• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.1798-1804
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• 2007

The objective of this study was to assess the association of polymorphisms in MSTN and MYF5 genes with growth traits in three Chinese cattle breeds. Only one homozygous animal with BB genotype at MSTN locus was observed in Jiaxian population which was at Hardy-Weinberg disequilibrium (p<0.05). The frequencies of allele A at MSTN locus and allele B at MYF5 locus in the three Chinese breeds were 0.9550/0.9730/0.9720 and 0.8275/0.7581/0.7523, respectively. Allele A at MSTN locus and allele B at MYF5 locus were dominant in these three populations. No statistically significant differences in growth traits were observed between the genotypes of the Jiaxian breed at MSTN and MYF5 loci and the Nanyang breed at MYF5 locus. However, there were statistically significant differences between the genotypes at MSTN locus of the Nanyang breed for WH, HG, HGI and HGBLR (p<0.05), and of the Qinchuan breed for BLI (p<0.05). The SNP in MYF5 had significant effects on WH and HHC of Qinchuan animals (p<0.05). These results suggest that MSTN and MYF5 are strong candidate genes that influence growth traits in cattle. Other SNPs of MSTN and MYF5 or other linked genes should also be studied, which could lead to the development of selection plans to improve the performance of Chinese cattle and also promote the breeding of genuine beef cattle in China.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.1762-1772
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• 2013

The objective of the current study was to determine the effect of pre-slaughter stress, season and breed on the activity of plasma creatine kinase (CK) and the quality of mutton. One hundred and seventy-three (173) castrated sheep from Dormer (DM), South African Mutton Merino (SAMM), Dorper (DP) and Blackhead Persian (BP) sheep breeds were used in the study. The animals were grouped according to age-groups as follows: Group 1 (6 to 8 months), Group 2 (9 to 12 months) and Group 3 (13 to 16 months). Blood samples were collected during exsanguinations using disposable vacutainer tubes for CK analysis. Representative samples of the Muscularis longissimuss thoracis et. lumborum (LTL) were collected from 84 castrated sheep, of different breeds (28 per breed) 24 h after slaughter. The following physico-chemical characteristics of mutton were determined; meat pH ($pH_{24}$), color ($L^*$, $a^*$ and $b^*$), thawing and cooking losses and Warner Braztler Shear Force (WBSF). The activity of plasma CK was significantly higher (p<0.001) in summer ($1,026.3{\pm}105.06$) and lower in winter ($723.3{\pm}77.75$). There were higher values for $L^*$ ($33.7{\pm}0.94$), $b^*$ ($11.5{\pm}0.48$) and WBSF ($29.5{\pm}1.46$) in summer season than in winter season; $L^*$ ($29.4{\pm}0.64$), $b^*$ ($10.2{\pm}0.33$) and WBSF ($21.2{\pm}0.99$). The activity of plasma CK was influenced by the type of breed with Dormer having the highest (p>0.001) levels ($1,358.6{\pm}191.08$) of CK. South African Mutton Merino had higher values for $pH_{24}$ ($5.9{\pm}0.06$), $L^*$ ($34.2{\pm}0.97$), $b^*$ ($12.2{\pm}0.50$) and WBSF ($26.8{\pm}1.51$) and Blackhead Persian had higher values ($35.5{\pm}2.17$) for cooking loss (CL%) than the other breeds. Computed Principal Component Analyses (PCA) on the activity of plasma CK and physico-chemical characteristics of mutton revealed no correlations between these variables. However, positive correlations were observed between $pH_{24}$, $L^*$, $a^*$, $b^*$, CL% and WBSF. Relationships between pre-slaughter stress, CK activity and physico-chemical characteristics of mutton were also observed. It was therefore concluded that although mutton quality and creatine kinase were not related, pre-slaughter stress, season and breed affected the activity of creatine kinase and mutton quality.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.666-671
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• 2017

