• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• 제43권2호
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• pp.119-128
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• 2016

This study was conducted to compare nutritional composition and taste-related compounds of breast and thigh meats from four lines of Korean native chickens (KNC) Yeonsan Ogye, Hyunin Black, Hwangbong, and Hoengseong Yakdak. White Leghorn (WL) was used as a control. Fifteen male chickens (three chickens in each line) were grown under same condition and slaughtered at 53 weeks old. The contents of Fe and K in KNC, especially Hwangbong breast meat and thigh meat of Hyunin Black and Hoengseong Yakdak, were higher than WL. The contents of Na were lower in KNC compared with WL regardless of parts (p<0.05). Vitamin A contents were higher in thigh meat of WL and Hyunin Black, and vitamin $B_1$ contents were lower in Hoengseong Yakdak than other lines. Vitamin $B_3$ were higher in breast meat of four lines of KNC and thigh meat of Hoengseong Yakdak than WL. Total amino acid contents were higher in breast meat of KNC than WL. The level of good-tasting amino acids were significantly higher in breast meat of Hoengseong Yakdak and WL, and thigh meat of Hyunin Black and WL than other lines of chickens (p<0.05). The ratio of good-tasting amino acids to bitter tasting amino acids was higher in breast meat of Hoengseong Yakdak and thigh meat of Hyunin Black than WL. IMP contents were higher in Hyunin Black and WL than other lines of chickens. Based on these results, it can be concluded that four lines of KNC may have superior nutritional quality and taste when compared with WL.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• 제42권3호
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• pp.197-204
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• 2015

This study was performed to examine the effects of dietary Acanthopanax senticosus (AS) on growth performance, immune organ weights, blood biochemical parameters and the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in broiler chicks. A total of 120 4-day-old birds were given a basal diet (CON) or a basal diet supplemented with 0.5% (AS1) or 1.0% (AS2) AS powder until the birds were 35 days of age. There was no difference in body weight, total gain, feed intake or immune organ weights among the treatment groups. However, the feed conversion ratio in the AS2 group was lower (p<0.05) than that in the CON group. Serum biochemical components, including AST (aspartate aminotransferase), ALT (alanine aminotransferase), albumin and total protein, were not affected by the dietary treatments, whereas glucose and triglyceride levels increased (p<0.05) in the AS2 group compared with the CON group. The AS1 group exhibited decreased mRNA expression (p<0.05) of IFN-${\gamma}$ in white blood cells and iNOS in the liver compared with the CON group. The other pro-inflammatory cytokines were unaffected by dietary AS supplementation, although there was a trend towards decreased expression of these genes, including those encoding Il-$1{\beta}$, IL-6 and TNF-${\alpha}$. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with 0.5% AS decreased the expression of several pro-inflammatory cytokines without affecting growth performance, suggesting that this supplement might be applicable as an immunoregulatory feed additive in broiler chicks.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• 제43권2호
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• pp.77-88
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• 2016

To establish a new synthetic Korean meat chicken breed, we tested $5{\times}5$ diallel cross mating experiment with domestic chicken breeds. Comparing stress responses among diallel crossed chicken breeds, we analyzed telomere length, DNA damage and expressions of heat shock protein genes (HSPs) as the markers of the stress response. The telomere length was measured by quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization on the nuclei of lymphocytes. The expression levels of HSP-70, $HSP-90{\alpha}$ and $HSP-90{\beta}$ genes were analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in lymphocytes. The DNA damage rate of lymphocytes was quantified by the comet assay known as the single cell gel electrophoresis. In results, there were significant differences in the values of the stress markers such as telomere length, HSPs and DNA damage rate, and also were significant differences in viabilities and body weights among the $5{\times}5$ diallel crossed chicken breeds. The telomere shortening rate, expression values of HSPs and DNA damage rate were significant low in W and Y crossed chickens compare to the others, but GG pure breed showed the highest values in the 25 crossed chickens. Estimating correlation coefficient, the survival rate positively correlated to telomere length, but negatively correlated to the expression levels of HSP-70, $HSP-90{\alpha}$, $HSP-90{\beta}$ genes and to the value of % DNA in tail as DNA damage rate. The expression levels of HSP-70, $HSP-90{\alpha}$ and $HSP-90{\beta}$ genes of dead chickens had significantly higher than those of survival chickens. According to the results on the stress marker analysis, it would be considered that the crossed breeds had more stress resistant than the pure breeds, and the crossed chickens with a light strain such as W or Y were relatively resistant to stress, but the crossed chickens with a heavy strain such as G, H, F were susceptible to stress.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• 제42권3호
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• pp.257-265
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• 2015

