The human gut microbiota varies considerably among world populations due to a variety of factors including genetic background, diet, cultural habits and socioeconomic status. Here we characterized 110 healthy Mongolian adults gut microbiota by shotgun metagenomic sequencing and compared the intestinal microbiome among Mongolians, the Hans and European cohorts. The results showed that the taxonomic profile of intestinal microbiome among cohorts revealed the Actinobaceria and Bifidobacterium were the key microbes contributing to the differences among Mongolians, the Hans and Europeans at the phylum level and genus level, respectively. Metagenomic species analysis indicated that Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Coprococcus comeswere enrich in Mongolian people which might contribute to gut health through anti-inflammatory properties and butyrate production, respectively. On the other hand, the enriched genus Collinsella, biomarker in symptomatic atherosclerosis patients, might be associated with the high morbidity of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases in Mongolian adults. At the functional level, a unique microbial metabolic pathway profile was present in Mongolian's gut which mainly distributed in amino acid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, energy metabolism, lipid metabolism, glycan biosynthesis and metabolism. We can attribute the specific signatures of Mongolian gut microbiome to their unique genotype, dietary habits and living environment.The gut microbiota (GM) is recognized as a human co-evolutionary partner that facilitates nutritional acquisition and immune modulation, and helps maintain host homeostasis in response to profound lifestyle changes 1-3 . Researchers have delineated the structural and functional configurations of gut metagenomes in different world populations by next generation sequencing [4][5][6][7] . The functional GM layout may represent host genotypic characteristics and reflect an adaptive ecosystem response to the host diet and cultural habits.The microbiota of the Mongolian population is of particular interest to researchers, because Mongolia encompasses a uniquely wide range of environmental conditions and ethnogeographical cohorts. Moreover, the Mongol Empire was the world's largest contiguous empire, exerted a major influence that greatly enhanced the cultural exchange between Mongolia and Europe that took place during the Middle Ages, when Mongolians intermingled with various populations in the Eurasian continent. Importantly, it has been reported that genetically, more than 20% people in the world are related to Mongolians 8 . Mongolians living in pastureland, such as Khentii Province, maintains a traditional nomadic lifestyle (Fig. 1A), whereas those in urban areas, such as Ulan Bator (the capital of Mongolia) and TUW Province (the suburbs of the capital), have adopted an urban lifestyle due to rapid modernization and economic development. Chinese Mongolians living in Hohhot and Xilingol have inter-married with ethic Han Chinese, which may generate some differences fr...

No abstract

No abstract

To investigate the effect of functional amino acid on meat flavor and eating quality, 60 growing-finishing pigs (Duroc × Large White × Landrace) were dietarily supplemented with or without 1.0% l-arginine, glutamic acid, or l-arginine plus glutamic acid for 2 months. After animals were slaughtered, the muscle fatty acid profile, flavor compounds, and meat sensory quality were comparatively investigated. The results showed that dietary supplementation with arginine, glutamic acid, or arginine plus glutamic acid had little effect on free amino acids, no effect on 5 -nucleotides and meat sensory taste traits, but supplementation with arginine plus glutamic acid significantly increased (P < 0.05) fat accumulation and fatty acid content in muscle, increased (P < 0.05) the formation of multiple fatty acid oxidation-derived volatile compounds, and improved the tenderness, juiciness, and overall eating quality of meat. This study revealed that dietary supplementation with 1.0% l-arginine and glutamic acid could be used to improve meat eating quality in pork production.

No abstract

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is an impediment to barley production in many regions of the world. Tricothecene toxins, associated with FHB-infected grain, particularly, deoxynivalenol (DON), pose a serious threat to human and animal health. Recent research has suggested that a portion of the DON present on grain is bound and escapes detection through conventional determination. The objective of this study was to optimize a method for determination of nonextractable DON in barley grain using trifluoroacetic acid (TFA). A Doehlert matrix design was performed to determine the optimal conditions for time, temperature, and TFA concentration. These conditions were treated with 1.25 N TFA in 86:14 acetontrile/water for 54 min at 133 degrees C. Cleanup, derivatization, and determination of DON by a gas chromatography electron capture detector (GC-ECD) was as normal. Treatment of the test sample resulted in the release of an additional 58% DON under the optimized conditions and an increase of 9-88% in a set of verification samples.

No abstract

The phenolic content and antioxidant potential of malting barley are important in brewing. The objective of our study was to investigate the effects of barley genotype, growing environment, and malting conditions on the total phenolic content and antioxidant activities of malting barley grown in North America. Eight barley cultivars grown at three locations over three years were used. For the malting study, a single barley cultivar, separated into different kernel size fractions, was germinated for various periods of time and then processed by kilning or freeze-drying. Total phenolic content (TPC) and some of the antioxidant activities, including DPPH, ABTS, and superoxide anion radical scavenging activities, reducing power, and iron (II) chelating activity, were significantly impacted by the barley genotype, growth environment, and their interactions. The TPC and most antioxidant activities were also influenced by malting conditions and were generally higher in the malted barleys of the thin kernel size fraction, four-day germination, and in samples processed by kilning, when compared to the plumper kernel size fractions, one and two days of germination, and freeze-dried samples, respectively. There were interactions between malting parameters, and stepwise regression analysis was used to suggest the contribution of each parameter to the TPC and antioxidant activities.