Všechny tituly 409 výsledků

Genetic evaluation of beef cattle in Slovakia started in first years of this century. After the first decade of running the routine evaluations it is important to review the progress made and to discuss the further development. The aim of this paper was to compile and deliver genetic and phenotypic trends in order to review importance of evaluated traits with respect to four major beef (Charolais, Limousine) and dual-purpose breeds (Slovak Pinzgau cattle, Slovak Spotted cattle). The study showed different progress made across the breeds. Higher genetic progress was observed in Charolais purebreds compared to Limousine counterparts. Moreover, almost similar progress to that in Charolais was observed in dual-purpose Slovak Pinzgau cattle. On the other hand no progress was observed in Slovak Spotted purebreds. Results also showed higher progress in bulls compared to cows. Phenotypic trends showed reserves for improvement in Charolais and closing to breed standards in Limousine. In dualpurpose breeds improvement was shown only in Slovak Pinzgau, while no improvement or decrease in actual weights was shown in Slovak Spotted purebreds.

The value of soybean varieties in terms of general combining ability (GCA), constants of specific combining ability (SCA) and their variances in terms of productivity elements in two-tester top-cross crossings were determined. Differentiating ability of Hoverla and KyVin testers was revealed. The degree and frequency of positive transgressions in hybrid populations were established.There were established high effects of general combining ability by plant height and height of attachment of lower beans in Sawyer 2-95 variety and KyVin tester; by the number of productive units in Sawyer 2-95 variety and Hoverla tester; by pod number per plant in Sawyer 2-95 and Kyivska 97 and Hoverla tester; by seed number per plant in Kyivska 97 and Medea varieties and Hoverla tester; by 1,000 seed weight in Sawyer 2-95 and Kyivska 97 varieties and Hoverla tester; by seed weight per plant in Medea and Kyivska 97 varieties and Hoverla tester; in terms of yield in Medea variety and Hoverla tester. It was found that additive effects of genes were dominating in genetic control of the traits of plant height, height of attachment of lower beans, number of productive nodes, pod number per plant, seed number per plant, 1,000 seed weight, seed productivity and yield, the share of non-additive effects of the gene interaction was lower, however, it was also reliable. Analysis of dominance indicators revealed combinations of crosses that were distinguished by overdominance of these traits and had significant breeding value: Sawyer 2-95 × Hoverla, Kyivska 97 × Hoverla, Medea × Hoverla.

The submission aims to present results of the five-year research project, oriented on the evaluation of genetic diversity of selected populations of economically important animal species in Slovakia, their sustainable adaptation and production potential in the context of preservation of genetic resources and food safety. Under the supervision of Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding Biology, Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources of the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra run between 2015- 2019 project called Molecular-genetic diversity and production potential of animal genetic resources in Slovakia (APVV-14-0054). Considering the difficulty and complexity of studied issues was research realized in close collaboration with the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU) and Zagreb University. Erosion of genetic diversity represents the main threat for food safety of mankind. Individuals of economically important animal species groups accumulate risks and threats of loss of sustainable adaptation as a reaction to the environment due to intense selective breeding. It is therefore important and needed to focus on permanent monitoring and evaluation of diversity of economically important breeds based on the diverse parameter and suitable methods.

The aim of the present study was to analyse the genetic diversity of the endangered horse breeds kept in the Czech Republic. A set of 13 microsatellites was used for genotyping 349 Silesian Norikers, 397 Norikers, 552 Czech-Moravian Belgian horses, 271 Old Kladrubers (175 greys, 95 blacks) and 241 Hucul horses. The proportion of obtained heterozygosity indicates no major loss of genetic diversity within analyzed breeds. The Wright’s FST and genetic distances indicated genetic segregation of both colour varieties of the Old Kladruber breed and small genetic distances between draft horse breeds. Moreover, the membership probability outputs showed that the frequencies of alleles varied across the three main regions. First region is represented by draft horse breeds, second region is represented by Old Kladruber horse and the last is represented by Hucul breed. The study provides data and information utilizable in the management of conservation programs in order to reduce inbreeding and to minimize loss of genetic variability.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the state of genetic diversity in population of Barbary lion based on the genealogical analysis. Currently, this lion subspecies does not occur in the wild, and its population is considered to be critically endangered. The pedigree file consisted of 545 animals, while the reference population included 445 individuals. Alongside pedigree completeness, the parameters derived from common ancestor were used to analyse the state of genetic diversity in target population. The completeness of pedigree data had significantly decreasing tendency with increasing generations. The pedigree completeness index was the highest in the first generation (68 %). The average value of the inbreeding coefficient was very similar in the reference population and the pedigree file (F = 0.05). Across generations, the trend of inbreeding increase was positive mainly due to the long-term use of specific lines and families for mating. The relative high average relatedness among individuals (AR = 0.06) only reflected the individual increase in inbreeding (3.18 %). As expected the higher level of individual increase in inbreeding was found in the pedigree file (3.41 %). The effective population size at level 26.66 confirmed that the Barbary lion is critically endangered by the loss of diversity. Because of this, the future continuous monitoring of genetic diversity of this subspecies is necessary, especially for long-term conservation purposes.

