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The objectives of this project is to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of manganese and zinc as well as fat on productive performance of broiler breeders under heat stress and development of their offspring.
In this project, theories and techniques of advanced physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology are applied, and series of trials in vivo with heat-stressed broilers and in vitro with heat stress-sensitive cells of broilers in primary culture will be conducted to study the effects of manganese, zinc and fat on performances and heat stress-sensitive physiological, biochemical and molecular markers of laying broiler breeders, egg embryo during hatching and offspring broilers after hatching under heat stress. The efficacies of manganese and zinc as well as fat in alleviating heat stress of broilers will be evaluated at different physiological stages, and the anti-heat stress capabilities of offspring broilers obtained and their action mechanisms will be elucidated at physiological, biochemical and molecular levels.