Livestock Species Research Articles

244 Fgf-21 Myokine Expression By Cultured Bovine Satellite Cells from 3- and 11-Month-Old Steers

Abstract Myokines are proteins produced by muscle cells that regulate muscle growth and metabolism. In livestock species, little is known about most myokines or their physiological impact. While FGF-21 has been examined in humans and model species for its roles in muscle development, regeneration, and metabolism, it is important to characterize its expression in livestock, such as beef cattle. This study assessed the quantity and temporal abundance of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF-21) expression, from cultured bovine satellite cells (BSC). BSC were isolated from the semimembranosus muscle of 3-month-old (n = 3) and 11-month-old (n = 3) commercially raised angus-based beef steers. BSC were cultured on Matrigel in Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium with 10% Fetal Bovine Serum until 70% confluency. At this time, the media was replaced with fresh media representing time zero. Cells and media were collected at times 0-, 12-, 24-, 48-, 72-, and 96-hour with zero serving as the baseline. All experiments included three biological and three technical replicates. The content of myokines including FGF-21, were analyzed in the sample’s media using a commercial ELISA kit and cells were collected and stored for gene expression analysis. Statistical analysis was completed using the GLIMMIX procedure in SAS. A repeated measures analysis was used to evaluate the fixed effects of age, time, and age×time interaction. Contrasts were used to identify whether the baseline was statistically different from the other timepoints, and Tukey-Kramer adjustments were made. Significance was determined at P ≤ 0.05. There was an interaction effect between age and time (P < 0.0001). The media from the BSC of the 11-month-old steers had greater (P < 0.0001) FGF-21 concentrations than that of the 3-month-old steers at every time point. When evaluating each time in comparison with the baseline of each age independently, there were differences between 0 and 12 hour (P < 0.0001) and 0 and 24 hour (P = 0.002) for the 3-month-old steer BSC, as well as 0 and 12 hour (P = 0.0003) for 11-month-old steer BSC. This study confirms that the myokine FGF-21 is produced by cultured BSC, and in differing quantities depending on the age of the steer at harvest. The observed differences in FGF-21 production in cultured cells harvested from 3- to 11-month-old steers may in part be responsible for some of the differences in growth patterns in muscle cells at these ages. The authors postulate that these data represent the first report of FGF-21 expression in cultured bovine satellite cells.

147 Determining Status of Five Genetic Conditions in U.S. Sheep with a Medium-Density Ovine Bead Array

Abstract Using molecular information in genetic evaluation has become routine in most livestock species. Small ruminants, however, are lagging in use of this technology, partly due to the higher cost of genotyping versus the value of the individual animal. Using a single genotyping platform to simultaneously obtain information for making genomic predictions, identifying genetic condition status, and verifying parentage avoids costs of running multiple DNA tests. Our objective was to develop and validate a process to obtain accurate genotypes for genetic conditions using a medium-density array, and to estimate their frequencies in U.S. sheep breeds. Samples (DNA) from 10,569 sheep from 9 breeds in the National Sheep Improvement Program, primarily Katahdin (8,657), Rambouillet (886), and Polypay (584), were genotyped with a commercial 50k single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) bead chip. Genotypes for 5 genetic conditions, ovine progressive pneumonia (OPP) susceptibility (TMEM154), scrapie susceptibility (PRNP), double muscle (MSTN), callipyge (CLPG), and booroola FecB (BMPR1B), were determined using 66 SNP genotypes extracted from the bead chip. Targeted SNP markers were replicated 2 to 8 times on the array. The TMEM154 diplotypes were obtained by combining genotypes at 10 SNP markers. Variants for PRNP codon 136 and 171 were determined using 6 markers. The accuracy of assigning genetic status was validated using 15 reference DNA with known genotypes submitted blindly to the commercial laboratory. Consistency of replicated calls for an SNP was also evaluated. Following in-house laboratory-based quality control of the assay, acceptance of a genotype involved two steps. First, at least 60% of the replicated SNP on an animal needed to be assigned a genotype. Second, amongst those SNP genotyped, at least 60% needed to detect the same nucleotide. This strategy resulted in 98.4% and 90.9% of the animals having genetic status scored for PRNP and TMEM154, respectively. Where genotypes were accepted, OPP and scrapie susceptibility was assigned based on TMEM154 diplotypes and PRNP codons 136 and 171 genotypes, respectively. As shown in Table 1, genetic condition status differed appreciably among Katahdin, Polypay, and Rambouillet. Nearly 60% of Katahdins were characterized as highly susceptible to OPP while such was so in less than 15% Polypay and Rambouillet. Most (93.3%) Polypay were deemed scrapie resistant, with a majority of Katahdin (93.1%) and Rambouillet (80.6%) either resistant or rarely susceptible to this disease. However, 18.6% of Rambouillet were characterized as highly susceptible to scrapie. No animals carried the callipyge or FecB mutation. The double muscle mutation also was rare; in Katahdins, 2.7 and 0.2% of animals carried one or two copies, respectively. The approach developed accounted for genotyping inaccuracies, with full validation of genetic status. Furthermore, considerable variation in susceptibilities to OPP and scrapie was detected among breeds, which can be used in defining breeding objectives.

