This study was to determine the effects of dietary emodin (ED) on the intestinal mucosal barrier, nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) pathways, and gut microbial flora in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced piglets. Twenty-four weaned piglets were chosen and 4 treatments were created by randomly distributing piglets into CON, ED, LPS, and ED_LPS groups. Experiments were done in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement and maintained for 21 d. Dietary treatment (a basal diet or 300 mg/kg ED) and immunological challenge (LPS or sterile saline) were 2 major factors. Intraperitoneal injections of LPS or sterilized saline were given to piglets on d 21. Six hours after the LPS challenge, all piglets were euthanized for sample collection and analysis. The results showed that piglets of the ED_LPS group had higher (P < 0.05) villus height to crypt depth ratio (VCR), and lower (P < 0.05) plasma D-lactate and diamine oxidase (DAO) than the LPS group. Furthermore, ED inhibited (P < 0.05) the decrease of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and catalase (CAT) activities and increase of malonaldehyde level (P < 0.05) in jejunal mucosa induced by LPS. The mRNA levels of pro-inflammatory cytokine genes (IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α) were significantly reduced (P < 0.05), and the mRNA levels of antioxidant enzyme genes (GPX-1, SOD2 and CAT), as well as protein and mRNA levels of tight junction proteins (occludin, claudin-1, and ZO-1), were also significantly increased (P < 0.05) by ED addition in LPS-induced piglets. Meanwhile, ED supplementation significantly decreased the LPS-induced protein levels of cyclooxygenase-2 and phosphorylation levels of NF-κB p65 and IκBα in jejunal mucosa. Emodin had a significant effect on the composition of gut microbial flora at various taxonomic positions as indicated by 16S RNA sequencing. The acetic acid, isobutyric acid, valeric acid, and isovaleric acid concentrations in the cecum were also increased by ED addition in pigs (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the correlation analysis revealed that some intestinal microbiota had a potential relationship with jejunal VCR, plasma D-lactate and DAO, jejunal mucosa GSH-Px and CAT activity, and cecal short-chain fatty acid concentration. These data suggest that ED is effective in alleviating LPS-induced intestinal mucosal barrier injury by modulating gut microbiota in piglets.

Understanding the genetic characteristics of indigenous goat breeds is crucial for their conservation and breeding efforts. Hainan black goats, as a native breed of south China's tropical island province of Hainan, possess distinctive traits such as black hair, a moderate growth rate, good meat quality, and small body size. However, they exhibit exceptional resilience to rough feeding conditions, possess high-quality meat, and show remarkable resistance to stress and heat. In this study, we resequenced the whole genome of Hainan black goats to study the economic traits and genetic basis of these goats, we leveraged whole-genome sequencing data from 33 Hainan black goats to analyze single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) density, Runs of homozygosity (ROH), Integrated Haplotype Score (iHS), effective population size (Ne), Nucleotide diversity Analysis (Pi) and selection characteristics. Our findings revealed that Hainan black goats harbor a substantial degree of genetic variation, with a total of 23 608 983 SNPs identified. Analysis of ROHs identified 53 710 segments, predominantly composed of short fragments, with inbreeding events mainly occurring in ancient ancestors, the estimates of inbreeding based on ROH in Hainan black goats typically exhibit moderate values ranging from 0.107 to 0.186. This is primarily attributed to significant declines in the effective population size over recent generations. Moreover, we identified 921 candidate genes within the intersection candidate region of ROH and iHS. Several of these genes are associated with crucial traits such as immunity (PTPRC, HYAL1, HYAL2, HYAL3, CENPE and PKN1), heat tolerance (GNG2, MAPK8, CAPN2, SLC1A1 and LEPR), meat quality (ACOX1, SSTR1, CAMK2B, PPP2CA and PGM1), cashmere production (AKT4, CHRM2, OXTR, AKT3, HMCN1 and CDK19), and stress resistance (TLR2, IFI44, ENPP1, STK3 and NFATC1). The presence of these genes may be attributed to the genetic adaptation of Hainan black goats to local climate conditions. The insights gained from this study provide valuable references and a solid foundation for the preservation, breeding, and utilization of Hainan black goats and their valuable genetic resources.

