The perinatal cows are often in a status of negative energy balance. During this period, their body systems will be disordered, and they will suffer from both physiological and metabolic stresses, making the cows susceptible to diseases. In a polluted environment and improper management, a variety of metabolic and infectious diseases will be induced in postpartum dairy cows, seriously threatening the health and production performance of dairy cows. Therefore, understanding the causes of susceptibility to metabolic disorders and infectious diseases in postpartum dairy cows and early monitoring of postpartum diseases have become current research hotspots in the dairy industry. This review summarized the causes of postpartum cows’ susceptible diseases from the energy metabolism, immune function, feeding management and environmental factors, and then gave an overview of the recent advances of blood and milk biomarkers and early monitoring of these common diseases.

To study the effects of in vitro digestion products of royal jelly protein on the proliferation and apoptosis of gastric cancer cell SGC-7901 and to explore its possible mechanism so as to provide an experimental basis for the royal jelly protein in the treatment of gastric cancer, the royal jelly protein was extracted by alkali extraction and acid precipitation. The in vitro digestion products of royal jelly protein were obtained by in vitro simulated digestion experiments. The gastric cancer cells SGC-7901 were cultured in vitro with different concentrations of royal jelly protein in vitro digestion products, and the influence on gastric cancer cells were observed by an inverted microscope. The colony formation ability of gastric cancer cells after induction was tested. The 3-(4, 5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2, 5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was used to detect the inhibition against proliferation of the gastric cancer cells; the cell cycle and apoptosis were detected by flow cytometry; and the expression levels of p53 and PARP-1 proteins in the gastric cancer cells were detected by Western blotting. The results showed that the in vitro digestion products of royal jelly protein leaded to the shrinkage of gastric cancer cells, decreased cell density and colony formation ability (P＜0.05), and inhibited the proliferation of gastric cancer cell SGC-7901. When the in vitro digestion product concentration was 0.2 mg/mL, the inhibition rates at 24 h and 48 h were (57.58±3.48)% and (62.84±1.98)%, respectively (P＜0.05). Compared with the blank control group, the in vitro digestion products of royal jelly protein inhibited the proliferation of SGC-7901 cells in a dose-dependent manner, and the S phase cells decreased, which leading to the apoptosis. After induction by in vitro digestion products of royal jelly protein, the expression of p53 increased in the gastric cancer cells (P＜0.05), and the expression level of PARP-1 protein decreased (P＜0.05). The above results show that the in vitro digestion products of royal jelly protein can inhibit the proliferation of gastric cancer cell SGC-7901 and induce its apoptosis. The mechanism may be related to the up-regulation of p53 expression and the down-regulation of PARP-1 expression.

This study aimed to explore the influence of different monochromatic lights on the growth and antioxidant enzyme activity of the mycelia of fungus Sanghuangporus sanghuang. We used a light emitting diode (LED)-based light source as a monochromatic light source, including the blue light (455-490 nm), green light (515-540 nm), yellow light (580-600 nm) and red light (610-710 nm), and taking the white light (390-710 nm) as a control. The growth status, morphological characteristics, malondialdehyde (MDA) content and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) of this strain were studied under the irradiation of different monochromatic lights. The results indicated that, compared with those under the white light, the colony diameter of S. sanghuang increased significantly and the mycelia were denser under the red light, and the fungal growth was inhibited under the blue light and green light, but there was a minimal impact on the fungal growth under the yellow light. The SOD activity of mycelium increased significantly after 9 d of irradiation under the blue light, green light and yellow light, respectively (P＜0.05), while it decreased significantly after 3 d of irradiation under the red light. The CAT activity of mycelium increased under the four monochromatic lights. On the 11th day, the CAT activity increased significantly (P＜0.05), reaching to (31.82±1.60) U/(g?min) under the yellow light. The highest MDA content was observed under the blue light on the 9th day, reaching to (1.07±0.03) mmol/g, which was around 1.16 times under the white light; however, no significant change in the MDA content was observed under the other monochromatic lights. In summary, different monochromatic lights impose different influences on the growth and antioxidant enzyme activity of S. sanghuang, and the red light is more favorable for the growth than the other tested lights.

