The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of outdoor access on the growth performance and meat quality of broiler chickens. Thirty-five-day-old female broilers were divided into 3 groups with 6 replicates of 124 birds each: (1) birds reared indoors (control group); (2) birds reared with outdoor access since 36 d of age (35-d group); and (3) birds reared with outdoor access since 71 d of age (70-d group). The results showed that outdoor access had no effect on growth performance, carcass yield, meat yield, muscle protein content, muscle fiber characteristics, or water-holding capacity (P > 0.05). Chickens from the outdoor access groups had a better appearance and degree of evenness. Birds in the outdoor access groups had a significantly lower lung percentage than birds in the control group (P < 0.05), whereas the kidney percentage of the 35-d group was significantly lower than that of the control group (P< 0.05). The meat of chickens in the 35-d group had higher L* values than that of the control group (P < 0.05). Compared with rearing indoors, outdoor access significantly increased the shear force of the breast muscle in both the 35 d and 70-d group (P < 0.05) and decreased the fat content of the thigh muscle in the case of 35-d group (P < 0.05). Birds in the 35-d group also had lower fat content in their thigh muscles than did the birds in the 70-d group (P < 0.05). The thigh muscles of the birds in the 35-d group showed lower levels of MUFA and higher levels of PUFA than those of the control group and 70-d group (P < 0.05). In conclusion, outdoor access had no effect on growth performance and yield traits but could improve the meat quality; birds reared with outdoor access from 36 d of age had better appearance and meat quality than those with outdoor access from 71 d of age.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation with thiazolidinedione (TZD) on growth performance and meat quality of finishing pigs. In Experiment 1, 80 castrated finishing pigs (Large White×Landrace, BW = 54.34 kg) were randomly assigned to 2 treatments with 5 replicates of 8 pigs each. The experimental pigs in the 2 groups were respectively fed with a diet with or without a TZD supplementation (15 mg/kg). In Experiment 2, 80 castrated finishing pigs (Large White×Landrace, BW = 71.46 kg) were divided into 2 treatments as designed in Experiment 1, moreover, carcass evaluations were performed. The results from Experiment 1 showed that TZD supplementation could significantly decreased the average daily feed intake (ADFI) (p<0.05) during 0 to 28 d, without impairing the average daily gain (ADG) (p>0.05). In Experiment 2, the ADG was significantly increased by TZD supplementation during 14 to 28 d and 0 to 28 d (p<0.05) and the feed:gain ratio (F:G) was significantly decreased by TZD supplementation during 0 to 28 d (p<0.05). Compared with the control group, TZD group had significantly higher serum triglyceride (TG) concentration at 28h and serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels at 14 d (p<0.05). Moreover, there was an apparent improvement in the marbling score (p<0.10) and intramuscular fat (IMF) content (p<0.10) of the longissimus dorsi muscle in pigs treated by TZD supplementation. Real-time RT-PCR analyses demonstrated that pigs of TZD group had higher mRNA abundance of PPARγ coactivator 1 (PGC-1) (p<0.05) and fatty acid-binding protein 3 (FABP3) (p<0.05) than pigs of control group. Taken together, these results suggested that dietary TZD supplementation could improve growth performance and increase the IMF content of finishing pigs through regulating the serum parameters and genes mRNA abundance involved in fat metabolism.

1. A 2 × 2 factorial design was used to investigate the differences in carcase, muscle and meat characteristics between fast and slow growing genotypes fed on low nutrient (LND) or high nutrient diets (HND) at their respective slaughter ages. 2. The birds were randomly assigned to treatments with 5 replicates of 145 birds for Wens Yellow-Feathered Chicken (WYFC, 5·75 birds/m(2)) or 115 birds for White Recessive Rock Chicken (WRRC, 7·25 birds/m(2)), according to the commercial recommendations for the two breeds and were fed on HND or LND. Birds were slaughtered at 63 d and 105 d of age. 3. The results showed WRRC had higher carcase yield and meat yield than that of WYFC, lower fat content, higher moisture content and lower cooking loss. The meat from WRRC was less tender and contained lower levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). 4. Birds fed on HND had higher breast meat yield, myofiber area and protein content in the breast muscle and lower fat content than birds fed on LND. The thigh muscle of birds fed on HND had higher levels of PUFA. Age had a positive effect on carcase parameters, but a negative effect on pH, meat tenderness and cooking loss, and the two genotypes exhibited different responses to the influence of nutrient density and age. 5. Genotype and age had the largest effect on carcase performance and meat quality. LND benefited meat quality and WRRC had larger responses in meat yield and shear force when fed on HND.

