University of Florida

North Florida Research and Education Center

3925 Highway 71, Marianna, FL 32446, USA

Department of Animal Sciences

Gainesville, FL 32611, USA

(Received December 23, 2008; accepted April 8, 2009)

Myer, R.O. and Brendemuhl, J.H. 2009. Evaluation of triticale grain in nursery diets for three to eight week old pigs. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 1-6.

Keywords: Pigs, triticale, nursery pig diets.

Laboratory of Advanced Animal and Marine Bioresources

Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Sciences

Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan

(Received January 16, 2009; accepted March 15, 2009)

Sato, M. and Furuse, M. 2009. 3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl CoA reductase inhibitor retards chicken embryonic growth. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 7-11.

In order to clarify the mechanism by which liver cholesterol content is elevated during chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) embryonic development, fertilized eggs were administrated pravastatin in ovo, a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl CoA reductase (HMG-CoA reductase) inhibitor, at embryonic day 14 (E14). Embryonic growth and hepatic lipid content were determined at embryonic day 18 (E18). Embryonic growth was retarded by pravastatin in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, hepatic total cholesterol, triacylglycerol and phospholipid contents were decreased with increased pravastatin. These results suggest that higher hepatic cholesterol was associated with HMG-CoA reductase activity and embryonic growth was affected by cholesterol synthesis.

Key words: Chicken, embryo, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl CoA reductase, pravastatin.

F. Clemente^a, J.L. Holechek^b, R. Valdez^c, G.D. Mendoza^d,*

^aColegio de Postgraduados

Campus San Luis Potosí

Salinas de Hidalgo, SLP, Mexico 78600

^bDepartment of Animal and Range Sciences

^cDepartment of Fishery and Wildlife Sciences

New Mexico State University

Las Cruces, NM, 88003, USA

^dUniversidad Autónoma Metropolitana

Unidad Xochimilco

Departamento de Producción Agrícola y Anima

04960 México, D.F.

(Received November 27, 2008; accepted March 29, 2009)

Clemente F., Holechek, J. L., Valdez, R., Mendoza, G.D. 2009. Influence of range condition on pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) and cattle diets in southern New Mexico. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 13-16.

Key words: Antilocapra americana, botanical composition, cattle, diet overlap, habitat.

Department of Poultry Science

Auburn University

Auburn, AL 36849, USA

(Received January 07, 2009; accepted August 08, 2009)

Shaw, A.L., Macklin, K.S. and Blake, J.P. 2009. Effects of vitamin U in ameliorating coccidial and salmonellosis challenges in broilers. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 17-22.

Vitamin U (DL-methionine methylsulfonium chloride) is a methionine derivative previously shown to modulate the immune system and protect intestinal membrane cells in humans and swine. Two 42 d trials were conducted to evaluate the effects of vitamin U (0, 200, 400, 600, 800 or 1000 ppm) on growth performance, feed efficiency and gastrointestinal integrity in broilers infected with coccidia or Salmonella. Experiment 1 birds (384) were provided 1 ml of an Eimeria cocktail containing E. acervulina, E. maxima and E. tenella via oral gavage on d 10. Excreta scores were determined post inoculation. Birds (480) utilized in Experiment 2 were administered 0.1 ml of Salmonella Kentucky (108 cfu/ml) on day of placement and re-dosed with 1 ml (106 cfu/ml) on d 14. Çecal samples were evaluated to determine presence of Salmonella. Birds in neither experiment showed differences (P>0.05) in body weight gain, feed consumption, or feed efficiency. Villi measurements were affected by vitamin U in both experiments but followed no definite trend. Inclusion of the compound into a commercial diet at these levels provided little advantage, insinuating that perhaps vitamin U levels must be increased to find noticeable improvements in performance and intestinal function during a disease challenge.

Key words: Vitamin U, methionine-derivative, Eimeria, Salmonella, broiler.

Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region

Huanjiang Experimental Station of Karst Agro-ecosystem

Institute of Subtropical Agriculture

The Chinese Academy of Sciences

Changsha 410125-10 Hunan, P.R. China

(Received November 04, 2008; accepted June 30, 2009)

Wang, M., Jiang, J., Tan, Z.L., Tang, S.X., Sun, Z.H. and Han, X.F. 2009. In situ ruminal crude protein and starch degradation of three classes of feedstuffs in goats. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 23-28.

Ruminal crude protein (CP) and starch degradability of three classes of feedstuffs: cereals (maize, wheat, barley, buckwheat, rice, millet and sorghum), legumes (horse bean, soybean, pea and mung bean) and tubers (potato, sweat potato and cassava) were assessed using three wether goats. Experiment consisted of 14 periods. During each period, the ruminal CP and starch disappearance of each one of these feedstuffs was measured at 0, 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, 36 and 48 h, respectively. Significant differences (P<0.001) in the ruminal degradation kinetics parameters of crude protein (CP) and starch were generally observed across cereal grain, legume and tuber feedstuffs, respectively. This study enriches the database of in situ crude protein and starch degradability of feedstuffs, which would play an important role in improving biological CP and starch efficiency for modern ruminant production system.

Key words: Cereal, legume, tuber, degradability, crude protein, starch.

¹Department of Animal Science

Faculty of Agriculture

²Department of Bioprocess Technology

Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences

³Department of Pathology and Microbiology

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

Universiti Putra Malaysia

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

(Received December 1, 2008; accepted May 5, 2009)

Loh, T.C., Fong, L.Y., Foo, H.L., Thanh, N.T. and Sheikh-Omar, A.R. 2009. Utilisation of earthworm meal in partial replacement of soybean and fish meals in diets of broilers. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 29-32.

To study the effect of worm meal (WM) as partial replacement of soybean and fish meals in the diets, a total of 245 day-old broiler chicks were randomly assigned to five different treatment groups (0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% WM) in partial replacement of soybean and fish meals for a period of 6 weeks. The final body weight, growth rate and feed efficiency of the 10% and 15% WM groups broiler were better (P<0.05) than that of the control group with no effect on feed intake. The digestibility of crude protein for WM was 63%. 10% WM group gave a higher (P<0.05) lactic acid bacteria counts and showed no significant difference (P>0.05) in Enterobacteriaceae count or fecal pH. These results suggest that WM could be used to replace soybean and fish meals between 10 to 15% in broiler diets.

Keywords: Earthworm, worm meal, soybean meal, fish meal, broiler.

^aInstituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Veterinarias

Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Mexicali 21100

Baja California, México

^bFacultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia

Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa

Culiacán 1084, Sinaloa, México

(Received September 11, 2008; accepted February 04, 2009)

Robles-Estrada, J.C., Barreras-Serrano, A., Contreras, G., Estrada-Angulo, A., Obregón, J.F., Plascencia, A. and Ríos, F.G. 2009. Effect of two β-adrenergic agonists on finishing performance and carcass characteristics in lambs fed all-concentrate diets. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 33-36.

To assess the effect of feeding two β-adernergic agonists [β-AA, type β1: 20 ppm ractopamine hydochloride (RAC), type β2: 6 ppm zilpaterol hydrochloride (ZIL)] on performance, 60 Pelibuey x Katahdin (34.4 ±2.94 kg) crossbred male lambs were used in a 32-d feeding trial. DM intake was not affected by treatments. Compared with controls, average daily gain and feed efficiency were improved with RAC supplementation, but final live weight, average daily gain and gain : feed were the best on ZIL supplemented group. No differences in carcass characteristics were detected among control group and RAC supplementation. It is concluded that β-AA supplementation increase growth performance in lambs as results of greater muscle accretion and for reduction of body fat. Use as feed additive, β2-AA compound has a greater response in feedlot lambs than β1-AA compound.