The aim of this study was to estimate the genetic parameters for the birth weight and weaning weight in Charolais and Limousine cattle breeds. In this study was used the records from 2018 calves from Charolais breed and 2099 calves from Limousine breed for the birth weight while for weaning weight the records were from 1125 calves Charolais and 1092 calves Limousine. The genetic parameters were estimated with maternal animal model. The data were from Romanian Breeding Association for beef cattle. The direct heritability of birth weight and weaning weight were 0.67 and 0.35 for Charolais breed while for Limousine breed were 0.70 and 0.69. The maternal heritability of birth weight and weaning weight were 0.26 and 0.12 for Charolais and 0.245, 0.249 respectively for Limousine breed. The total heritability for birth weight and weaning weight was high in Charolais and Limousine breeds. Direct-maternal correlations were negative for birth weight (-0.340) for Charolais and (-0.311) for Limousine and for weaning weight (-0.306) for Charolais and (-0.290) for Limousine.

The genetic structure of five goat breeds bred in Slovakia was characterized using a visible genetic profile and biochemical polymorphic systems. Tree dairy goat breeds – White Shorthaired, Brown Shorthaired and Alpine goats – and two wool goat breeds – Angora and Cashmere goats – were evaluated. Calculated were the heterozygosity and the effective number of alleles for each locus based on the allele frequencies of eight genes determining type traits and biochemical polymorphic systems, as well as their average values as indicators characterizing the genetic variability of each breed. The genetic differences between breeds were also determined.

In this study, the intra- and inter-population level of genetic diversity of 26 transboundary and local sheep breeds reared in the Czech Republic was analysed. A total of 14,999 animals genotyped for 11 microsatellite markers were included to describe the gene pool of the breeds. The level of genetic diversity was derived from the proportion of heterozygous animals among and within breeds. The average polymorphic information content (0.745) and Shannon’s index (1.361) showed a high genetic variability of the applied set of genetic markers. The average observed heterozygosity (0.683 ± 0.009), as well as FIS index (-0.025 ± 0.004), pointed to a sufficient proportion of heterozygotes concerning the loss of genetic diversity. The deficit of heterozygotes was most evident in Cameroon sheep (FIS = 0.036). The Nei's genetic distances and Wright's FST indexes showed that the analysed breeds are genetically differentiated to separate clusters with Cameroon sheep as the most genetically distant breed. Individual variation accounted for 83.2 % of total diversity conserved across breeds, whereas 16.8 % of genetic similarity resulted from the inter-population reduction in heterozygosity.

Apple stand on the top of the most desirable and most produced fruit species in the world. Despite enormously wide genetic diversity among existing apple varieties, the current market is mostly oriented on several cultivars of commercially attractive traits. For the preservation of genetic resources and for breeding programmes, the evaluation of genetic diversity is fundamental. Number of marker systems have been developed and adopted in the assessment apple germplasm. In the present study, CDDP marker technique was used to analyse polymorphism within the genomes of fifteen apple varieties which are of large commercial use. Five primer combinations were used in the PCR amplification: WRKY-F1/WRKY-R1, WRKY-F1/WRKY-R2, WRKY-F1/WRKY-R2B, WRKY-F1/WRKY-R3 and WRKY-F1/WRKY-R3B. All primer combinations produced polymorphic amplification patterns. In some primer combinations, identical amplification profiles were observed in few varieties, but amplification patterns of all combinations merged were specific for each apple variety. Identical profiles were only seen in Red Delicious and Granny Smith in F1/R1 primer combination, May Gold and Paula Red, and Selena and Melodie in F1/R2 primer combination and May Gold and Paula Red when F1/R3B primers were used. Based on the CDDP markers, UPGMA algorithm assessed cultivars Paula Red and May Gold as the most similar (with similarity value of 0.909), whereas Gloster and Ambrosia showed to be the least similar within the analyzed set (similarity value of 0.200). The study proved CDDP markers to be suitable tool to produce polymorphic amplification patterns in apple genotypes.

