Bioefficacy of a mono-component protease in the diets of pigs and poultry: a meta-analysis of effect on ileal amino acid digestibility

A meta-analysis of the effect of a mono-component bacterial protease (RONOZYME® ProAct) on the apparent ileal digestibility of amino acids in poultry and swine diets was conducted to examine functional patterns, mean effects and variability of response. A total of 25 independently-conducted experiments were included comprising a total of 804 datapoints. The mean response to protease was +3.74% (SE 1.1%, P0.05). However, the inherent digestibility of amino acids in the control diet as a single explanatory term explained around 47% of the variance (P<0.001) in effect. When the inherent digestibility of amino acids in the control diet was less than 70% protease addition improved amino acid digestibility in 90% of cases with a mean improvement of around 10%. When the inherent digestibility of amino acids in the control diet was more than 90% there was a protease-mediated improvement in digestibility in only 60% of cases with a mean improvement of around 2%. It can be concluded that the inherent digestibility of amino acids in the diet without protease supplementation is the primary explanatory term for the efficacy of this exogenous protease, demonstrating that it is highly effective in improving the digestibility of amino acids across a wide range of feed ingredients. Benchmarking diets or feed ingredients as to their relative nutritional value would enhance the ability of nutritionists to determine the likely return on investment on use of bacterial proteases in their operatio

A Novel Pseudopodial Component of the Dendritic Cell Anti-Fungal Response: The Fungipod

Fungal pathologies are seen in immunocompromised and healthy humans. C-type lectins expressed on immature dendritic cells (DC) recognize fungi. We report a novel dorsal pseudopodial protrusion, the “fungipod”, formed by DC after contact with yeast cell walls. These structures have a convoluted cell-proximal end and a smooth distal end. They persist for hours, exhibit noticeable growth and total 13.7±5.6 µm long and 1.8±0.67 µm wide at the contact. Fungipods contain clathrin and an actin core surrounded by a sheath of cortactin. The actin cytoskeleton, but not microtubules, is required for fungipod integrity and growth. An apparent rearward flow (225±55 nm/second) exists from the zymosan contact site into the distal fungipod. The phagocytic receptor Dectin-1 is not required for fungipod formation, but CD206 (Mannose Receptor) is the generative receptor for these protrusions. The human pathogen Candida parapsilosis induces DC fungipod formation strongly, but the response is species specific since the related fungal pathogens Candida tropicalis and Candida albicans induce very few and no fungipods, respectively. Our findings show that fungipods are dynamic actin-driven cellular structures involved in fungal recognition by DC. They may promote yeast particle phagocytosis by DC and are a specific response to large (i.e., 5 µm) particulate ligands. Our work also highlights the importance of this novel protrusive structure to innate immune recognition of medically significant Candida yeasts in a species specific fashion

Strategic Selection of Exogenous Enzymes for Corn/soy-based Poultry Diets

The usefulness of carbohydrases in corn/soy-based diets for poultry is still unclear and all the more so when phytase is present in the feed. Though there are many interacting factors involved in dictating the measured response to an exogenous enzyme the most influential is the nutritional value of the diet to which it is added. The inherent ileal digestibility of starch, protein and lipid in a corn/soy-based diet varies from around 70% to over 95% and this variance explains up to 90% of the variance in enzyme response. An appreciation for the concentration of undigested starch, protein and lipid in any given diet is an important starting point for the prediction of the effect of the enzyme on digestible energy and amino acids. Instructively, around 15-25% of this undigested fraction can be rendered digestible with the addition of xylanase and so the magnitude of the response is largely explained by the quantity of this undigested portion. As phytase improves the digestibility of the diet, effectively reducing the concentration of undigested amino acids and energy it can be predicted that xylanase will deliver less value in a diet which has already been improved with phytase. It is the purpose of the current paper to describe these effects and the implications for the strategic selection of enzymes for corn/soy-based poultry diets

No effect of short-term exposure to high-fibre diets on the gastrointestinal morphology of layer hens (Gallus gallus domesticus): body reserves are used to manage energy deficits in favour of phenotypic plasticity

