Animal feed compositions and methods of use
The invention provides an animal feed composition comprising microbial α-amylase. The invention further provides methods of increasing the growth (weight gain), the average daily weight gain or the efficiency of feed utilization by an animal or reducing the number of days needed to achieve a desired weight in an animal, comprising feeding to the animal an animal feed composition of the present invention.
1 . A method of increasing the efficiency of feed utilization for body weight gain by an animal, the method comprising feeding to said animal an animal feed composition comprising transgenic corn plant material having a recombinant a-amylase comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 95% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 expressed in the endosperm of seeds or kernels of the transgenic corn plant material, wherein said transgenic corn plant material is fed to the animal in an amount effective to increase the efficiency of feed utilization by said animal as compared with a control animal not fed said transgenic corn plant material;
wherein exogenous alpha-amylase has not been added to the animal feed composition; and
wherein the transgenic corn plant material comprises from 25% to 100% by weight of the animal feed composition and increases the efficiency of feed utilization for body weight gain by the animal as compared with the control animal not fed said transgenic corn plant material.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the efficiency of feed utilization by the animal is increased by about 1% to about 25%.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the efficiency of feed utilization by the animal as determined by average daily gain divided by the dry matter intake per day of the animal (G:F) is increased by about 0.005 to about 0.03 as compared to a control animal that is not fed said transgenic corn plant material.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the animal is a mammal, a bird, or a fish.
5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the mammal is a bovine, a sheep, a goat, or a pig.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the recombinant α-amylase is encoded by a nucleotide sequence having at least 95% sequence identity to the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 and/or SEQ ID NO:3.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the recombinant α-amylase is targeted to an intracellular compartment away from its substrate.
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the recombinant α-amylase is targeted to an organelle selected from the group consisting of chloroplast, vacuole, cytoplasm, apoplast and endoplasmic reticulum.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the transgenic corn plant material comprises from 30% to 100% by weight of the animal feed composition.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the transgenic corn plant material comprises from 50% to 100% by weight of the animal feed composition.
11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the transgenic corn plant material comprises from 25% to 90% by weight of the animal feed composition.
12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the animal is fed from 1 lb to 30 Ibs of the animal feed composition per day.
13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the animal is fed from 9 lbs to 21 lbs of the animal feed composition per day.
14 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the mammal is a domestic cattle.
15 . A method of increasing the efficiency of feed utilization for body weight gain by an animal, the method comprising feeding to said animal an animal feed composition comprising transgenic corn plant material from corn event 3272, wherein transgenic corn seeds or kernels from said corn event 3272 express a recombinant α-amylase in the endosperm of the transgenic corn seeds or kernels, and wherein said transgenic corn plant material is fed to the animal in an amount effective to increase the efficiency of feed utilization by said animal as compared with a control animal not fed said transgenic corn plant material;
wherein exogenous alpha-amylase has not been added to the animal feed composition; and
wherein the transgenic corn plant material comprises from 25% to 100% by weight of the animal feed composition and increases the efficiency of feed utilization for body weight gain by the animal as compared with the control animal not fed said transgenic corn plant material nor alpha-amylase supplement.
16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the efficiency of feed utilization by the animal is increased by about 1% to about 25%.
17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the efficiency of feed utilization by the animal as determined by average daily gain divided by the dry matter intake per day of the animal (G:F) is increased by about 0.005 to about 0.03 as compared to a control animal that is not fed said transgenic corn plant material.
18 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the animal is a mammal, a bird, or a fish.
19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the mammal is a bovine, a sheep, a goat, or a pig.
20 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the mammal is a domestic cattle.
21 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the transgenic corn plant material comprises from 30% to 100% by weight of the animal feed composition.
22 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the transgenic corn plant material comprises from 50% to 100% by weight of the animal feed composition.
23 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the transgenic corn plant material comprises pellets, corn grain, silage, dry-rolled corn kernels, steam flaked corn kernels, whole corn kernels, coarsely cracked corn kernels, or high moisture corn, or any combination thereof.
24 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the transgenic corn plant material consists of pellets, corn grain, silage, dry-rolled corn kernels, steam flaked corn kernels, whole corn kernels, coarsely cracked corn kernels, or high moisture corn, or any combination thereof.
25 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the transgenic corn plant material comprises pellets, corn grain, silage, dry-rolled corn kernels, steam flaked corn kernels, whole corn kernels, coarsely cracked corn kernels, or high moisture corn, or any combination thereof.
26 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the transgenic corn plant material consists of pellets, corn grain, silage, dry-rolled corn kernels, steam flaked corn kernels, whole corn kernels, coarsely cracked corn kernels, or high moisture corn, or any combination thereof.