Vitagenes in avian biology and poultry health

Commercial poultry production is associated with various types of stress leading to decrease of productive and reproductive performance and compromised health of growing chickens, parent birds as well as commercial layers. Stress adaptation is associated with various signaling pathways and is executed at the gene level. The term vitagenes refers to a group of redox-sensitive genes that are involved in stress sensing and preserving cellular adaptive homeostasis. The vitagene family includes heat shock proteins, superoxide dismutase, glutathione and thioredoxin systems and sirtuins. The vitagenes are key players in redox signaling and redox homeostasis maintenance in birds, including poultry under commercial stress conditions of egg and meat production. Development of the vitagene concept become an important milestone in understanding molecular mechanisms of adaptation to stress.The goal of this book is to provide up to date information about the roles of vitagenes in avian biology and poultry health. Special emphasis is put on the role of vitagenes as an essential part of the redox homeostasis maintenance, stress adaptation, and development of adaptive homeostasis. The book provides data to indicate that nutritional modulation of vitagenes is a new direction in nutritional sciences. Practical results of the successful usage of the vitagene concept in poultry production are also presented.This book is intended to be of practical importance to avian/animal scientists, poultry producers, to nutritionists and vets, students of biological and agricultural colleges and universities. It can also be interesting for researchers in areas related to physiology, biochemistry, nutrition, ecology, environmental sciences, evolutionary biology, etc.