As pectin is widely used as a food and feed additive due to its tremendous prebiotic potentials for gut health. Yet, the underlying mechanisms associated with its protective effect remain unclear. ...Twenty-four piglets (Yorkshire × Landrace, 6.77 ± 0.92 kg) were randomly divided into three groups with eight replicates per treatment: (1) Control group (CON), (2) Lipopolysaccharide-challenged group (LPS), (3) Pectin-LPS group (PECL). Piglets were administrated with LPS or saline on d14 and 21 of the experiment. Piglets in each group were fed with corn-soybean meal diets containing 5% citrus pectin or 5% microcrystalline cellulose. Our result showed that pectin alleviated the morphological damage features by restoring the goblet numbers which the pig induced by LPS in the cecum. Besides, compared with the LPS group, pectin supplementation elevated the mRNA expression of tight junction protein
,
, and
1 (
), mucin (
), and anti-inflammatory cytokines
(
), and
. Whereas pectin downregulated the expression of proinflammatory cytokines (
,
,
),
(
), and
. What is more, pectin supplementation also significantly increased the abundance of beneficial bacteria (
,
, and
), and significantly reduced the abundance of harmful bacteria, such as
. Additionally, pectin restored the amount of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) after being decreased by LPS (mainly Acetic acid, Propionic acid, and Butyric acid) to alleviate gut injury and improve gut immunity
activating relative receptors (
,
,
). Mantel test and correlation analysis also revealed associations between intestinal microbiota and intestinal morphology, and intestinal inflammation in piglets. Taken together, dietary pectin supplementation enhances the gut barrier and improves immunity to ameliorate LPS-induced injury by optimizing gut microbiota and their metabolites.
Our recent studies show that the lower crust and lithospheric mantle in the eastern North China Craton (NCC) was thinned in the Mesozoic. The lower crust played a key role in the tectonic mechanism ...that led to lithospheric thinning. Geochemical data from volcanic rocks and xenoliths support the idea that delamination of the lower crust and lithospheric mantle took place only along the northern and perhaps the southern margins of the NCC, and this was linked to post-collisional orogenic processes. However, it is difficult for the delamination process to act on the whole eastern NCC and remove 80–120 km of the lithosphere. Lower crustal xenoliths in Mesozoic and Cenozoic basalts within the NCC are of two kinds. One is granulite-facies metamorphosed two pyroxene gabbros and eclogite-facies metamorphosed garnet pyroxenites formed at 140–120 Ma. The other is Precambrian granulites that were strongly overprinted by Mesozoic metamorphism. Large-scale lower crustal replacement took place in the Mesozoic beneath the NCC. In other words, some or perhaps most part of the present lower crust of the NCC is not Precambrian. The present lowermost crust is mostly composed of Mesozoic meta-gabbros and pyroxenites. Abundant late Jurassic, high-Sr granites in the NCC, which are compositionally similar to a dakite, probably formed by partial melting of the lowermost crust, leaving a residue of eclogite or garnet amphibolite. A hot upwelling mantle was necessary to partially melt the pre-existing lowermost crust and underplate magma in order to form the present lower crust. Although eclogites could sink into the mantle, it is hard to imagine that there was a thick enough eclogite layer that could drag 80–120 km of the lithosphere into the asthenosphere beneath the NCC. Magmatic underplating seems to be a better alternative mechanism. Thus, the formation of the present lower crust through the underplating and replacement of the pre-existing one was closely related to lithospheric thinning, and represented a continuation of the same geodynamic process.
The petrology, in situ analyses of major and trace elements as well as Sr isotopic compositions of spinel-facies lherzolite and harzburgite xenoliths from Weichang within the northern margin of the ...North China Craton (NCC) are reported for the first time in this study to evaluate the nature and evolution of the lithospheric mantle. These peridotite xenoliths display porphyroclastic texture and can be subdivided into two groups. Group I peridotites have slightly higher forsterite contents (Fo) (90.6–91.2) and 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.7025–0.7043) in the cores than those in the rims (89.8–90.8; 0.7025–0.7038) of olivines and clinopyroxenes, respectively. The clinopyroxenes in these rocks exhibit uniform LREE-depleted patterns. These geochemical features suggest that the Group I peridotites were weakly metasomatized by recent asthenospheric melts. In contrast, Group II peridotites show sieve-texture and clear compositional zoning in minerals. The olivines and clinopyroxenes from these rocks have higher Fo (86.9–91.3) and 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.7035–0.7049) in the cores than those in the rims (76.9–90.6; 0.7021–0.7046). The clinopyroxenes show three types of REE patterns: LREE-enriched, convex-upward and spoon-shaped. The LREE-enriched clinopyroxenes have the highest (La/Yb)N and lowest Ti/Eu and those with spoon-shaped REE patterns show an increase in LREE, Ba, Th and U contents from the cores to the rims. These features indicate that the Group II peridotites witnessed a high degree of refertilization by recent asthenosphere-derived silicate and carbonatite melts or their mixture. Compared with the data of the Mesozoic NCC lithospheric mantle, the heterogeneous and low 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.7025–0.7049) in the LREE-depleted clinopyroxenes reveal that the ancient lithospheric mantle could have been modified by asthenospheric melts before the recent metasomatism event. We conclude that the lithospheric mantle beneath Weichang underwent multiple modifications through asthenosphere-lithosphere interaction, which plays an important role in the transformation of the lithospheric mantle of the NCC at least during Cenozoic.