Skipjack tuna was enzymatically hydrolyzed to prepare xanthine oxidase (XOD) inhibitory peptides. The enzymatic hydrolysis process was optimized by investigating the effects of protease types and enzymatic dosages, pH, temperature, time and their interactions on degree of hydrolysis, nitrogen recovery, XOD inhibition activity and the contents of carnosine and anserine using one-factor-at-a-time method and response surface methodology. The optimal process parameters were as follows: the application of neutrase with the dosage of 489.86 U/g, the pH of 7.08, the temperature of 49.5 ℃, and the time of 5 h. Under the optimal conditions, the degree of hydrolysis was 22.38%; nitrogen recovery was 83.81%; XOD inhibition activity was 62.26%; and the contents of carnosine and anserine were 0.05% and 2.45% (on a dried basis), respectively, which were all in good agreement with the predicted values. The XOD inhibitory peptides obtained were mainly composed of a fraction with molecular mass of less than 1 000 Da. The Pearson’s correlation analysis showed that the XOD inhibition activity of dorsal and ventral muscle in skipjack tuna was not associated with the contents of carnosine and anserine, and it may be due to the production of other XOD inhibitory peptides during the enzymatic hydrolysis.

The experiment was conducted to analyze the impact of short-term rest-grazing on the vegetation and soil characteristics in a growing season, taking the family ranch in the desert steppe area of Etuokeqianqi, Inner Mongolia as the research carrier, and using the Nitraria tangutorum with the Artemisia scoparia community, Achnatherum splendens with A. scoparia community, and the Artemisia ordosica with A. scoparia community as the study objects. The experiment was divided into four zones, which included the rest-grazing zone 1 (the rest time and grazing time were both 7 days, RG1), the rest-gazing zone 2 (the rest time and grazing time were both 14 days, RG2), the rest-gazing zone 3 (the rest time and grazing time were both 21 days, RG3), and the free grazing zone (continuous grazing, CK). The results were as follows. For the aboveground biomass, RG3 took the top one. Apart from the distinction between RG1 and CK in A. ordosica with A. scoparia community was not significant (P＞0.05), other zones were significant (P＜0.05). For the Shannon-Wiener diversity index, the value in each community treated by the RG3 was much higher than that in the other three zones (P＜0.05). For the Pielou index, the distinction among the three communities was not significant (P＞0.05). For the richness index, the value in the N. tangutorum with the A. scoparia community treated by the RG3 was significantly higher than that in the RG1 and CK (P＜0.05), but it was not significant as compared with the RG2 (P＞0.05), and the values in the A. splendens with A. scoparia community and in the A. ordosica with A. scoparia community treated by the RG3 were significantly higher than those in the other communities (P＜0.05). In the A. splendens with A. scoparia community, because of the allocation of rainfall in the different seasons and the distribution of the vegetation root system, different treatments did not show a very clear rule for the impact of the soil moisture. Meanwhile, the distinction of organic matter contents with different treatments at the same soil layer was significant, as well as the total nitrogen contents (P＜0.01), and the RG3 was more favorable to accumulate the organic matters at the ＞10-40 cm soil layer. The total nitrogen content had a highly significant and significant correlations with the Shannon-Wiener index and the richness index at the 0.01 and 0.05 probability levels, respectively; while it had a negative correlation with the Pielou index. To sum up, among the four treatments, RG3 is more suitable for the practical graze management for the family ranches in the natural grassland of desert steppe, and it is more beneficial to restore the delicate grass ecosystem and keep sustainable graze.

In order to research the interaction between Artemisia scoparia and other species, we analyzed the allelopathy of different concentrations (0.05, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 5.0, 10.0 mg/mL) of aqueous extract from A. scoparia root on the seed germination and seedling growth of four Agropyron plants (A. mongolicum, A. cristatum, A. desertorum and A. cristatum×A. desertorum cv. ‘Hycrest-Mengnong’). The results showed that: 1) The aqueous extract from A. scoparia root could significantly inhibit seed germination of A. cristatum×A. desertorum cv. ‘Hycrest-Mengnong’ (P＜0.05), but it had non-significant effects on the other three Agropyron plants (P＞0.05). 2) The effects of the aqueous extract from A. scoparia root on seedling growth of the four Agropyron plants presented the role of promotion in the low concentration and inhibition in the high concentration, but most of them had no statistically significant differences from the contrasts (P＞0.05). 3) The allelopathic comprehensive effect of the aqueous extract from A. scoparia root on seed germination and seedling growth of the four Agropyron plants was in order: A. cristatum×A. desertorum cv. ‘Hycrest-Mengnong’＞A. mongolicum＞A. cristatum＞A. desertorum. The seed germination and seedling growth of A. mongolicum had significantly positive reaction (P＜0.05), but those of A. cristatum×A. desertorum cv. ‘Hycrest-Mengnong’ had significantly inhibitory reaction (P＜0.05) on the concentrations of 0.5, 1.0 and 5.0 mg/mL, which indicated that these two Agropyron plants had stronger sensibility to the aqueous extract. The above results could provide the theoretical basis for community construction and vegetation recovery in the desert ecosystem.

