Abstract
BackgroundMeasures to improve bird performance have been sought due to the imminent phase out of in-feed antibiotics in poultry and continued demand for higher poultry feeding efficiency. Increasing grain particle size and dietary fibre may improve gizzard function, digestive efficiency and nutrient absorption. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect increased particle size of corn and inclusion of sugarcane bagasse (SB) on mRNA expression of genes encoding digestive enzymes and nutrient transporters in broilers.ResultsA total of 336 day-old Ross 308 males were assigned in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments with corn particle size - coarse 3576 μm or fine 1113 μm geometric mean diameter, and SB - 0 or 2% inclusion. Feed conversion ratio (FCR), weight gain and feed intake were measured from d 0–10 and d 10–24. The relative gizzard weight and mRNA expression of genes encoding digestive enzymes and intestinal nutrient transporters were measured on d 24. During d 10–24, a particle size × SB interaction was observed for FCR (P < 0.01), where birds fed coarsely ground corn (CC) with 2% SB had lower FCR than those fed CC without SB. A particle size × SB interaction was observed for both expression of pepsinogen A and C (P < 0.01) which were negatively correlated with FCR on d 24. Addition of 2% SB upregulated pepsinogen A and C only in CC fed birds. Further, 2% SB also upregulated pancreatic amylase (AMY2A) and intestinal cationic amino acid transporter-1 (CAT1). Inclusion of dietary CC upregulated duodenal amino peptidase N (APN), jejunal alanine, serine, cysteine and threonine transporter-1 (ASCT1), and ileal peptide transporter-2 (PepT2).ConclusionThese results suggest that both SB and coarse particle size modulate expression of genes encoding important digestive enzymes and nutrient transporters and thus are directly related to bird performance. These findings provide insights into the combination effects of dietary fiber and particle size in the future management of broiler feeding.
Highlights
Measures to improve bird performance have been sought due to the imminent phase out of in-feed antibiotics in poultry and continued demand for higher poultry feeding efficiency
It is known that the glucose transporters: glucose transporter-1 (GLUT1) and glucose transporter 2 (GLUT2); amino acid transporters: Na + −dependent neutral amino acid transporters, such as BoAT and ASCT1, cationic amino acid transporters, such as cationic amino acid transporter-1 (CAT1) and cationic amino acid transporter-2 (CAT2), and Na + −dependent neutral/cationic amino acid exchanger, such as y+ L amino acid transporter-1 and y+ L amino acid transporter-2, and peptide transporters, such as peptide transporter-1 (PepT1) and peptide transporter-2 (PepT2), in the small intestinal epithelium are closely associated with nutrient absorption capacity [12, 13]
Feed conversion ratio (FCR) was impaired in birds fed the diet containing 2% sugarcane bagasse (SB) compared to those fed the diet without SB treatment during d 0–10 (P < 0.05)
Summary
Measures to improve bird performance have been sought due to the imminent phase out of in-feed antibiotics in poultry and continued demand for higher poultry feeding efficiency. Increasing grain particle size and dietary fibre may improve gizzard function, digestive efficiency and nutrient absorption. Strategies to improve broiler digestive efficiency and performance without reliance on antibiotics have been the focus for improving gut health and manipulating development of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). The physical structure of feed ingredients and inclusion of dietary fiber may improve nutrient digestion and absorption as a result of increased gizzard size [3, 5] and enhanced secretion of HCl in the proventriculus [6]. The inclusion of fiber or coarse particle size in broiler diets enhances gizzard development and increases digesta retention time and gut reflux [9, 10]. Structural components of the diet have been reported to improve nutrient digestibility and performance in broilers [3, 14,15,16,17], there are no investigations on nutrigenomic mechanisms underlying such improvements
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