•Petrology and geochemistry of the Weichang peridotites are firstly studied.•They could be complex metasomatized by the asthenospheric melts.•Asthenosphere-lithosphere interaction plays a key role of the lithospheric transformation.
This paper reports petrology, major and trace element abundances in bulk-rocks and minerals, and clinopyroxene Sr-Nd-Hf compositions from a suite of mantle xenoliths entrained in Cenozoic Sanyitang ...alkali basalts, Jining County in the Inner Mongolia Suture Zone. The aim is to constrain the nature and evolution of the lithospheric mantle beneath the western North China Craton. The Sanyitang mantle xenoliths are mainly anhydrous spinel lherzolites with subordinate websterites. Petrological and geochemical features of the spinel lherzolites suggest that they are refractory mantle residues formed by variable degrees of melt extraction (3–14%), followed by silicate and carbonatite metasomatism. The Sr-Nd-Hf isotopic compositions (87Sr/86Sr = 0.7031–0.7037, εNd = +5.2 − +11.2 and εHf = +8.4 − +29.3) of clinopyroxene separates from the majority of the spinel lherzolites lie on, or close to, the mantle array defined by the composition of ocean-island basalts and mid-ocean ridge basalts. On the other hand, clinopyroxene separates from a minority of spinel lherzolites (SYT09-01, SYT09-09, SYT11-01) have high 87Sr/86Sr (0.7040–0.7049), εNd (+12.4 − +21.9) and εHf (+58.2 − +67.8), above the mantle array, reflecting long-term depletion of the mantle. The websterites are characterized by lower MgO (18–22 wt%) and higher Al2O3 contents (4.5–5.6 wt%), and lower Mg# (86.2–87.3) than the spinel lherzolites (Mg# = 89.3–90.8; Al2O3 = 0.9–3.6 wt%). Their convex upward rare earth element patterns, along with lower Ni contents (334–389 ppm) indicate that they were cumulates fractionated from basaltic magmas circulating through the upper mantle. The trace element patterns of clinopyroxenes from three phlogopite-free websterites show enrichment in large ion lithophile and negative anomalies for the high field strength elements. In addition, the phlogopite-free websterite clinopyroxene Sr-Nd-Hf isotope ratios plot in the enriched lithospheric field (87Sr/86Sr = 0.7058–0.7061, εNd = −9.2 to −8.4 and εHf = −5.2 to −3.7 respectively), which implies the contribution of recycled lower crustal materials to their source. The presence of phlogopite in some Sanyitang websterites, coupled with strong enrichments in both light rare earth elements and large ion lithophile elements, as well as high 87Sr/86Sr (0.7065–0.7068) and negative εNd (−1.5 to −0.3) and εHf (−6.1 to −4.8) values of clinopyroxene, provide strong evidence for the existence of subduction-related hydrous fluids/melts metasomatism. This study demonstrates that the Sanyitang mantle xenoliths and their component minerals record the complex petrological history and local heterogeneity of the subcontinental mantle lithosphere under the western North China Craton.
•Sanyitang mantle xenoliths are mainly spinel lherzolites with subordinate websterites.•Spinel lherzolites are refractory mantle residues, followed by various metasomatism.•Websterites represent cumulates from mafic melts trapped in mantle depths.•The websterites show existence of subducted crust-derived melt circulation.
Abstract
To understand the molecular and genetic mechanisms related to the litter size in one species of two different populations (high litter size and low litter size), we performed RNA-seq for the ...oocytes and granulosa cells (GCs) at different developmental stages of follicle, and identified the interaction of genes from both sides of follicle (oocyte and GCs) and the ligand-receptor pairs from these two sides. Our data were very comprehensive to uncover the difference between these two populations regarding the folliculogenesis. First, we identified a set of potential genes in oocyte and GCs as the marker genes which can be used to determine the goat fertility capability and ovarian reserve ability. The data showed that
GRHPR
,
GPR84
,
CYB5A
and
ERAL1
were highly expressed in oocyte while
JUNB
,
SCN2A
,
MEGE8
,
ZEB2
,
EGR1
and
PRRC2A
were highly expressed in GCs. We found more functional genes were expressed in oocytes and GCs in high fertility group (HL) than that in low fertility group (LL). We uncovered that ligand-receptor pairs in
Notch
signaling pathway and transforming growth factor-β (
TGF
-β) superfamily pathways played important roles in goat folliculogenesis for the different fertility population. Moreover, we discovered that the correlations of the gene expression in oocytes and GCs at different stages in the two populations HL and LL were different, too. All the data reflected the gene expression landscape in oocytes and GCs which was correlated well with the fertility capability.
