• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.638-644
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• 2007

Differences of meat qualities between Japanese Black and Holstein have been known in Japan, however, the causative proteins and/or the genetic background have been unclear. The aim of this study was to identify candidate proteins causing differences of the meat qualities between the two breeds. Using technique of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, protein profiling was compared from samples of the longissimus dorsi muscle and subcutaneous adipose tissue. Five protein spots were observed with different expression levels between breeds. By using LC-MS/MS analysis and Mascot program, three of them were identified as ankyrin repeat protein 2, phosphoylated myosin light chain 2 and mimecan protein. Subsequently, we compared the DNA coding sequences of three proteins between breeds to find any nucleotide substitution. However, there was no notable mutation which could affect pI or molecular mass of the proteins. The identified proteins may be responsible for different characteristics of the meat qualities between Japanese Black and Holstein cattle.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.1342-1348
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• 2007

POU1F1 is a positive regulator for GH, PRL and TSH${\beta}$ and its mutations associate with production traits in ruminant animals. We described a DdeI PCR-RFLP method for detecting a silent allele in the goat POU1F1 gene: TCT (241Ser)>TCG (241Ser). Frequencies of $D_1$ allele varied from 0.600 to 1.000 in Chinese 801 goats. Significant associations of DdeI polymorphism with production traits were found in milk yield (*p<0.05), litter size (*p<0.05) and one-year-old weight (*p<0.05) between different genotypes. Individuals with genotype $D_1D_1$ had a superior performances when compared to those with genotype $D_1D_2$ (*p<0.05). Hence, the POU1F1 gene was suggested to the potential candidate gene for superior milk performance, reproduction trait and weight trait. Genotype $D_1D_1$, characterized by a DdeI PCR-RFLP detection, was recommended to geneticists and breeders as a molecular marker for better performance in the goat industry.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.161-164
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• 2003

The polymorphism of the growth hormone gene in 12 pig breeds (total n=475) was detected by PCR-Apa I-RFLP, and allele A (449 bp, 101 bp and 55 bp) or allele B (316 bp, 133 bp, 101 bp and 55 bp) were observed. In these pig breeds, we found that European pig breeds had high frequencies of allele B, while Chinese native pig breeds had high frequencies of allele A. In addition, the role of porcine GH was investigated in 117 Nanchang White pigs and 361 Large Yorkshire pigs. Eight traits about growth and carcass were recorded for analyzing associations between GH gene polymorphism and performance quantitative traits. In the Nanchang White pigs, no significant difference was observed between different genotypes and different growth and carcass traits. In Large Yorkshire pigs, those with BB genotype had more lean percentage than pigs with AA genotype (p<0.05). Based on these results, we conclude that the GH locus should be further investigated in commercial breeds to determine its suitability for use in marker-assisted selection programmes.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.10
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• pp.1500-1507
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• 2016

Myostatin (MSTN) can negatively regulate the growth and development of skeletal muscle, and natural mutations can cause "double-muscling" trait in animals. In order to block the inhibiting effect of MSTN on muscle growth, we transferred zinc-finger nucleases (ZFN) which targeted sheep MSTN gene into cultured fibroblasts. Gene targeted colonies were isolated from transfected fibroblasts by serial dilution culture and screened by sequencing. Two colonies were identified with mono-allele mutation and one colony with bi-allelic deletion. Further, we introduced the MSTN-ZFN mRNA into sheep embryos by microinjection. Thirteen of thirty-seven parthenogenetic embryos were targeted by ZFN, with the efficiency of 35%. Our work established the technical foundation for generation of MSTN gene editing sheep by somatic cloning and microinjection ZFN into embryos.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.307-310
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• 1998

The present studies were undertaken to evaluate the effects of a low concentration of dimethyl-sulfoxide (DMSO) on in vitro maturation and development of bovine oocytes fertilized in vitro. Significantly more oocytes reached the metaphase stage of the second meiotic division in TCM-199 supplemented with $50{\mu}M$ DMSO than in the control medium (p < 0.05), and the highest rates of development up to the blastocyst stage were obtained when $50{\mu}M$ DMSO was added to the maturation and culture media (p < 0.05). The avarage of cell numbers of the blastocysts, expanded and hatched blastocysts cultured with $50{\mu}M$ DMSO were 81.7, 125.7 and 129.9 cells, respectively. The proportion of blastocysts with normal chromosome numbers was 90.5%. These results suggest that the addition of $50{\mu}M$ DMSO is beneficial for the maturation of bovine oocytes and production of the blastocysts with high quality.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.275-284
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• 2011

As the world population grows and developing countries become more affluent, the global consumption of meat will increase by more than 50% within the next 10 years. Confronting the increased demand for poultry food products are emerging field diseases, increasing regulatory bans of antimicrobial growth promoters, high-density growth conditions, and waste management. Although biotechnology offers solutions to some of these challenges, basic studies are needed to better understand the complex interaction between the intestinal microbiome, host immunity and the environment. This presentation will focus on emerging strategies to enhance gut immunity and to decrease economic losses due to poultry diseases. This presentation will highlight recent developments in coccidiosis research and provide information on host immunity, immunomodulation, and the latest advances in dietary and nutritional approaches against coccidiosis. Such information will magnify our understanding of host-parasite biology, mucosal immunology, and design of future nutritional interventions and vaccination strategies for coccidiosis.

