„breed“ 119 výsledků

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 analyse several genetic and non-genetic factors that can affect the calving difficulty of Slovak Spotted cattle and to find out their statistical significance. A total of 417030 calving difficulty records from 174795 dams were collected during the calving parity from 2001 to 2017. The impact of factors affecting the calving difficulty was analysed by using procGLM implemented in SAS 9.3 on the basis of multifactor analysis of variance. The effects of the herd, a year of calving, the sex of a calf, a breed type, a month of calving, the parity and the sire were tested. The sex of born calf was the most statistically significant factor (R2 =25,5 %). The calving difficulty was significantly affected also by the herd, a year of calving, a month of calving, the parity and sire. Each of these effects showed high level of significance (P<0.001). The lowest level of statistical significance was found for effect of breed type. Based on obtained results we recommend continuing to use the recording of calving difficulty for the purposes of evaluation of effect of sire on inheritance

Calving difficulty is one of important economic traits in beef production. In the Slovak Republic calving difficulty in beef cattle is recorded on the regular basis, however, these data have not been used so far in decision making. The aim of this study was to get the first insight into the data. Data on 288 346 calvings in 5 major Slovak populations (Charolais, Limousine, Slovak Simmental, Pinzgau, Beef Simmental) during the period 1990-2017 were exploited. The primary analyses showed that there exist differences in the incidence of the difficult calvings according to the breed of the dam. The lowest rate of assisted calvings was observed in Limousine breed. Lower incidence was observed when calvings of crossbred matings were considered. Only slight associations of difficult calvings with sex of calves, parity and season of calvings were observed. Slightly higher rates of assisted calvings were observed in the group of heifers and births of males.

The aim of the present study was to compare the fatty acid composition of dry fermented sausage made from Crna slavonska pig and modern hybrids reared in diverse production systems. The study was performed on Baranjski kulen, a traditional PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) labelled sausage. Baranjski kulen produced from pigs included in the study differed in their fatty acid profile, with kulen made from Crna slavonska pigs having a higher content of MUFA, lower content of PUFA and a more favourable PUFA/SFA ratio. The results of the present study demonstrate that meat originating from breeds raised in specific production system affects the fatty acid composition as one of the major determinants of nutritional product quality.

Busha cattle are indigenous breed in many Balkan countries. Because of the economic, cultural and scientific reasons it is very important to protect biological diversity of autochthonous breeds like Busha. In the past several decades, as a result of uncontrolled crossing of this cattle with some more productive breeds, the number of purebred Busha animals is permanently being reduced which imposes an urgent need for setting up in situ and ex situ conservation program for this breed. Since Busha is bred in many Balkan countries, the aim of this study was to define main productive, reproductive and exterior traits of Busha cattle in the following countries: Bosnia and Hercegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia. Also, number of animals and possibility of future production system was analysed. Analysed data indicate that highest milk production potential and lowest age at first mating has Serbian Busha (till 2000 kg in lactation, at 18 months). Regarding the exterior traits, smallest frame was observed in Bosnian and Macedonian Busha. The population decrease in the past several decades was determined in all analysed countries. The conservation programs in Croatia and Serbia resulted in certain increase of Busha population, but aiming successful preservation of the breed, economically effective production systems should be put in practice. The branding of Busha’s products could result in necessary added value. Taking into account similarity between all Busha breeds as well as population sizes, branding should be organized on regional level.

The aim of study was to evaluate the impact of genetic and non-genetic factors on somatic cells count in Slovak Simmental dairy cows in period 2009 to 2013. We observed subsequent results in dairy cows of 55 822 Slovak Simmental cattle. Data were analysed using the SAS and linear model with fixed effects of herd, years and months controls, sire, breeding type. The results of somatic cells count during the years 2009 and 2013 were as follows: the highest number of samples was analysed during 2010 (n = 288 215), where the average count was 560.48*103 ·ml-1. The lowest average value of somatic cells count was of amount of 535.93*103 ·ml-1 (n = 280 732) in 2009.The linear model represents coefficient determination R2 = 0.038296 % (P<0.001) for SCC with all fixed effects. According to the analyses by the effects on SCC the highest effect was the effect of herd R2 = 0.021625, then effect of sire R2 = 0.015075. These effects were highly statistically significant (P<0.001). Correlation coefficients among milk in kg, fat, protein in % with somatic cells count were r = -0.12918, r = 0.04166 and r = 0.11423. These coefficients were highly statistically significant (P<0.001).