128 Reviewing the Definition of Mortality in Broiler Chickens

Abstract Mortality has been a trait of importance in livestock species, especially for poultry, as birds continue to become more efficient and grow larger, and mortality rates have shown an increase at the phenotypic level. Mortality at different stages may be due to different genetic, environmental, and biological factors; however, in most cases, selection can be based on overall mortality. This study aimed to investigate alternative models and trait definitions of mortality by exploring the classification of mortality into different life stages and including a maternal effect in the model. Data provided by Cobb-Vantress, Inc. included mortality records from three separate lines of chicken making up about three generations worth of data. The datasets included records for mortality (0-1) and weekly mortality (0-10) recorded on individuals during their first ten weeks of life. Due to low incidence levels of weeks seven through ten for weekly mortality, those birds were combined with those that survived the first six weeks. Three models with different trait definitions were considered in this study. They were compared against a benchmark model with overall survival as trait definition (M0). Each line was evaluated separately for each model investigated, and the traits under different definitions were treated as binary traits. Thus, threshold models were used to estimate variance components under a Bayesian approach via the Gibbs sampling algorithm implemented in Gibbsf90+ software. The first model and trait definition (M1) investigated was a single trait model with weekly mortality classified into a binary response to whether the bird died within the first six weeks of life (BMORT). The second model and trait definition (M2) investigated was a bivariate model that classified weekly mortality into early (EMORT; weeks 1 to 3) and late (LMORT; weeks 4 to 6) mortality. The heritabilities ranged from 0.11 to 0.19 for M1, 0.10 to 0.21 for EMORT, and 0.15 to 0.17 for LMORT. For both models investigated, heritabilities were greater than that of M0, ranging from 0.03 to 0.09. The second model was additionally run with the maternal effect (M3) composed of the additive maternal and maternal permanent environmental (mpe) effects to investigate any potential effect on the estimated variance components. The maternal heritability and the percentage of phenotypic variance explained by mpe ranged from 0.02 to 0.03 and 0.01 to 0.04, respectively. Including the maternal effect considerably decreased direct heritability for EMORT but not for LMORT, indicating the maternal effect plays an important role in early mortality. The genetic correlations between EMORT and LMORT were low, ranging from 0.23 to 0.44; therefore, it may be necessary to include both traits in the selection index to make better-informed decisions. Selecting against early and late mortality may help improve overall livability in broiler chickens.

IMPACT OF HUMAN POPULATION GROWTH ON SPECIES EXTINCTION

Although a significant portion of the anthropogenic impact on other species comes from our habit of eating other animals, little attention has been paid to understanding and quantifying how human carnivory threatens biodiversity globally. Here we consider anthropogenic threats to human food chains. We identify two mechanisms related to predation in the human food chain (predation and predation), one to competition (prey depletion and harassment), one to biohazards (any adverse effects caused by introduced livestock or alien species associated with human carnivory), four to environmental changes (destructive harvesting methods , animal husbandry, agriculture and climate change) and a different category for indirectly related processes is our high trophic state. Our findings demonstrate that human food chains are a major driver of the current biodiversity crisis and will hopefully contribute to increasing awareness of this fundamental but neglected aspect of human ecology.

