bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
PSV-10 Effects of Rumen-Bypass Protein Supplement on Growth Performance, Hepatic Mitochondrial Function and Immune Gene Expression of Beef Steers with Divergent Residual Feed Intake Phenotype
Authors: Idowu Modoluwamu , Taiwo Godstime A , Sidney Taylor S , Treon Emily , Ologunagba Deborah , Leal Yara , Eichie Francisca , Morenikeji Lanre , Pech-Cervantes Andres A , Ogunade Ibukun M
Published: November 2023

We examined the effects of rumen-bypass protein supplement on growth performance, hepatic mitochondrial Electron Transport Chain (ETC) activities, and mRNA expression of innate and adaptive immune genes of beef steers with divergent residual feed intake (RFI) phenotype. Thirty-nine crossbred beef steers (average BW = 492 ± 36 kg) were used in a generalized randomized block design with a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments for a 42-d experimental period. The factors evaluated were 1) RFI classification [low-RFI (-2.12kg/d) vs. high-RFI (2.02kg/d)], and 2) feed additive: rumen-bypass protein supplement (RCP; 227 g· steer-1· day-1) vs. Control diet (CON; 0 g/d), resulting in four treatments: Low-RFI-CON (n = 10), low-RFI-RCP (n = 9), high-RFI-CON (n = 10), and high-RFI-RCP (n = 10). The rumen-bypass protein supplement (84% CP) is a blend of hydrolyzed feather meal, porcine blood meal, and DL-methionine hydroxy analogue. The beef steers were stratified by BW and randomly assigned to treatments and housed in four pens equipped with two GrowSafe feed bunks each to measure individual DMI. Body weight was measured every 7 days. Liver tissue was sampled on d 42 from all animals using a liver biopsy needle for mRNA expression analysis of 84 immune genes and analysis of mitochondrial ETC activities of complexes I – V. No effects of supplemental feed additive or RFI × feed additive interactions were observed (P > 0.05) for ADG and DMI. Compared with high-RFI, low-RFI beef steers tended to have less DMI (13.6 vs 12.9 kg/d; P = 0.09) but ADG was similar for the two RFI groups. Feed additive × RFI interactions were observed (P ≤ 0.05) for mitochondrial activities of Complexes IV, V, and mRNA expressions of some immune genes. Supplemental RCP increased Complex IV (39.2 nmol/min/mg) activity and reduced that of Complex V (94.1 nmol· min-1· mg-1) in high-RFI beef steers whereas the activity of Complex IV (13.1 nmol· min-1· mg-1) was reduced and that of Complex V (120 nmol· min-1· mg-1) was increased in low-RFI beef steers. Supplemental RCP increased (P < 0.05) the mRNA expression of TLR2 [fold change (FC) = 1.17 vs 0.98], TLR3 (FC = 1.49 vs 0.97), NFKB1 (FC = 1.02 vs 0.90), and IL23A (FC = 1.35 vs 1.07) in high-RFI beef steers but the expression of these genes were not altered in low-RFI beef steers. In conclusion, RCP supplementation did not affect the growth performance and the observed effects on hepatic immune gene expression and activities of mitochondrial ETC complexes are dependent on the RFI phenotype of the beef steers. Further research should explore the mechanism responsible for the interactions between RCP supplementation and RFI status.
PSV-14 Body Weight Development of Calves During the First Week of Life
Authors: Vorndran Anton M , Huber Stefan M , Bernhardt Heinz , Peschel Markus , Riepl Florian , Steinhoff-Wagner Julia
Published: November 2023

Under practical conditions calves often do not gain body weight (BW) during their first week of life. However, early life development of calves has an important role in later life performance as dairy cow (Britney et al., 1984; Soberon and van Amburgh, 2013). Therefore, the goal of this study was to determine influencing factors on body weight gain of calves during this period when fed their dams colostrum and milk. Five Calves (4 Brown Swiss, 1 Friesean x Brown Swiss) were individually housed in calf hutches. All hutches were placed on continuously weight recording scales (recording interval 10 seconds). Calves were housed immediately after birth until day 7 of their life. During the first week, calves were fed colostrum and milk from their dam twice a day ad libitum until drinking was terminated for at least one minute. Not-consumed milk was weighed and milk consumption was calculated. Urine was collected and weighed twice daily. When fed colostrum and milk of their dams during the first week of life, BW (birthweight 42.2 to 52.6 kg) increased rapidly (daily BW gain 1.52 to 2.29 kg per day) up to the end of the observation period. Calves with greater birthweight reached heavier BW at d 7 (52.9 to 68.2 kg). All calves showed increased milk consumption when offered their dams milk (2 to 11.14% of BW per serving, mean = 7.7to 8.8% of BWt per serving). Due to the continuous weight monitoring, BW development could be visualized as a sawblade like line. With every feeding event the BW peaked, followed by a phase of continuous BW loss. Interestingly absence of BW gain occurred during the first 48h when calves did not yet understand how to drink from the nipple bucket where colostrum or milk was offered. BW gain and milk consumption were increased for all calves. Together, learning how to drink early in life and human support of this process can positively influence early life development. Britney et al. (1984) In: Preventive veterinary medicine 3 (1), S. 45–52. DOI: 10.1016/0167-5877(84)90023-0.Soberon, F.; van Amburgh, M. E. (2013) In: Journal of Animal Science 91 (2), S. 706–712. DOI: 10.2527/jas.2012-5834.
PSV-2 Difference in Sire Pta Evaluated By Taiwan Dhi and the Original Countries
Authors: Lan Yu-Xiang , Lin Yu-Shen , Lin Kai-Hsiang , Su Chan-Liang , Tu Po-An , Lin En-Chung
Published: November 2023