To understand the characteristics of the soil fauna community structure in the typical artificial plantation system in the hilly region of the upper Yangtze River, in October 2015, Pinus massoniana (PM), Eucalyptus grandis (EG), Toona ciliata (TC), Bambusa rigida (BR) systems were selectedas researchobjects, and the farm land (FL) system as a control. The structure of medium- and small-sized soil faunas was investigated by Tullgren and Baermann methods, respectively. A total of 4 444 individuals of soil faunas, belonging to 5 phyla, 12 classes, 22 orders and 83 kinds were collected. The average density of soil faunas achieved very significant levels among the five sample plots (F=78.478, P=0.000), and the group number of soil faunas had significant differences (F=4.810, P=0.020). The vertical distribution of soil faunas in all the soil layers decreased with the deepening of the soil layer, and showed the characteristics of the surface accumulation. Herbivorous, omnivorous and predatory soil animals in the BR accounted for the highest proportion, and saprophagous soil animals in the FL reached to the highest proportion. The diversity index, evenness index, richness index and density-group index of soil animals were the highest in the BR, and the dominance index was the highest in the FL. Except for the density-group index (F=2.702, P=0.092), the differences of other indexes reached highly significant levels (P＜0.01). The similarity between the artificial plantation plots and FL was medium unsimilarity (except for the EG), and the similarity among the artificial plantation systems was moderate (except for the FL). The above results show that the soil animal community structure and diversity indexes in different plantations differ from each other, and there is higher diversity of soil faunas in the BR.

To investigate the effects of spermine on goose immune organ indexes and expression levels of genes related to immune factors, the Sichuan adult white geese (female) were intragastrically administered with 5 and 10 mg spermine per kilogram body mass, and then the indexes of liver, thymus, spleen and bursa of Fabricius were measured. In addition, the expression levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and IFN-γ genes and polyamine contents in the liver, thymus, spleen and bursa of Fabricius were determined. The control group was intragastrically administered with physiological saline. The results showed that the liver index in the geese treated with 10 mg/kg spermine was significantly lower than the control group (P＜0.05). The expression levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and IFN-γ genes in the thymus and bursa of Fabricius of geese treated with 5 mg/kg spermine were significantly lower than the control group (P＜0.05), respectively. The expression levels of TNF-α and IFN-γ in the bursa of Fabricius and IFN-γ in the liver of geese treated with 10 mg/kg spermine were significantly lower than the control group (P＜0.05), respectively. The expression level of IFN-γ was significantly decreased in the spleen by the treatments of spermine compared with the control group (P＜0.05). The contents of spermine in the liver of geese treated with spermine were significantly greater than the control group (P＜0.05). In summary, these results suggest that spermine regulates the immunologic function of geese by mediating the expression levels of genes related to immune factors with the tissue-specific and dose-dependent manner.

In order to research deeply the transcription and splicing situations of chicken G-protein alpha subunit gene (GNAS), we used 5′ and 3′ rapid-amplification cDNA end (RACE) technology to clone and sequence the chicken GNAS gene, and used quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect the expression level of GNAS spliceosome in seven tissues of chicken， such as skin, pectoral muscle, heart, brain, liver, lung, and abdominal fat. The results showed that the chicken GNAS gene had two transcriptional spliceosomes of 1 554 bp and 1 796 bp, respectively. Both of spliceosomes included 12 exons, and only the length and position of their first exon were different, and the second to twelfth exons were the same. Clone 1 (1 554 bp) coded 417 amino acids, while clone 2 (1 796 bp) coded 379 amino acids. Protein alignment in the NCBI database showed that the similarity between the 379 amino acid sequence of the clone 2 and Gαs subunits of the known human and mouse GNAS genes was 93%. The 417 amino acid sequence of the clone 1 was more similar with the XLαs subunit, and their similarity was 87%. The gene expression detection showed that these two transcriptional spliceosomes had different degrees of expression in the seven tissues: the highest expression in the brain (P＜0.01), next in the skin (P＜0.01 or P＜0.05), and the lower expressions in the lung, pectoral muscle, heart and abdominal fat.