Key words: β-adrenergic agonists, carcass characteristics, lambs, performance, ractopamine, zilpaterol.

¹Department of Animal Science

²Department of Chemistry

Ataturk University, 25240 Erzurum, Turkey

(Received September 21, 2007 ; accepted April 24 2009)

Ozdemir, M., Dogru, U. and Ciftci, M. 2009. Polymorphism on mtDNA D-loop and ND5 regions among Turkish native cattle breeds assessed by PCR-RFLP. J. Appl Anim. Res., 36: 37-40.

To determine the specific polymorphic sites of Turkish native cattle breeds (Turkish Grey, East Anatolian Red, South Anatolian Red and Anatolian Black) and genetic variations in mtDNA entire D-loop region with high mutation rate and 1100 bp of constant ND5 region were analyzed. In 910 bp of D-loop region, AluI, HaeIII, HpaII, AvaII, DraI and ApaI enzymes from ten restriction endonucleases, which have 17 restriction sites, showed polymorphic sites and 19 haplotypes were found. AluI, HaeIII, BglII and SspI enzymes from ten restriction endonucleases, which have 25 restriction sites representing polymorphic sites, and 6 haplotypes were found in the ND5 region. Results of the cluster analysis carried out on the D-loop and ND5 region were similar to each other. East Anatolian Red, South Anatolian Red and Anatolian Black formed the common group distant from Turkish Grey.

Keywords: Animal resources, mitochondrial DNA, PCR-RFLP, genetic diversity.

Animal Genetics Division

Indian Veterinary Research Institute

Izatnagar-243 122, India

(Received August 25, 2008; accepted March 15, 2009)

Abstract

Panigrahi, M., Kumar, S., Deb, S.M., Mitra, A., Sharma, A. and Bujarbaruah, K.M. 2009. Lack of polymorphism in partial insulin like growth factor 1 (IGF1) and insulin like growth factor binding protein 3 (IGFBP3) genes of mithun. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 41-44.

A 396 bp fragment encompassing exon 5 of Insulin like growth factor 1 (IGF1) gene and 652 bp fragment encompassing exon 2-3 of Insulin like growth factor binding protein 3 (IGFBP3) gene were digested by HindIII and NlaIII restriction enzymes, respectively, in 90 mithun (Bos frontalis). The PCR–RFLP analysis showed the absence of polymorphism in these fragments in the animals screened. HindIII restriction enzyme produced two fragments of 269 and 127 bp in exon-5 of IGF1. Similarly NlaIII restriction enzyme produced two fragments of 551 and 101 bp in exon 2-3 of IGFBP3 gene. Two single nucleotide differences in IGF1 while six such differences in IGFBP3 gene existed in mithun sequences when compared to cattle. The sequence of the amplicons, which were the first reports on these genes in mithun, were submitted to GenBank (Accession numbers EF686016 and EF686017, respectively).

Keywords: Bos frontalis, exon 2-3, exon 5, HindIII, IGF-1, IGFBP-3, mithun, NlaIII, PCR-RFLP..

¹Department of Biopathological Sciences and Hygiene of Animal and Food Production

Via San Costanzo 4, 06126 Perugia, Italy

²Department of Environmental Sciences

Via Circonvallazione 93-95, 62024 Matelica (MC), Italy

(Received October 22, 2008; accepted March 2, 2009)

Pedini, V., Diaferia, M., Veronesi, F., Dall’Aglio, C., Mercati, F., Pascucci, L. and Scocco, P. 2009. Ultrastructural details of tetrathyridia of Mesocestoides spp. from a naturally infected dog. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 45-48.

Natural infection of dogs with Mesocestoides tetrathyridia is uncommon. The present study describes the ultrastructure of this larval form collected from an ascitic dog. The presence of suckers testified that it was a cephalic form. The tegument showed the typical structure composed of an external layer with two types of microtriches and an internal layer made up of cells joined to the external layer by cytoplasmic bridges. Numerous calcareous corpuscles were found in the parenchyma.