52 The Power of Pangenome Assemblies in Ruminants

Abstract High quality reference genomes are the bases of all genomic research and they have facilitated a wealth of discoveries and research tools for the improvement of livestock species. These works have enabled major advances in the fields of animal science and genetics and impacted livestock production and associated industries for the benefit of society. However, because a single reference genome fails to represent all of the genetic material present across populations, it inherently limits the ability to comprehensively evaluate all genomic variants within a species. A complete understanding of how small and large genomic variants, from single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) to larger structural variations (SV) including insertions/deletions (InDels) and copy number variation (CNVs), have been selected for over time for specific environments and phenotypes, remains elusive. To address this, it is necessary to generate a catalog of genomic variants in populations subjected to natural or artificial selection pressures and evaluate their relationship among phenotypic classes. The pangenome approach is a means to comprehensively identify and catalog genomic variation and representation that will make more suitable reference for mapping population sequence data for variant detection and frequency evaluation. The goal of the most pangenome projects is to provide genomic resources to represent the immense genetic diversity of this species more completely. This will increase our understanding of genetic variation and its role in dictating different phenomes, empowering scientists to predict the physiological outcomes more effectively from genomic variation towards the improvement of breeding strategies. These pangenomes can then be used to discover the underlying mechanism of biological traits and inform future breeding strategies and support sustainable production of this global source of food and fiber.

PSV-21 Evaluation of the Effect of Daily Probiotic Administration on the Prevalence of Shiga Toxigenic E.Coli and Select Serum and Immune Parameters During Pre and Peri-Weaning Period in Goat Kids

Abstract Probiotics are microorganisms generally regarded as safe (GRAS) that have a beneficial effect when ingested by a host. While research on the benefits of probiotics in farm animals has mainly concentrated on major livestock species, little is documented on potential benefits in small ruminants. Probiotics in goats and sheep could offer a dual benefit of reducing pathogenic bacteria loads and resulting in improved immunity and overall health. In this study, we evaluated the effect of one-month daily commercial probiotic administration followed by weekly administration until weaning and daily administration for one week after weaning on select serum parameters, and also the prevalence of pathogenic E.coli in healthy pre-weaned goat kids beginning at two days of age. Overall, the general health of the animals in both groups remained the same throughout the study period. No significant difference in total lactic acid bacteria was detected between probiotic supplemented and control group. Probiotic administration generally improved the total serum protein and immune markers. The difference was significant after twenty-eight days of administration and two days after weaning for total serum protein and immune markers, respectively. Shiga toxin E.coli (STEC) was detected in both control and probiotic-treated goats in early life, but no significant differences were detected between treatment groups on prevalence. These results suggest that daily probiotic administration may have some health benefits in pre-weaned goats.

Study on the current research trends and future agenda in animal products: an Asian perspective.

This study aimed to analyze the leading research materials and research trends related to livestock food in Asia in recent years and propose future research agendas to ultimately contribute to the development of related livestock species. On analyzing more than 200 relevant articles, a high frequency of studies on livestock species and products with large breeding scales and vast markets was observed. Asia possesses the largest pig population and most extensive pork market, followed by that of beef, chicken, and milk; moreover, blood and egg markets have also been studied. Regarding research keywords, "meat quality" and "probiotics" were the most common, followed by "antioxidants", which have been extensively studied in the past, and "cultured meat", which has recently gained traction. The future research agenda for meat products is expected to be dominated by alternative livestock products, such as cultured and plant-derived meats; improved meat product functionality and safety; the environmental impacts of livestock farming; and animal welfare research. The future research agenda for dairy products is anticipated to include animal welfare, dairy production, probiotic-based development of high-quality functional dairy products, the development of alternative dairy products, and the advancement of lactose-free or personalized dairy products. However, determining the extent to which the various research articles' findings have been applied in real-world industry proved challenging, and research related to animal food laws and policies and consumer surveys was lacking. In addition, studies on alternatives for sustainable livestock development could not be identified. Therefore, future research may augment industrial application, and multidisciplinary research related to animal food laws and policies as well as eco-friendly livestock production should be strengthened.

