• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.253-259
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• 1997

Holstein Friesian and Jersey crossbreds are being widely introduced in the state of Gujarat in India. This paper evaluates feeding practices at farm level and examines whether the crossbreds fit into the existing mixed farm systems. Over a period of four years milk-offtake and feeds offered were recorded for 1331 cows at fortnightly intervals. The breed and the amount of concentrates fed contributed most to the variation in milk offtake. The introduction of crossbred cattle has a major impact on smallholder mixed farming systems. Crossbreds produced, on average, 1.8 times more milk than Desi, Gir, and Kankrej cows. They were fed 1.4 times more concentrates, and about 1.2 times more green and dry feeds than local cows. The major limiting constraint is the quality of the roughages offered. Farmers with crossbreds try to adjust their feeding of concentrates according to the needs of their cows. On tribal farms, local cows produced less milk than on non-tribal farms, whereas crossbreds produced the same amount of milk on both tribal and non-tribal farms. Crossbreds fit into the farming systems of both tribal and non-tribal farmers. The differences in agro-climatic characteristics between different areas in Gujarat were not reflected in differences in milk offtakes.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.695-698
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• 2002

Performance data (from 1985 to 2000) of Jersey cattle imported from USA and maintained at Islamabad, Pakistan were evaluated. The purpose of this study was to assess the genetic merit of Jersey breed under Pakistani environment for further propagation. Cows with at least two calvings were considered for this study; records on 50 daughter-dam pairs were available on production and reproduction performance traits for genetic evaluation. The average age at first calving in parents was $25.2{\pm}2.4$ m as compared to $23.9{\pm}6.6$ m in progeny. Calving interval in parents and progeny was $416{\pm}74$ and $446{\pm}105$ d; lactation length $301{\pm}51$ and $325{\pm}73$ d; lactation milk yield $2,908{\pm}669$ and $2,707{\pm}903$ lit respectively. All these differences were found to be statistically significant except lactation length. The correlations between age at first calving and total lactation milk was -0.25, between calving interval and total lactation milk yield was 0.14, and between lactation length and total lactation milk yield was 0.79. The $h^2$ of these traits were low indicating important role of environment in expressing the genetic potential of animals. The S.E of $h^2$ of all the traits was high due to large variation in data.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.1621-1627
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• 2001

Steers and heifers (N=490) were produced between 1991 and 1996 by reciprocal fiillsib backcross and $F_1$ crosses from Angus and Brahman to compare characteristics of carcass and palatability traits between Bos indicus and Bos taurus inheritance. Carcasses of 3/4Angus were heavier, fatter (p<0.05), more tender and higher in other palatability attributes (p<0.01) than those of 3/4Brahman. Reciprocal effects of parental cross breeds were found on some traits. Within 3/4Brahman inheritance group, Brahman sired progeny produced heavier and fatter carcasses with better palatability (p<0.05) than progeny with Brahman as a dam breed. Estimates of heritability were intermediate to high in most carcass and palatability traits. Genetic correlations of tenderness with marbling score (MARB), sarcomere length (SARC), fragmentation index (FRAG) and calpastatin activity (CALP) were moderate to high, suggesting potential use of the tenderness-influencing factors as indirect selection criteria to improve palatability attributes. MARB and SARC that were best predictors of tenderness explained 3.07 to 5.85% and 4.32 to 8.24% of variation in tenderness, respectively. However, there was no tenderness-influencing factor to dominantly explain large portion of variation in tenderness.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.147-154
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• 2007

