an experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary crude protein and methionine levels on quality and quantity of egg production. fifteen diets formulated with 3 levels of protein (13, 14 and 15%) and 5 levels of methionine (0.25, 0.28, 0.31, 0.34 and 0.37%) and fed to 420 birds in a 3×5 factorial arrangement. each diet was randomly fed to 4 replicates of 7 birds each and fed for 3 p...

We used stable isotope analysis (SIA) and conventional techniques of diet assessment to determine marine trophic relationships in the Gulf of the Farallones, California, with an emphasis on marine birds. Stable-carbon (SW) and nitrogen (WN) isotopes were obtained from 98 tissue samples of 16 species representing primary and secondary consumers in 1993-1994. The valies of iYT ranged from -2O.i%;...

Colonies of two scleractinian reef coral species, Acropora longicyathus and Acropora aspera were transplanted into patch reefs at One Tree Reef, Great Barrier Reef, Australia as part of the ENCORE experiment. These corals and colonies of A. aspera which were naturally present in the patch reefs were exposed to four treatments over two years: controls with normal seawater, elevated levels of nit...

The development of multicellular organisms is controlled by differential gene expression whereby cells adopt distinct fates. A spatially resolved view of gene expression allows the elucidation of transcriptional networks that are linked to cellular identity and function. The haploid female gametophyte of flowering plants is a highly reduced organism: at maturity, it often consists of as few as ...

Iron oxide nanocomposites of magnetic particles coated with zirconia were used as affinity probes to selectively concentrate phosphopeptides from tryptic digests of alpha- and beta-caseins, milk, and egg white to exemplify the enrichment of phosphopeptides from complex samples. Phosphopeptides, in quantities sufficient for characterization by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spe...

Infection of the mammalian host by schistosome larvae occurs via the skin, although nothing is known about the development of immune responses to multiple exposures of schistosome larvae, and/or their excretory/secretory (E/S) products. Here, we show that multiple (4x) exposures, prior to the onset of egg laying by adult worms, modulate the skin immune response and induce CD4(+) cell hypo-respo...

Calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) dynamics in Shaver White hens (19-63 wk of age) were compared between enriched (EC) and conventional cage (CC) systems. Calcium and P intake and their levels in egg components and excreta were considered. Using commercial levels of production (4,836 hens), 10 test cages/system (24 hens/test cage) were used as replicate units. Enriched cages provided a nesting are...

A crucial event in animal development is the specification of primordial germ cells (PGCs), which become the stem cells that create sperm and eggs. How PGCs are created provides a valuable paradigm for understanding stem cells in general. We find that the PGCs of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus exhibit broad transcriptional repression, yet enrichment for a set of inherited mRNAs. E...

The objective of this study was to determine if increasing hen age and 3 different molting treatments influenced the total microflora counts or the prevalence of Salmonella spp. on the exterior of the egg shell, within the interior shell, or in the contents. Eggs from Hy-Line W-98 and Bovans White layer strains were sampled approximately every 28 d from 70 to 114 wk of age, with the molting per...

In this study, we used nanocomposite magnetic particles coated with alumina as the affinity probes to selectively concentrate phosphorylated peptides and proteins from a low volume of sample solution. Tryptic digest products of phosphoproteins including alpha and beta-caseins, human protein phosphatase inhibitor 1, nonfat milk, egg white, and a cell lysate were used as the samples to demonstrat...