Feed represents a substantial proportion of the variable costs of pig production. Feed efficiency is traditionally expressed as the feed conversion ratio (FCR) and more recently as residual feed intake (RFI). Although feed efficiency can be generally improved indirectly by selection for increased growth rate and decreased adipose tissue, a higher genetic response could be achieved through direct selection of feed intake traits. The aim of this study was to provide a pilot analysis of feed intake data of 281 Czech Large White boars. Data were recorded individually using the Feed Intake Recording Equipment in field performance testing from 2018 to 2020. The analysed feed intake traits were average daily feed intake (ADFI), FCR and RFI. RFI was calculated as the deviation of observed ADFI and average population ADFI predicted on the basis of the model, with mid-test metabolic weight and average daily gain as regressors. The heritability estimates were 0.35 and 0.34 for ADFI and FCR, respectively, and the estimate was slightly higher (0.43) for RFI. The genetic standard deviations ranged from 100 to 110 g of feed per day and 103 g of feed per kg of weight gain. The amounts of explained variability by environmental effects of jointly tested animals were from 0.20 to 0.46. The sufficient amount of genetic variability and moderate heritability estimates give the possibility for selection of feed intake traits, although a larger number of animals will be essential to estimate more precise breeding values.

Chianina, Marchigiana, Maremmana, Podolica and Romagnola are the main Italian beef cattle breeds, and the quality of their products is largely recognized worldwide. This paper aims to determine the genetic variability and population differentiation by heterozygosity and fixation indices using SNPs data. The dataset was composed of 3,581 animals (Chianina, n = 909; Marchigiana, n = 879; Maremmana, n = 334; Podolica, n = 555; Romagnola, n = 904). The blood samples were collected in ANABIC performance testing station from 1985 to 2019. All the animals were genotyped with the GeneSeek GGP-LDv4 33k SNP chip containing 30,111 SNPs. The genotype quality control for each breed was conducted separately, and SNPs with call rate smaller than 0.95 and minor allele frequency larger than 5% were used for further analysis. Heterozygosity and FIS index were estimated in PLINK v1.9, and FST index was estimated using the hierstat package of R 4.0.1 software. The genetic analysis highlighted low values of heterozygosity in the improved beef breeds compared to the heritage breeds; moreover, the low values of FIS indicated a positive effect of controlled genetic inbreeding in the studied breeds. The FST; analysis confirmed the historical origin of Marchigiana breed and the values are consistent with their common breeding programmes. In this study, the importance of monitoring genetic variability of Italian beef cattle breeds was emphasized in order to maintain breed identity and genetic diversity in the selection process.

Populations of western honeybee (Apis mellifera) show differences in morphology, physiology and behaviour as a result of adaptation to various habitats. A. m. carnica, which inhabits the South-East and Central Europe, and A. m. ligustica, which is endemic on Apennine peninsula, represent 2 closely related honeybee subspecies living in the neighbouring climatic regions. In the current study, 3,655,618 polymorphisms were identified from the whole genome sequences of 37 individual drone genomes, from A. m. carnica (n=27) and A. m. ligustica (n=10). The analysis revealed variation in genes involved in biological pathways associated with energy production and conversion, cell cycle and cytokinesis.