Lipizzan horse breed was founded in 1580 in Lipica and introduced to Croatia in 1800 by earl Andrija Jankovich- Bésán. Earl Jankovich founded stallion bloodline Tulip and mare families Czirka, Ercel, Traviata, Margit, Manczi and 502 Moszgo Perla. Herd books showed that South African Lipizzan population is based on Czirka and Ercel mare families that are originally Croatian thus provided potential genetic enrichment of Croatian Lipizzan gene pool. In this study a 648 bp mitochondrial DNA fragment from 50 South African Republic Lipizzan horses was analysed and 249 sequences from Čačić doctoral thesis was retrieved. Mitochondrial DNA analysis of South African Lipizzan horses and their comparison with Croatian Lipizzan horses present that South African Lipizzan horses have five unique haplotypes but still maintain connection with Croatian Lipizzan by sharing a haplotype. Future analysis with high throughput genetic marker such as SNP or WGS will surely provide interesting results.

The objective of this study was to compare the pure chicken breeds Oravka (OR; n = 50), Amrock (AM; n = 50) and their cross Oravka×Amrock (ORAM; n = 50) and Amrock×Oravka (AMOR; n = 50) for productive and carcass parameters. The birds were maintained on a deep litter system for a period of 20 weeks. We recorded that crossbred ORAM and AMOR chickens performed better than the average of parental genotypes for body weight and body weight gain in brooding and growing period. The poor (P<0.05) feed conversion was observed in AM chickens and better feed conversion was recorded in OR and both crossbred chickens. The crossbred chickens had lowest (P<0.05) mortality than pure bred AM chickens. The carcass parts, giblets and abdominal fat percentages had non-significant (P>0.05) difference among pure and crossbred chickens. The highest carcass yield was observed in ORAM (62.53%) followed by AMOR (62.48%), AM (62.41%) and OR (62.39%) chickens.

The aim of the experiment was study the effect of different feeding system on fatty acids (FA) profile of cow’s milk. The tank’s samples from two farms were collected. On these farms breed: the Slovak Spotted cattle was reared. Feeding system was realized on the base pasture + supplementary feeding without silage – grazing feeding system (farm A) and silage feeding system (farm B). The FA profile in the milk samples with the apparatus (Agilent 6890A GC, Agilent technologies, USA) were analysed. Feeding system affects FA profile of cow’s milk. Significantly higher proportion of FA in milk samples: C4:0, C17:0, C18:1 cis-n9, C18:2 cis-n9, C18:3-n3 and C20:0 in milk from grazing feeding system (farm A) was detected. The samples of milk only from this feeding system contained C20:5 n3. Significantly higher content of 18:2 cis n6 and presence of C13:0, C20:3 n6 and C20:4 n6 only in milk samples from silage feeding system were determined. Significantly lower proportion of saturated FA was typical for milk from farm A and significantly higher proportion of polyunsaturated FA was characteristic for the samples from farm B. The influence of the feeding system on the monounsaturated FA content was not confirmed. In milk samples from both feeding systems very different n6/n3 FA ratio was detected, with lower value for milk from grazing feeding system (1.36 vs. 9.12).

Increased interest in the breeding of beef cows results from the trends of society, especially in the consumption of quality raw materials of animal origin. Breeding of beef cattle is often encountered as part of a modern rural lifestyle. The good growth ability of calves is a decisive factor in the profitability of breeding of suckling cows and decides on the breeder‘s satisfaction in setting purchase prices. This quantity is expressed mainly by the average daily gains and the live weight of calves under one year of age. In addition to the achieved weight of beef, is very important shaping of individual body parts representing the most valuable meat parts of animal, to which the body measurements of sires must correspond. Weight gains point to the degree of adaptation of a specific breed to the farming conditions. Equally, the genetic basis of an individual influences the achieved weight of animal. Genetic improvement of meat performance depends on breeding programs that exploit genetic variability between breeds and within the breed. Moreover, the breeding conditions and animal handling could influence the increasing of live weight. Breeding efficiency will always be a summary of factors that determine the own cost and the purchase price of weaned calves. In view of the above, this review is focuses on the main intrinsic and extrinsic factors influencing the growth characteristics of different cattle breeds as well as its relationship with slaughter characteristics.

