Industrial microbilogists in the area of microfungi

The microbial fermentation industry employs microorganisms to produce different desired valuable products. A number of commercial products – including antibiotics, organic acids, steroids, vitamins, enzymes – are made by fungi. Many of these products can be produced both microbially and by chemical synthesis. The choice of which process to employ generally depends on economics. (The decision is dictated by variable costs.

Effect of genotype and hens' starting body fat content on the changes in the body fat content of the hens and on the weight and composition of the eggs produced in the first egg laying period

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of genotype and hens’ starting body fat content on the changes in the body fat content of the hens and on the weight and composition of the eggs produced in the first egg laying period. The experiment was carried out with altogether 30 hens (15 TETRA SL brown egg layers and 15 TETRA BLANCA white egg layers), which were chosen from altogether 45 TETRA SL and 45 TETRA BLANCA hens based on their CT (computer tomography) predicted body fat content at 20 weeks of age (hens with the highest (n=5), hens with the lowest (n=5) and hens with average (n=5) body fat content in both genotype). For the in vivo determination of changes in the body composition of these hens, computer tomography (CT) measurements were carried out at every fourth week between the 20th and 72nd week of age. During the CT measurements hens were fixed with belts in a special plexiglass container without using any anaesthetics. The measurements covered the whole body of the hens using overlapping 10 mm slice thickness on a Siemens Somatom Emotion 6 multislice CT scanner. After collecting, weighing and breaking the eggs produced by the experimental birds on the days of the CT measurements their yolk ratio was determined. Based on the results, it was established that the body fat content of the hens increased continuously in both of the genotypes in the first phase of the experimental period, while it did not change further in the second phase of the experiment. It was also observed at all examination days, that the body fat content of the white egg layers was higher than that of the brown egg layers. Hens with the highest starting body fat content had the highest body fat content in both genotypes during the whole egg laying period. The egg production of the hens was not influenced by the body fat content of the birds, but it was affected by the genotype. The TETRA SL hens produced significantly more eggs than the TETRA BLANCA hens. The hens with average body fat content produced lighter eggs than the hens with low or high body fat content

Effect of genotype and hens' starting body fat content on the changes in the body fat content of the hens and on the weight and composition of the eggs produced in the first egg laying period

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of genotype and hens’ starting body fat content on the changes in the body fat content of the hens and on the weight and composition of the eggs produced in the first egg laying period. The experiment was carried out with altogether 30 hens (15 TETRA SL brown egg layers and 15 TETRA BLANCA white egg layers), which were chosen from altogether 45 TETRA SL and 45 TETRA BLANCA hens based on their CT (computer tomography) predicted body fat content at 20 weeks of age (hens with the highest (n=5), hens with the lowest (n=5) and hens with average (n=5) body fat content in both genotype). For the in vivo determination of changes in the body composition of these hens, computer tomography (CT) measurements were carried out at every fourth week between the 20th and 72nd week of age. During the CT measurements hens were fixed with belts in a special plexiglass container without using any anaesthetics. The measurements covered the whole body of the hens using overlapping 10 mm slice thickness on a Siemens Somatom Emotion 6 multislice CT scanner. After collecting, weighing and breaking the eggs produced by the experimental birds on the days of the CT measurements their yolk ratio was determined. Based on the results, it was established that the body fat content of the hens increased continuously in both of the genotypes in the first phase of the experimental period, while it did not change further in the second phase of the experiment. It was also observed at all examination days, that the body fat content of the white egg layers was higher than that of the brown egg layers. Hens with the highest starting body fat content had the highest body fat content in both genotypes during the whole egg laying period. The egg production of the hens was not influenced by the body fat content of the birds, but it was affected by the genotype. The TETRA SL hens produced significantly more eggs than the TETRA BLANCA hens. The hens with average body fat content produced lighter eggs than the hens with low or high body fat content

