Special Issue "Nutritional and Reproductive Efficiency in Poultry"

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Poultry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2021.

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Ramon D. Malheiros
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Prestage Department of Poultry Science, North Carolina State University, Scott Hall 134B, Raleigh, NC 27607, USA
Interests: nutritional evaluation of ingredients and additives in poultry feed; broiler breeder production and reproduction; poultry incubation and hatching; broiler and layer production efficiency; poultry embryo development; industry outreach and extension

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations lists four primary challenges for the future: 1) increased demand for poultry products; 2) threat of disease epidemics; 3) environment and climate change; and 4) competition for feed sources. It is commonly known that estimations of world population growth indicate that by the year 2050 there will be nine billion human beings on Earth. Most of this growth is forecast to take place in developing countries. These estimates impose a tremendous challenge in the current agricultural systems, as food supply will need to increase by 100% in the next 30 years (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2009). The global demand for poultry meat and eggs is expected to increase exponentially in the next several decades. Increasing global poultry production in the future would require significant improvements in genetics, nutrition, and management practices, including reproduction. Nutrition can be adjusted to increase performance in many animals, especially in poultry species, with the aim of better growth, production, and reproduction. In poultry, especially broiler breeder chickens are genetically selected for faster growth, higher feed intake, and greater muscle yield in their progeny. Just like their progeny, the parental line of broiler breeder chickens also displays hyperphagia that leads to reproductive problems. Turkeys also have some challenges in nutrition and reproduction, requiring some investigation. In some parts of the world, other species of poultry also have some difficulties associated with nutrition and reproduction to show good productivity and reproduction indices. This Special Issue aims to publish original research papers or reviews concerning nutrition and reproduction efficiency in poultry species.

Areas of interest: nutrient requirements for poultry; broiler breeders reproduction; turkey nutrition; turkey reproduction; broiler breeders nutrition; poultry endocrinology; poultry feed alternatives ingredients; poultry gut health; game birds nutrition and reproduction

We invite you to share your recent findings through this Special Issue.

Dr. Ramon D. Malheiros
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • nutrient requirements for poultry
  • broiler breeders reproduction
  • turkey nutrition
  • turkey reproduction
  • broiler breeders nutrition
  • poultry endocrinology
  • poultry feed alternatives ingredients
  • poultry gut health
  • game birds nutrition and reproduction

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

Article
Comparative Yolk Proteomic Analysis of Fertilized Low and High Cholesterol Eggs during Embryonic Development
Animals 2021, 11(3), 744; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11030744 - 09 Mar 2021
Viewed by 732
Abstract
The yolk is the principal part of the egg that contains vitamins, minerals, lipids, and proteins which are essential for embryo development and hatching. The egg yolk contains significant amounts of lipoproteins, triacylglycerides, and cholesterol, whose dynamics are indistinct during embryogenesis. The effects [...] Read more.
The yolk is the principal part of the egg that contains vitamins, minerals, lipids, and proteins which are essential for embryo development and hatching. The egg yolk contains significant amounts of lipoproteins, triacylglycerides, and cholesterol, whose dynamics are indistinct during embryogenesis. The effects of cholesterol on the yolk protein abundance, intensity, and function are ill-defined during embryonic development. Using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, eggs with respective high and low cholesterol protein abundance were investigated after 0, 2, 6, and 13 days of embryogenesis and further analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry. The results revealed that the vitellogenin proteins are the most abundant egg yolk protein that showed proximity and a high degree of variation in isoelectric point and molecular weight. The results demonstrated increased expression of vitellogenin-1 and vitellogenin-3 at two days and vitellogenin-2 protein at 13 days of embryogenesis in both egg types. The ovoinhibitor, immunoglobulin lambda light chain precursor, Ig-gamma (clone-36 chicken), and beta-2-glycoprotein-1 precursor proteins were significantly expressed in high cholesterol eggs while haptoglobin protein PIT-54 and vitelline membrane outer layer proteins intensities were significant in low cholesterol eggs at two days of embryogenesis. The high cholesterol eggs showed a modest increase in egg weight, yolk weight, albumen height, yolk color, and egg strength relative to the low cholesterol eggs. The gene ontology enrichment analysis revealed that the differentially expressed proteins such as vitellogenin proteins were involved in lipid transport and lipid localization biological processes and showed nutrient reservoir activity function. The ovotransferrin regulated the biological processes of plasminogen activation and extracellular matrix disassembly and characterized the anchored component of the plasma membrane. The ovoinhibitor protein was involved in response to mineralocorticoid and corticosterone biological processes whereas the vitellin membrane outer layer protein constituted the extracellular exosome, extracellular organelle, and membrane-bounded vesicle cellular components. Collectively, our study revealed yolk protein abundance, molecular function, cellular components, and biological processes and concluded that yolk protein intensities were significantly altered by cholesterol concentration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutritional and Reproductive Efficiency in Poultry)
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