Nitric oxide (NO), gibberellic acid (GA), and phosphorus (P) have been reported to regulate primary root (PR) growth, but interactions between them in the growth of Arabidopsis PR remain unknown. This work confirmed that low P availability significantly inhibited PR growth and that NO arrested PR growth in either high P or low P conditions. Moreover, NO counteracted the stimulatory effects of GA on PR growth under low P conditions. Finally, the dependence of low P and NO inhibition of PR growth on the DELLA-SLY pathway revealed that NO stabilized a major DELLA protein. We therefore conclude that antagonistic interactions between NO and GA regulate PR growth under both the high and low P conditions, and a DELLA-SLY module is the node where NO, GA, and P pathways converge and interact.

In July 2010, a serious disease of peanut (Arachis hypogaea) resembling Cylindrocladium black rot (CBR) was found in Longnan County, Jiangxi Province, China. Symptoms included chlorotic, yellowish and blighted leaves, and wilting of the plants. Taproots and hypocotyls were blackened and rotted. Clusters of reddish orange spherical fruiting bodies appeared in the lesions present on basal stems, pegs, pods, and roots of peanut. Disease incidence reached as much as 50% in some patches of the field. Plants with symptoms were sampled from fields. Microscopic examination revealed that the reddish orange, spherical fruiting bodies were the perithecia and measured 461.6 (337.5 to 609.4) × 395.5 (309.4 to 496.9) μm. With gentle pressure, asci and ascospores were exuded from perithecia. The asci were hyaline, thin walled, and long stalked. Ascospores were hyaline, falcate with one septum, and measured 43.5 (27.3 to 54.5) × 5.6 (4.1 to 6.8) μm with a length/width (L/W) ratio of 7.8 ± 1.3. A fungus with white-to-pale buff border mycelia and yellowish brown pigment was consistently isolated from the edge of basal stem lesions on potato dextrose agar at 25°C. Mycelia grew at temperatures ranging from 8 to 32°C and the optimum was 25 to 26°C. To determine the species, single-conidial isolates of the fungus were cultured on carnation leaf agar for 7 days at 25°C and 12 h of light/dark conditions. Conidia were hyaline, cylindrical with one to three septa (mostly three septa), and measured 49.3 (27.3 to 70.9) × 5.9 (4.1 to 6.8) μm with L/W ratio of 8.4 ± 1.6. Vesicles were globose and measured 5.5 to 10.9 μm in diameter. The fungus was identified as Cylindrocladium parasiticum (teleomorph Calonectria ilicicola) (1,2). A PCR assay was conducted on one representative isolate (JXLN32) by analyzing multilocus sequences of the TUB2 (coding β-tubulin protein), ACT (coding actin), and CaM gene (coding calmodulin protein) and were amplified and sequenced using the primers reported by Crous et al. (3). Sequences of the studied DNA regions were submitted to GenBank (Accession Nos. TUB2: JF429649; ACT: JQ070809; and CaM: JQ070808). BLAST searches with the existing sequences in GenBank showed that there was 99 to 100% identity with the existing sequences of C. ilicicola (GenBank Accession Nos. TUB2: AY725643; ACT: GQ280446; and CaM: GQ267402). To complete Koch's postulates, inoculum was prepared by mixing the microsclerotia (MS) suspension of the isolate (JXLN32) with soil at a proportion of 10 MS per g of soil. Ten replicate plastic pots containing five peanut seeds (cv. Yueyou 7) each were planted and placed in a glasshouse at 25 ± 2°C. The same number of peanut seeds was used as an uninoculated control. Typical basal stem and roots rot symptoms of CBR were observed in 2 months and C. parasiticum was reisolated from these inoculated diseased plants. No symptoms were detected on the control plants. To our knowledge, this is the first finding of Cylindrocladium black rot in Jiangxi Province, which is the main peanut-producing area in China. The disease has been previously reported in Guangdong Province in southern China but is not known elsewhere (4). Because of its ability to spread through seed and soil and its destructive potential, this pathogen may pose a serious threat to peanut production in China. References: (1) D. K. Bell and E. K. Sobers. Phytopathology 56:1361, 1966. (2) P. W. Crous et al. Mycol. Res. 97:889, 1993. (3) P. W. Crous et al. Stud. Mycol. 50:415, 2004. (4) R. Pan et al. Plant Pathol. 58:1176, 2009.