This study is aimed at proposing mulberry sericulture as an alternative to strengthen the agricultural economy of Hooghly district of West Bengal, India. Exploration of four breeds of mulberry silkworm, Bombyx mori (Linnaeus, 1758), popular in West Bengal (viz., two multivoltine breeds – Nistari Plain and Nistari Marked, One Bivoltine breed – SK6 X SK7 hybrid and one F1 Hybrid from cross between Nistari Plain and SK6 X SK7 hybrid) have been conducted in the Sericulture Research Laboratory, Post Graduate department of Zoology, Hooghly Mohsin College, Chinsurah, Hooghly, West Bengal, India, for three consecutive years (2016-2019) for various rearing parameters (viz., larval duration, matured larval weight, cocoon weight, shell weight, shell ratio , effective rate of rearing , absolute silk content and yield) along with common meteorological data (viz., average temperature, average relative humidity, photoperiod). The study reveals Hooghly district to be very conducive for mulberry sericulture with the multivoltine breeds to be most suitable, although rearing of F1 hybrid and bivoltine breeds should also be promoted for their better economic value. Among the seasons, late Autumn (Oct.-Nov.) and early Spring (Feb.-Mar.) are found to be most suitable commercial rearing seasons for almost all the breeds, whereas the extended summer months including Spring, Summer and rainy season (Mar.-Aug.) are unfavourable, indicating deleterious effect of temperature and humidity on the rearing performance of these breeds, for which remedies such as sub-lethal heat shock can be explored.

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 study aimed to examine the analyses of the trend in the numbers of dairy cows, production and reproductive traits in the population the Slovak Spotted cattle for period 2010 to 2019. The number of Slovak Spotted dairy cows is maintained on a relatively stable level in recent years. There was a decrease in the number of animals (12 428 in 2010), but not as strong as after 1990 (85 518). From 2017 number of animals is rising from 14,062, to 14,150 (2018) and 14,627 (2019), respectively. As compared to 2010 an increase of 13.15% in 2017, 13.86% and 17.68%, in 2018 and 2019 respectively was observed. Population size raised from 113.15% (2017) to 117.68% in 2019 respectively. The average annual increase in milk production between the years 2010 to 2019 was + 157.5 kg of milk (total 1,575 kg of milk), + 5.8 kg of fat (total 58 kg of fat) and + 6.1 kg of protein (total 61 kg of protein). Positive growth of milk production in recent years is slightly comparable with the trend of breeding improvement.

Dog breeds are the leading examples of artificial selection, with sometimes extreme changes between the wolf-like phenotypes and current breeds. This increased selection pressure manifest in increased homozygosity throughout the genome, including the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) with large influence on the immune system. The MHC region in 98 Leonberger and 37 Standard Poodle dogs was examined using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data. The overall homozygosity levels and via the runs of homozygosity (ROH) were calculated as indicators to assess the MHC regions, compared to other random parts of the dog genome. High proportion of homozygosity was observed in all examined chromosomes, ranging from 58 to 78%. The ROH was preferred to the overall level of homozygosity, as it showed the variability within the MHC regions. The homozygosity was even lower at the locations of the genes with a known effect on the immune response, confirming previous findings.

Farrowing records of the Duroc, Hampshire and Pietrain breed were analysed by means of a three-trait repeatability animal model. The examined traits were number of piglets born alive (NBA), number of weaned piglets (NWE) and litter weight at weaning (LWWE). Heritability estimates were 0.10, 0.08 and 0.12 for NBA, NWE and LWWE, respectively. The ratios of the permanent environmental variance to the phenotypic variance were 0.08, 0.05 and 0.03 for NBA, NWE and LWWE, respectively. Using the estimated breeding values a desired index was constructed in order to improve each trait by one additive genetic standard deviation. NWE and NBA have a high correlation and range within breeds from 0.87 to 0.91, but LWWE had poor to moderate correlation with NBA and NWE (0.13 to 0.59). Animals ranking based on index showed better genetic merit for Duroc breed and the index scores ranged from 49.77 to 186.56. In the case of Hampshire and Pietrain breeds somewhat lower index scores (30.92 to 165.97) were observed. The estimated genetic trend for NBA was highest for the Pietrain breed (0.02), but for Duroc and Hampshire breeds the estimates were zero and negative (-0.01). For NWE the estimated genetic trends were practically zero for Duroc and Pietrain breeds and it was 0.02 for Pietrain. LWWE showed highest genetic trend for Duroc breed (0.17) but it was lower (0.09) for Pietrain and and negative (-0.24) for Hampshire.