Worldwide the incidence of cancer has been continuing increasing. Mucositis of the gastrointestinal tract is a common side effect in patients under chemotherapy. Anticancer drug busulfan, used for ...treating chronic myeloid leukemia especially in pediatric patients, causes mucositis of the gastrointestinal tract. Alginate oligosaccharides (AOS) are natural products with attractive pharmaceutical potentials. We aimed to investigate, at the single-cell level, AOS preventing small intestine mucositis induced by busulfan. We found that busulfan disturbed the endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria of cells in the small intestine, damaged cell membranes especially cell junctions, and disrupted microvilli; all of which were rescued by AOS. Single-cell RNA sequencing analysis and functional enrichment analysis showed that AOS could recover small intestinal function. Deep analysis found that AOS improved the expression of transcriptional factors which explained AOS regulating gene expression to improve small intestine function. Further investigation in IPEC-J2 cells found that AOS acts its function through mannose receptor signaling pathway. Moreover, the improved blood metabolome confirmed small intestinal function was recovered by AOS. As a natural product with many advantages, AOS could be developed to assist in the recovery of intestinal functions in patients undergoing anticancer chemotherapy or other treatments.
Heat stress (HS) can be detrimental to the gut health of swine. Many negative outcomes induced by HS are increasingly recognized as including modulation of intestinal microbiota. In turn, the ...intestinal microbiota is a unique ecosystem playing a critical role in mediating the host stress response. Therefore, we aimed to characterize gut microbiota of pigs’ exposure to short-term HS, to explore a possible link between the intestinal microbiota and HS-related changes, including serum cytokines, oxidation status, and intestinal epithelial barrier function. Our findings showed that HS led to intestinal morphological and integrity changes (villus height, serum diamine oxidase DAO, serum D-lactate and the relative expressions of tight junction proteins), reduction of serum cytokines (interleukin IL-8, IL-12, interferon-gamma IFN-γ), and antioxidant activity (higher glutathione GSH and malondialdehyde MDA content, and lower superoxide dismutase SOD). Also, 16S rRNA sequencing analysis revealed that although there was no difference in microbial α-diversity, some HS-associated composition differences were revealed in the ileum and cecum, which partly led to an imbalance in the production of short-chain fatty acids including propionate acid and valerate acid. Relevance networks revealed that HS-derived changes in bacterial genera and microbial metabolites, such as Chlamydia, Lactobacillus, Succinivibrio, Bifidobacterium, Lachnoclostridium, and propionic acid, were correlated with oxidative stress, intestinal barrier dysfunction, and inflammation in pigs. Collectively, our observations suggest that intestinal damage induced by HS is probably partly related to the gut microbiota dysbiosis, though the underlying mechanism remains to be fully elucidated.
Two experiments were conducted to establish the prediction equations for AME and TME of corn based on chemical composition and enzymatic hydrolysate gross energy (EHGE) in roosters. In experiment 1, ...eighty 32-wk-old Hy-line Brown roosters with an average body weight of 2.55 ± 0.21 kg were randomly assigned to 10 diet treatments in a completely randomized design to determine AME and TME by the force-feeding method. Each treatment had 8 replicates with 1 bird per replicate. The 10 test diets used in the experiment were formulated with corn (including 96.10%) as the sole source of energy. In experiment 2, the EHGE of 14 corn samples was measured by the computer-controlled simulated digestion system (CCSDS) with 5 replicates of each sample. The average AME and TME values of corn were 14.58 and 16.46 MJ/kg DM, respectively. The EHGE of 14 corn samples ranged from 14.66 to 15.89 (the mean was 15.24) MJ/kg DM. The best-fit equations for corn based on chemical composition were AME (MJ/kg DM) = 14.5504 + 0.1166 × ether extract (EE) + 0.5058 × Ash − 0.0957 × neutral detergent fiber (NDF) (R2 = 0.8194, residual standard deviation (RSD) = 0.0860, P < 0.01) and TME (MJ/kg DM) = 16.0625 + 0.1314 × EE + 0.4725 × Ash − 0.0872 × NDF (R2 = 0.7867, RSD = 0.0860, P < 0.01). The best-fit equations for corn based on EHGE were AME (MJ/kg DM) = 7.8883 + 0.4568 × EHGE (R2 = 0.8587, RSD = 0.0693, P < 0.01) and TME (MJ/kg DM) = 10.0099 + 0.4228 × EHGE (R2 = 0.8720, RSD = 0.0608, P < 0.01). The differences between determined and predicted values from equations established based on EHGE were lower than those observed from chemical composition equations. These results indicated that EHGE measured with CCSDS could predict the AME and TME of corn for roosters with high accuracy.
