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Animals
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Nutrient Utilization, Requirements and Nutrigenomics in Sheep and Goats
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Nutrient Utilization, Requirements and Nutrigenomics in Sheep and Goats

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Small Ruminants".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 June 2024 | Viewed by 4538

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Christopher D. Lu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management, University of Hawaii at Hilo, Hilo, HI 96720, USA
Interests: nutrition; goats; ruminants; Physiology; forage; ruminant nutrition; Nutritional Biochemistry; nutritional physiology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The economic and social impacts of sheep and goat production in the improvement of living standards and alleviation of poverty in rural communities are recognized throughout the world. Understanding nutrient utilization by sheep and goats enhances the efficiency of production systems, maximizes resource economy,  and minimizes the carbon footprint. Nutrient requirements can be one of the most important considerations for precision nutrition in sheep and goat production. Requirements and utilization of structural and nonstructural carbohydrates, degradable and bypass proteins, lipids, minerals, and vitamins are essential parts of this important scientific understanding. Nutrient requirements are affected by multiple factors such as individuality, genetics, climates, diet, age, and physiological stages, and continuous update of knowledge is essential. Recent advancements in nutrigenomics have led to improved knowledge on the molecular interaction between nutrients and other dietary bioactives with respect to the genome, effect of food constituents on gene expression, and influence of genetic variation on nutrition and, therefore, contributed to a better understanding of nutrient utilization and requirements. Such understanding allows optimizing and customizing nutrition with respect to a subject’s genotype and offers great potential for a more precise determination of nutrient requirements in sheep and goats. This Special Issue aims to promote better understanding of nutrient utilization and requirements in sheep and goats from the perspectives of traditional nutrition and nutrigenomics.

Prof. Dr. Christopher D. Lu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • nutrition
  • nutrient requirements
  • sheep
  • goats
  • nutrigenomics
  • utilization