Taiwan is located in a region with a tropical/subtropical oceanic climate characterized by high temperatures and humidity, which significantly affects the milk production, health, and reproduction of dairy cows. Most dairy herds in Taiwan have utilized semen of superior foreign sires from countries in temperate climate, mainly from USA and Canada. However, the performance of daughters in Taiwan of those foreign sires may differ from those in temperate countries. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of foreign sire semen in Taiwan's dairy herds, and to compare the PTAs of those sires in both Taiwan and their original countries. Data and pedigree from the Dairy Herd Improvement program (DHI) were collected between 2009 and 2021. In total, 108,348 lactation records from 54,269 cows and 76,024 animals in the pedigree were obtained from 120 herds. Traits to evaluate include milk yield (MY), milk fat percentage (MF%), milk fat yield (MFY), milk protein percentage (MP%), and milk protein yield (MPY) standardized to 305d-2X yield. The herd-year-season and lactation were considered as fixed effects in the model with additive genetic effect and permanent environmental effect as random effects. In addition, an extra fixed effect, physical situation of lactation (PSL), was included to account for abnormal physiology or subclinical mastitis in those dairy cows. The ASReml program was used to estimate the variance and covariance components as well as heritability and correlation with multiple-trait animal models. Not only the accuracy of predicted transmitting ability (PTATW) ≥ 75% of those superior foreign sires using DHI data and their PTAs obtained from the original countries (PTAInt) were compared, but also the rank correlation between PTATW and PTAInt was also calculated. The results indicated that only when the accuracy of PTATW increased to 90%, a moderate correlation was observed. Moreover, PTATW and PTAInt of all the sires with an accuracy of PTATW ≥ 75% were tracked to the lactation performance of their daughters in Taiwan using regression analysis. The results showed that selecting sires with an increase of 1 kg in PTATW and in PTAInt would increase the average production of their daughters in Taiwan's dairy herds by 1.620 kg and 0.213 kg in milk yield, 1.328 kg and 1.201 kg in fat yield, and 1.493 kg and 0.550 kg in protein yield, respectively. Therefore, selecting offspring through PTATW of sires is much more efficient, and increasing the number of daughters for each sire and their DHI records would improve the accuracy of PTATW prediction and ranking, making it an important indicator for selecting progeny in Taiwan dairy herds.
PSV-4 Effects of Asprosin on Nuclear Sirtuins Expression in Bovine Granulosa Cells
Authors: Batalha Isadora Maria , Peña-Bello Camilo Andres P , Schütz Luis Fernando F
Published: November 2023

Asprosin is an adipokine that regulates steroid production in granulosa cells (GC). Sirtuins are a family of NAD+-dependent deacetylases associated with GC function. In the nucleus, sirtuins are epigenetic regulators of gene expression. Although the literature shows that sirtuins and asprosin affect GC steroidogenesis and proliferation, studies are required to investigate whether their actions are linked. The aims of this study are to determine the influence of asprosin on mRNA expression of nuclear sirtuins and their association with steroidogenic regulators in bovine GC. GC were isolated from small antral follicles (1 to 5mm) of bovine ovaries, cultured in vitro, and treated with or without asprosin (200 ng/mL) in combination with FSH (30 ng/mL) or IGF1 (30 ng/mL). Cells were cultured for 24 h and submitted to RNA extraction (n = 5 pools). Relative mRNA abundance of SIRTs 1, 2, 6, 7, aromatase (CYP19A1), IGF1 receptor (IGF1r), and FSH receptor (FSHr) were determined via RT-qPCR using 18S as a housekeeping gene. Data were analyzed via factorial ANOVA with GLM procedures of SAS for Windows (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC). Normality was tested using the Shapiro-Wilk test. Data sets that showed non-gaussian distribution (P >0.05) after log-transformation were analyzed via the Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Dunn’s post hoc test using GraphPad Prism 9.2.0. Differences among treatments were considered significant at P < 0.05, and a tendency at 0.05< P < 0.10. Pearson correlation was performed using PROC CORR procedures of SAS for Windows (version 9.4, SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC). SIRT1 (P < 0.05) mRNA abundance increased after Asprosin treatment in comparison with FSH alone and in combination with asprosin as well as to IGF1 alone. Also, SIRT1 under asprosin treatment showed a tendency (P < 0.06) to be increased in comparison with negative control. Additionally, a very high correlation (r = 0.999; P < 0.05) between CYP19A1 and SIRT1 was observed in the treatment with asprosin. SIRT2 had a tendency (P < 0.08) to increase after treatment with asprosin in comparison with FSH alone. Moreover, SIRT2 has a very high (r = 0.995; P < 0.005) correlation to CYP19A1 after treatment of FSH in combination with asprosin and a significant (r = 0.676; P < 0.05) correlation with IGF1r. Asprosin treatment led to a very high (r = 0.997; P < 0.05) correlation of SIRT6 with FSHr. Also, when asprosin was combined with FSH, a very high (r = 0.993, P < 0.01) correlation between SIRT6 and CYP19A1 was observed. SIRT7 mRNA relative abundance decreased (P < 0.05) after treatment with IGF1 in comparison to the negative control. No significant correlation was observed between SIRT7 and CYP19A1 or receptors. In summary, asprosin increases expression of SIRT1 and increases the correlation between SIRTs 1, 2, 6, and aromatase. These results indicate that the actions of asprosin on steroidogenesis involve sirtuins regulation.
PSV-5 The Effect of a Prenatal Immune Challenge on Offspring Skeletal Muscle Characteristics in the Longissimus Muscle of Weaned Pigs
Authors: Dobbins Thomas W , Legako Jerrad F , Fuerniss Luke K , Wesley Kaitlyn R , Johnson Bradley J , Mitchell Ty M , Petry Amy L , Broadway Paul R , Sanchez Nicole C Burdick
Published: November 2023