To characterize the colorization patterns of bovine hairs, the melanin contents were quantitatively assayed and compared among cattle breeds. The total melanin levels measured by spectrophotometric assay (A500) from Jeju Black cattle were significantly lower than those from Holstein or Angus with black coat color but significantly higher than those from Hanwoo with yellow coat color or Angus and Holstein with red coat color (P<0.001). The total melanin levels from Hanwoo were significantly lower than those from Red Angus and Red Holstein but significantly higher than those from Hanwoo×Charolais crossbred (P<0.001). The relative ratios of eumelanin to pheomelanin (A650/A500) were 0.382, 0.359, 0.112 and 0.124 in Angus, Jeju Balck cattle, Red Holstein and Hanwoo, respectively. These results show that the spectrophotometric method provides a convenient way to qualitatively characterize hair melanin and may be useful for studying expression of major coat color genes in Hanwoo and Jeju Black cattle.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.316-327
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• 2007

In this study, a Korean native cattle strain (Hanwoo) evidencing high performance in terms of both meat quality and quantity was employed in the generation of 150,000 BAC clones with an average insert size of 140 kb, and corresponding to about a 6X coverage of bovine chromosomal DNA. The BAC clones were pooled in a mini-scale via three rounds of a pooling protocol, and the efficiency of this pooling protocol was evaluated by testing the accuracy of accessibility to the positive clones, via a PCR-based screening method. Two sets of primers designed from each of two known genes were tested, and each yielded 2 or 3 positive clones for each gene, thereby indicating that the BAC library pooling system was appropriate with regard to the accession of the target BAC clones. Analyses of $3.3{\times}10^6$ base pairs obtained from the 7,090 BAC end sequence (BES) showed that 34.88% of the DNA sequence harbored the repetition sequence. Analysis of the 7,090 BES to the $1^{st}$ and $2^{nd}$ generation radiation hybrid map of the cattle genome, using the COMPASS program designed for the construction of a cattle-human comparative mapping, resulted in the localization of a total of 1,374 clones proximal to 339 $1^{st}$ generation markers, and 1,721 clones proximal to 664 $2^{nd}$ generation markers. Collectively, the BAC library and pooling system of the BAC clones from the Korean cattle, coupled with the chromosome-localized BAC clones, will provide us with novel tools for the excavation of desired clones for genome mapping and sequencing, and will also furnish us with additional information regarding breed differences in cattle.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.24-30
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to identify genetic polymorphisms of the mitochondrial cytochrome b (mtDNA cyt b) gene in Korean black (KB) cattle breed and to analyze the genetic relationship between the KB and other breeds. We determined the complete sequence of the mtDNA cyt b gene in 38 KB cattle. We also analyzed their genetic diversity, and phylogenetic analysis was performed by comparison with Korean cattle (KC, called Hanwoo) and breeds from China and Japan. A nucleotide substitution was detected in the KB cattle, and two haplotypes were defined. In the neighbor-joining (NJ) tree, the haplotypes of KB were located in Bos taurus lineage with those of KC, Japanese black (JB), Yanbian and Zaosheng breeds. However, the haplotypes of Chinese breeds, excluding Yanbian and Zaosheng, were separated into B. taurus and B. indicus lineages. In the NJ tree of breeds based on Dxy genetic distances, Chinese breeds mixed with B. taurus and B. indicus lineages were located between B. indicus and B. taurus lineages. KB was contained within B. taurus lineage and was determined to be genetically more closely related to two Chinese (Yanbian and Zaosheng) breeds than to KC and JB. The haplotype distribution and the results of the phylogenetic analysis suggest that KB and KC have genetic differences in their mtDNA cyt b gene sequences.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.273-279
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• 2016

The Korean native cattle, Hanwoo, is the most popular breed of beef cattle in Korea. However, the reproductive performance data are limited although reproduction is one of the most economically and biologically important in beef production. Therefore, this study was undertaken to investigate reproductive performance parameters including calving interval, parity for life time production. Data collected from 206,827 calvings were analyzed. There were no significant differences in calving interval and gestation days as parity increased from 2nd and 13rd parity cow, from spring to winter. However, we found a dramatic increase in calving interval after year 2000. About 1 month were increased per year ( y = 30.578x + 344.45 $R^2=0.9157$). Interestingly, we observed that parities for life time can be affected by birth weight. Calves with 23 kg at birth showed highest parities, $3.4{\pm}2.0$ times. In summary, this study provides valuable data on reproductive performance of Hanwoo and the data presented here can be used as a standard target for optimising and enhancing reproductive performance.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.261-265
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• 2016

