LEAF Linking Landscape, Environment, Agricuture and Food, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.
Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.
J Anim Physiol Anim Nutr (Berl). 2020 May;104(3):823-830. doi: 10.1111/jpn.13339. Epub 2020 Mar 13.
Seasonal weight loss (SWL) is a major constraint to extensive animal production systems. The Australian sheep production is based on merino sheep, a European breed not tolerant to SWL. Tolerant alternative breeds such as the fat-tailed Damara and the Dorper have been increasingly used in Australia and elsewhere, due to their robustness. The aim of this study was to understand the mineral profile of muscle and liver tissues of Australian Merino, Damara and Dorper, when subjected to SWL in order to understand SWL-tolerance physiology. Twenty-four lambs were divided randomly between growing (control) and nutritionally restricted groups for each breed. The trial lasted 42 days. Animals were weighed bi-weekly and at the end of the trial, lambs were slaughtered. Liver and muscle samples were taken immediately after slaughter. Mineral assessment was carried out using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry. Analysis of variance showed mineral concentrations were generally increased in the muscle of restricted animals, mainly because of fat tissue mobilization. An increase in Zn and Fe concentrations indicates an increase of enzymatic activity in the liver of restricted sheep as well as differential abundance of Fe-containing proteins. High concentrations of Cu in the liver of Dorper indicate higher ability to accumulate this element, even under SWL.
季节性体重减轻（SWL）是广泛的动物生产系统的主要限制因素。澳大利亚的绵羊生产以美利奴羊为基础，美利奴羊这种欧洲品种对 SWL 不具有耐受性。由于具有健壮性，耐 SWL 的替代品种，如脂肪尾巴达马拉羊和多伯羊，在澳大利亚和其他地方越来越多地被使用。本研究的目的是了解在 SWL 下澳大利亚美利奴羊、达马拉羊和多伯羊的肌肉和肝脏组织的矿物质概况，以便了解 SWL 耐受性生理学。24 只羔羊在每个品种的生长（对照）和营养限制组之间随机分组。试验持续 42 天。每隔两周对动物称重，试验结束时，羔羊被屠宰。屠宰后立即采集肝脏和肌肉样本。使用电感耦合等离子体 - 光学发射光谱法进行矿物质评估。方差分析表明，限制动物的肌肉中的矿物质浓度通常会增加，主要是因为脂肪组织的动员。锌和铁浓度的增加表明限制绵羊的肝脏中的酶活性增加，以及含铁蛋白的丰度差异。多伯羊肝脏中的高浓度铜表明其积累这种元素的能力更高，即使在 SWL 下也是如此。
