• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제13권11호
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• pp.1523-1528
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• 2000

Four Suffolk ewes were used in Latin Square switch over design to study the effects of varying levels and sources of protein on heat production and thermoregulatory responses at daytime high ($33^{\circ}C$ temperature. They were fed Italian ryegrass hay supplemented with fishmeal and/or urea, providing three different levels of crude protein (CP) (low/unsupplemented: 7.9, medium: 11.6, and high: 15.8%) at $1.5{\times}maintenance$. Feeds were distributed at 0900 (30%) and 1700 (70%). Urea diet caused higher heat production and increased vaginal temperature compared to fishmeal and fishmeal-urea mix diets. Time spent standing, skin temperature and respiration rate of sheep fed urea were similar with those of sheep fed fishmeal. Sheep fed diet with low CP level had higher heat production, increased vaginal and skin temperature than sheep fed diet with medium CP content. Sheep on high CP diet produced significantly more heat than sheep fed medium CP diets. Their vaginal temperatures were similar with those of sheep fed medium CP diet but lower than those of sheep fed low CP diet. Respiration rates of sheep and time spent by them for standing on all diets did not differ significantly. These results suggest that urea is inferior protein supplement for thermoregulation of animal at hot environment, as it induced higher heat production than fishmeal and fishmeal-urea mix. Thermoregulatory response on fishmeal-urea mix diet was similar to fishmeal diet. Increasing CP of the diet from low to medium gives advantage for thermoregulation of animal. Increasing CP further to high level was not beneficial as it resulted in the responses of sheep similar to those on low protein diet.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제8권3호
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• pp.205-212
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• 1995

This paper describes small ruminant production systems in dry areas of Pakistan. Formal and informal surveys had identified that poor feed resources, as a result of harsh climatic conditions, is a major factor responsible for low sheep and goats production. In view of their recommendations, use of approaches like supplemental feeding and pasture production through an introduction of improved forage species in the country, are reviewed. The improvement in sheep production and associated socioeconomic benefits, are discussed.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제13권5호
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• pp.625-629
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• 2000

Six yearling Suffolk ewes were used to study the effect of different roughage proportion diets (30%=LR, and 70%=HR) and intake levels (0.7 M and 1.3 M) on heat production and thermoregulatory responses in sheep exposed to different ambient temperatures (20 and $30^{\circ}C$). Sheep fed HR had higher heat production (HP) and time spent eating (TSE) and lower time spent standing (TSS) than those fed LR. But effect of roughage proportion on vaginal temperature (Tv) was obvious only at high intake and at $30^{\circ}C$. Sheep fed high intake had higher Tv, HP, TSS, and TSE than those fed low intake. Roughage proportion and intake level did not have an effect on respiration rate (RR), but ambient temperature did. Ambient temperature did not have an effect on HP, TSS and TSE. At $30^{\circ}C$ sheep had higher Tv and RR than those at $20^{\circ}C$. There were interactions between intake level and ambient temperature in TSS, between intake level and roughage proportion in TSE, and between roughage proportion and ambient temperature in HP. Results indicate that high roughage diet imposes a greater potential heat load on animals than low roughage diet when given at high ambient temperature, but not at low ambient temperature. And the effects is more pronounced at high intake.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제20권11호
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• pp.1761-1769
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• 2007

This experiment was conducted to determine the extent to which susceptibility to cortisol-induced follicle shutdown is influenced by fleece phentotype. Twenty Finewool (10 sheep low fibre diameter, low coefficient of fibre diameter-LL and 10 low fibre diameter, high coefficient of variation of fibre diameter-LH) and twenty Strongwool (10 low fibre diameter, low coefficient of variation of fibre diameter-HL and 10 high fibre diameter and high coefficient of variation of fibre diameter-HH) sheep of 9 months of age were individually penned in an animal house and were injected intramuscularly with an aqueous suspension of hydrocortisone acetate at a rate of 1.42 mg/kg body weight for a period of two weeks. Fibre diameter was measured from clipped tattooed patch wool samples. Follicle activity was measured by histological changes in skin biopsies taken weekly. Blood samples were collected at two-week intervals and plasma cortisol measured. Increased plasma cortisol concentration significantly (p<0.05) reduced clean wool production and mean fibre diameter dropped to its lowest level four weeks after commencement and two weeks after the cessation of cortisol injection. Elevation of plasma cortisol concentration significantly (p<0.0001) increased the percentage of inactive follicles two weeks after injection started. High fibre diameter groups (Strongwool sheep; i.e. HL+HH) had significantly (p<0.0001) higher percentage of follicle shutdown than low fibre diameter groups (Finewool sheep; i.e. LL+LH). Average percentage of shutdown follicles for Finewool (LL+LH) and Strongwool (HL+HH) Merino sheep was $9.8{\pm}0.9$ and $13.5{\pm}0.9$ respectively. Shutdown of primary follicles was more pronounced in Finewool than Strongwool sheep. There was no significant effect of coefficient of variation of fibre diameter on propensity to follicle shutdown induced by exogenous cortisol. It is concluded that elevation in plasma cortisol concentration is inhibitory to the normal activity of follicles in Strongwool sheep but that variation in fibre diameter has little or no effect.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제6권1호
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• pp.99-105
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• 1993