The study investigated amelioration effects of coconut oil (CO) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, ruminal fermentation, and blood metabolites in Hainan Black goat kids. Twenty-four Hainan Black goat kids (10 days of age) were assigned randomly to four treatments for 90 days, including pre-weaning (10–70 d of age) and post-weaning (70-100 d of age) days. The treatment regimens were control (CON), low CO (LCO), medium CO (MCO), and high CO (HCO) with 0, 4, 6, 8 g CO per goat per day, respectively. During the pre-weaning period, the average daily gain (ADG) linearly and quadratically increased (P < 0.05), whereas the average daily feed intake (ADFI) linearly decreased, and the feed conversion ratio (FCR) also decreased linearly and quadratically by increasing CO supplementation (P < 0.05). During the post-weaning period, increasing CO supplementation linearly and quadratically increased the BW at 100 days and ADG (P < 0.05), but quadratically decreased the ADFI and FCR (P < 0.05). The digestibility of ether extract (EE) linearly and quadratically increased with increasing CO supplementation (P < 0.05). Supplementation of CO linearly increased ruminal pH (P < 0.05), but linearly decreased (P < 0.05) ammonia-N, total VFAs, molar proportions of acetate, ruminal microbial enzyme activity of carboxymethyl-cellulase, cellobiase, xylanase, pectinase and α-amylase, and number of total protozoa, the abundance of Ruminococcus albus, Ruminococcus flavefaciens, Fibrobacter succinogenes, Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens, Prevotella ruminicola, and Ruminobacter amylophilus. The estimated methane emission decreased linearly and quadratically with increasing CO addition (P < 0.05). The serum concentration of triglycerides (TG), non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and growth hormone (GH) linearly (P < 0.05) increased by raising the CO supplementation. The present results indicate that CO supplementation at 6 g/day per goats is optimum due to improved growth performance and decreased estimated methane emission. Supplementation CO up to 8 g/day depressed growth and feed conversion due to its suppression of growth performance, rumen protozoa, cellulolytic bacteria and microbial enzyme activity, and reduced ADF and ADF digestibility.

The critical role of the rumen microbiota in the growth performance of livestock is recognized, yet its significance in determining the body weight of goat kids before weaning remains less understood. To bridge this gap, our study delved into the rumen microbiota, serum metabolome, rumen fermentation, and rumen development in goat kids with contrasting body weights before weaning. We selected 10 goat kids from a cohort of 100, categorized into low body weight (LBW, 5.56 ± 0.98 kg) and high body weight (HBW, 9.51 ± 1.01 kg) groups. The study involved sampling rumen contents, tissues, and serum from these animals. Our findings showed that the HBW goat kids showed significant enrichment of VFA-producing bacteria, particularly microbiota taxa within the Prevotellaceae genera (UCG-001, UCG-003, and UCG-004) and the Prevotella genus. This enrichment correlated with elevated acetate and butyrate levels, positively influencing rumen papillae development. Additionally, it was associated with elevated serum levels of glucose, total cholesterol, and triglycerides. The serum metabonomic analysis revealed marked differences in fatty acid metabolism between the LBW and HBW groups, particularly in encompassing oleic acid and both long-chain saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Further correlational analysis underscored a significant positive association between Prevotellaceae_UCG-001 and specific lipids, such as phosphatidylcholine (PC) (22:5/18:3) and PC (20:3/20:1) (r > 0.60, p < 0.05). In summary, this study underscores the pivotal role of the rumen microbiota in goat kids’ weight and its correlation with specific serum metabolites. These insights could pave the way for innovative strategies aimed at improving animal body weight through targeted modulation of the rumen microbiota.