An insult to the health status of an animal is associated with decreased skeletal muscle growth. Furthermore, an immune challenge to a gestating dam may inhibit pre- and postnatal muscle growth of the offspring. The objective of this study was to determine if the administration of low-dose lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to gestating sows would alter muscle characteristics of the longissimus muscle (LM) in weaned pigs exposed to LPS. Pregnant Camborough sows were randomly assigned to receive LPS (LPS; n = 7) at a dose of 2.5 μg/kg BW or saline (CON; n= 7) on 78 ± 1.8 d of gestation. At weaning (21 ± 1.3 d of age), barrows (CON n = 17; LPS n = 17) from each sow received a secondary LPS challenge. Following the postnatal challenge, barrows were euthanized (31 ± 1.3 d of age), and both LM were collected. The left LM was weighed, measured for length, and measured for circumference at the cranial, middle, and caudal portion of the muscle. Two samples from the right LM were preserved for histological analyses. Morphometric, fiber type count, primary myofiber clustering, and satellite cell counts were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS 9.4 with a main effect of prenatal treatment and covariate of body weight. There were no differences (P > 0.248) between any morphometric measures. The average diameter for myosin heavy chain (MHC) type I and IIB/X fibers was increased (P < 0.048) 8.6 and 5.9% respectively in LPS offspring compared with CON offspring. Average cross-sectional area (CSA) was increased 10.6% (P = 0.030) in MHC IIB/X fibers and tended to be increased 14.9% (P = 0.080) in MHC 1 fibers of LPS offspring. Number of myofibers within the LM was increased 16.1% (P = 0.032) in CON compared with LPS offspring. Diameter, CSA, and total CSA of oxidative myofibers (MHC type I and IIA) clusters was increased (P < 0.001) 13.8, 27.6, and 22.3% respectively in LPS compared with CON offspring. There were no differences (P > 0.186) between treatment groups for total nuclei or nuclei positive for MYF5, PAX7, or MYF5 and PAX7 nuclei. Based on the timing of the maternal challenge, it can be theorized that LPS hinders hyperplasia during secondary myogenesis following an immune challenge to the dam, with a rescue response of increased hypertrophy of MHC I and IIB/X myofibers post-weaning and glycolytic myofiber profile. However, due to the reduction in total myofibers, the impact of LPS on parameters such as average daily gain, feed efficiency, and lean skeletal muscle accretion should be studied further.
PSVI-5 Optimizing Limited Deep Phenotyping Capacity for Genetic Studies and Routine Genetic Evaluations: Application to Boar Taint
Authors: Markey Alice , Wavreille José , Mayeres Patrick , Huet Anne-Catherine , Gengler Nicolas
Published: November 2023

In the context of genetic research, but even more for routine genetic evaluations, a recurrent problem is the difficulty to obtain measurements for certain required phenotypes. This can be caused by limited facilities, difficulties in sampling, expensive analyses, limited staff relative to number of animals, and many other reasons. It may therefore be necessary to select which animals to phenotype while maintaining the phenotyping quality and avoiding bias or omitting some animals of interest. This implies developing strategies to do the phenotyping in a non-biased way using a priori available minimum knowledge. An example could be predicting post weaning growth of cattle based on earlier information as birth weight and weaning weight to optimize the use of feed intake or methane measurement facilities. In pigs, similar situations might occur for growth or emissions. However, another important example is boar taint (BT) which shows that not only sequential weighing, but also partial measurements of BT may require attention. BT is defined as urinary and fecal and associated with 2 major compounds, androstenone (AND) and skatole (SKA). The classical method of odor discrimination, “Human Nose Score” (HNS), is notoriously unreliable. Even if odor is known to be complex, adding AND and SKA to HNS would help reveal better the boar taint condition (i.e., phenotype). However, the measurements of AND and SKA or other compounds in fat are expensive. Therefore, it would be important to optimize these measurements by selecting relevant fat samples taken at slaughterhouses. We tested the following optimization strategy. The objective was to obtain a good distribution of a posteriori measured AND and SKA in the selected samples given initial asymmetric populations with positive HNS (3 to 10% declared positives). In a first step, the strategy pooled 2 available HNS for 997 across 22 contemporary groups (CG) and added limited chemical measurements (218/997) available for older samples. The data were obtained from a boar progeny testing scheme; therefore, CG were linked through connecting sires from artificial insemination having sons in different CG. A multi-trait BLUP model was used adjusting for metabolic weight using a 4-generation pedigree. A total of 15% of the animals in the last 6 contemporary groups were selected using first positive HNS (17/300), then keeping the highest and lowest predictions and maintaining diversity by not repeating boars from the same sire-family (i.e., when a family was already present, the next animal was taken). A posteriori chemical analyses were performed on selected samples to compare predicted and observed classifications in tainted and untainted. Research showed an accuracy of 0.73 (Table 1), leading to 58% tainted and 42% untainted compared with the expected ratio. Improvements of this strategy are currently in development, including using genomics.
PSVI-3 Effects of Sprouted Barley on Feeding Behavior and Dry Matter Intake in Growing Steers
Authors: Crump Zachary C , Alberto Anthony F , Brown Bailee , Okamoto Lillian , Sego Mia , Roholt Bryce W , Waddups Allissa , Spurling Ryan A
Published: November 2023

