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• The effects of fermented feed on the hens in the late laying cycle were studied. • Fermented feed enhanced the laying rate, egg quality and reduced broken egg rate. • Fermented feed improved the immune functionality and intestinal integrity. • The gut flora was changed by increasing Lactobacillus and decreasing Campylobacter. • Fermented feed is an ideal functional feed to improve gut health for poultry. Fermented feed has the potential to improve poultry gastrointestinal microecological environment, health condition and production performance. Thus, the present study was undertaken to explore the effects of fermented feed on the laying performance, egg quality, immune function, intestinal morphology and microbiota of laying hens in the late laying cycle. A total of 360 healthy Hy-Line Brown laying hens aged 80 weeks were used to conduct a 56-day study. All hens were randomly separated into two treatment groups, with five replicates of 36 hens each as follows: basal diet containing 0.0% fermented feed (CON) and 20% fermented feed (FF). Subsequent analyses revealed that fermented feed supplementation was associated with significant increases in laying rates together with reduced broken egg rates and feed conversion ratio for hens in FF group (P < 0.05). There were additionally significant increases in both albumen height and Haugh unit values in hens following fermented feed supplementation (P < 0.05). Fermented feed was also associated with increases in duodenal, jejunal and ileac villus height (P < 0.05). Laying hens fed fermented feed had higher immune globulin (Ig)A, IgG, IgM levels (P < 0.01,) and higher interleukin 2, interleukin 6, tumour necrosis factor α and interferon γ (P < 0.05) concentrations than CON. Analysis of the microbiota in these laying hens revealed the alpha diversity was not significantly affected by fermented feed supplementation. Firmicutes abundance was reduced in caecal samples from FF hens relative to those from CON hens (30.61 vs 35.12%, P < 0.05). At the genus level, fermented feed was associated with improvements in relative Lactobacillus, Megasphaera and Peptococcus abundance and decreased Campylobacter abundance in laying hens. These results suggest that fermented feed supplementation may be beneficial to the laying performance, egg quality, immunological function, intestinal villus growth and caecal microecological environment of laying hens at the end of the laying cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insect chemosensory proteins (CSPs) are small, water-soluble proteins involved in detection and recognition of chemical cues and semiochemicals. A better understanding of CSPs and their function could aid in the development of pest control strategies that are based on chemosensory regulation. We screened our unpublished transcriptome data of Bemisia tabaci and identified five CSP genes ( BtabCSPs ) including two novel BtabCSPs viz. BtabCSP4 and BtabCSP5 . Phylogenetic analysis of amino acid sequences of the proteins encoded by these genes revealed that BtabCSPs are distinct from CSPs of other hemipterans. Quantitative PCR analysis showed differential expression of these genes in different stages. In the adult stage, BtabCSP1 , 2 and 4 had significantly higher expression than BtabCSP3 and 5 respectively. On the other hand, BtabCSP2 and 5 were relatively highly expressed in stage of pseudopupae compared to BtabCSP1 , 3 and 4 . In the third instar BtabCSP3 , 4 and 5 exhibited higher expression compared to other CSP genes. Expression of all CSP genes was relatively low in the first and second instars compared to later developmental stages. The identification of novel BtabCSPs and the expression profiling of CSP genes in general may help facilitate development of pest management strategies based on disruption of CSP-driven behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]