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of newly developed compound probiotics on milk production, rumen fermentation characteristics and serum anti-stress parameters of heat-stressed dairy cows. Forty-five late-lactation dairy cows were randomly allocated into three groups, including control group (basal total mixed ration, TMR), compound probiotics (CP) group (20 g/d compound probiotics per cow in TMR) and yeast culture (YC) group (100 g/d yeast culture per cow in TMR). The results indicated that the compound probiotics and yeast culture increased milk yield significantly (P=0.03) with no influence on milk content, and improved ammonia nitrogen and microbial protein concentrations in rumen fluid (P=0.04) with no influence on volatile fatty acid concentration. The compound probiotics and yeast culture enhanced the apparent digestibility of crude protein and neutral detergent fiber (P＜0.05), and a better performance was observed in the compound probiotic groups. The compound probiotics and yeast culture increased serum triiodothyronine (T₃) content significantly (P＜0.01). Thus, the compound probiotics could alleviate the negative effect of heat stress on dairy cows, and perform better than the yeast culture.

To construct the eukaryotic expression vector of human forkhead box class O6 (FOXO6) and explore the effect of FOXO6 on glioma cell survival, we took the cDNA from glioma cell line U251 as a template, and the fragment of FOXO6 gene was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and ligated with pRK5-myc vector to construct pRK5-myc-FOXO6 recombinant plasmid. Then, the pRK5-myc-FOXO6 recombinant plasmid and vacant vectors were transfected into U251 cells. The cell viability and the expression of transcription factor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) were evaluated by 4’,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR), respectively. The result showed that the recombinant plasmid pRK5-myc-FOXO6 was successfully constructed by double enzyme digestion and DNA sequencing. The transcriptional level of PGC-1α in U251 cells showed a significant decrease after the FOXO6 transfection, and obvious apoptosis occurred after the FOXO6 overexpression. In conclusion, the eukaryotic expression vector of FOXO6 is constructed successfully. In vitro experiments suggest that FOXO6 may inhibit the energy metabolism and anti-oxidation process of U251 cells by inhibiting the expression of PGC-1α, and then induce the apoptosis of U251 cells. These results provide evidences for further in-depth studies exploring the mechanism and target of FOXO6 on glioma.

We established three groups, blank, control and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) treatment groups, to explore the effect of EGCG on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) in mice. The result showed that the spleen size of EGCG treatment group was significantly smaller than that of the control group. The detection of inflammatory factors in intestinal lamina propria cells and colon tissue supernatant in mice showed that EGCG could reduce the expression and secretion of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) (P＜0.01), and had no significant effect on interleukin-10 (IL-10) (P＞0.05). In addition, EGCG had no obvious effect on the expression of tight junction protein claudin-1 and occludin in intestinal epithelial cells. The hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining results also showed that there was no significant alteration to the intestinal mucosa and epithelial barrier damage with EGCG. To sum up, EGCG could inhibit inflammatory factor secretion, reduce systemic inflammatory response in mice caused by colon inflammation, and play a protective role in DSS-induced inflammatory bowel disease in mice.

Fowl adenovirus causing the pericardial effusion-hepatitis syndrome was identified from a chicken farm in Zhejiang Province in 2015, and its whole genome was sequenced to explore its genetic evolution. The viral nucleic acid was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and further sequenced to confirm that the serotype 4 fowl adenovirus (FAdV4) is the main causative pathogen. A cell-adapted FAdV4 strain ZJ2015 was successfully obtained by multiple passages using chicken embryos and then primary chicken embryo kidney (CEK) cells. Hemagglutination assay revealed that the ZJ2015 strain could not agglutinate red blood cells of mice, rats, chickens and sheep, and the 50% tissue culture infective dose (TCID₅₀) was 2.0×10⁶ mL^－1 by indirect immunofluorescent assay. The strain could kill chicken embryos at a dose of 0.2 mL causing the flushing, hepatomegaly, hemorrhage, etc. The 11 segments covering the FAdV4-ZJ2015 whole genome was amplified by PCR and further sequenced to obtain the whole genome sequences (GenBank ID: MF521611.1). Evolution analysis based on the whole genome, Hexon and Fiber-2 protein showed that the ZJ2015 strain was on the same branch as the prevailing FAdV4 strains in China, with the homology over 99.87%. Different from the earlier strains such as ON1, KR5 and MX-SHP95, the ZJ2015 strain was found to have a 1 966 bp deletion in the whole genome and multiple mutations in the Fiber-2 protein. In a word, the isolation of ZJ2015 strain from Zhejiang Province provides a basis for further studies on diagnostics and disease control, as well as the mechanism of virulence variation of FAdV4.