Beef cattle production is a key component to the global food supply and is a valuable source of protein for human consumption. Decreased land and water availability in the Intermountain West region of the U.S. poses challenges for conventional production systems. An alternative option to overcome these challenges is through vertical, controlled environment farming. These systems are used to sprout cereal grains that can be used as feed for beef cattle. In this trial, 60 commercial Angus steers (328.24 ± 6.48 kg) were each stratified into one of four treatment groups (n=15). Treatment groups consisted of a typical ration for the region served as the control and treatments groups had a 5%, 10%, or 20% (DM) inclusion of sprouted barley grain. Animals were fed for 60 days and body weights were measured on days 0, 30, and 60. Intake and feeding behavior were measured throughout the 60 days by Vytelle bunk units. The PROC MIXED procedure of SAS was used to analyze all data where day was used as a repeated measure to determine the main effect of treatment. There was a treatmentxday effect (P = 0.006) on DMI demonstrating steers that received 10% or 20% sprouted barley had a linear increase in intake throughout the trial, where steers that received 0% or 5% sprouted barley showed a linear increase in intake over the first 30 days, but then plateaued the last 30 days of the trial. Additionally, a treatmentxday effect was observed for feed bouts (P = 0.0004) and bunk visits (P = 0.0001), showing that steers receiving 5% or 20% sprouted barley had consistent bunk visits and feed bouts throughout, where 0% sprouted barley increased the first 30 days then decreased the last 30 days, and 10% sprouted barley decreased over the first 30 days then increased the last 30 days. Treatment had no effect (P = 0.85) on weight gain over the trial period. These data demonstrate that including sprouted barley in the ration of backgrounding cattle has no effect on overall animal body weight gain, but does affect dry matter intake and feeding behavior.
PSIV-10 Effect of Dietary Inclusion of Fertilized and Unfertilized Sericea Lespedeza Hay on Performance and Plasma Metabolome of Naturally Infected Goats
Authors: Odom Terra , Brown Davia , Pulsifer Chelsea , Terrill Thomas H , Whitley Niki C , Estrada-Reyes Zaira M , Ogunade Ibukun M , Taiwo Godstime A , Idowu Modoluwamu
Published: November 2023

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of the dietary inclusion of unfertilized (AS) and fertilized (AR) sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata) hay on body weight (BW), average daily gain, and plasma metabolome of goats. Thirty-six naturally parasite-infected (>5000 eggs/gram) 9-month-old intact male Spanish goats (23.9 ± 0.15 kg) were randomly allocated (12 goats per treatment) into three dietary treatments: a) Control (bermudagrass hay), b) AS (unfertilized lespedeza), and c) AR (fertilized lespedeza) for a 60-day pen feeding trial. All treatments were supplemented with a commercial concentrate following a 70:30 forage:concentrate ratio. Feed samples, blood samples, and BW were collected and recorded weekly to estimate chemical composition, initial and final BW, and average daily gain (ADG). Metabolome analysis of the plasma samples was performed using a chemical isotope labelling/liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based technique. Pathway enrichment analysis and analysis of the differentially abundant metabolites were performed using MetaboAnalyst 5.0 software. All other data were analyzed following the GLIMMIX procedure (repeated measures) of SAS, with the fixed effect of treatment, week, and the random effect of animals. Chemical composition revealed greater (P ≤ 0.05) CP (15.6 vs. 12%) and NDF (50 vs. 40.8%) in AR hay compared with AS hay. Compared with the control, dietary AR increased (P < 0.05) final BW (30.1 vs. 27.3 kg) and ADG (130.2 vs. 84.5 g/d) in parasite-infected goats. Compared with the control, nitrogen metabolism was enriched (P ≤ 0.05) in AR and AS goats. Compared with AR, the lysine degradation pathway was enriched in AS (P = 7.51 x 10-6) animals. Moreover, the relative concentration of β-leucine was greater (P < 0.05) in goats on the AR diet compared with the control. Results from this research suggest that both AS and AR sericea lespedeza increased nitrogen metabolism in parasite-infected goats. However, dietary AR hay reduced lysine degradation or increased plasma β-leucine concentration compared with AS and the control, respectively. In conclusion, dietary AR lespedeza hay improved the growth performance of parasite-infected meat goats by preventing amino acid degradation and increasing leucine availability, which may help promote muscle regeneration.
PSIV-3 The Effects of Feeding Sprouted Barley on Rumen Health of Backgrounded Steers
Authors: Crump Zachary C , Thornton Kara J , Okamoto Lillian , Alberto Anthony F , Sego Mia , Blackett Brady , Ranathunga Sanjeewa , Harding Rob , Ward Robert , Roholt Bryce W , Brown Bailee
Published: November 2023