Objective: Aim of the current comparative study was to evaluate production outputs, reproduction efficiency and functional traits in dual-purpose Fleckvieh and Braunvieh cows, reared under temperate European conditions. Methods: A data-set from 414 Fleckvieh and 42 Braunvieh cows and 799 lactations was analysed. ID tag number, milk yield per milking session, number of steps/interval and milk conductivity were recorded and collected daily using AfiMilk 3.076 A-DU software (Afimilk Ltd., Kibbutz, Israel). Production and milk quality data were taken from the results of the official performance recordings and the reproductive outputs of cows were recorded by the research stations veterinarians. Comparisons between the two genotypes were carried out using the one way analysis of variance protocol, with categorical factor being considered the breed of cows. All the statistical inferences were carried out using Statistica software (StatSoft Inc., Tulsa, OK, USA). Results: Fleckvieh cows significantly outperformed ($p{\leq}0.05$) the Braunvieh herd, with average milk yields of $5,252.1{\pm}35.79kg$ and $4,897.6{\pm}128.94kg$, respectively. Age at first calving was significantly ($p{\leq}0.01$) influenced by the breed, with Fleckvieh heifers being more precocious ($32.8{\pm}0.29mo$) compared to those of Braunvieh breed ($35.7{\pm}0.84mo$). Reproduction efficiency as defined by the number of inseminations per gestation, calving interval, dystocia, days dry and days open, was not influenced by genotype (p>0.05). Incidences of sub-clinical mastitis, clinical mastitis, lameness and abortions were not influenced by the breed factor (p>0.05). Stay-ability of cows was significantly ($p{\leq}0.001$) influenced by genotype, with Braunvieh cows having an average age at culling of $117.88{\pm}11.78$ months compared to $90.88{\pm}2.89$ months in Fleckvieh. Conclusion: Overall, results have shown that genotype significantly influenced milk yield, age at first calving and longevity.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.101-106
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• 1992

Secretory patterns of serum tri-iodothyronine, thyroxin and testosterone were analysed by specific radioimmunoassay in Kaghani (n = 42), Rambouilet (n = 42) and Kaghani ${\times}$ Rambouillet (n = 42) male sheep to determine age and breed related changes. Animals were examined at 1-2 wk, 8, 10, 12, 20, 22 and 24 months of age (n = 6/age group). All animals were maintained under standard conditions of feeding and management. $T_3$ and $T_4$ concentrations were maximal (p < 0.01) in 1-2 wk old lambs of all breeds studied ($207.4{\pm}14.9-276.8{\pm}20.4ng/dl$ and $5.76{\pm}0.3-7.23{\pm}0.9{\mu}g/dl$, respectively). For all the breeds, concentrations of $T_3$ declined markedly (p < 0.01) at 8 month of age and then varied in a narrow range ($44.5{\pm}14.0-87.0{\pm}4.8ng/dl$) up to the age of 24 month. While, serum $T_4$ concentrations decreased (p < 0.01) to nadir ($0.97{\pm}0.1-1.43{\pm}0.3{\mu}g/dl$) at 10 months of age in all the 3 breeds. Afterwards, $T_4$ levels increased gradually and attained a small peak at 20 months before declining again at 22 and 24 months of age. Serum $T_3$ and $T_4$ concentrations were correlated significantly (p < 0.05) and their ratio was constant at all ages in the different breeds. Age significantly (p < 0.01) influenced the secretion of testosterone in the breeds examined but the breed differences were comparable. Mean serum concentrations of testosterone were low from 1-2 wk to 10 months of age in the Kaghani, Rambouillet and Kaghani ${\times}$ Rambouillet animals. Peak testosterone levels were noted in the 12 months old Kaghani ($1.75{\pm}0.4ng/ml$), Rambouillet ($1.30{\pm}0.2ng/ml$) and their $T_3$ cross animals ($1.16{\pm}0.08ng/ml$). Mean testosterone levels, thereafter, decreased at 20 months and then at 22 and 24 months remained variable but higher than observed at 1-2 wk -10 months of age. The findings of the present study indicate a significant influence of age but not of breed on the peripheral concentrations of thyroid hormones and testosterone. Serum concentrations of $T_3$ and $T_4$ were not related to testosterone levels. High thyroid secretory activity observed at prenatal phase of development may play an important role in preparing the lambs to extrauterine environments.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.9
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• pp.1237-1246
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• 2013