From Animal Personality to Animal Individuality in Farm Animals – A Review

Abstract As a result of the domestication process and systematic breeding, livestock species have been shaped as donors of animal goods for humans. The animals’ role so defined, which has remained unchanged for millennia, now faces criticism from intellectuals (posthumanism), pro-animal activists, and increasingly often, postmodern societies. The core aspect of this growing conflict can be described at the level relationship between the personality/individuality of farm animals, animals as persons/nonpersons, and animals as moral subjects/agents. This review aims to discuss these relationships in the context of the current state of ethical reflection and knowledge, and in relation to the future of livestock production. It presents problems of definition and research methodology in the field of animal personality, with particular reference to farm animals, characterises the dilemmas of the moral status of animals in the personality/individuality of farm animals – animals as persons/nonpersons – animals as moral subjects/agents, and discusses the relationship between farm animal personality and animal individuality; moreover, it undertakes to analyse the possibilities of individualised treatment of farm animals at the level of future livestock production. It concludes, among other things, that the concept of “animal personality” in relation to farm animals remains undefined in both research and social spaces. While livestock animals remain moral subjects, some ethical concepts attribute to them a wider range of rights intended for personal moral agents. At the same time, it was noted that an individualised approach to animals appears to be one of the most important aspects in the sourcing food of animal origin in the future, in line with a systematically increasing level of animal welfare.

High-resolution assessment of the carrying capacity and utilization intensity in mountain rangelands with remote sensing and field data

Dry rangelands provide resources for half of the world's livestock, but degradation due to overgrazing is a major threat to system sustainability. Existing carrying capacity assessments are limited by low spatiotemporal resolution and high generalization, which hampers applied ecological management decisions. This paper provides an example for deriving the carrying capacity and utilization levels for cold drylands at a new level of detail by including major parts of the transhumance system. We combined field data on vegetation biomass and communities, forage quality, productivity, livestock species and quantities, grazing areas and their spatiotemporal variations with Sentinel-2 and MODIS snow cover satellite imagery to develop maps of forage requirements and availability. These products were used to calculate carrying capacity and grazing potential in the Pamir-Hindukush Mountains. Results showed high spatial variability of utilization rates between 5% and 77%. About 30% of the area showed unsustainable grazing above the carrying capacity. Utilization rates displayed strong spatial differences with unsustainable grazing in winter pastures and at lower elevations, and low rates at higher altitudes. The forage requirements of wild herbivores (ungulates and marmots) were estimated to be negligible compared to livestock, with one tenth of the biomass consumption and no increase in unsustainably grazed pastures due to the wider distribution of animals. The assessment was sensitive to model parameterization of forage requirements and demand, whereby conservative scenarios, i.e. lower fodder availability or higher fodder requirements of livestock due to climate and altitude effects, increased the area with unsustainable grazing practices to 50%. The presented approach enables an in-depth evaluation of the carrying capacity and corresponding management actions. It includes new variables relevant for transhumance systems, such as the combination of forage quantity and quality or accessibility restrictions due to snow, and shows utilization patterns at high spatial resolutions. Regional maps allow the identification of unsustainable utilization areas, such as winter pastures in this study.

Individual and population diversity of 20 representative olfactory receptor genes in pigs

Understanding the influence of genetic variations in olfactory receptor (OR) genes on the olfaction-influenced phenotypes such as behaviors, reproduction, and feeding is important in animal biology. However, our understanding of the complexity of the OR subgenome is limited. In this study, we analyzed 1120 typing results of 20 representative OR genes belonging to 13 OR families on 14 pig chromosomes from 56 individuals belonging to seven different breeds using a sequence-based OR typing method. We showed that the presence of copy number variations, conservation of locus-specific diversity, abundance of breed-specific alleles, presence of a loss-of-function allele, and low-level purifying selection in pig OR genes could be common characteristics of OR genes in mammals. The observed nucleotide sequence diversity of pig ORs was higher than that of dogs. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the individual- or population-level characterization of a large number of OR family genes in livestock species.