By the year 2050 the world population is expected to reach 9.7 billion, which increases the demand for beef production. Urbanization continues to decrease available cropland, resulting in a need for innovative technologies to produce livestock feed. Controlled environment vertical farming systems are an alternative technology that can be used to produce feed. This research assesses the effects of including sprouted grains grown in this type of system in the ration of backgrounding steers. A total of 60 commercial Angus steers (328.24 ± 6.48 kg) were each stratified into one of four treatment groups (n = 15). A typical ration for the region served as the control and treatment groups had a 5%, 10%, or 20% (DM) inclusion of sprouted barley. Rumen fluid was collected on days 0, 30, and 60 of the trial and analyzed for pH and volatile fatty acids (VFA). Data were analyzed using the PROC MIXED procedure of SAS where day was analyzed as a repeated measure to assess the effects of treatment x day, treatment and day. VFA are presented as a percentage of the total VFA analyzed. There was a treatment x day effect (P = 0.006) on rumen pH where steers getting 5 or 20% sprouted barley had a lower rumen pH at days 30 and 60 than the other two treatment groups. However, it is important to note that all rumen pH values were at healthy levels. Additionally, there was a treatment x day effect (P = 0.01) for total VFA where all values were consistent at days 0 and 30 and then steers receiving 5 or 20% sprouted barley decreased compared with the other two treatments. A treatment x day effect (P = 0.0005) was also observed for acetic acid and demonstrated that on day 30 values decreased from day 0, but steers receiving 5 or 10% sprouted barley decreased most drastically, but at day 60 those receiving 10% sprouted barley was less than the other groups. Propionic acid was also altered by treatmentx day (P = 0.008) such that levels increased from day 0 to day 30 in all groups except those receiving 20% sprouted barley, and then a decrease was observed at day 60 in all treatments with steers receiving 5 or 20% sprouted barley having the least amounts. A treatmentx day effect (P = 0.05) was also seen for butyric acid and is described with an increase from day 0 to day 30 and then a slight decrease at day 60 with those receiving the 10% sprouted barley staying consistent from day 30 to day 60. These data demonstrate that including sprouted barley in the ration of backgrounding cattle has an effect on rumen pH and VFA production in the rumen, but all values stayed within an acceptable range.
PSIX-20 Differential Gene Expression in Peripheral White Blood Cells of Fertile and Sub-Fertile Beef Heifers
Authors: Banerjee Priyanka , Da Diniz Wellison Jarles j Silva , Dyce Paul W W
Published: November 2023

Infertility in beef heifers remains a major economic loss to the cow-calf production industry. Identifying beef heifers with superior genetic potential for improved fertility would increase profitability. Therefore, the study aimed to identify differences in transcriptome profile from peripheral white blood cells (pWBCs) of beef heifers with varying reproductive potential. To accomplish this, Angus-Simmental crossbred heifers were subjected to an estrus synchronization and fixed-time artificial insemination (AI) protocol (7-Day CO-Synch + CIDR). Fourteen days after AI, all heifers were exposed to fertile bulls for a 60-day natural breeding season. Depending on the presence or absence of conceptus 120 days post-AI, heifers were classified as fertile (pregnant heifers) or sub-fertile (non-pregnant by AI or bull-breeding). Pregnancies were terminated, and all animals in both groups were cycling when pWBCs were isolated. Total RNA was extracted from the PWBCs and subjected to the library preparation and sequencing on the Nova-Seq platform. The read counts were obtained after data filtering and quality control using FastQC v0.11.9 and MultiQC v1.12 and alignment to the Ensemble’s ARS UCD1.2 Bos taurus genome reference using STAR aligner v2.7.5 for fertile (n = 8) and sub-fertile (n = 5) beef heifers. The filtered data were subjected to differential expression analysis using DESeq2. We identified 300 significantly differentially expressed genes (DEGs) with P-value ≤ 0.05 and absolute (log2 fold change) ≥ 0.5. Among them, 34 genes including FKBP5, ADCY3, REPS1, LAMP1, CTSH, ADGRE5 were identified with padj < 0.05. DEGs were over-represented for pathways such as response to thyroid stimulus, immune response, response to lipid, neutrophil degranulation, and calcium ion binding. Some of these genes were reported as fertility-related, while the other genes are novel and have the potential to predict heifers with varying reproductive potential. A detailed understanding of the underlying biological mechanisms of the top genes and a follow-up study with a higher sample size at different time points could validate the potential candidates identified in this study.
PSIX-17 Preliminary Assessment of Preweaning Growth Performance of Dexter and Mashona X Dexter Calves
Authors: Browning Richard , Hayes Emily G , Landskroener Christian , Meador Heather
Published: November 2023

