We aimed to investigate the effects of Clostridium butyricum-, Bacillus subtilis-, and Bacillus licheniformis-based potential probiotics on the growth performance, intestinal morphology, immune responses, and caecal short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and microbial structure in broiler chickens. Three treatment groups containing a total of 1200 one-day-old AA broilers were included: birds fed with a basal diet only (Con), birds fed with added 10¹⁰ probiotics cfu/kg (ProL), and birds fed with added 10¹¹ probiotics cfu/kg (ProH). The dietary probiotics significantly improved the final and average body weights and serum immunoglobulins A, M, and Y. The probiotics also enhanced the ileal morphology and improved the caecal acetate, butyrate, and propionate contents. Furthermore, 16S rRNA sequencing revealed that dietary compound probiotics modulated the caecal microflora composition as follows: (1) all birds shared 2794 observed taxonomic units; (2) treatment groups were well separated in the PCA and PCoA analysis; (3) the relative abundance of Parabacteroides, Ruminococcaceae_UCG-014, Barnesiella, Odoribacter, [Eubacterium_coprostanoligenes_group], [Ruminococcus]_torques_group, and Butyricimonas significantly varied between treatments. The compound probiotics improved the growth performance, serum immune responses, the ratio of ileal villus height to crypt depth, and major caecal SCFAs in broiler chickens. The dietary C. butyricum-, B. subtilis-, and B. licheniformis-based probiotics improved overall broiler health and would benefit the poultry industry.

Background: Dietary bamboo leaf flavonoids (BLFs) are rarely used in poultry production, and it is unknown whether they influence meat texture profile, perceived color, or microstructure. Results: A total of 720 one-day-old Arbor Acres broilers were supplemented with a basal diet with 20 mg bacitracin/kg, 50 mg BLFs/kg, or 250 mg BLFs/kg or without additions. Data showed that the dietary BLFs significantly (P < 0.05) changed growth performance and the texture profile. In particular, BLFs increased birds’ average daily gain and average daily feed intake, decreased the feed:gain ratio and mortality rate, improved elasticity of breast meat, enhanced the gumminess of breast and leg meat, and decreased the hardness of breast meat. Moreover, a significant (P < 0.05) increase in redness (a*) and chroma (c*) of breast meat and c* and water-holding capacity of leg meat was found in BLF-supplemented broilers compared with control broilers. In addition, BLFs supplementation significantly decreased (P < 0.05) the β-sheet ratio and serum malondialdehyde and increased the β-turn ratio of protein secondary structure, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase of breast meat and total antioxidant capacity and catalase of serum. Based on the analysis of untargeted metabolome, BLFs treatment considerably altered 14 metabolites of the breast meat, including flavonoids, amino acids, and organic acids, as well as phenolic and aromatic compounds. Conclusions: Dietary BLFs supplementation could play a beneficial role in improving meat quality and sensory color in the poultry industry by changing protein secondary structures and modulating metabolites.

Aim This study was conducted to investigate the effects of Clostridium butyricum in isolation or in combination with 1, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃ in early-stage broilers. Methods and Results A total of 360 half male and half female Cobb broilers (one day age) were randomly divided into four groups: Con (basal diet), Anti (basal diet + 75 mg/kg chlortetracycline), Cb (basal diet + 10⁹ cfu/kg Clostridium butyricum), and CD (basal diet + 10⁹ cfu/kg Clostridium butyricum + 25 μg/kg 1,25(OH)₂D₃). The results were as follows: 1) Compared with Con, CD significantly increased ADG (P < 0.05). 2) Contrast with Con and Anti, Cb and CD significantly increased GSH-Px and SOD in the serum and liver, and decreased MDA content in serum (P < 0.05). 3) In addition, the content of immunoglobulin (IgA, IgY, IgM) in Cb and CD birds was higher than that in Con birds (P < 0.05); the Cb supplementation decreased (P < 0.05) the contents of IL-8, IL-1β, and TNF-α than those in Con. 4) Cb and CD had lower cecal acetic and propionic content than the Anti group (P < 0.05). 5) The community richness of Con was significantly higher than that of Anti (P < 0.05).The relative abundance of Alistipes and Ruminococcaceae-UCG-014 in Cb and CD supplemented-birds were lower than those in Con (P < 0.05). The relative abundant of Escherichia-Shigella in CD was higher than Con and Anti (P < 0.05). Conclusions These data indicated that dietary Clostridium butyricum and 1, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃ can improve the growth performance, immunity responses, antioxidation, bone development, and intestinal microflora in early-stage broilers. Significance and Impact of the Study Oral administration of Clostridium butyricum or Clostridium butyricum combined with 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃ enhanced immunity and antioxidant activity in early stage birds.

Juvenile hormone (JH) plays a vital role in the growth, development, and reproduction of insects and other arthropods. Previous experiments have suggested that BmFAMeT6 could affect the duration of the silk moth’s larval stage. In this study, we established the BmFAMeT6 overexpression strain and BmFAMeT6 knockout strain using the GAL4/UAS binary hybrid system and CRISPR/Cas 9 system, respectively, and found that the larval stage of the overexpression strain was shorter, while the knockout strain was longer. Our results exhibited that both the JH titers and BmKr-h1 levels in the larvae of the third instar were reduced significantly by BmFAMeT6 overexpression, but were increased obviously by BmFAMeT6 knockout. In addition, injection of farnesoic acid induced changes in the JH I and JH II levels in the hemolymphs of larvae. This study is the first to directly reveal the role of BmFAMeT6 in the regulation of insect JH titers and the relationship between farnesoic acid and JH (JH I and JH II). This provides a new perspective on regulating the growth and development of insects such as Bombyx mori.

Background/Objectives: The gene-encoding farnesyl diphosphate O-methyltransferase 6 (FAMeT 6) is a member of the farnesyl diphosphate O-methyltransferase family. Our previous studies have demonstrated its influence on juvenile hormone levels in third instar silkworm larvae. Methods: we utilized transcriptomic and metabolomic techniques to investigate the changes in third instar larvae at 0, 12, and 24 h following BmFAMeT6 overexpression. Results: (1) The differentially expressed homologous genes were enriched in detoxification-related pathways at all three time points. (2) Transcription factor analysis of DEGs indicated a predominant presence of ZF-C2H2. (3) The metabolite-related network suggested that BmFAMeT6 may influence the metabolism of silkworm larvae through the ABC transporters, purine metabolism, and tyrosine metabolism pathways. (4) The differential gene count, differential metabolite count, and types of metabolites at the three time points indicated a shift in the regulatory focus within the larvae as time progresses, with the inflection point of regulation occurring at the third instar larval stage, 12 h. Conclusion: In summary, our research indicates that the regulatory role of BmFAMeT6 occurs within the context of the domestic silkworm’s own growth and development regulation.