This study determined the macro-mineral levels in plants and sheep, at different times during the year, at three farms in northern China. Samples of plants, animal tissues and faeces were collected at 5 to 8 times during the year from each site. They were analysed for calcium, sodium, phosphorus, magnesium and potassium. Sodium concentrations in plants were below those recommended for optimum animal production at all sites for all or part of the year (0.01-1.66 g/kg DM). Low concentrations of sodium in faeces were measured and signs of sodium deficiency (soil ingestion) were observed on one farm. There were seasonal trends in other mineral levels in plants and animals. Plants were lowest in potassium (2.3-13.4 g/kg DM), magnesium (1.28-4.82 g/kg DM) and phosphorus (0.24-1.62 g/kg DM) in winter and spring. However, high levels of these elements were supplied in the feed supplements used at this time of the year. During the periods of rapid pasture growth, in summer and autumn, supplements of feed and salt are often not provide even though pasture concentrations of phosphorus and sodium are low. It may be at these times that sheep will be most susceptible to deficiencies of these elements.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제21권8호
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• pp.1103-1108
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• 2008

An investigation to determine frequency and distribution of folate sensitive chromosomal fragile sites was carried out in a Pakistani breed of Lohi sheep to uncover fragile site phenomena. The means and standard errors of aberrant cell count (AC) and Number of aberrations (NoA) in Lohi sheep were $0.56{\pm}0.15$ and $0.59{\pm}0.16$ in the control cultures. FUdR treated cells showed significantly higher (p<0.001) AC and NoA means ($2.18{\pm}0.33$ and $2.65{\pm}0.50$). The sex comparison for the frequency of expression indicated that males had significantly higher number of aberrant cells and total number of aberrations in FUdR cultures than the female group in Lohi sheep. The comparison of control cultures was however, not significantly different between the two groups. The regression analysis of FUdR-induced chromosomal fragility data analysis of the fragility data predicted very low ${\beta}$ of 0.325 and 0.412 for AC and NoA respectively. Lohi chromosomes expressed lesions in only 7 and 24 bands in the control and FUdR cultures respectively. The total number of significantly fragile bands in the Lohi genome was only 4. The X-chromosome of the Lohi sheep was highly stable at $5{\mu}g/ml$ FUdR with no fragile sites. The sex comparison for the distribution of fragile sites across the Lohi genome did not reveal any noticeable differences.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• 제57권3호
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• pp.8.1-8.8
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• 2015

Background: The demand for healthy, lean and consistent meat products containing low saturated fatty acid content and high quality polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), especially long-chain (${\geq}C_{20}$) omega-3 PUFA, has increased in recent times. Fat deposition is altered by both the genetic background and dietary supplements, and this study aimed to assess the effect of dietary Spirulina supplementation levels on the mRNA expression patterns of genes controlling lipid metabolism in the subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) and Longissimus dorsi (ld) muscle of Australian crossbred sheep. Methods: Twenty-four weaned lambs belonging to four breeds under the same management conditions were maintained on ryegrass pasture and fed three levels of Spirulina supplement (control, low and high). In terms of nutrient composition, Spirulina is a nutrient-rich supplement that contains all essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals. It also is a rich source of carotenoids and fatty acids, especially gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) that infer health benefits. After slaughter, subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) and ld samples were subjected to mRNA extraction and reverse transcription using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) to assess the mRNA expression levels of the Aralkylamine N-acetyltransferase (AANAT), Adrenergic beta-3 receptor (ADRB3), B-cell translocation gene 2 (BTG2) and Fatty acid synthase (FASN) genes, which are associated with lipid metabolism. Results: Both low and high Spirulina supplementation levels strongly up-regulated the transcription of all the selected genes in both SAT and ld tissues (mostly in the subcutaneous adipose), but sheep breed and sex did not influence the gene expression patterns in these tissues. Conclusions: The evidence indicates that high Spirulina supplementation level resulted in a decrease in intramuscular fat content in Australian purebred and crossbred sheep due to the enhanced production of melatonin in sheep muscle tissues and strong up-regulation of mRNA expression of BTG2 in SAT which negatively affected fat deposition. In contrast, low Spirulina supplementation level strongly up-regulated the ADRB3 and FASN genes responsible for fat production. These findings are consistent with the observed phenotypic data suggesting that low Spirulina supplementation level can increase lamb production, with higher long-chain PUFA content.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제24권7호
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• pp.940-945
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• 2011