The aim of the present study was to evaluate and estimate timing of artificial insemination (AI) in Hanwoo heifer (Korean native cattle) that is the most popular breed of beef cattle in Korea. To determine changes in body weight of heifers around AI, body weight were measured at different stages either before or after AI. We found that daily body weight gain was higher in the pregnant cows after AI. We also investigate correlation between body mass measured by shoulder height and body length, and conception rates, used (body length+ height)2 instead of height2 for body mass index (BMI), and found that relatively more BMI heifers (>55) showed higher conception rates. Finally, we estimated body weight by measuring should height (SH), heart girth (HG), and body length (BL); $BW=3.93372^*HG-2.90985^*SH-0.021^*BL$. In addition, we observed that HG is most closely correlated with BW; $y(BW)=1.77355^*x(HG)$, $R^2=0.98881$. In summary, we can determine the best timing of AI using body measurement and its application including BMI.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.617-621
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• 2006

Recently the numbers of the Thai swamp buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), a native species of Thailand, have been rapidly declining, leading to a requirement for conservation programs for this breed. Such studies of the genetic diversity of this species are essential for conservation decisions and to assist the rational implementation of breeding programs. In this study, the genetic diversity of 80 Thai swamp buffalo, randomly selected from seven different research stations of the Thai Department of Livestock Development, were studied using ten cattle microsatellite markers. Polymorphic PCR products were observed at all microsatellite loci, with percentages of polymorphic loci ranging from 80.00 to 100.00%. The population from Payao showed the lowest level of polymorphism. The mean number of alleles per locus was 4.7 with the highest number of alleles being eight (ETH152) and the lowest being three (HAUT27 and ILSTS030). The average unbiased heterozygosity for all seven populations was 0.61 and varied between 0.5314 (Samui) and 0.6798 (Surin). The genetic distance according to NEI's (1972) ranged from 0.0722 to 0.4427. The populations from Surin and Burirum are the closest populations, while populations from Samui and Payao are the most divergent. The information generated by this study will greatly aid in the establishment of effective breeding and conservation programs for the Thai swamp buffalo.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.87-93
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• 2013

We identified four new bovine tri-nucleotide microsatellite loci and analyzed their sequence structures and genetic parameters in 105 randomly selected Korean cattle (Hanwoo). Allele numbers of the loci B17S0808, B15S6253, B8S7996, and B17S4998 were 10, 11, 12, and 29, respectively. These alleles contained a simple or compound repeat sequences with some variations. Allele distributions of all these loci were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (P > 0.05). Observed heterozygosity and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.54 (B15S6253) to 0.92 (B17S4998) and from 0.599 (B15S6253) to 0.968 (B17S4998), respectively, and two measures of heterozygosity at each locus were highly correlated. Polymorphism information content (PIC) for these 4 loci ranged from 0.551 (B15S6253) to 0.932 (B17S4998), which means that all these loci are highly informative (PIC > 0.5). Other genetic parameters, power of discrimination (PD) and probability of exclusion (PE) ranged from 0.783 (B15S6253) to 0.984 (B17S4998) and from 0.210 (B15S6253) to 0.782 (B17S4998), respectively. Their combined PD and PE values were 0.9999968 and 0.98005176, respectively. Capillary electrophoresis revealed that average peak height ratio for a stutter was 13.89% at B17S0808, 26.67% at B15S6253, 9.09% at B8S7996, and 43.75% at B17S4998. Although the degree of genetic variability of the locus B15S6253 was relatively low among these four microsatellite markers, their favorable parameters and low peak height ratios for stutters indicate that these four new tri-nucleotide microsatellite loci could be useful multiplex PCR markers for the forensic and population genetic studies in cattle including Korean native breed.