Socio-economic characteristics of farmers and constraints to livestock development in the Drâa-Tafilalet region of Morocco

The study aimed to determine the socio-economic characteristics of livestock breeders in the Drâa-Tafilalet region of Morocco, as well as the constraints of livestock farming. Five sites in the region, representing mountain oases, intermediate oases and plain oases, were selected. In each site, three to five rural districts, each with one to eight breeders of each livestock species were selected. Depending on the main livestock species owned by the breeder, the interviewer completed the species-specific questionnaire. A total of 305 surveys were conducted in 21 districts with 19.7, 34.4, 23.3, 6.88, 11.5 and 4.26% cattle, sheep, goat, camel, chicken and rabbit breeders, respectively. Descriptive statistics were calculated for continuous variables and frequencies were calculated for qualitative variables. According to the findings, the breeders of the region were men (82%), married (93.7%), having been to school (48.4%) and exercising agriculture - livestock as a primary activity (71.5%). Breeders of each species owned on average 4.14 ± 4.81 cattle, 52.2 ± 77.8 sheep, 66.0 ± 77.4 goats, 27.2 ± 30.3 dromedaries, 10.7 ± 8.99 chickens and 12.0 ± 14.9 rabbits. Their initial herd was acquired through inheritance (51.4%), purchase (34.7%), both purchase and inheritance (10.4%) or donation (2.39). The objective of breeding was the generation of income through the sale of live animals and animal products. The preferred traits varied depending on the livestock species. The dynamics of animal numbers over the past five years were increasing (32.2%), decreasing (45.2%) and stable (22.6%). The main constraint to livestock development was the high cost of feedstuffs (index= 0.47). The first action proposed by breeders for livestock development was the provision of feedstuffs at subsidized prices (index= 0.42). It was concluded that these results might be helpful in developing strategies to improve livestock production.

1 Microbiomes from Theory to Application

Abstract Microbiome research has gained significant momentum in the last decade. Although many studies have investigated livestock microbiome to improve animal health and productivity, only a few microbiome manipulation approaches are currently used in the industry. This is partly due to the limited understanding of livestock microbiome and how such knowledge can be applied to improve animal health and performance. Additionally, the potential role of the microbiome is poorly characterized, limiting the opportunities available to improve animal health and productivity through microbiome manipulation. Here we describe and demonstrate how current microbiome theory such as “colonization history” can be utilized to establish beneficial microbiomes in livestock species. Our data suggest that the sow microbiome greatly impacts the early microbiome establishment in piglets and represents as much as 67% of the community even after 21 days following birth. This suggests early colonization provides unique opportunities to establish “beneficial” microbiomes. Additionally, we describe how microbiome-wide association studies (MWAS) can be used to quantify the microbial role in animal performance using a cattle population consisting of more than 750 animals. Finally, we describe how livestock animal models can be used to understand key concepts of microbial establishment and how such models can be used to investigate the human microbiome using germ free pig models. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