Iron isotopic data of the Cenozoic alkaline basalts and peridotite xenoliths entrained in the Cenozoic and Mesozoic basalts, eastern China, are reported to further constrain the Fe isotopic ...composition of the mantle and investigate the behavior of Fe isotopes during mantle processes. Nine Cenozoic alkaline basalts show limited variation in δ
57Fe that are within the ranges of oceanic basalts, which indicate homogeneous Fe isotope composition of the basalts. The lherzolites from the South China Block also display a limited Fe isotopic variation δ
57Fe of 0.041 to 0.077‰ and an average of 0.060‰
±
0.029‰ (2 SD). This Fe isotopic composition is similar to that of the bulk silicate Earth, indicating that these samples represent mantle residues that underwent just limited degrees of partial melting. In contrast, both the mantle peridotites and their mineral separates from the North China Craton exhibit an extremely large Fe isotopic variation with δ
57Fe ranging from −
1.002‰ to 0.232‰. This may reflect heterogeneous Fe isotopic compositions of the lithospheric mantle beneath the North China Craton. An average δ
57Fe (−
0.066‰) calculated from all the mantle xenoliths in this study is obviously lower than the average value (0.198‰) of δ
57Fe for the Cenozoic alkaline basalts, consistent with the previous observation that basalts generally have heavier Fe isotopes than mantle peridotites. In individual minerals, δ
57Fe of the olivines (−
0.997 to 0.154‰) are systematically lighter than those of the coexisting pyroxenes (−
0.718 to 0.169‰ for orthopyroxene and −
0.642 to 0.304‰ for clinopyroxene, respectively). Phlogopite of apparently metasomatic origin has the heaviest iron isotopic composition amongst the mineral phases with δ
57Fe of 0.302 to 0.376‰. Extreme Fe isotope variation in these peridotites, in particular for the wehrlites, was probably produced by multistage melt–peridotite interactions, consistent with the petrological observation that some of the xenoliths analyzed such as wehrlites were the products of extensive mantle metasomatism. Positive correlations between δ
57Fe and other major and trace element indicators of metasomatism such as CaO and Rb further support the above suggestion. These characteristics suggest that mantle metasomatism or melt–rock interaction can significantly modify Fe isotopes and play an important role in producing Fe isotopic heterogeneity of the lithospheric mantle. Thus, Fe isotopes can provide important information concerning melt–rock interaction and evolution of the lithospheric mantle.
► Fe isotope ratios of basalts and mantle xenoliths from eastern China were measured. ► Cenozoic alkaline basalts show a limited variation in Fe isotopic composition. ► Mantle xenoliths and their mineral separates exhibit an extremely large Fe isotopic variation. ► Positive correlations between δ
57Fe and CaO and Rb suggest that melt–rock interaction can significantly modify Fe isotopes. ► Fe isotopes can provide important information concerning the melt–rock interaction.
With the development of the poultry industry, ammonia, as a main contaminant in the air, is causing increasing problems with broiler health. To date, most studies of ammonia toxicity have focused on ...the nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract in mammals. However, few detailed studies have been conducted on the hepatic response to ammonia toxicity in poultry. The molecular mechanisms that underlie these effects remain unclear. In the present study, our group applied isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ)-based quantitative proteomic analysis to investigate changes in the protein profile change in hepatic tissue of broilers exposed to high concentrations of atmospheric ammonia, with the goal of characterizing the molecular mechanisms of chronic liver injury from exposure to high ambient levels of ammonia. Overall, 30 differentially expressed proteins that are involved in nutrient metabolism (energy, lipid, and amino acid), immune response, transcriptional and translational regulation, stress response, and detoxification were identified. In particular, two of these proteins, beta-1 galactosidase (GLB1) and a kinase (PRKA) anchor protein 8-like (AKAP8 L), were previously suggested to be potential biomarkers of chronic liver injury. In addition to the changes in the protein profile, serum parameters and histochemical analyses of hepatic tissue also showed extensive hepatic damage in ammonia-exposed broilers. Altogether, these findings suggest that longtime exposure to high concentrations of atmospheric ammonia can trigger chronic hepatic injury in broilers via different mechanisms, providing new information that can be used for intervention using nutritional strategies in the future.
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