Non-traditional cattle breeds are often considered by managers for niche beef production and marketing systems. Some of these alternative breeds are small-framed and thus desired by small-farm operators but have received little research attention because they do not fit traditional commodity beef production systems. Very few of these small breeds also offer heat tolerance. This project was designed to evaluate preweaning performance of straightbred (n = 76) and F1 crossbred calves (n = 81) produced by mature Dexter cows across three years and two Tennessee State University research farms. Spring-born calves were sired by Dexter (n = 7; DD) and Mashona bulls (n = 6; MD) in single-sire, natural service breeding groups following 60-d breeding seasons. Breed of sire was balanced across cow age and farm locations. Calves were weighed within 24-h of birth, at 4 months (125 d of age) of age, and at weaning (227 d of age). Calves were not creep-fed and bull calves were not castrated until after weaning. No cases of dystocia were observed as a result of crossbreeding. Calf performance traits were evaluated using MIXED models of SAS. Fixed effects included sire breed, sex, farm location, and the interaction of sire breed and sex. Random effect terms were production year and sire nested within sire breed. For all the traits evaluated, models were consistent in that the sire breed x calf sex interaction was not significant (P > 0.1), whereas sire breed and calf sex were consistently important (P < 0.01) sources of variation. Bull calves had greater weight and ADG values than heifer calves from birth to weaning. Mean body weight was heavier for MD than DD calves at birth (28.4 ± 0.8 vs. 23.9 ± 0.7 kg), at 4 months of age (120.6 ± 9.7 vs. 96.7 ± 9.6 kg), and at weaning (154 ± 8.6 vs. 124.4 ± 8.6 kg). The MD calves had greater ADG than DD calves from birth to 4 months of age (715.8 ± 36.1 vs. 599.1 ± 36 g/d), from 4 months of age to weaning (334 ± 44.3 vs. 256.8 ± 44 g/d), and from birth to weaning (547 ± 35.7 vs. 447.1 ± 35.7 g/d). Mean 205-d adjusted body weight was heavier for MD than DD (140.2 ± 7.6 vs. 114.7 ± 7.6 kg). Preliminary results indicated that crossbreeding with Mashona bulls significantly increased preweaning growth of calves produced by Dexter cows, while the F1 calves maintained small statute. The spring-born MD F1 calves likely benefited from heat tolerance provided by the Mashona influence and heterosis generated by crossbreeding.
PSIX-19 Association of the Rumen Microbiota with Carcass Merit and Beef Quality
Authors: Holman Devin B , Gzyl Katherine E , Scott Haley , Prieto Nuria , Lopez-Campos Oscar
Published: November 2023

The microbial community in the rumen has an important role in the health and production of beef cattle providing up to 70% of the daily energy requirements from the metabolism of otherwise non-digestible dietary carbohydrates. Diet is often the largest determinant of rumen microbiome composition, but it is also affected by host age, genetics, and sex. Performance attributes such as average daily gain and feed efficiency have all been linked to the rumen microbiome and recent studies with relatively small numbers of cattle have also suggested there may be an association with certain beef quality traits such as marbling, which largely determines the carcass value. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the association of the rumen microbiota with carcass merit and beef quality traits. Two hundred steers were slaughtered, and rumen samples were collected immediately post-slaughter. Subsequently, carcass merit and meat quality attributes were evaluated. The rumen microbiota of these animals was then characterized using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Although we did not identify a significant association between marbling score and the structure of the rumen microbiota (PERMANOVA; P > 0.05), there were significant associations between rumen microbial community structure and commercial weight, dressed weight percentage, drip loss, and intramuscular fat content (P < 0.05). There were also individual bacterial taxa that were correlated with various carcass merit and beef quality traits. Members of the Acidaminococcus genus were negatively associated with both intramuscular fat content and marbling score (P < 0.10) while Coprococcus, Christensenellaceae R-7 group, Lachnospiraceae NK3A20 group, Moryella, and Prevotella were among those genera positively correlated with intramuscular fat content (P < 0.10). Christensenellaceae R-7 group, Lachnospiraceae NK3A20 group, Moryella, and Prevotella were also significantly associated with dressed weight percentage. Commercial weight was positively correlated with the genera Catonella, Prevotellaceae NK3B31 group, Pseudoramibacter, Selenomonas, and Sutterella and negatively associated with Oribacterium and Ruminococcaceae UCG-001 (P < 0.10). Therefore, bacteria within these genera may be ideal targets for future microbiome-based strategies to improve carcass merit and beef quality.
PSXII-24 Examining Relationships Between Residual Feed Intake Classification, Enteric Emissions, and Apparent Total Tract Digestibility in Late Gestation Beef Heifers
Authors: Acton Kortney , Duarte Marcio S , Swanson Kendall C , Ellis Jen L , Wood Katharine M
Published: November 2023

Improving feed efficiency on forage-based systems can be an important tool for beef producers to reduce their environmental footprint. The objective of this project is to assess the relationship between traditional residual feed intake (RFI) efficiency classification, enteric gas emissions, and apparent total tract nutrient digestibility in late gestation beef heifers. Pregnant Angus crossbred heifers in late gestation (n = 72, BW = 576 ± 45.8 kg) were blocked by expected calving date and randomly assigned to pen groups. Heifers had ad libitum access to a common haylage-based diet formulated to meet nutritional requirements for the last eight weeks of gestation. Individual feed intake and behavior data were recorded daily using Insentec feeding stations (Insentec B.V., Marknesse, The Netherlands). Groups of heifers were rotated through pens with access to GreenFeed trailers (C-Lock Inc., Rapid City, SD, USA) to measure enteric gas emissions of methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2), and oxygen (O2). To determine individual apparent total tract digestibility, fecal samples were collected from each heifer every 9 h over three days, mixed, dried at 65 °C for 96 h, and analyzed for nutrient values (A&L Canada Laboratories, London, ON, Canada). Nutrient digestibility was determined for each heifer using acid-insoluble ash (AIA) and undigestible neutral detergent fiber (uNDF) as internal markers. Heifer RFI was determined using predicted DM intake as a regression of midpoint BW and ADG, and heifers were classified by RFI quartile group. Data were analyzed using PROC GLIMMIX in SAS, with efficiency quartile group as the fixed effect and pen as a random effect, comparisons between quartile groups were assessed with a Tukey test. Heifers classified as efficient (lowest RFI) had decreased DMI (8.2 vs 10.7 ± 0.21 kg/d, P < 0.01), less bunk visits (43 vs 64 ± 5 visits/day, P < 0.01) and greater time per visit (4.8 vs 3.0 ± 0.53 min/visit, P = 0.05). Efficient heifers also had reduced CH4 (219 vs 245 ± 6.2 g/d, P = 0.03) and CO2 (7,517 vs 8,074 ± 165.9 g/d, P = 0.01) emissions compared with inefficient (greatest RFI) heifers. However, apparent total tract digestibility of organic matter, crude protein, NDF, ADF, starch, and sugar using AIA (P > 0.08) or uNDF (P > 0.06) as internal markers were not correlated with heifer efficiency. These data indicate that more efficient heifers in late gestation consume less feed and have reduced enteric emissions, despite no differences in apparent total tract digestibility.
PSIX-16 Observational Canine Aging Study: a Diet Enriched in Antioxidants Reduces Cognitive and Physical Decline
Authors: Key Morgan , Vondran Jodi , Hancock Leslie B , Brejda John
Published: November 2023