The objective of this study was to estimate variance components and genetic parameters for lactation milk yield (LY), lactation length (LL), average milk yield per day (YD), initial milk yield (IY), peak milk yield (PY), days to peak (DP) and parameters (ln(a) and c) of the modified incomplete gamma function (MIG) in an Ethiopian multibreed dairy cattle population. The dataset was composed of 5,507 lactation records collected from 1,639 cows in three locations (Bako, Debre Zeit and Holetta) in Ethiopia from 1977 to 2010. Parameters for MIG were obtained from regression analysis of monthly test-day milk data on days in milk. The cows were purebred (Bos indicus) Boran (B) and Horro (H) and their crosses with different fractions of Friesian (F), Jersey (J) and Simmental (S). There were 23 breed groups (B, H, and their crossbreds with F, J, and S) in the population. Fixed and mixed models were used to analyse the data. The fixed model considered herd-year-season, parity and breed group as fixed effects, and residual as random. The single and two-traits mixed animal repeatability models, considered the fixed effects of herd-year-season and parity subclasses, breed as a function of cow H, F, J, and S breed fractions and general heterosis as a function of heterozygosity, and the random additive animal, permanent environment, and residual effects. For the analysis of LY, LL was added as a fixed covariate to all models. Variance components and genetic parameters were estimated using average information restricted maximum likelihood procedures. The results indicated that all traits were affected (p<0.001) by the considered fixed effects. High grade $B{\times}F$ cows (3/16B 13/16F) had the highest least squares means (LSM) for LY ($2,490{\pm}178.9kg$), IY ($10.5{\pm}0.8kg$), PY ($12.7{\pm}0.9kg$), YD ($7.6{\pm}0.55kg$) and LL ($361.4{\pm}31.2d$), while B cows had the lowest LSM values for these traits. The LSM of LY, IY, YD, and PY tended to increase from the first to the fifth parity. Single-trait analyses yielded low heritability ($0.03{\pm}0.03$ and $0.08{\pm}0.02$) and repeatability ($0.14{\pm}0.01$ to $0.24{\pm}0.02$) estimates for LL, DP and parameter c. Medium heritability ($0.21{\pm}0.03$ to $0.33{\pm}0.04$) and repeatability ($0.27{\pm}0.02$ to $0.53{\pm}0.01$) estimates were obtained for LY, IY, PY, YD and ln(a). Genetic correlations between LY, IY, PY, YD, ln(a), and LL ranged from 0.59 to 0.99. Spearman's rank correlations between sire estimated breeding values for LY, LL, IY, PY, YD, ln(a) and c were positive (0.67 to 0.99, p<0.001). These results suggested that selection for IY, PY, YD, or LY would genetically improve lactation milk yield in this Ethiopian dairy cattle population.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.841-846
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• 2003

Landrace(L), Largewhite(Lw), Korean Native Pig(KNP) and commercial hybrid were experimented to determine holothane sensitivity, RYR gene mutation and quality profiles. In the results of halothane test, the incidence of halothane positive pigs was similar between L and Lw. But, the rate of dubious halothane positive type was higher in L than Lw. In hal-gene analysis, halothane-positive pigs(nn) were not found in any tested breed and heterotype(Nn) appeared only in one pig of L. Of the breed effect on the quality profiles, there were no differences in pH$_1$(pH at 1hr postslaughter), but pH$_{u}$(pH at 24hr postslaughter) was significantly higher in commercial hybrid and KNP than other breeds(p〈0.05). Color assessed by National Pork Producers Council(NPPC) and CIE L$^{*}$ was significantly paler in L breed than other breeds(p〈0.05). Significant differences were found in water holding capacity(WHC) and cooking loss in KNP(p〈0.05).

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.5.1-5.8
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• 2015

Background: Korean native chicken (KNC) is a well-known breed due to its superior meat taste. This breed, however, owing to a low growth rate, has a high market price. In order to overcome this disadvantage, the National Institute of Animal Science (NIAS) in Korea developed a commercial KNC breed, named Woorimatdag version 2 (WM2), an upgraded version of the Woorimatdag (WM1) breed and the WM2 was created by crossing the KNC with meat type breeds. This study aims to discriminate between WM2 and other chicken breeds using microsatellite (MS) markers. Methods: A total of 302 individuals from eight Korean chicken populations were examined. The genetic diversity and population structure analysis were investigated using Cervus, API-CALC, STRUCTURE, PowerMarker programs. Results: Based on heterozygosity and polymorphic information content (PIC) values, 30 MS markers were initially selected from 150 markers. The identified average number of alleles (Na), expected heterozygosity, and PIC values for the WM2 samples were 7.17, 0.741, and 0.682, respectively. Additionally, the paternity of individuals was assigned with a success rate of greater than 99% using 12 markers, the best minimum number of markers. The 12 selected markers contained heterozygosity and PIC values above 0.7 and probability of identity values around zero. Using these markers, the determined probability of identity (PI), $PI_{half-sibs}$, and $PI_{sibs}$ values were 3.23E-33, 5.03E-22, and 8.61E-08, respectively. Conclusions: WM2 is well differentiated with respect to other chicken breeds based on estimated genetic distances. The results presented here will contribute to the identification of commercial WM2 chicken in the market.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.63 no.6
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• pp.1355-1361
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• 2021