Clinical mastitis is an inflammatory disease of the mammary gland that largely impacts dairy farming profitability and welfare. Globally, a massive scientific effort is being made to elucidate the possible link of certain genotypes to the susceptibility to this disease. After data pruning controlling for genotype missingness, minor allele frequency, and population stratification, 51 557 SNPs from 1 042 animals have been analysed using the general linear model (GLM). Two SNPs, BTA-121769-no-rs and BTB-00265951, have demonstrated statistically significant associations (–log10(p) > 6.0134), both located on the chromosome BTA6. The detected SNPs have been annotated within a reference genome. They have been found to lie outside of transcribed regions but within the vicinity of genes essential for the immune response. This finding further supports the case for their significance in the resistance to mastitis. In addition, 14 relatively weaker associations (–log10(p) > 4) have been observed across chromosomes BTA1, 2, 9, 14, 19, 24 and 25.

In this study, 68 genotyped purebred cows and bulls of Charolais cattle were used to determine runs of homozygosity (ROH) for evaluation of selection effect on the genome structure. ROH analysis was performed for 41,153 SNPs, and homozygous segments considering a minimum of 15 consecutive SNPs. The aim was to identify if regions of the genome with a high frequency of SNPs in ROH include signatures of selection. The most significant outlier SNPs were found on BTA2, 5, 7 and 19 (11 regions), with a sum of ROH length of 15.85 Mb. These regions contained genes included in various biological processes associated with the functioning of the immune system, growth, reproduction and metabolism. Various quantitative traits loci (QTLs) which affected the characteristics of meat production and reproduction have been identified in these regions. Overall, obtained results suggest that the Charolais cattle genome includes selection signatures reflecting the improvement of meat production and reproduction in accordance to breeding objecives.

The aim of the study was to determine the state of genetic diversity in Charolais and Limousine populations. The analysis was based on the panel of 49 629 SNPs that were used for genotyping of 85 individuals. For the assessment of the genetic diversity, the genomic inbreeding coefficient resulting from runs of homozygosity distribution in the genome and linkage disequilibrium based effective population size (Ne) were calculated. The results reflected a decrease in recent inbreeding (FROH >16 Mb under 1%) compared to historical (FROH >1 Mb in average 6%). The current effective population size was estimated based on the linear regression using Ne estimates for 50 generations ago. The effective population size across all analysed animals was 33.05 for Charolais breed (decrease of 4.51 animals per generation) and 7.02 for Limousine breed (decrease of 2.81 animals per generation). The estimation of current Ne indicated the endangered status of assessment populations and referred the need for continuous monitoring to increase population size but without reducing genetic diversity as a result of inbreeding.

Multi-environment trials were conducted in two locations (Algiers and Setif) during two crop seasons in order to assess the responses of 17 genotype of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) by evaluation of genotype-by-environment interactions (GEI) on grain yield and determine the stable genotypes. Results showed significant (p <0.001) effects of environment and genotypes and their interaction on grain yield. The genotypes had different behavior conducting to yield variation in the tested locations. So, selection could consider a specific adaptation of the genotypes and their yield stability. The Additive main effects and multiplicative interaction analysis is a useful tool allowing to explore important information on the obtained results; it revealed that ‘Plaisant/ charan01’ is the most stable genotype followed by ‘Barberousse’ and ‘Barberousse/Chorokhod’, while ‘Begonia’ and ‘Plaisant’ were unstable with specific adaptation to Setif location during 2018/19. the cultivar ‘Express’ presented a high productivity.

The African Chicken Genetic Gain (ACGG) project (https://africacgg.net/) aims at backyard poultry optimization by commercial dual-purpose breeds introduction into Africa. To measure benefits, genotype by environment interaction (GxE) analysis provides guidance while predicting environmental effects on production traits of breeds. A survey among Ethiopian poultry smallholders showed egg sale being the most important purpose of keeping village chickens in Oromia. Data was available about laying of 894 ACGG chickens in Oromia. Hence current research questions were: 1) Does GxE take place? 2) Which breed performs best regarding laying and in which environment within Oromia? Traits investigated were egg number and egg weight of five breeds (S-RIR, Sasso, Horro, Kuroiler and Koekoek) located in three zones (East Hararge, East and West Shoa) and 5 districts (Adami Tulu, Bako Tibe, Dano, Dugda and Haromaya) in Oromia. Observations were taken as group measure performing weighted analyses. GxE was only present for egg number with magnitude strongest for zone. S-RIR performed best for both traits in both environments, except Kuroiler performing better in East Shoa for egg number and Koekoek for egg weight. This indicates success of crossbreed S-RIR. Sasso and Horro performed worst supported by previous research for Horro but not Sasso. Low precipitation in East Shoa caused bigger distance in egg number predictions, being higher for S-RIR and lower for Horro and Sasso compared to West Shoa. Apart from these final conclusions, social context of breeding and data collection difficulties should not be forgotten. Just like relevance of other performance trait analyses.

