Relative toxicity of gossypol enantiomers in laying and broiler breeder hens

Gossypol, a natural component of cottonseed meal, exists in positive (+) or negative (−) enantiomeric forms, and their levels and ratio could be altered by developing new genetic strains of cotton. Two experiments were conducted to determine the relative toxicity of the individual gossypol enantiomers in laying and broiler breeder hens. In the first experiment, 25 individually caged Hy-Line W-36 forty-three-week-old laying hens were fed a standard corn-soy diet supplemented with either no gossypol or the individual enantiomers at 200 and 400 mg/kg of diet for 20 d (5 hens/treatment). In the second experiment, 15 individually caged Cobb 500 fast-feathering 44-wk-old broiler breeder hens were fed a standard corn-soy-wheat middlings diet supplemented with either no gossypol or the individual enantiomers at 400 mg/kg of diet for 18 d (5 hens/treatment). In both experiments, feed intake, egg production, and egg weight were determined daily. All eggs were individually opened and scored for yolk discoloration. At the end of both experiments, several organ and tissue samples were collected for gossypol analyses. In both experiments, the addition of (+)-gossypol to the diet reduced egg production. Only laying and broiler breeder hens fed (+)-gossypol produced eggs with severe yolk discoloration (score ≥ 4). Total feed intake was lower (P < 0.05) in laying hens fed the 400 mg/kg level of (+)-gossypol compared with laying hens fed the other dietary treatments. In contrast, broiler breeder hens consumed less of the diet supplemented with (−)-gossypol. In both experiments, tissue accumulation of (+)-gossypol was higher than (−)-gossypol, with the exception of bile and excreta. The results suggest that in hens the ingestion of (+)-gossypol has a greater effect on egg yolk discoloration than the consumption of (−)-gossypol

Relative toxicity of gossypol enantiomers in broilers

Use of cottonseed meal in poultry diets has been avoided in large part because of fear of gossypol toxicity. Gossypol exists naturally as a mixture of 2 enantiomers that exhibit different biological activities. Two experiments were conducted to determine the relative toxicity of gossypol enantiomers on broilers. In the first experiment, 3-d-old broilers were fed a standard diet containing 0, 100, 200, 300, or 400 mg of gossypol from gossypol acetic acid per kilogram of diet from 3 to 42 d of age. This form of gossypol contains both enantiomers in an equimolar ratio. Each dietary treatment consisted of 6 replicate pens of 4 birds. In the second experiment, 3-dold broilers were divided into 15 pens of 4 birds each and fed a standard diet supplemented with either no gossypol or one of the gossypol enantiomers at 200 or 400 mg/kg of diet from 3 to 21 d of age. In both experiments, feed intake and BW gain were measured. In addi- (Key words: cottonseed meal, gossypol, gossypol enantiomer, broiler) 2005 Poultry Science 84:1376–1382 INTRODUCTION Cottonseed meal (CSM) could be an attractive alternative protein source for poultry diets, but concern over the presence of the potentially toxic agent, gossypol, has limited its use. Gossypol [1,1′,6,6′,7,7′-hexahydroxy-5,5′- diisopropyl-3, 3′-dimethyl-(2, 2′- binaphthalene)-8, 8′-dicarboxaldehyde] is a polyphenolic compound located in pigment glands that are distributed throughout the cotton plant. Gossypol is composed of 2 naphthalene rings with restricted rotation around the bond connecting the rings. As a result of this restricted rotation, gossypol occurs naturally as a mixture of 2 enantiomers [(+)- and (−)- 2005 Poultry Science Association, Inc. Received for publication February 7, 2005. Accepted for publication May 5, 2005. 1This research was supported in part by grant 2631RE683-118 from the Georgia Cotton Commission, Perry, GA. 2Mention of trade names or commercial products in this article is solely for the purpose of providing specific information and does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the US Department of Agriculture. 3To whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]. 1376 tion, several organ and tissue samples were collected at 21 d (experiments 1 and 2) and 42 d (experiment 1) of age and analyzed for gossypol. In experiment 1, feed consumption and BW gain were reduced (P < 0.05) at 21 and 42 d for the birds fed the highest level of gossypol. The concentration of gossypol in the heart, kidney, and plasma were equivalent at 21 and 42 d of age. In experiment 2, total feed consumption was reduced only in birds consuming (−)-gossypol, but BW gains were lower for birds fed either enantiomer. However, (−)-gossypol was more detrimental to growth than (+)-gossypol. The liver had the highest tissue concentration of both enantiomers, and accumulation of (+)-gossypol was higher than (−)- gossypol in all tissues examined. No racemization of the enantiomers was apparent in the tissues analyzed. Our results indicated that both gossypol enantiomers were toxic to broilers but that (−)-gossypol was more harmful to efficient broiler production than (+)-gossypol