Effect of air movement on the thermal insulation of avian nests

Capsule: Air movement over a nest increases the rate of cooling within the nest cup but the walls provide good thermal insulation. Aims: This study compared nests of six bird species of the families Fringillidae and Motacillidae to investigate the insulative properties in still and moving air treatments. It was hypothesized that differences in nest size and moving air would differ between species and would have a significant effect on insulatory values of the nests. Methods: Nest dimensions were measured for a total of 35 nests from six species. Thermal properties of the nests were recorded using temperature loggers within nests placed in a wind tunnel under still and moving air conditions. Results: Insulatory values and internal nest cooling rates were significantly increased by moving air. There was no significant difference between species for the thermal properties of nests but nest mass correlated with greater insulatory values and a lower rate of cooling within the nest cup. Nest wall thickness had no significant effect on the thermal characteristics of the nests. Conclusion: The use of a constructed nest mitigated the effects of air movement but the differences between species reflected difference in nest mass rather than wall thickness

Single Gene Deletions of Orexin, Leptin, Neuropeptide Y, and Ghrelin Do Not Appreciably Alter Food Anticipatory Activity in Mice

Timing activity to match resource availability is a widely conserved ability in nature. Scheduled feeding of a limited amount of food induces increased activity prior to feeding time in animals as diverse as fish and rodents. Typically, food anticipatory activity (FAA) involves temporally restricting unlimited food access (RF) to several hours in the middle of the light cycle, which is a time of day when rodents are not normally active. We compared this model to calorie restriction (CR), giving the mice 60% of their normal daily calorie intake at the same time each day. Measurement of body temperature and home cage behaviors suggests that the RF and CR models are very similar but CR has the advantage of a clearly defined food intake and more stable mean body temperature. Using the CR model, we then attempted to verify the published result that orexin deletion diminishes food anticipatory activity (FAA) but observed little to no diminution in the response to CR and, surprisingly, that orexin KO mice are refractory to body weight loss on a CR diet. Next we tested the orexigenic neuropeptide Y (NPY) and ghrelin and the anorexigenic hormone, leptin, using mouse mutants. NPY deletion did not alter the behavior or physiological response to CR. Leptin deletion impaired FAA in terms of some activity measures, such as walking and rearing, but did not substantially diminish hanging behavior preceding feeding time, suggesting that leptin knockout mice do anticipate daily meal time but do not manifest the full spectrum of activities that typify FAA. Ghrelin knockout mice do not have impaired FAA on a CR diet. Collectively, these results suggest that the individual hormones and neuropepetides tested do not regulate FAA by acting individually but this does not rule out the possibility of their concerted action in mediating FAA

Eggs in the Freezer: Energetic Consequences of Nest Site and Nest Design in Arctic Breeding Shorebirds

Birds construct nests for several reasons. For species that breed in the Arctic, the insulative properties of nests are very important. Incubation is costly there and due to an increasing surface to volume ratio, more so in smaller species. Small species are therefore more likely to place their nests in thermally favourable microhabitats and/or to invest more in nest insulation than large species. To test this hypothesis, we examined characteristics of nests of six Arctic breeding shorebird species. All species chose thermally favourable nesting sites in a higher proportion than expected on the basis of habitat availability. Site choice did not differ between species. Depth to frozen ground, measured near the nests, decreased in the course of the season at similar non-species-specific speeds, but this depth increased with species size. Nest cup depth and nest scrape depth (nest cup without the lining) were unrelated to body mass (we applied an exponent of 0.73, to account for metabolic activity of the differently sized species). Cup depth divided by diameter2 was used as a measure of nest cup shape. Small species had narrow and deep nests, while large species had wide shallow nests. The thickness of nest lining varied between 0.1 cm and 7.6 cm, and decreased significantly with body mass. We reconstruct the combined effect of different nest properties on the egg cooling coefficient using previously published quantitative relationships. The predicted effect of nest cup depth and lining depth on heat loss to the frozen ground did not correlate with body mass, but the sheltering effect of nest cup diameter against wind and the effects of lining material on the cooling coefficient increased with body mass. Our results suggest that small arctic shorebirds invest more in the insulation of their nests than large species