Grape pomace is a bioactive compound rich winery by-product having antioxidant properties. However, its use in equine nutrition in this regard have been unexploited to date. Thus, this study aimed to investigate whether dried grape pomace (DGP) could enhance the antioxidant mechanisms of horses. Redox status was assessed through glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in blood serum, and ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP). Twelve horses were assigned to three groups recieving a basal diet (control group) or the basal diet supplemented with 200 g of DGP (experimental group 1), or 400 g of DGP (experimental group 2) for 30 days. Dietary DGP supplementation of horses at a level of 200 g positively affected their redox status through increased FRAP (P<0.05). However, no changes in the activity of enzymes GPx and SOD were detected neither at the level of 200 g nor 400 g of DGP. Based on the presented results, further research is required to test other levels of DGP in horse diets and its potential to affect the redox status of these animals.

The agroforestry system could be considered a dynamic management of the natural resource based on the integration of trees with crops or livestock. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the grass intake and the oxidative status of meat of geese reared in three different agroforestry systems: apple orchard (AO), olives trees (OT) and vineyard (V). Eighty one-day old Romagnola geese of both sexes were divided in four homogeneous groups: control (C), with indoor density of 5 geese/m2 and without pasture access, and the three agroforestry systems (AO, OT, V), with 1 hectare of pasture each. The geese were reared inside a poultry house until 20 days of age. At 21 days of age the animals belonging to AO, OT and V were allowed to outdoor access (pasture), whereas geese of the C group were kept indoor. At 150 days of age, the geese were slaughtered in a commercial slaughterhouse. After 24 h of storage at +4°C the breast and drumstick muscles were analysed to determine the fatty acid profile, the antioxidants content and the oxidative status. All the data were statistically analysed with ANOVA. The results showed that the grazing activity of geese improved the n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids content, the n-6/n-3 ratio and the antioxidant content, especially in geese kept in the agroforestry systems enriched with trees (AO and OT). Indeed, the presence of trees make animals feel protected and stimulated them to explore the pasture and consequently to consume more grass. However, the best oxidative status was exhibited by the C geese. In the other groups the higher antioxidants intake through grass was not able to counteract the higher oxidative thrust and consequently, the meat of outdoor reared geese was characterized by a worst oxidative status. Further research is needed to identify new possible strategies to increase the antioxidant content in the muscle in order to reduce the lipid oxidation.

Field trials were conducted in the early cropping seasons of 2014, 2015 and 2016 at Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (7° 20‘ N, 3° 23‘ E) Nigeria to evaluate intercropped cucumber and jackbean as supplements to pre-emergence herbicides on growth and yield of maize. The treatments were arranged in a split – plot arrangement fitted into Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The six main plot treatments consisted of maize at 100 × 37.5 cm intercropped with cucumber, maize at 100 × 37.5 cm intercropped with jackbean, maize at 75 × 50 cm intercropped with cucumber, maize at 75 × 50 cm intercropped with jackbean, sole maize at 100 × 37.5 cm, sole maize at 75 × 50 cm, completed the treatments as controls. Eight treatments were assigned to the sub – plot. Data collected were subjected to Analysis of Variance while significant means were separated using Duncan`s Multiple Range Test (p <0.05). Sole maize at 75 × 50 cm and the intercrop with jackbean consistently produced significantly higher (p <0.05) shoot dry matter, compared to other cropping patterns while maize intercropped with cucumber depressed the aforementioned parameter. Propaben at 1.6 kg a.i·ha-1 followed by (fb) supplementary hoe weeding (SHW) resulted in higher stand count, vigour score, shoot dry matter and maize cob yield relative to other weed control methods. Therefore, maize should be planted at 75 × 50 cm with or without jackbean and sprayed with Propaben at 1.6 kg a.i·ha-1 fb SHW as this gave the maximum values.