DE NOVO SYNTHESIS OF HOMOARGININE IN CHICKENS IS INFLUENCED BY DIETARY CONCENTRATIONS OF LYSINE AND ARGININE

Identification of biomarkers associated with the feed efficiency by metabolomics profiling: results from the broiler lines divergent for high or low abdominal fat content

Background

Improving feed efficiency (FE) is one of the main objectives in broiler breeding. It is difficult to directly measure FE traits, and breeders hence have been trying to identify biomarkers for the indirect selection and improvement of FE traits. Metabolome is the "bridge" between genome and phenome. The metabolites may potentially account for more of the phenotypic variation and can suitably serve as biomarkers for selecting FE traits. This study aimed to identify plasma metabolite markers for selecting high-FE broilers. A total of 441 birds from Northeast Agricultural University broiler lines divergently selected for abdominal fat content were used to analyze plasma metabolome and estimate the genetic parameters of differentially expressed metabolites.

Results

The results identified 124 differentially expressed plasma metabolites (P < 0.05) between the lean line (high-FE birds) and the fat line (low-FE birds). Among these differentially expressed plasma metabolites, 44 were found to have higher positive or negative genetic correlations with FE traits (|r_g| ≥ 0.30). Of these 44 metabolites, 14 were found to display moderate to high heritability estimates (h² ≥ 0.20). However, among the 14 metabolites, 4 metabolites whose physiological functions have not been reported were excluded. Ultimately, 10 metabolites were suggested to serve as the potential biomarkers for breeding the high-FE broilers. Based on the physiological functions of these metabolites, reducing inflammatory and improving immunity were proposed to improve FE and increase production efficiency.

Conclusions

According to the pipeline for the selection of the metabolite markers established in this study, it was suggested that 10 metabolites including 7-ketocholesterol, dimethyl sulfone, epsilon-(gamma-glutamyl)-lysine, gamma-glutamyltyrosine, 2-oxoadipic acid, L-homoarginine, testosterone, adenosine 5'-monophosphate, adrenic acid, and calcitriol could be used as the potential biomarkers for breeding the "food-saving broilers".

Evaluation of homoarginine as a marker for the determination of endogenous amino acid concentrations in poultry excreta

1. Endogenous amino acid losses in ileal digesta and excreta of adults cockerels fed on diets containing guanidinated forms of casein, soyabean meal and cottonseed meal were determined using homoarginine as a marker. 2. The ileal endogenous amino acid losses were markedly higher (P < 0.001) in birds given the cottonseed meal diet compared to those given the other two diets. The ileal endogenous protein was rich in aspartic acid, serine and glutamic acid. 3. Negative values were obtained for endogenous amino acid output in excreta. These aberrant values were caused by high concentrations of homoarginine in the excreta. A subsequent study with broiler chickens showed that the homoarginine in excreta was of urinary origin. 4. These results indicate that the homoarginine technique is not suitable for determining endogenous amino acid losses in excreta, but applicable when determinations are made in the terminal ileum.