Older pets often exhibit changes in behaviors and/or mental health such as altered sleeping habits, activity level, social orientation, cognitive ability and overall vitality. Nutrition has been shown in animal models to impact senescence progression. However, symptoms associated with aging often are insidious and unobserved. As a result, nutritional adjustments may be delayed or in some cases never implemented as some pets age. This study was conducted to measure observed behavioral responses of aging dogs being fed an investigational food, enriched with antioxidants, fatty acids and an experimental nutrient blend specific for aging dogs. A secondary objective was to determine behaviors dog owners use to infer their aging pet’s quality of life (QoL). Two-arm, controlled, multicenter, blinded study was conducted in adult dogs living with varying aging stages. Healthy dogs enrolled were categorized as small (15 to 25 lbs.) and medium (26 to 50 lbs.) breeds ≥7 years old, and large (51+ lbs.) breeds were ≥ 5 years old. The dogs were transitioned onto the experimental diet over 28 days and were fed the study food for a minimum of 84 days. Evaluations included physical examination, body weight, triaxial accelerometry, daily and monthly surveys assessing overall aging health, QoL, food, and daily activity with aging questionnaires on days 0, 28, 56, 84. Data from the aging questionnaire were analyzed using a linear mixed-model with Diet, Day, and Diet x Day as fixed-effects. An appropriate variance-covariance structure was selected to model the correlation between the repeated measurements. Single degree-of-freedom estimate statements were used to compare the two diets at each time point, and to compare all test period time points to baseline within each diet. A simulation-based multiplicity adjustment was used to control the Type I error rate. Population: A total of 140 dogs were enrolled, with 98 completing the study. Of the 98 completed participants, 76 dogs met completion criteria and were utilized for the statistical analysis. The dogs transitioned smoothly and accepted the test diet well throughout the study. Statistically significant findings from the monthly owner assessments showed an increase (d 28 P = 0.0032, d 56 P = 0.0081, and d 84 P = 0.0023) in affection from their pets. There was also a perceived increase in stamina (P = 0.0032) within 28 days. By day 56 dogs showed an increase in mental ability (P = 0.0426). The investigational study food was well-accepted and efficacious in supporting aging dogs. Notably, observed markers of social orientation, bonding and affection that often decline in aging dogs and those with canine cognitive dysfunction.
PSIX-12 Development of a Feed Supplement for Cats
Authors: Jang Hyun-Jun , Kim Jung-Ae , Kim Dae-Hyuk , Kim Yangseon
Published: November 2023

Probiotics including Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium spp. have been known to control the balance of gut microbiota and are positively effective to host animals. In this study, 32 bacterial strains were isolated from Norwegian forest cat (castrated, 12 years old) and Persian cat (castrated, 10 years old) which were privately owned and had indoor access. Among them, Lactobacillus rhamnosus CACC612 (CACC612) and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. Lactis CACC789 (CACC789) were selected as potential probiotics. From the characterization of the two strains, they showed equivalent acid tolerance, similar cell adhesion rate on HT-29 monolayer cell line, and superior bile salt tolerance, compared with Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG). Subsequently, they exhibited antibacterial activities against a broad spectrum of pathogenic bacteria such as E. coli KCTC 2617, Salmonella Derby NCCP 12238, Salmonella enteritidis NCCP 14546, Salmonella typhimurium NCCP 10328, Clostridium difficile JCM 1296T. From evaluating host effects, the viability of the feline macrophage cell line (Fcwf-4) increased with the treatment of CACC612 or CACC789 (P < 0.05). The induced expression of immune-related genes such as IFN-γ, IL1β, IL2, IL4, and TNF-α by immune stimulation was significantly attenuated by the treatment of CACC612 or CACC789 (P < 0.05). In addition, when 52 clinical factors of sera from 21 healthy cats were analyzed using partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), the animals were markedly clustered before and after CACC612 or CACC789 feeding. In addition, hemoglobin and Mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) were significantly increased after CACC612 feeding (P < 0.05). Conclusively, these results could contribute to understanding the functional effects of feline-originated probiotics and supporting their industrial applications.
PSIX-13 Intake Differences in Small Dogs Suggest a Need for Size-Specific Energy Considerations
Authors: McGrath Allison P , Hancock Leslie B , Morris Elizabeth M
Published: November 2023