• BMB Reports
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.280-289
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• 2018

Previously considered as a component of transcriptional noise, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) were neglected as a therapeutic target, however, recently increasing evidence has shown that lncRNAs can participate in numerous biological processes involved in genetic regulation including epigenetic, transcriptional, and post-transcriptional regulation. In this review, we discuss the fundamental functions of lncRNAs at different regulatory levels and their roles in metabolic balance. Typical examples are introduced to illustrate their diverse molecular mechanisms. The comprehensive investigation and identification of key lncRNAs will not only contribute to insights into diseases, such as breast cancer and type II diabetes, but also provide promising therapeutic targets for related diseases.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.9
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• pp.1345-1352
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• 2016

The hindgut of horses is an anaerobic fermentative chamber for a complex and dynamic microbial population, which plays a critical role in health and energy requirements. Research on the gut microbiota of Mongolian horses has not been reported until now as far as we know. Mongolian horse is a major local breed in China. We performed high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA genes V4 hypervariable regions from gut fecal material to characterize the gut microbiota of Mongolian horses and compare them to the microbiota in Thoroughbred horses. Fourteen Mongolian and 19 Thoroughbred horses were used in the study. A total of 593,678 sequence reads were obtained from 33 samples analyzed, which were found to belong to 16 phyla and 75 genera. The bacterial community compositions were similar for the two breeds. Firmicutes (56% in Mongolian horses and 53% in Thoroughbred horses) and Bacteroidetes (33% and 32% respectively) were the most abundant and predominant phyla followed by Spirochaete, Verrucomicrobia, Proteobacteria, and Fibrobacteres. Of these 16 phyla, five (Synergistetes, Planctomycetes, Proteobacteria, TM7, and Chloroflexi) were significantly different (p<0.05) between the two breeds. At the genus level, Treponema was the most abundant genus (43% in Mongolian horses vs 29% in Thoroughbred horses), followed by Ruminococcus, Roseburia, Pseudobutyrivibrio, and Anaeroplasma, which were detected in higher distribution proportion in Mongolian horses than in Thoroughbred horses. In contrast, Oscillibacter, Fibrobacter, Methanocorpusculum, and Succinivibrio levels were lower in Mongolian horses. Among 75 genera, 30 genera were significantly different (p<0.05) between the two breeds. We found that the environment was one of very important factors that influenced horse gut microbiota. These findings provide novel information about the gut microbiota of Mongolian horses and a foundation for future investigations of gut bacterial factors that may influence the development and progression of gastrointestinal disease in horses.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.1433-1441
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• 2015

This study examined changes of rumen fermentation, ruminal bacteria biodiversity and abundance caused by nitrate addition with Ion Torrent sequencing and real-time polymerase chain reaction. Three rumen-fistulated steers were fed diets supplemented with 0%, 1%, and 2% nitrate (dry matter %) in succession. Nitrate supplementation linearly increased total volatile fatty acids and acetate concentration obviously (p = 0.02; p = 0.02; p<0.01), butyrate and isovalerate concentration numerically (p = 0.07). The alpha (p>0.05) and beta biodiversityof ruminal bacteria were not affected by nitrate. Nitrate increased typical efficient cellulolytic bacteria species (Ruminococcus flavefaciens, Ruminococcus ablus, and Fibrobacter succinogenes) (p<0.01; p = 0.06; p = 0.02). Ruminobactr, Sphaerochaeta, CF231, and BF311 genus were increased by 1% nitrate. Campylobacter fetus, Selenomonas ruminantium, and Mannheimia succiniciproducens were core nitrate reducing bacteria in steers and their abundance increased linearly along with nitrate addition level (p<0.01; p = 0.02; p = 0.04). Potential nitrate reducers in the rumen, Campylobacter genus and Cyanobacteria phyla were significantly increased by nitrate (p<0.01; p = 0.01).To the best of our knowledge, this was the first detailed view of changes in ruminal microbiota by nitrate. This finding would provide useful information on nitrate utilization and nitrate reducer exploration in the rumen.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.1188-1192
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• 2003

Negative feedback on GH responses to GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) and GH-releasing peptides (GHRPs) has been reported and this action has been suggested to act through an increase in somatostatin. To determine whether the acute administration of porcine GH (pGH) inhibits GH responsiveness to GHRP-2 and GHRH in swine, swine were intravenously administered with pGH (5${\mu}g$/kg BW) or placebo followed 180 min later by a second intravenous administration of saline, GHRP-2 (30 ${\mu}g$/kg BW), GHRH (1${\mu}g$/kg BW) and a combination of GHRP-2 and GHRH. Plasma GH concentration was measured by radioimmunoassay. Administration of pGH caused a significant increase in GH area under curve and GH peak concentrations (p<0.001) over placebo-treated group. Plasma GH concentrations peaked at 15 min and returned to baseline level within 90 min. Pretreatment of pGH abolished (p<0.01) GH response to GHRH and attenuated (p<0.05) GH response to GHRP-2 and GHRH combined, without affecting GH response to GHRP-2. These results demonstrate that negative feedback action on GH releasing effect of GHRH occurs in swine, and that GHRP-2 has ability to interact in this action.