316 Awardee Talk: Development and Assessment of Predictive Models for Improved Swine Farming

Abstract Prediction of outcomes is critical in swine breeding and management. This necessitates the development of predictive models that address challenges in swine farming. For predictive modeling, there have been significant advances in machine learning. Nevertheless, there are needs to adapt predictive models for specific swine farming problems including genomic prediction and behavior analysis. Furthermore, there is not yet a clear guideline on how to validate novel models in these fields. The overarching goal of this work was to validate a collection of predictive models for improved swine farming with applications to precision management, phenotyping, and breeding. The first study addressed the pig genomic prediction problem. Differential evolution algorithm was utilized to optimize hyperparameters of deep learning (DL) models, which affected the predictive performance of DL. Performance of optimized DL was compared with “best practice” DL architectures selected from literature and baseline DL models with randomly specified hyperparameters. Optimized models showed clear improvement. Despite the success of genomic prediction, phenotyping has become a bottleneck in breeding programs as it is still time-consuming and labor-intensive. The second study aimed at collecting a video dataset to study agonistic behavior of pigs and adapting a state-of-the-art DL pipeline to classify agonistic behaviors of pigs through video analysis. The pipeline was validated through various training-validation data partitions, where the training data were used for model development and the validation data were used for model evaluation. Results showed that splitting the training and validation sets at random led to over-optimistic estimates of model performance. Social behavior continues to be an important topic in animal behavior studies. However, less attention was paid to the modeling of animal social behavior. The last study focused on developing and validating a statistical model for the analysis of social interactions of pigs. Generalized linear mixed models were fitted, and a Bayesian framework was used for parameter estimation and posterior predictive model checking. The predictive performance of the models varied depending on the validation strategy, where three strategies were defined: random cross-validation, block-by-social-group cross-validation, and block-by-focal-animals validation. Collectively, the research items presented how state-of-the-art predictive models can be adapted for and validated in swine farming applications. The findings are also informative to livestock farming in general, as genomic prediction and animal social behavior (of group-housed animals) are popular topics in livestock species.

99 Heritability and Repeatability of Structural Foot and Leg Traits in Sheep

Abstract Similar to other livestock species, sheep are subject to a range of structural faults that contribute to lameness and involuntary culling. Record-keeping in the sheep industry is generally sparse, particularly for structural traits; thus, the extent of the problem is ill-defined. Furthermore, the few studies centered on foot and leg structure have typically involved small numbers of animals measured only once. Consequently, estimates of heritability for pasterns, and for claw and hoof conformation scores in sheep are sparse in the literature, with little consideration of potential score changes across an animal’s lifetime. Using a large dataset of repeatedly-measured scores, our objective was to reliably estimate the heritability and repeatability of several foot and leg traits indicative of structural soundness. Pedigree and performance data on 28,300 commercial crossbreed ewes were supplied by Focus Genetics, Ltd., New Zealand. The subjective foot and leg scores were recorded multiple times from first lambing to culling, with as many as 5 sets of records collected on individual ewes. The conformation traits evaluated were overall foot and leg conformation, rear pastern angles, front pastern angles, rear claw and hoof shapes, and front claw and hoof shapes. We fitted a repeatability model with fixed effects of recording age, age of dam, birth rank, rearing rank, heterosis (as a covariate), and contemporary group defined as the combination of birth year, birth flock, and recording mob. Random effects were direct additive, permanent environment, and residual. Heritability estimates ranged between 0.05 ± 0.01 for front claw and hoof shape score to 0.18 ± 0.01 for front pastern angle score. The corresponding repeatability estimates ranged from 0.13 ± 0.01 to 0.30 ± 0.01. The heritabilities estimated in our study were very similar to those obtained by Sheep Improvement Ltd., New Zealand; their estimates varied from 0.06 to 0.20 for the same traits. Based on the low heritability and moderate repeatability for these traits, culling animals based on their first recorded structural foot and leg scores may be risky. However, through their incorporation into a designed breeding program, genetic selection offers a viable approach to improve structural soundness in sheep.

A Comprehensive Study on the Livestock Sub-Sector Analysis and its Role in Fostering Sustainable Development in Zambia: Insights from the 2022 Livestock Survey Report