Near infrared reflectance spectroscopy for the determination of free gossypol in cottonseed meal

Gossypol is a toxic polyphenolic compound produced by the pigment glands of the cotton plant. The free gossypol content of cottonseed meal (CSM) is commonly determined by the American Oil Chemists’ Society (AOCS) wet chemistry method. The AOCS method, however, laboratory-intensive, time-consuming, and therefore, not practical for quick field analyses. To determine if the free gossypol content of CSM could be predicted by near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS), CSM samples were collected from all over the world. All CSM samples were ground and a portion of each analyzed for free gossypol by the AOCS procedure (reference data) and by NIRS (reflectance data). Both reflectance and reference data were combined in calibration. The coefficient of determination (r2) and standard error of prediction (SEP) were used to assess the calibration accuracy. The r2 was 0.728, and the SEP was 0.034 for the initial calibration that included samples from all over the world. However, the r2 and SEP improved to 0.921 and 0.014, respectively, if the calibration was made using CSM samples only from the United States. These results indicate that a general prediction equation can be developed to predict the free gossypol content of CSM by NIRS. From a practical standpoint, NIRS technology provides a method for quickly assessing whether a particular batch of CSM has a free gossypol content low enough to be suitable for use in poultry diets.This research was supported in part by grant 05-635GA from the Georgian Cotton Commission, Perry, G

Fitting the integrated Spectral Energy Distributions of Galaxies

Fitting the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of galaxies is an almost universally used technique that has matured significantly in the last decade. Model predictions and fitting procedures have improved significantly over this time, attempting to keep up with the vastly increased volume and quality of available data. We review here the field of SED fitting, describing the modelling of ultraviolet to infrared galaxy SEDs, the creation of multiwavelength data sets, and the methods used to fit model SEDs to observed galaxy data sets. We touch upon the achievements and challenges in the major ingredients of SED fitting, with a special emphasis on describing the interplay between the quality of the available data, the quality of the available models, and the best fitting technique to use in order to obtain a realistic measurement as well as realistic uncertainties. We conclude that SED fitting can be used effectively to derive a range of physical properties of galaxies, such as redshift, stellar masses, star formation rates, dust masses, and metallicities, with care taken not to over-interpret the available data. Yet there still exist many issues such as estimating the age of the oldest stars in a galaxy, finer details ofdust properties and dust-star geometry, and the influences of poorly understood, luminous stellar types and phases. The challenge for the coming years will be to improve both the models and the observational data sets to resolve these uncertainties. The present review will be made available on an interactive, moderated web page (sedfitting.org), where the community can access and change the text. The intention is to expand the text and keep it up to date over the coming years.Comment: 54 pages, 26 figures, Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Scienc

Genetic Sharing with Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors and Diabetes Reveals Novel Bone Mineral Density Loci.

Bone Mineral Density (BMD) is a highly heritable trait, but genome-wide association studies have identified few genetic risk factors. Epidemiological studies suggest associations between BMD and several traits and diseases, but the nature of the suggestive comorbidity is still unknown. We used a novel genetic pleiotropy-informed conditional False Discovery Rate (FDR) method to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with BMD by leveraging cardiovascular disease (CVD) associated disorders and metabolic traits. By conditioning on SNPs associated with the CVD-related phenotypes, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, high density lipoprotein, low density lipoprotein, triglycerides and waist hip ratio, we identified 65 novel independent BMD loci (26 with femoral neck BMD and 47 with lumbar spine BMD) at conditional FDR < 0.01. Many of the loci were confirmed in genetic expression studies. Genes validated at the mRNA levels were characteristic for the osteoblast/osteocyte lineage, Wnt signaling pathway and bone metabolism. The results provide new insight into genetic mechanisms of variability in BMD, and a better understanding of the genetic underpinnings of clinical comorbidity

Search for dark matter produced in association with a hadronically decaying vector boson in pp collisions at sqrt (s) = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search is presented for dark matter produced in association with a hadronically decaying W or Z boson using 3.2 fb−1 of pp collisions at View the MathML sources=13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Events with a hadronic jet compatible with a W or Z boson and with large missing transverse momentum are analysed. The data are consistent with the Standard Model predictions and are interpreted in terms of both an effective field theory and a simplified model containing dark matter