In order to determine whether oxalate from grasses affects feed intake, blood calcium (Ca) and other blood parameters of adult sheep, two feeding trials were conducted. In Trial 1, one group of sheep received guineagrass (0.47% soluble oxalate) and another group received setaria (1.34% soluble oxalate) for 28 d. In Trial 2, one group of sheep received guineagrass while another group received the same grass treated with an oxalic acid solution (at a rate of 30 g oxalic acid/kg dry matter of hay) for 72 d. All sheep received concentrate mixtures (0.5% of body weight) throughout the experiment. In both trials, it was observed that plasma Ca concentration (11.0-11.7 mg/dl) was significantly (p<0.05) lower in sheep fed high oxalate-containing grasses than in sheep fed low oxalate-containing grasses (12.4-13.7 mg/dl). No differences (p>0.05) were observed in concentrations of magnesium, phosphorus and parathyroid hormone in plasma between the feeding of low and high oxalate-containing grasses. In addition, no differences (p>0.05) were observed in roughage dry mater (DM) intake, total DM intake or body weight of sheep. This study suggests that sheep may consume oxalate-rich forage, but Ca bioavailability may decrease with increasing oxalate levels in the ration.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제22권1호
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• pp.1-6
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• 2009

Genetic variability is an important component in the ability of populations to adapt in the face of environmental change. Severe human impacts reduced Muzzafarnagri sheep of India from 500,000 in 1972 to 10,989 in 1973-74. Here we report for the first time the effect of this population decline on levels of genetic variability at 13 FAO recommended ovine microsatellite loci and contrast levels of variability to that in a breed from the same geographical region, which differed in numbers, by an order of magnitude (Marwari sheep). Of the 13 loci, 100% were polymorphic in both breeds. A high degree of genetic variation was observed within populations in terms of both allele diversity (number of alleles per locus, >4) and gene diversity (expected heterozygosity, >0.5), which implied that there is still a substantial amount of genetic diversity at the nuclear loci in a declining population. Nevertheless, overall low number of alleles per locus and relatively less abundance of low frequency alleles in Muzzafarnagri sheep suggested that genetic variability has been comparatively reduced in this population. Bottleneck analysis indicated that a genetic bottleneck did not occur during the most recent decline. In addition, we found that the differentiation among populations was moderate ($F_{ST}$= 11.8%). This study on assessment of genetic effects of the population declines in ovines is a step towards identification of genetically impoverished or healthy populations, which could prove to be a useful tool to facilitate conservation planning in this important species of small ruminants.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제11권3호
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• pp.318-322
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• 1998

Using polyacrylamide-gel isoelectric focusing followed by immunoblotting, genetic polymorphism of plasma vitamin D-binding protein (Gc) was examined in Asian sheep. The Gc polymorphism was revealed in the Khalkhas sheep of Mongolia, consisting of F, S and W variants, and the Yunnan native sheep of China, consisting of F and S variants. In particular, W was a new variant. The V variant detected in European sheep up to now was not observed in these sheep. The Bhyanglung, Baruwal, Kagi and Lampuchhre sheep of Nepal and local sheep of Bangladesh and Vietnam were monomorphic for the S variant. Family data and population genetic data supported the hypothesis that these variants were controlled by codominant alleles. In these Asian sheep, distribution of the $Gc^s$ allele was predominant (0.9571-1) and was seen as well in European sheep (Suffolk, Corriedale, Cheviot and Finnish Landrace) raised in Japan. $Gc^w$ allele was detected only in the Khalkhas sheep with the low frequency of 0.0025. The $Gc^v$ allele was detected in the Suffolk and Corriedale sheep (0.0080 and 0.0682), but not in any of the Asian sheep studied.