This study provides a comprehensive analysis of Zambia's dynamic livestock sub-sector as of April 30, 2022, drawing insights from the 2022 Livestock Survey Report. With 1,801,075 households actively engaged in livestock activities, the sub-sector emerges as a vital component of the country's rural livelihoods. Understanding the interplay of household characteristics and livestock populations is pivotal for crafting sustainable development policies that enhance the well-being of the sub-sector's participants.
 Gender dynamics within the livestock sub-sector underscore the central role of men as household heads and primary decision-makers. This necessitates targeted initiatives to empower women, fostering their active involvement and amplifying contributions that lead to improved household prosperity, expanded economic opportunities, and the preservation of indigenous knowledge.
 Zambia's diverse livestock population, with a significant presence of 4,698,972 cattle, plays a crucial role in ensuring protein availability, bolstering nutritional security, and contributing to household incomes. Goats, sheep, and pigs also feature prominently, meeting various demands for meat, milk and other essentials. Recognizing the unique contributions of each livestock species allows for tailored strategies to improve their productivity and welfare.
 Addressing provincial disparities in livestock production and resource utilization is imperative for achieving sustainable development goals. Provincial variations in agro-ecological conditions, market access, and infrastructure necessitate context-specific interventions. Such approaches can harness provincial strengths, optimize resource utilization, and stimulate value chain development.
 Moreover, this study highlights opportunities in honey production and milk output. Apiculture and beekeeping investment can aid biodiversity conservation through pollination services while fostering high-quality honey production. Tailored capacity-building and infrastructure development can address provincial disparities in milk production, benefiting smallholder dairy farmers and the broader dairy industry.
 This study underscores the livestock sub-sector's pivotal role in sustainable development, food security, and rural livelihood enhancement in Zambia. By embracing responsible, inclusive strategies and evidence-based insights, policymakers, stakeholders, and development practitioners can optimize the sub-sector's potential. Focusing on household well-being, gender inclusivity, and provincial equity will foster a resilient and thriving livestock sub-sector, benefiting all segments of society and paving the way for a brighter and more sustainable future for Zambia.

Prevalence and molecular identification of gastrointestinal nematodes in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau of China.

Gastrointestinal nematodes (GINs) have seriously affected the production and earnings of animal husbandry in various countries, while some species of GINs infect humans. At present, little is known about the species and prevalence of GINs in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). In this study, 528 fresh faecal samples were collected from typical areas in different altitudes with seven species of livestock in Qinghai, Tibet, Gansu and Yunnan Provinces. ITS-2 rRNA gene of nematodes was employed to detect by PCR and sequencing analysis. Phylogenetic analysis of related sequences was performed using MEGA 6.0 software. The overall prevalence of GINs was 80.3% with 20 species of GINs detected, while Teladorsagia circumcincta was the dominant one, and four of which were zoonotic species such as Trichostrongylus colubriformis, Trichostrongylus axei, Trichostrongylus vitrinus and Oesophagostomum stephanostomum. The study provided panoptic information on the prevalence and species diversity of GINs in QTP area, which is useful and valuable for reference of measure formulation in livestock husbandry and public health concerns. The parasites of T. circumcincta, Cylicocyclus nassatus, Strongylus edentatus, Cylicostephanus longibursatus, Telephlebia brevicauda, Cyathostomum catinatum, Mecistocirrus digitatus, Cooperia punctata, Cylicodontophorus bicoronatus, Nematodirus oiratianus and Oesophagostomum asperum were firstly reported the presence in QTP area. The study also showed that horse could be infected by T. circumcincta, goat could be infected by C. nassatus, cattle could be infected by S. edentatus and C. bicoronatus,and O. stephanostomum could infect yak, cattle and Mongolian sheep in worldwide. Nevertheless, more investigations are needed, such as microscopic examination, to accurately determine the species in the region.

Analysis of commercial fetal bovine serum (FBS) and its substitutes in the development of cultured meat

Fetal bovine serum (FBS) is an extremely important culture growth supplement, accounting for approximately 60 % of cell-culture-media costs; therefore, lowering FBS-acquisition costs for the industrialization of cultured meat is imperative. This study attempted to produce an FBS substitute using discarded livestock by-products, with particular focus on formulating a product with a composition similar to that of FBS to improve effectiveness. However, to date, no study has precisely analyzed the commercial components of FBS, and this study is the first to compare the chemical composition of FBS and commercially available horse serum purchased from the United States or Europe with that of FBS substitutes developed by our team. This study analyzed the chemical composition of the FBS products purchased by our team over the past 3 years via blood, sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and independent composition analyses. While the composition and quality of commercial FBS products are known to vary, the FBS composition of our purchased products was relatively uniform regardless of company, brand, or country of origin. In contrast, FBS substitutes obtained from three major livestock species (cattle, pig, and chicken) clearly exhibited differences in composition, a phenomenon that was also observed upon comparing with FBS as well as among different species. Therefore, to replace commercial FBS entirely, the production of a proportionately effective substitute product comprising an equal or similar composition is required, and the results of this study can be a steppingstone to achieving this. In addition, FBS substitutes manufactured using inexpensive slaughter by-products as raw materials are expected to ultimately reduce the unit cost of cultured meat production.

