The mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) contaminates chicken feed and negatively impacts intestinal health and overall production performance. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of lactic acid bacteria and DON toxicity on production performance, intestinal morphology and absorptive function, and oxidative stress in broiler chickens. A total of 432 day-old-Ross 308 chicks were assigned to treatments arranged as a 2 × 3 factorial with mycotoxin (0 mg, noM; 5 mg/kg, M) and probiotic [0 cfu/kg, noP; 1.0 × 10⁹ cfu/kg Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA); or 1.0 × 10⁷ cfu/kg FloraMax-PW (FM), made of LA and Pediococcus acidilactici] and raised for 22 days. Body weight, average daily gain, average daily feed intake, and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were not affected (P = 0.130) by mycotoxin or mycotoxin × probiotic interaction for any days. However, FCR was reduced (P = 0.050) in FM compared to noP for days 8-15. Mycotoxin reduced villus height and villus height-to-crypt depth ratio (P = 0.029 and P = 0.027, respectively) in the jejunum. The level of jejunal zonula occludens-2 mRNA was reduced (P = 0.040) in M+noP and M+LA compared to noM+noP, noM+FM, noM+LA, and M+FM chickens. Ileal occludin and zonula occludens-2 mRNA expressions were increased (P < 0.001 and P = 0.011, respectively) by mycotoxin, and claudin-1 expression was increased (P = 0.029) by FM. Immunoglobulin A mRNA expression was increased (P = 0.020) in FM compared to noP while that of polymeric immunoglobulin receptor was increased (P = 0.004) in FM and LA in the ileum. Plasma catalase activity was reduced (P < 0.001) in M+noP compared to other treatments while that of glutathione reductase was increased (P = 0.036) by DON. In conclusion, DON at 5 mg/kg of feed did not affect production performance, but reduced intestinal morphology, which was not prevented by probiotics. The supplementation of FM improved the overall oxidative status in response to DON. In addition, FM improved intestinal immune genes expression in the context of this study.

Vertical transmission of plant pathogenic viruses is an important component of viral persistence, survival, and spread in agricultural production systems. This type of transmission is of considerable economic significance as it can cause major crop losses by serving as the initial focus of infection for future epidemics. Vertical transmission occurs when a virus is passed on to offspring either by direct invasion of the developing seed embryo from infected mother plants or through infected pollen grains after fertilization. We have recently demonstrated via high-throughput sequencing that mature seeds of the agriculturally important forage crop alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) are associated with a broad range of viruses, some of which could potentially spread over long distances via seed. With the exception of the alfalfa mosaic virus, little is currently known about viral transmission through alfalfa pollen and its subsequent impact on the disease epidemiology of the crop. The objective of this study was to screen pollen from diverse alfalfa genotypes for pathogenic viruses and assess their risk of transmission. The pollen was collected from alfalfa genotypes selected for fungal disease resistance and agronomic performance in the USDA ARS pre-breeding program in Prosser, WA.

Non-coding RNAs play critical roles in regulating gene expression and diverse biological processes. While the roles of microRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) are well known, the roles of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs; >200 nucleotides, with little or no protein-coding potential) remain less defined. In this study, we investigated the function of lncRNAs during the differentiation of human retinal pigment epithelial (ARPE-19) cells, identifying LINC00276 as being consistently and robustly upregulated during RPE differentiation. Silencing LINC00276-202 (ENST00000418420.1) using antisense GapmeRs significantly reduced the expression of RPE differentiation-associated genes, including RPE65 , MITF , TRPM1 , and TRPM3 , whereas LINC00276-202 overexpression restored their expression levels. In silico analysis identified a shared miR-204-5p/miR-211-5p-responsive region within LINC00276-202 . Both miRNAs produced modest increases in LINC00276-202 -associated reporter activity, whereas deletion of the shared seed-recognition region attenuated this response. Importantly, despite increased accumulation of the seed-deletion transcript, the mutant construct failed to induce RPE65 expression to the extent observed with WT LINC00276-202 , indicating that sequence integrity contributes to its biological activity. RNA pull-down followed by mass spectrometry identified PURB, SART3, ANXA6, and hnRNPL as potential protein binding partners. Of these, hnRNPL was validated as a LINC00276-202 -interacting protein by RNA immunoprecipitation and immunoblotting. LINC00276-202 modulated hnRNPL protein levels, and hnRNPL contributed to LINC00276-202 -mediated regulation of β-catenin protein abundance and TCF/LEF transcriptional activity. Together, these findings identify LINC00276-202 as a novel regulator of RPE differentiation involving a miR-204/miR-211-responsive region, hnRNPL interaction, and β-catenin-associated signaling, with potential relevance to retinal degenerative disease.