Somatic cell count (SCC) has been extensively used as indicator of udder health and milk quality. Recent developments in milk-testing technology have led to cell differentiation in milk in a high throughput manner. Information on the proportion of the different cell types in milk would represent a valuable asset for a more precise definition of udder health status. The aim of the present study was to apply receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis to define the most accurate thresholds of milk differential somatic cell count (DSCC), which represents the percentage of neutrophils plus lymphocytes in the total SCC. The dataset accounted for 117,482 test-day records of 60,009 Holstein Friesian, Brown Swiss and Simmental cows. Different thresholds were defined so that DSCC trends were analysed throughout the lactation, considering also the classification factors of breed and parity. Finally, cows were classified as healthy, susceptible, mastitic or chronic on the basis of their health status, which was defined combining the information of SCC (below or above 200,000 cells/mL) and DSCC (below or above the specific cut-off). Our findings offered new insights for a practical use of DSCC to screen for mastitis, in order to help farmers make decisions to reduce the use of antimicrobials in the herd.

International evaluation models for beef cattle allow to compare animals’ estimated breeding values (EBV) across different countries, thanks to sires having offspring in more than one country. In this study we aimed to provide an up-to-date picture of the Interbeef international beef cattle evaluations from a national perspective, considering both large and small populations. Limousin age-adjusted weaning weight (AWW) phenotypes were available for 3,115,598 animals from 10 European countries, born between 1972 and 2017. EBV and reliabilities were obtained using a multi-trait animal model including maternal effects where AWW from different countries are modelled as different traits. We investigated the country of origin of the sires with internationally publishable EBV and, among them, the country of origin of the top 100 sires for each country scale. All countries had 20 to 28,557 domestic sires whose EBV were publishable, according to Interbeef’s rules, on the scale of other countries. All countries, except one, had domestic sires that ranked among the top 100 sires on other country scales. Across countries, inclusion of information from relatives recorded in other countries increased the reliability of EBV for domestic animals on average by 9.6 percentage points for direct EBV, and 8.3 percentage points for maternal EBV. In conclusion, international evaluations provide small countries access to a panel of elite foreign sires with EBV on their country scale and a more accurate estimation of EBV of domestic animals, while large countries obtain EBV for their sires on the scale of different countries which helps to better promote them.

Recently, more evidences of epigenetic impact on the male fertility, particularly on sperm DNA methylation have been reported. Data related to this issue in livestock males is still limited. The present study analyzed the DNA methylation status of the important gene for spermatogenesis, SIRT1, in ram sperm and its correspondence with semen quality and fertilizing ability. The ejaculates of 10 rams (5 rams - 1.5 years old, and 5 rams - 4 years old) from Synthetic Population Bulgarian Milk breed were evaluated and used for the artificial insemination of 174 ewes in breeding season. Two semen samples from each animal were used for DNA extraction followed by bisulfite conversion. The DNA methylation status of SIRT1 was detected through quantitative methylation-specific PCR using two sets of primers designed specifically for bisulfite-converted DNA sequences to attach methylated and unmethylated sites. On the base of age and conception rate the rams were divided in different groups. Data of semen quality, DNA methylation status of SIRT1 and reproductive performances of each group were statistically processed. Results showed a high average value of DNA methylation of SIRT1 in ram sperm (78.5±23.9%) and wide individual variability among investigated animals, with a coefficient of variation of 34.4%. The 1.5 years old animals tended to have a higher level of SIRT1 methylation than 4 years old animals. The rams in group with high fertilizing ability had significantly higher DNA methylation of SIRT1 in sperm than those with low fertilizing ability. In conclusion, results of this study provided evidence that the alteration of sperm SIRT1 methylation is associated with fertility performances of the rams and, probably, with their age.

The administration of high quality colostrum reduces preweaning morbidity, mortality and, therefore, economic losses related to replacement animals. It also stimulates and improves calf growth, increasing milk production and longevity of the future dairy cows. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of breed and parity of the dam on colostrum quality, and of breed and gender of the calf, and time from calf birth to the administration of the first colostrum meal on the transfer of passive immunity to the calf by the field test of the Failure of Passive Transfer (FPT) on calf serum. A further objective was to improve the diagnostic accuracy of the field FPT test through a second laboratory phase improving the turbidity evaluation. The amount of IgG fed to calves (IgG concentration multiplied by the volume of colostrum administered) was influenced by dam parity as significant differences (P < 0.05) were detected between first- and fourth-parity cows, and between second- and fourth-parity cows. The administration of good quality colostrum (IgG > 50 mg/ml) between 5 and 9 h of life was able to reduce the risk of FPT more effectively than the administration performed within the first 4 h of life. However, further studies on larger sample size is needed to confirm the present findings. The spectrophotometric measurements confirmed the results obtained by the field turbidity test at 14% sodium sulphite dilution. It would be interesting in future to expand the dataset and validate the spectrophometric method.