at 25°C) potato chips showed some differences between potato chips fried in different oil types. Sensory panel judges reported that potato chips fried in ULLSBO and aged for 3 or 7 wk at 25°C had significantly lower intensities of fishy flavor than did potato chips fried in LLSBO with the same conditions. Potato chips fried in ULLSBO that had been used for 5 h and then aged 7 wk at 25°C had significantly better quality than did potato chips fried 5 h in LLSBO and aged under the same conditions. Hexanal was significantly higher in the 5-h LLSBO sample than in potato chips fried 5 h in ULLSBO. The decrease in linolenic acid from 2 to 0.8% in the oils improved flavor quality and oxidative stability of some of the potato chip samples.     

Frying stability of high-oleate and regular soybean oil blends

The objective of this work was to study the frying stability of soybean oil (SBO) with reduced linoleate (18∶2) and linolenate (18∶3) and elevated oleate (18∶1) contents. High-oleate SBO [HO SBO, 79% oleic acid (OA)] and a control (conventional SBO, 21.5% OA) were tested as is, as well as blended in different ratios to make three blended oils containing 36.9, 50.7, and 64.7% OA, abbreviated as 37%OA, 51%OA, and 65%OA, respectively. In addition, a low-linolenate (LL) SBO containing 1.4% 18∶3 and 25.3% 18∶1 was tested. Bread cubes (8.19 cm³) were fried in each of 18 oils (6 treatments×3 replicates). We hypothesized that stability indicators would be indirectly related to the total 18∶2 plus 18∶3 percentages and/or the calculated oxidizability. In general, the results were fairly predictable based on total 18∶2 and 18∶3 concentrations. The overall frying stability of the six oil treatments, from the best to the poorest, was: 79%OA, 65%OA, 51%OA, LL≥37%OA, and the control, with respective total compositions for 18∶2 plus 18∶3 of 10.3, 23.6, 36.3, 59.6, 48.9, and 62.8%. The greatly reduced concentration of 18∶3 in the LL SBO made it more stable than the 37%OA, even though the combined composition of 18∶2 and 18∶3 of LL was greater than that of the 37%OA. Blending conventional SBO with HO SBO had a profound effect on the oxidative stability index and color of the blended oils, but the values were not linearly predictable by the percentage of control in the blended oil. Other stability indices, including calculated oxidizability, calculated iodine value, conjugated dienoic acid value, and viscosity, changed in linear response to an increased proportion of the control in the blends.     

Turmeric nanofiber-encapsulated natural product formulation act as a phytogenic feed additive—A study in broilers on growth performance,biochemical indices of blood,and E. coli in cecum

A phytogenic feed additive (PFA) formulation was prepared with bioactive molecules—curcuminoids, gingerol, and carvacrol by encapsulating in nanofiber isolated from turmeric spent (turmeric nanofiber, TNF). This formulation was completely characterized by scanning electron microscope, ultra performance liquid chromatography, and gas chromatography and evaluated for its efficacy. PFA-encapsulated TNF (PFA@TNF) considerably increased mean body weight, decreased cholesterol level, mortality rate, and reduced Escherichia coli content of broilers than antibiotic growth promoter (AGP). The depth of crypts in the ileum of broilers was considerably reduced by the inclusion of PFA@TNF in diets compared with the AGP.