Heat conditioning at an early age has been known to help chickens cope with heat stress later in life. The present study was conducted to determine the effects of heat conditioning at 5 days of age in broilers repeatedly exposed to high ambient temperature later in life. A total of 256 day-old Arbor Acre boiler chicks were housed in two identical rooms with a 23-h light/1-h dark cycle and provided with feed and water ad libitum. At 5 days of age, the birds in one room were exposed to $37^{\circ}C$ for 24 hours, while those in the other room served as controls. On day 21, half of the birds in each room were moved into the other room so that each room contained both control and heat-conditioned birds. After a 7-day adaptation period, the birds in one room were exposed to high ambient temperature ($21^{\circ}C{\rightarrow}31^{\circ}C$) for 3 days, whereas those in the other room were kept at normal temperature. The same 3-day exposure to high ambient temperature was repeated two weeks later. Hence, there were four treatment groups (CON+CON: control+control; CON+HS: control+high ambient temperature; HC+CON: heat conditioning+control; and HC+HS: heat conditioning+high ambient temperature). Repeated heat stress resulted in decreased feed intake, water intake, body weight gain, and spleen weight (p<0.05) and increased rectal temperature (p<0.05), mortality, and plasma corticosterone concentrations. The relative weight of the spleen was increased in the heat-conditioned group (p<0.05). Plasma biochemicals were also influenced by high temperature. Thus, no beneficial effects of heat conditioning at an early age were detected in broilers repeatedly exposed to high ambient temperature later in life.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• 제42권3호
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• pp.247-256
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• 2015

There are approximately 1,500 broiler farms in Korea, each raising 55,000 birds. Ninety-five percent of the farms are contracted with Integration Company. According to the Korean broiler performance index, broilers in Korea are marketed at 32 days with 1.52 kg of body weight. In contrast, the market age and body weight of broilers are 47 days/2.8 kg in the United States and 42 days/2.5 kg in Europe. Because of the younger market age of the Korean broiler, the pre-starter feed is important. Chicks exhibit poor absorption of dietary nutrients up to 7 days after hatching due to an immature digestive system and low enzyme secretion rate and activity. At the beginning of hatching, chicks obtain their nutrients from the egg yolk sac. It is highly recommended that chicks, after consuming the nutrients in the egg yolk sac, are given supplemented pre-starter feed to increase early growth rates and improve the performance of broiler production. Pre-starter nutrient requirements are not expressed in NRC, so Korean feeding standards for poultry and commercial breeding companies determine the nutrient requirements of pre-starter broiler chickens. Three approaches are followed to formulate specially designed pre-starter feeds for broiler chicks: (i) selective use of raw materials, (ii) proper standards of nutrient supply, and (iii) application of feed additives such as exogenous enzymes. In the selection of raw materials, those with high digestibility can be used. The absorption rate of carbohydrates in grains can be increased through feed processing at high temperature and high pressure. Soy proteins and fish meal can also be added as protein sources. As an energy source, vegetable oils are preferred over animal fats because of the former's high digestibility. It is suggested that the levels of proteins and amino acids are higher in pre-starter feed than in starter feed. With regard to energy, the sources of energy are more important than the levels of energy in feed. Feed additives such as exogenous enzymes can be used to improve nutrient digestibility. In addition, organic acids and plant extracts can be used as alternatives to animal growth promoters to stimulate immunity and prevent diseases. The growth performance of broilers is affected by various factors, such as management and disease control, in addition to the nutritional strategy; however, nutritional strategies play an important role in improving the productivity of broilers. Therefore, nutritional strategies, along with management and disease control, are required for improving the productivity of broilers in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• 제48권3호
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• pp.101-110
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• 2021