Digestibility of pet food can affect the health of dog, especially of aged animals. To maintain the health of dogs in an overall good status it is necessary to provide nutritionally balanced food. For example, the digestibility of dogs was known to be decreased along aging. In addition, losing teethes is an often event in aged dogs that could induce a problem to eat a large size dry pet food. Nonetheless, few detailed information is available on the most suited feeding for aged dogs. As part of the nutritional study of food for aged dogs, in this study, we tested whether food type impacts on digestibility on adult versus senior dogs. The methodology to measure the digestibility of nutrients was chosen the index method using chromium oxide. Dogs were fed the same commercial dry or wet diets, which were supplemented with 0.5% chromium oxide. The wet food was prepared by adding twice volume of water in the dry food prior to incubated overnight (14-16 hours) at room temperature. After five days, their feces were collected up to a total weight of > 200 g which was the amount to analyze undigested nutrients in feces as 3 repeats. In the apparent total tract digestibility analysis of the experimental breed, no difference in the digestibility of crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, ash, and energy was observed regarding the moisture content of the food. Noteworthy, the digestibility of nitrogen free extract was significantly increased in senior dogs fed dry dog food compared with adult dogs fed the same diet, whereas no difference was observed between senior and adult dogs fed wet food. The small breed dogs showed similar results to the experimental breed dogs. However, the digestibility of crude fat was additionally affected by age and food type unlike the experimental breed dogs. This finding suggests that the food moisture content affects the digestibility of nutrients in dogs with aging. Hence, it may be helpful to determine the nutrient contents in foods for senior dogs depending on the food type.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.10-18
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• 2023

Objective: In this study, we aimed to position the Hungarian Merino among other Merinoderived sheep breeds, explore the characteristics of our sampled animals' genetic similarity network within the breed, and highlight single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with daily weight-gain. Methods: Hungarian Merino (n = 138) was genotyped on Ovine SNP50 Bead Chip (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA) and positioned among 30 Merino and Merino-derived breeds (n = 555). Population characteristics were obtained via PLINK, SVS, Admixture, and Treemix software, within-breed network was analysed with python networkx 2.3 library. Daily weight gain of Hungarian Merino was standardised to 60 days and was collected from the database of the Association of Hungarian Sheep and Goat Breeders. For the identification of loci associated with daily weight gain, a multi-locus mixed-model was used. Results: Supporting the breed's written history, the closest breeds to Hungarian Merino were Estremadura and Rambouillet (pairwise F_ST values are 0.035 and 0.036, respectively). Among Hungarian Merino, a highly centralised connectedness has been revealed by network analysis of pairwise values of identity-by-state, where the animal in the central node had a betweenness centrality value equal to 0.936. Probing of daily weight gain against the SNP data of Hungarian Merinos revealed five associated loci. Two of them, OAR8_17854216.1 and s42441.1 on chromosome 8 and 9 (-log₁₀P>22, false discovery rate<5.5e-20) and one locus on chromosome 20, s28948.1 (-log₁₀P = 13.46, false discovery rate = 4.1e-11), were close to the markers reported in other breeds concerning daily weight gain, six-month weight, and post-weaning gain. Conclusion: The position of Hungarian Merino among other Merino breeds has been determined. We have described the similarity network of the individuals to be applied in breeding practices and highlighted several markers useful for elevating the daily weight gain of Hungarian Merino.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.965-981
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• 2024

Objective: Milk composition varies considerably and depends on paratypical, genetic, and epigenetic factors. MiRNAs belong to the class of small non-coding RNAs; they are one of the key tools of epigenetic control because of their ability to regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. We compared the relative expression levels of miR-106b, miR-191, and miR-30d in milk to demonstrate the relationship between the content of these miRNAs with protein and fat components of milk in Holstein and Ayrshire cattle. Methods: Milk fat, protein, and casein contents were determined in the obtained samples, as well as the content of the main fatty acids (g/100 g milk), including: saturated acids, such as myristic (C14:0), palmitic (C16:0), and stearic (C18:0) acids; monounsaturated acids, including oleic (C18:1) acid; as well as long-, medium- and short-chain, polyunsaturated, and trans fatty acids. Real-time stem-loop one-tube reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction with TaqMan probes was used to measure the miRNA expression levels. Results: The miRNA expression levels in milk samples were found to be decreased in the first two months in Holstein breed, and in the first four months in Ayrshire breed. Correlation analysis did not reveal any dependence between changes in the expression level of miRNA and milk fat content, but showed a multidirectional relationship with individual milk fatty acids. Positive associations between the expression levels of miR-106b and miR-30d and protein and casein content were found in the Ayrshire breed. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that miR-106b and miR-30d expression levels can cause changes in fatty acid and protein composition of milk in Ayrshire cows, whereas miR-106b expression level determines the fatty acid composition in Holsteins. Conclusion: The data obtained in this study showed that miR-106b, miR-191, and miR-30d expression levels in milk samples have peculiarities associated with breed affiliation and the lactation period.