The domestic dog is one of the most diverse mammalian species in the world. However, knowledge regarding potential differences in metabolism and disparities in nutritional considerations due to body size is limited. The primary focus of this study was to investigate differences in energy needs of small dogs compared with medium and large dogs by analyzing longitudinal intake for individuals of varying body sizes. A secondary aim was to assess age-associated differences in the energy needs of small dogs by comparing longitudinal intake between young and old small dogs. Caloric intake (kcal/d), metabolic body weight (MBW)-adjusted caloric intake (kcal/kg0.75/d; MBW-Kcal), and BW were assessed in a population of mature adult dogs dogs (10.8 ± 1.9 yr; n = 58) categorized into three size groups based on ideal body weight; small (≤11 kg; n = 19), medium (11 < x < 22 kg; n = 29), nd large (≥ 22 kg; n = 10). The second study population was made up of small dogs less than seven years old (1.2 ± 0.8 yr; ≤11 kg; n = 46). All dogs were fed to maintain ideal BW. Intake was measured daily; BW was recorded monthly. The activity factor (AF) of each dog was calculated by dividing daily caloric intake by their resting energy requirement. ANOVA was used to assess effects of size and age on all data. Nonparametric test of medians was conducted to evaluate the distribution of MBW-Kcal. As expected, caloric intake increased as size increased (P < 0.001); however, this effect was not attenuated by adjusting for MBW (P < 0.001). Mean MBW-Kcal was greater in small dogs than medium (P < 0.001) and large dogs (P = 0.031). The variance of MBW-Kcal in small dogs was greater than in large (P < 0.001) and medium dogs (P < 0.001), indicating that small dogs had a larger range in the distribution of caloric intake even when adjusted for MBW (Figure 1). Mean AF of small dogs (1.7) was also greater than large (1.5; P = 0.030) and medium dogs (1.5; P < 0.001), but the AF of medium and large dogs were similar (P = 0.650). MBW-kcal and AF were similar between small old and young dogs (P > 0.05). These data demonstrate that even when adjusted for MBW, small dogs may require more calories to maintain BW than their medium- and large-breed counterparts, and this increased caloric need appears to be sustained in both dmall young and old dogs. These results suggest that small breed dogs have different metabolic factors driving caloric needs compared with larger dogs and further emphasize that nutritional guidelines should be updated to better reflect the energy needs of small dogs across life stages.
PSIX-7 Attenuation of Immune Allergic Response Pathways in Canines with Dermatological Problems Fed a Polyphenol-Rich Food
Authors: Tavener Selena K , Badri Dayakar V , Panickar Kiran S
Published: November 2023

Pathogenesis of canine dermatological problems is mediated by multiple effector cells including lymphocytes, eosinophils, and mast cells. We have previously reported a significant increase in the gene expression of interleukin-5 receptor alpha (IL-5RA) in dogs with dermatological problemscompared with controls, as well as a modest increase in C-C chemokine receptor 3 (CCR3), IL-4 and IL-5. We now investigated whether 2 tests foods (one rich in polyphenols) would provide beneficial effects in canines with dermatological problems (n = 8) compared with controls (n = 8). Dogs were pre-fed control food for 28 days and then divided into two groups based on their age, gender and phenotype (Healthy, Derm) followed by a cross-over design. At each phase, dogs were fed for 42 days with test food 1 (TF1) and the second group was fed with a greater polyphenol content Test food 2 (TF2) for 42 days followed by a crossover. Blood samples were collected at the end of pre-feed, end of phase 1, and end of phase 2. The study was approved by IACUC and AWC, Hill’s PNC. RNA was extracted from blood collected in PAXgene tubes and gene expression was investigated using the NanoString nCounter platform. To assess the food effect, a mixed model analysis was performed using treatment (food) as a fixed effect and animal as random effect using JMPPro. TF2 fed dogs decreased pruritus scores, increased the response rate (improvement %) to 30.77% compared with dogs fed TF1. There was a significant decrease in the interleukin-5 receptor alpha (IL-5RA) in dogs fed TF2 when compared with baseline (P < 0.05). IL-5RA is a receptor expressed on eosinophils as well as committed eosinophil precursors in the bone marrow. There was also a decrease in FCRL2 in dogs fed TF2 (P < 0.05). This gene is preferentially expressed in memory B-cells and plasma cells and also involved in B-cell receptor signaling. The generation of plasma cells requires naïve B cell activation to differentiate into antibody secreting cells or memory B cells. Given the lower levels of FCRL2 with TF2, it is possible that the production of subsequent IgE is attenuated. Another signaling molecule that was significantly decreased with TF2 was the innate immune response molecule C3AR1, a receptor for Complement C3a that induces chemotaxis, granule release, as well as superoxide production. TF1 and TF2 significantly decreased CCR3, a receptor on eosinophils and basophils. CCR3 antagonists are effective in reducing allergic inflammation. Our results indicate the important role of eosinophilic allergic response in dermatological disorders in dogs. TF2 appears to have a beneficial effect in attenuating allergy-inducing signaling pathways of innate and adaptive immune responses. Targeting these molecules may be important as part of newer therapeutic approaches, including nutritional strategies, to manage dermatological problems in dogs.