In this study, we performed a cross-combination test using offspring from two paternal and five maternal parent stock lines to produce a new synthetic breed of Korean native commercial chickens. The survival rate, body weight, feed intake, and feed efficiency were measured for 10 crosses, with 837 Hanhyup-3 chickens used as a control. Most chickens had brown-based feathers, and there was little difference in color phenotypes among combinations. The average survival rate of the combinations was 94.9%, which was significantly different from that of Hanhyup-3 at 75.3% (P<0.01). There was significant differences in body weight among the combinations at all weeks of age (P<0.01). At 10 weeks of age, the FHHY combination was the heaviest with 2,300 g, while the weight of Hanhyup-3 was 1,922 g. In addition, the weight difference between the male and female chickens was 458 g. As a result of regression analysis, the duration needed to reach 1.9 kg was about 61 days for the FHFY, FHHY, and HFFY combinations, and 70 days for Hanhyup-3, exhibiting a 9-day difference. The average feed conversion ratio of the combinations until 10 weeks was 2.42, which was significantly different from that of Hanhyup-3 at 2.97 (P<0.01). In conclusion, FHHY, FHFY, and HFFY were determined to be the best new breed combinations based on production capacity. When these combinations are used as new commercial breeds, they are expected to increase the average weight by 18% and improve feed efficiency by 19%, as compared to the existing Hanhyup-3 breed.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• 제48권3호
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• pp.123-131
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• 2021

In this study, we investigated the effect of separate-sex and straight-run rearing system on the productivity of Korean native chickens. A total of 1,140 GSP-Hanhyup^® Korean native chickens were divided into male, female, and straight-run rearing groups, and the survival rate, body weight, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio were investigated from birth to 12 weeks of age. The average survival rate was 97.9%, and there were no significant differences among the groups. Body weight was significantly different among the groups at all weeks of age (P<0.01). After 4 weeks of age, the male group had the highest weight, followed by the straight-run group, and finally the female group. At 10 weeks, the most uniform body weight was shown in the female group (78%), while the lowest was in straight-run group (44%). Comparing the separate-sex and straight-run groups, male chickens were found to have higher body weights in the separate rearing group than in the straight-run group; however, there was little difference in those of female chickens. Feed intake was the highest in the male group, followed by the straight-run group, and lastly, the female group, while the feed conversion ratio had an opposite trend. Although there is little difference in the production performance of chickens between separate-sex rearing and straight-run rearing system, we concluded that the separate-sex rearing system is much more advantageous than the straight-run rearing system in terms of productivity due to group uniformity.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• 제46권1호
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• pp.17-24
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• 2019

Chickens have been considered as well-defined animal bioreactor. The optimized ovalbumin promoter is essential for recombinant protein production in transgenic chicken. Here we try to compare the activity and identify the effect of estrogen on ovalbumin promoter according to each promoter length with estrogen response element (ERE) existence. We cloned two (2.8 and 5.5 kb) ovalbumin promoters that the 5.5 kb contained the ERE but the 2.8 kb did not, and these two promoters were cloned to pGL4.11 vector. Additionally, we constructed another pGL4.11 vector containing of the 4.4 kb (with ERE) ovalbumin promoter deleted with 1 kb between ERE region and the 2.8 kb promoter. For reporter assay, HeLa, MES-SA, LMH/2A, and cEF cells were transfected with all the pGL4.11 vectors. The comparative analysis showed that the mutated 4.4 kb promoter has more potent activity than the 2.8 and 5.5 kb promoters in HeLa, MES-SA, and LMH/2A cells. However, there is no significant difference in cEFs. Also, these cells transfected with the mutated 4.4 kb promoter were treated with the $17{\beta}$-estradiol (0~3,000 nM) and HeLa, MES-SA, and LMH/2A cells showed estrogen responsibilities, but cEFs did not. Besides, the mutated 4.4 kb promoter has still higher activity than the 2.8 and 5.5 kb promoter, and there is no transcriptional induction effect in 2.8 kb promoter at 500 nM estrogen that is blood concentration of laying hens. Hence our study strongly suggested that the mutated 4.4 kb promoter is considered as one of the most efficient length for generating transgenic chicken.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• 제46권1호
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• pp.31-37
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• 2019

