Aves including chickens are currently one of the most representative vertebrates on the planet. More than 10,000 bird species are distributed among various regions around the world. Dinosaurs, which evolved from archosaurs, were once assumed to have gone extinct during the Cretaceous-Paleozoic extinction period. Since the mid-1990s, abundant dinosaur fossils have been found in China and various other parts of the world. Research articles on phylogenetic, evolutionary, and genomic studies of fossil taxa show that birds are living theropod dinosaurs. This review describes the link between birds and dinosaurs based on studies of their skeletal structures, feathers, respiratory organs, chromosomes, and metabolism. Birds are the only theropod dinosaurs that survived the mass extinction 66 million years ago. Dinosaurs did not go extinct and we are still living in the age of the dinosaurs.
Global warming and scorching summer seasons affect the growth ability of broilers and animal welfare. In modern broilers, vital organs, such as the heart and lungs, grow disproportionally under intensive selection, making it difficult to adapt to warmer climates. Changes in environmental temperature can affect muscle formation during embryonic development and the early posthatching period. Satellite cells are highly sensitive to heat stress. Heat stress affects the proliferation and differentiation activity of satellite cells and muscle growth and structure. Therefore, thermal manipulation during broiler chick embryogenesis and environmental temperature management at the beginning of hatching are critical for the development and growth of broiler muscles. This review focuses on the thermoregulation mechanism of birds, the muscle development process of broilers, and the function of satellite cells, the relationship between heat stress and muscle development of chicks shortly after hatching, and studies on heat resistance and muscle growth of broilers.
In this study, Rubus coreanus (R. coreanus) byproducts with high polyphenol content were fermented with R. coreanus-derived lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus plantarum GBL 16 and 17). Then the effect of R. coreanus-derived lactic acid bacteria fermented feed (RC-LAB fermented feed) with probiotics (Bacillus subtills, Aspergillus oryzae, Yeast) as a feed additive for pigs on the composition of intestinal microbes and the regulation of intestinal immune homeostasis was investigated. Seventy-two finishing Berkshire pigs were randomly allotted to four different treatment groups and 18 replicates. RC-LAB fermented feed with probiotics increased the genera Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, Mitsuokella, Prevotella, Bacteroides spp., Roseburia spp., and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, which are beneficial bacteria of the digestive tract of pigs. Also, RC-LAB fermented feed with probiotics decreased the genera Clostridium, Terrisporobacter, Romboutsia, Kandleria, Megasphaera and Escherichia, which are harmful bacteria. In particular, the relative abundance of the genera Lactobacillus and Streptococcus increased by an average of 8.51% and 4.68% in the treatment groups and the classes Clostridia and genera Escherichia decreased by an average of 27.05% and 2.85% in the treatment groups. In mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) and spleens, the mRNA expression of transcription factors and cytokines in Th1 and Treg cells increased and the mRNA expression of Th2 and Th17 transcription factors and cytokines decreased, indicating a regulatory effect on intestinal immune homeostasis. RC-LAB fermented feed regulates gut immune homeostasis by influencing the composition of beneficial and detrimental microorganisms in the gut and regulating the balance of Th1/Th2 and Th17/Treg cells.
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