Table 1.
Effect of HB12 and TT8 Down-regulation on Digestible Nutrient Profiles and Energy Values in Model Forage (Medicago sativa spp. Sativa: Alfalfa) a.
| Items | Non-Transgenic (NT) | Gene Silencing through RNAi Technology (GS) | SEM b | p Value | Contrast, p Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Control | HB12 | TT8 | NT vs. GS | |||
| Truly digestible nutrient c (% DM) | ||||||
| tdNFC | 42.31 a | 38.68 b | 37.37 b | 0.539 | 0.016 | 0.007 |
| tdCPc | 20.82 b | 19.42 c | 22.34 a | 0.256 | 0.009 | 0.861 |
| tdFA | 0.57 | 0.88 | 0.45 | 0.131 | 0.197 | 0.605 |
| tdNDF | 14.49 | 14.78 | 14.89 | 0.622 | 0.898 | 0.679 |
| Total digestible nutrient d (% DM) | ||||||
| TDN1x | 71.89 | 67.85 | 68.59 | 1.099 | 0.149 | 0.072 |
| Predicted energy value e (Mcal/kg DM) | ||||||
| DE1x | 3.31 | 3.12 | 3.19 | 0.048 | 0.141 | 0.077 |
| NEm | 1.79 | 1.66 | 1.71 | 0.035 | 0.164 | 0.092 |
| NEg | 1.17 | 1.05 | 1.09 | 0.030 | 0.142 | 0.078 |
| DE3x | 3.04 | 2.86 | 2.93 | 0.044 | 0.143 | 0.081 |
| ME3x | 2.62 | 2.44 | 2.51 | 0.047 | 0.160 | 0.089 |
| NELP | 1.65 | 1.52 | 1.57 | 0.031 | 0.140 | 0.075 |
a means with different letters within the same row differ (p < 0.05); b SEM: stand error of mean; The Tukey-Kramer method was used for multi-treatmen comparison; c tdNFC: total digestible non-fiber carbohydrate; tdCPc: total digestible crude protein; tdFA: total digestible fatty acid; tdNDF: total digestible neutral detergent fiber; d TDN1x: total digestible nutrients at maintenance level; e DE1x: digestible energy at one times maintenance level; NEm: net energy for maintenance level; NEg: net energy for growth; DE3x: digestible energy at three times maintenance level; ME3x: metabolizable energy at three times maintenance level; NELP: net energy for lactation at three times maintenance level.