A chicken clathrin-associated adaptor protein $3-{\delta}$ subunit 2 (AP3S2) is a subunit of AP3, which is involved in cargo protein trafficking to target membrane with clathrin-coated vesicles. AP3S2 may play a role in virus entry into host cells through clathrin-dependent endocytosis. AP3S2 is also known to participate in metabolic disease developments of progressions, such as liver fibrosis with hepatitis C virus infection and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Chicken AP3S2 (chAP3S2) gene was originally identified as one of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in chicken kidney which was fed with different calcium doses. This study aims to characterize the molecular characteristics, gene expression patterns, and transcriptional regulation of chAP3S2 in response to the stimulation of Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) to understand the involvement of chAP3S2 in metabolic disease in chicken. As a result, the structure prediction of chAP3S2 gene revealed that the gene is highly conserved among AP3S2 orthologs from other species. Evolutionarily, it was suggested that chAP3S2 is relatively closely related to zebrafish, and fairly far from mammal AP3S2. The transcriptional profile revealed that chAP3S2 gene was highly expressed in chicken lung and spleen tissues, and under the stimulation of poly (I:C), the chAP3S2 expression was down-regulated in DF-1 cells (P<0.05). However, the presence of the transcriptional inhibitors, BAY 11-7085 (Bay) as an inhibitor for nuclear factor ${\kappa}B$ ($NF{\kappa}B$) or Tanshinone IIA (Tan-II) as an inhibitor for activated protein 1 (AP-1), did not affect the expressional level of chAP3S2, suggesting that these transcription factors might be dispensable for TLR3 mediated repression. These results suggest that chAP3S2 gene may play a significant role against viral infection and be involved in TLR3 signaling pathway. Further study about the transcriptional regulation of chAP3S2 in TLR3 pathways and the mechanism of chAP3S2 upon virus entry shall be needed.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• 제46권1호
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• pp.25-30
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• 2019

This study was conducted to investigate basic data of development for appropriate management system in broiler. Data such as ages at marketing, livability, body weight, etc. were collected from a total of 53 broiler farms located in Chungnam, Chungbuk, Jeollanam, Jeollabuk, Gyeongbuk. 1. Average of ages at marketing were 32 days. Those of windowless house and open-type house were 31.96 and 32.03 days, respectively. The significant difference among four seasons was highly found (P<0.001). The longest ages at marketing were 32.86 days in winter. Average of livability was 96.25%. According to type of chick house, those of windowless house and open-type house were 95.93% and 96.59%, respectively. The livability according to season showed significant difference (P<0.05). The highest livability was 97.39% in autumn. However, the lowest livability was 95.36% in summer. 2. Average body weight at marketing was 1.62 kg. The significant difference was found in marketing weight by season (P<0.05). The heaviest body weight was 1.65 kg in winter, but the lowest weight was 1.60 kg in summer. Average of FCR was 1.62. the significant differences according to the season were highly found (P<0.01). Especially, the best FCR was 1.59 in autumn. Average cycles of marketing was 5.70. The significant differences according to farms size were found (P<0.05), cycles of small farms and big farms were 5.8 and 5.3, respectively. The ages at marketing were highly correlated with marketing weight (r=0.684) and feed conversion (r=0.439). The correlation between feed conversion and livability was highly negative (r=-0.614). According to the above result, livability and body weight at marketing were badly detected in summer. In conclusion, broiler farms should be controlled through properly environmental management system for improvement of performances.