The novel IMAGE001 genotyping array as a valuable alternative for genetic diversity screening in chicken: a demonstration in a local chicken breed in Belgium

Screening for genetic diversity in livestock species breeds is of utmost importance, especially for local, small populations that are at the risk of extinction. Luckily, recent developments in technology increase access to genotyping, also for numerically small breeds. One of these new technologies is the IMAGE001 single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping array that includes markers for 6 different species (cow, pig, sheep, chicken, horse and goat). For our current study, we studied the Turkey-headed Malines chicken, a local chicken breed in Belgium, for the first time. A total of 110 animals were genotyped, together with 29 samples from 4 supposedly related breeds. The genotypes were used to assess the genetic diversity of this local breed. Our analysis revealed an average inbreeding coefficient of 0.20 through runs of homozygosity analysis, and effective population size estimation based on linkage disequilibrium indicated a low genetic diversity (Ne=34). Moreover, a principal component analysis and a genetic differentiation study (FST) were performed using these marker data to position the Turkey-headed Malines relative to the 4 other indigenous Belgian chicken breeds. Finally, we discussed the practical implications of the overlap between the IMAGE001 array and other existing chicken genotyping arrays. This study is the first use of the novel IMAGE001 array to evaluate a local chicken breed, and demonstrates it as a viable option for genomic characterization a breed. Moreover, with this research, we are able to provide a good basis for further evaluation of the Belgian chicken heritage.

Nutritional challenges of substituting farmed animals for wild fish in human diets

Wild fisheries provide billions of people with a key source of multiple essential nutrients. As fisheries plateau or decline, nourishing more people will partially rely on shifting consumption to farmed animals. The environmental implications of transitions among animal-sourced foods have been scrutinized, but their nutritional substitutability remains unclear. We compared concentrations of six essential dietary nutrients across >5000 species of wild fishes, aquaculture, poultry and livestock species, representing >65% of animals consumed globally. Wild fishes are both more nutrient-dense and variable than farmed animals; achieving recommended intake of all nutrients with farmed species could require consuming almost four times more biomass than with wild fish. The challenge of substituting farmed animals for wild fishes are magnified in fishery-dependent nations with high biodiversity and prevalence of malnutrition. Ultimately, the better ability of wild fishes to meet multiple nutrients simultaneously underscores the importance of drawing upon a diverse portfolio of animal- and plant-based foods as societies seek to offset changes in fisheries while achieving healthy and sustainable diets.

Dietary supplementation with olive oil co-products rich in polyphenols: a novel nutraceutical approach in monogastric animal nutrition.

In recent years, the increased demand for agri-food products to feed livestock species has stimulated research to identify novel solutions for the valorization of natural waste, according to the modern concept of a circular economy. Numerous studies have shown the use of plant-derived and agro-industrial co-products that are sources of bioactive molecules for preparing animal feeds. Supplementation with co-products derived from the extraction of olive oil (i.e., olive pomace, olive mill wastewater, olive cake and olive leaf) in diet has been widely considered in recent decades, because these wastes are produced in high quantity and their re-use represents an innovative economic and environmental strategy. Olive oil co-products are characterized by various bioactive molecules such as polyphenols, carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids. Among them, polyphenols are the nutraceuticals most studied, showing to promote health effects in both humans and animals. Olive oil co-products and their phenolic extracts have shown many beneficial and promising effects when added to the diets of monogastric animals, by improving performance parameters and maintaining the oxidative status of meat and derived products. This review provides an update on the use of olive co-products in monogastric animal (swine, poultry and rabbit) diets and their effects on the productive performance, meat quality characteristics and gut health status.