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 1692 KiB  
Article
Preliminary Results on the Effects of Soybean Isoflavones on Growth Performance and Ruminal Microbiota in Fattening Goats
by Yuexin Shao, Junhong Xu, Mengyu Wang, Yalun Ren, Manhong Wei, Bowen Tian, Jun Luo, Juan J. Loor and Huaiping Shi
Animals 2024, 14(8), 1188; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14081188 - 15 Apr 2024
Viewed by 722
Abstract
Soybean isoflavones (SIFs), a group of secondary metabolites, have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and hormone-like activities. Supplementation with SIFs in the diet was reported to promote lactation performance in ruminants. The present study was performed to further decipher the effect of various concentrations of SIFs [...] Read more.
Soybean isoflavones (SIFs), a group of secondary metabolites, have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and hormone-like activities. Supplementation with SIFs in the diet was reported to promote lactation performance in ruminants. The present study was performed to further decipher the effect of various concentrations of SIFs on growth and slaughter performance, serum parameters, meat quality, and ruminal microbiota in fattening goats. After a two-week acclimation, a total of 27 5-month-old Guanzhong male goats (18.29 ± 0.44 kg) were randomly assigned to control (NC), 100 mg/d SIF (SIF1), or 200 mg/d SIF (SIF2) groups. The experimental period lasted 56 days. The weight of the large intestine was greater (p < 0.05) in the SIF1 and SIF2 groups compared with the NC group. Meat quality parameters indicated that SIF1 supplementation led to lower (p < 0.05) cooking loss and shear force (0.05 < p < 0.10). The 16S rRNA sequencing analysis demonstrated that SIF1 supplementation led to lower (p < 0.05) proportions of Papillibacter and Prevotellaceae_UCG-004 but greater (p < 0.05) CAG-352 abundance in the rumen; these responses might have contributed to the improvement in production performance. In conclusion, meat quality and ruminal microbiome could be manipulated in a positive way by oral supplementation with 100 mg/d of SIFs in fattening goats. Thus, this study provides new insights and practical evidence for the introduction of SIFs as a novel additive in goat husbandry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrient Utilization, Requirements and Nutrigenomics in Sheep and Goats)
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12 pages, 278 KiB  
Article
Effects of Feed Ingredients with Different Protein-to-Fat Ratios on Growth, Slaughter Performance and Fat Deposition of Small-Tail Han Lambs
by Qin Li, Guishan Xu, Dong Yang, Yan Tu, Jianxin Zhang, Tao Ma and Qiyu Diao
Animals 2024, 14(6), 859; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14060859 - 11 Mar 2024
Viewed by 681
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of feed ingredients with different protein-to-fat ratios on growth, slaughter performance and meat quality of Small-Tail Han lambs. Forty-five Small-Tail Han lambs (♂) (BW = 34.00 ± 2.5 kg, age = 120 ± [...] Read more.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of feed ingredients with different protein-to-fat ratios on growth, slaughter performance and meat quality of Small-Tail Han lambs. Forty-five Small-Tail Han lambs (♂) (BW = 34.00 ± 2.5 kg, age = 120 ± 9 d) were randomly divided into groups with three different experimental treatments: (1) PF 5, with the ratio of protein to fat (CP:EE) of 50 to 5; (2) PF10, CP: EE = 50:10; (3) PF20, CP: EE = 50:20. Each treatment group had 15 lambs, and each sheep was a repeat. This experiment lasted for 65 days, with feed intake recorded daily, and animals being weighed on days 0, 30, and 65. At the conclusion of the experiment, eight lambs from each group were slaughtered to assess slaughter performance and meat quality. The results showed that the average daily gain (ADG) of the three groups were 315.27, 370.15 and 319.42 g/d, respectively. The PF10 group had the highest ADG (370.15 g) (p < 0.05). Forestomach weights (1216.88 g) of the PF10 group were significantly higher than those of the other groups (p < 0.05). There were no differences (p > 0.05) in fat percentages in various parts of body among treatments. Feed conversion of the PF10 group was higher (p < 0.05) than that of PF 5 and PF 20 groups. Furthermore, the PF10 group had a higher (p > 0.05) carcass weight and slaughter rate and there were few differences between the other groups in terms of dry matter intake, meat quality, organ weight, and fat deposition (p > 0.05). The protein–energy supplement with protein-to-fat ratio, PF10 appeared to be more desirable to promote the growth and development in Small-Tail Han Lambs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrient Utilization, Requirements and Nutrigenomics in Sheep and Goats)
11 pages, 1019 KiB  
Article
Nitrogen Utilization in Goats Consuming Buffelgrass Hay and Molasses-Based Blocks with Incremental Urea Levels
by Zaida Torres-Cavazos, Daniela S. Rico-Costilla, Gustavo Moreno-Degollado, Sara P. Hernández-Martínez, Gerardo Mendez-Zamora, Yareellys Ramos-Zayas and Jorge R. Kawas
Animals 2023, 13(21), 3370; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13213370 - 30 Oct 2023
Viewed by 944
Abstract
The use of goats for meat production faces challenges from environmental and nutritional factors. Urea is an affordable non-protein nitrogen source commonly utilized in ruminant nutrition. The objective of this study was to investigate nitrogen utilization in goats fed low-quality hay supplemented with [...] Read more.
The use of goats for meat production faces challenges from environmental and nutritional factors. Urea is an affordable non-protein nitrogen source commonly utilized in ruminant nutrition. The objective of this study was to investigate nitrogen utilization in goats fed low-quality hay supplemented with molasses blocks containing urea. Twenty Anglo-Nubian doelings were individually housed in metabolic cages and provided with chopped Buffelgrass (Cenchrus ciliaris) hay ad libitum. Goats were randomly assigned to four urea levels (0, 2, 4, and 6%; n = 5 per treatment) in molasses blocks for a duration of 30 days. A negative nitrogen balance (−2.458 g/day) was observed in doelings consuming blocks without urea, compared with a positive balance (0.895 g/d) for those consuming the 6% urea blocks. Block nitrogen intake significantly increased with urea level, but urea supplementation did not affect dry matter (DM) or neutral detergent fiber (NDFom) intake or digestibility. A minimum crude protein (CP) requirement of 8% for maintenance in doelings consuming low-quality forage with a urea-based supplement was determined through regression analysis between CP intake (% of DM) and N balance (r2 = 0.479; p < 0.002). The value of 8% of CP obtained in this study is similar to several previous studies reported in the literature, but in this case, the increments in CP came exclusively from urea. In this study, increasing the urea content of molasses blocks up to 6% significantly increased nitrogen intake, retention, and balance in goats. These results contribute to a better understanding of nitrogen utilization in goats fed low-quality hay with urea supplementation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrient Utilization, Requirements and Nutrigenomics in Sheep and Goats)
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13 pages, 2421 KiB  
Article
The miR-214-5p/Lactoferrin/miR-224-5p/ADAM17 Axis Is Involved in Goat Mammary Epithelial Cells’ Immune Regulation
by Shilong Pang, Yuexin Shao, Yan Yu, Kela Sha, Yanting Jiang, Xian Zhang, Yuling Zhong, Huaiping Shi and Weijuan Li
Animals 2023, 13(18), 2835; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13182835 - 6 Sep 2023
Viewed by 1006
Abstract
Lactoferrin (LF) is believed to be an important active protein in goat milk, which plays an anti-inflammatory role. Although LF has been reported to be associated with body health, its exact underlying mechanism remains unclear. Here, we aimed to elucidate the [...] Read more.
Lactoferrin (LF) is believed to be an important active protein in goat milk, which plays an anti-inflammatory role. Although LF has been reported to be associated with body health, its exact underlying mechanism remains unclear. Here, we aimed to elucidate the mechanism of this anti-inflammatory effect of LF in vitro. We first identified that miR-214-5p inhibited the expression of LF mRNA and protein in cells through the 3′UTR of LF mRNA. We next identified the alterations in miRNA following LF overexpression in goat mammary epithelial cells (GEMCs). Overexpression of LF significantly increased (p < 0.05) miR-224-5p expression. We further revealed that transcriptional activation of ADAM17, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 was efficiently decreased (p < 0.05) in GMECs treated by miR-224-5p mimic. Conversely, knockdown of miR-224-5p increased (p < 0.05) ADAM17, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 expression. Additionally, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 expression levels were dramatically decreased in GMECs after administration of siADAM17. Herein, we indicate that the miR-214-5p/LF/miR-224-5p/ADAM17 axis is involved in the immune regulation of GEMCs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrient Utilization, Requirements and Nutrigenomics in Sheep and Goats)
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