Using layer hens, Gallus gallus domesticus, we compared the digestive capabilities of birds on a low-fibre diet (LF, 8.49% neutral detergent fibre; NDF), with those fed a high-fibre diet balanced for energy and protein to match the LF diet (high fibre balanced, HFB; NDF=15.61%) and those fed a high fibre unbalanced (HFU) diet (NDF=16.68%). The HFU diet had the lowest apparent dry matter (DM) metabolisability at 58.14±6.46%, followed by HFB, 65.87±3.50 and the LF diet, 70.49±7.07%. Despite significant differences between apparent DM metabolisabilities of LF and HFU diets, no morphometric changes in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of layer hens were observed (including crop, gizzard, proventriculus, liver, large intestine, paired caeca and small intestine). Conversely, body mass losses were recorded for animals on HFU diet, while those on the LF and HFB diets actually gained body mass over the 14-day trials. We suggest that the body mass losses seen in the animals fed HFU diets were attributed to losses in adipose tissue, but this was not quantified. Assuming body mass losses were mainly in adipose tissue, we propose that adipose may act to buffer environmental challenges like shortfalls in nutrient acquisition when dietary energy requirements are not met. Compared with smaller birds (e.g. quail), the larger body size of the layer hens may offer them a greater safety margin in terms of body energy reserves before changes in the GIT might be needed to redress energy deficits associated with hard-to-digest, high-fibre diets

The influence of meat-and-bone meal and exogenous phytase on growth performance, bone mineralisation and digestibility coefficients of protein (N), amino acids and starch in broiler chickens

The objective of this study was to examine the influence of meat-and-bone meal (MBM) and phytase inclusion on growth performance, bone mineralisation and apparent digestibility coefficients of nutrients in broiler chickens offered wheat-based diets. The feeding study comprised 7 dietary treatments: positive control (PC, 9.0% Ca and 4.5% available phosphorous [AvP] in starter, 7.0% Ca and 3.5% AvP in finisher); negative control (NC, 7.2% Ca and 3.0% AvP in starter, 5.2% Ca and 2.0% AvP in finisher) diets incorporating a 3 × 2 factorial array of 3 MBM inclusions (0, 60, 120 g/kg) and 2 levels of phytase supplementation (0 and 1,000 FYT/kg). Each treatment was allocated to 6 replicated pens with 30 birds per pen in an environmentally-controlled deep litter facility. A total of 1,260 one-day-old male Ross 308 chicks were offered starter diets from 1 to 14 days post-hatch and finisher diets from 15 to 36 days post-hatch. There were significant (P < 0.05) interactions between MBM inclusions and phytase supplementation on weight gain and feed intake in starter diets. Phytase significantly increased weight gain in diets without MBM and did not influence weight gain in diets with 60 and 120 g/kg MBM. Collectively, increasing MBM inclusion significantly reduced weight gain in starter diets (P < 0.0001). There were dietary interactions (P < 0.01) on toe ash where phytase significantly improved toe ash in diet without MBM and did not influence toe ash in the other two groups of negative control diets. There were no dietary treatment interactions on apparent ileal digestibility coefficients of starch and protein except that diets without MBM had significantly (P < 0.01) lower ileal starch digestibility and diets with 120 g/kg MBM had significantly (P < 0.0001) lower ileal protein digestibility. No dietary influence on ileal fat digestibility was observed. There were dietary interactions on ileal digestibilities of isoleucine, valine and glycine. Phytase significantly increased glycine digestibility in diets with 60 and 120 g/kg MBM but not in diets without MBM. Including 120 g/kg MBM significantly (P < 0.01) depressed apparent digestibility coefficients of 13 ex 16 amino acids in the distal ileum. This study demonstrated the negative impacts of MBM on amino acid digestibility and growth performance. Also, responses to phytase were more pronounced in diets without MBM, which may have been due to their relatively lower available P and higher phytate concentrations in comparison to diets containing MBM