Thirty-two crossbred lambs (BW = 31.2 ± 4.7 kg; 16 females, 16 males) housed in individual pens were used to investigate the relationship between nutrient supply and taste preferences in ruminants. Experiment 1 determined whether an imbalanced CP supply would alter preferences for feeds containing flavors designed to elicit either umami (U) or a mixture (1/3:1/3:1/3) of umami, sweet, and bitter...

Data on liver vitamin A concentrations in malnourished, debilitated, down cattle in tropical, northern Australia support the hypothesis that 12% annual cattle mortality was due, in part, to a slow release of liver vitamin A. High Ca and low Zn levels in the legume forage apparently contributed to the slow release. The cattle showed marked sensitivity to sunlight and exhibited problems of sight....

The present study evaluates the interactive effects of protein quality and the ratio of protein to digestible carbohydrate on herbivore performance, various aspects of nutritional homeostasis (feeding and post-ingestive regulation) and food choice. In the first experiment, final-instar caterpillars of generalist-feeding African cotton leafworm Spodoptera littoralis (Boisduval) (Lepidoptera: Noc...

Nutritional ecological theory predicts that predators should adjust prey capture and consumption rates depending on the prey's nutritional composition. This would affect the predator's functional response, at least at high prey densities, i.e. near predator satiation. Using a simple fruitfly-wolf spider laboratory system in Petri dishes, we found that functional responses changed from day to da...

Supplementation of cows grazing rangelands is often beneficial to overcome nutrient deficiencies or imbalances. However, supplemental feeds and their delivery to the cow herd are expenses and thus supplementation decisions should be carefully made to ensure that costs are minimized and benefits in terms of cow performance exceed supplementation costs. When supplementing cows, there are question...

The obesity epidemic, which started in the industrialized world, has progressed to become a worldwide pandemic in which the number of obese individuals worldwide now exceeds those who are malnourished. Unlike other pandemics, however, obesity does not cause disease directly but instead functions as a potent independent risk factor for a number of chronic pathologies, including type 2 diabetes, ...

Developmental senescence is a coordinated physiological process in plants and is critical for nutrient redistribution from senescing leaves to newly formed sink organs, including young leaves and developing seeds. Progress has been made concerning the genes involved and the regulatory networks controlling senescence. The resulting complex metabolome changes during senescence have not been inves...

Sunflower plants were grown on soil contaminated with several levels of Cd (from 0.3 to 15 mg Cd kg/soil). Cd and nutrient (Cu, Zn, Fe, Ca, K, Mg) contents were evaluated in root and aboveground biomass during the vegetative growth period (from the emergence of the cotyledon leaves to the flower bud phase). An overall increase of Cd content was found in the plants during the growing cycle. Sign...

Metabolic disorders, such as diabetes and obesity, are fundamentally caused by cellular energy imbalance and dysregulation. Therefore, understanding the regulation of cellular fuel and energy metabolism is of great importance to develop effective therapies for metabolic disease. The cellular nutrient and energy sensors, AMPK and TOR, play a key role in maintaining cellular energy homeostasis. L...