Adding wheat and rapeseed meal to corn-soy diets affects intestinal morphology and nutrient digestibility in broilers

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of thyme essential oil and enzyme supplementation on rations with two different energy (wheat or corn) and protein resources (soy or rapeseed meals) on gut morphology and protein digestibility of broiler chickens. Three hundred eighty-four male Ross-308 broiler chickens were used with a 23 factorial arrangement with treatments according to a completely randomized design. The morphological examinations of the intestine were carried out on 1-cm long excised segments from duodenum, jejunum and ileum. Adding wheat to the diet increased small intestine length in birds compared to other feedstuffs (P <0.05). Duodenum crypt depth and jejunum villi length were also higher in groups fed with rations containing wheat (P <0.05). Groups that received thyme essential oil and enzyme supplementation had increased length of the duodenum (P <0.05). However, the two- and three-factor interaction effects were not significant. Protein digestibility was not affected by treatment (P >0.05). Feeding wheat to broiler chickens may increase the surface area for nutrient absorption in the small intestine as compensation for the anti-nutritive activity of non-starch polysaccharides in wheat-based diets. Wheat based diets are expected to be acceptable for broilers when supplemented with appropriate enzymes or thyme essential oil

Investigation of the effects of constant darkness and light on blood serum cholesterol, insulin and glucose levels in healthy male rats

This study was designed to investigate the effects of constant darkness and light on changes of serum cholesterol, insulin and glucose levels in healthy male rats. In this study, healthy male rats (n = 30) were divided into 3 groups of tens and kept at various light/dark conditions: Control 12:12 light/dark (LD); constant darkness (DD), and constant light (LL) groups for 2 weeks. Blood samples were obtained from retro-orbital sinus before start of experiment and on the 7th and 14th days of the experimental period. The serum cholesterol and glucose levels were measured by the enzymatic method and insulin levels were measured using insulin kit by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. The results of the study showed that the levels of serum cholesterol and glucose on the 7th and 14th days of the experimental period in DD group significantly decreased compared to the LD and LL groups (p < 0.05). On the 14th day of experiment, we observed significant decrease of serum insulin level in the constant darkness group compared with the two other groups (p < 0.05). The study showed that on the 7th and 14th days of experiment, constant light significantly increased serum glucose level without having any significant effects on serum cholesterol and insulin levels. Also, the long period of time (14 days) was found to be more effective in the serum of these metabolic parameters changes than the short period (7 days).Key words: Constant darkness, light, cholesterol, glucose, insulin, healthy male rats

Survey of seroprevalence of Or‌nithobacterium Rhinotracheale infection in slaughtered broiler chickens in Maragheh,Eastern Azerbaijan-Iran

Or­nithobacterium rhinotracheale has been known as a relatively recently discovered pathogenic bacterial agent in broiler and turkey flocks and it causes economic losses to the poultry industryannually. The purpose of this study was survey of seroprevalence of Or­nithobacterium rhinotrachealeinfection in slaughtered broiler chickens in slaughter house of Maragheh, eastern Azerbaijan-Iran. By referring to poultry  industrial  slaughter house of  Maragheh and recording the location of poultry house and the name of the city, a total of  270  blood samples were randomly taken from broiler flocks and then the samples were transferred to laboratory for gaining their sera. ELISA test was performed on sera. A total of  270 samples ( from 27 different flocks) were taken from poultry  industrial  slaughter house of  Maragheh, 10 serum samples( 3.7%) were positive , 29 serum samples (10.75%)  were suspect and 231 serum samples ( 85.55%) were negative. This seroprevalence is less than previous reports of other provinces in Iran

Effects of bovine prolactin gene polymorphism within exon 4 on milk related traits and genetic trends in Iranian Holstein bulls

In this study, polymorphism of prolactin gene was analyzed as a candidate gene responsible for variation and genetic trends in milk yield and composition traits. Genomic DNAs were extracted from 268 semen samples belonged to Iranian Holstein bulls. Genotyping for the prolactin gene using PCRRFLP technique and RsaI restriction endonuclease showed a mutation in 294-bp fragment located in exon 4. The frequencies of A and G alleles were 0.069 and 0.931, respectively. The allelic substitution effect was significant for milk and protein yield (p < 0.05). The G allele was unfavorable for milk andprotein yield. Genetic trends for all analyzed traits were significant (p < 0.01) and that was progressive for milk, fat and protein yield, but diminishing for fat and protein percent. The effects of prolactin SNP on genetic trends and the difference between genetic trends produced by A and G alleles were notsignificant for all studied traits

Exploitation of Rhizosphere Microbiome Services

The rhizosphere is a soil hot spot where, due to a tight plant-bacteria interaction, plants recruit a beneficial microbiome, enhancing its density and activity. Rhizosphere microbial communities have the potential to provide several services, and their management and \u201cengineering\u201d can be exploited to set up agro-environmental biotechnologies. In this chapter, after a brief overview of the array of services that we can obtain from rhizosphere beneficial microbiome, two case studies are presented: i) the exploitation of plant growth promoting bacteria to increase plant tolerance to drought, potentially able to improve crop plants yields in arid and semi-arid lands, ii) the exploitation of plant biostimulation effect over degrading microbial populations in the rhizosphere, sustaining phyto-rhyzo-remediation approaches in PCB contaminated soils. In each case study the experimental settings, the in vitro and in vivo tests, the result evaluation and modelling are reported, together with a discussion of the critical issues

Effect of vinyl acetate effluent in reducing heat of hydration of concrete

Waste generation especially in surface coating industries is a potential pollutant to the environment globally. Waste disposal in the form of recycling or reused has gained some recognition as a raw material in many kind of interested fields. This study is therefore, aimed at utilizing Vinyl acetate effluent generated from manufacturing process of paint as polymer modifier in concrete. The research highlights the influence of Vinyl acetate effluent on setting time and control of heat of hydration in concrete. Three specimens containing 0%, 2.5% and 5% of Vinyl acetate effluent by weight of cement were prepared in cubic moulds. The temperature rises due to heat of hydration in all mixes were recorded. Finding shows that incorporating Vinyl acetate effluent considerably delayed the setting time in cement paste and reduced the total temperature rise in polymer modified concrete. Therefore, addition of Vinyl acetate effluent polymer in concrete may improve the properties of concrete to some extent particularly in mass concrete production