Key words: Mesocestoides, dog, ultrastructure.

Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture

Atatürk University, Erzurum 25240, Turkey

(Received July 4, 2008; accepted March 26, 2009)

Celebi, S. and Macit, M. 2009. Effects of feeding tallow and plant fat to laying hens on performance, egg quality and fatty acid composition of egg yolk. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 49-52.

To determine the effects of sources of supplemental fat 200 Isa Brown layers were equally divided in 5 groups and assigned randomly to be fed ad libitum a standard commercial layer feed (BD), BD+ 4% tallow (T), BD+ mixture of 2% tallow and 2% flaxseed oil (MTFO), BD+ 4% sunflower oil (SO) and BD+ 4% flaxseed oil (FO) for 8 weeks. Dietary fat supplemantion affected the laying performance, but had no (P>0.05) effect on egg quality parameters. The supplemental tallow increased concentration of saturated fatty acids (palmitic: 29.10%, stearic:10.17%). The proportions of linoleic and arachidonic acids in egg yolks for layers fed the diet containing 4% sunflower oil were higher than other diets. The concentration of oleic acid (40.08%) was the highest in layers receiving 2% tallow + 2% flaxseed oil diet. In addition, dietary flaxseed oil increased the concentration of α-linolenic (4.15%) and DHA (2.54%) in yolk at the expense of other unsaturated fatty acids. It is concluded that dietary animal and plant fats can be used to modify composition of egg yolk.

Keywords: Laying hen, dietary fat, laying performance, egg quality, fatty acid composition.

Veterinary Faculty, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

35413, Arucas, Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain

(Received October 13, 2008; accepted March 31, 2009)

Corbera, J.A., Vilar, J.M. and Gutierrez, C. 2009. Transient tracheal collapse associated with bronchopneumonia in a kid goat. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 53-54.

A case of transient tracheal collapse associated with bronchopneumonia occurred in a 3-week-old goat is presented. Tracheal collapse, affecting particularly the caudal cervical region, would have been secondary to great respiratory effort. Antibiotic and anti-inflammatory treatment was successful and the tracheal collapse was reversible. Possible pathogenesis is discussed.

Keywords: Tracheal collapse, goat, kid, broncopneumonia.

¹Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Science

Harbin, 150086, China

²College of Life Science and Biology Engineering

Harbin Normal University, Harbin, 150080, China

(Received September 12, 2008; accepted February 23, 2009)

Zhang, D., Gao, Z., Liu, D. and Yang, G. 2009. Cloning and expression of the porcine MEF2a gene. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 55-59.

To clone the complete coding sequence of the porcine MEF2a gene and to analyze its expression characterization, two isoforms of MEF2a gene (MEF2aA, MEF2aB) were obtained. Amino acid homology of two isoforms was 86.79%. It was completely identical in 1st -77th and 132th -470th amino acid, and was hypervariable in 78th-131st amino acid. MEF2aB had 34 amino acids (102bp) deletion in 224th-258th amino acid compared with MEF2aA. MEF2a was a broad-spectrum expression gene. Porcine MEF2aA, horse and house mouse existed in the same group, but porcine MEF2aB, cattle and human existed in another group in the phylogenetic tree. Therefore, MEF2a gene was presumed to be an apparent variation during evolutionary process.

Keywords: Porcine, MEF2a gene, clone, expression, muscle.

Department of Animal and Fish Production

College of Agricultural Sciences and Foods

King Faisal University

P.O. Box 420, Hofuf, 31982, Saudi Arabia

(Received September 24, 2008; accepted March 10, 2009)

Abstract

Alamer, M. 2009. Effect of feeding fennel straw (Foeniculum vulgare Mill) on performance of lactating goats. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 61-64.

To evaluate the effect of inclusion of fennel straw (Foeniculum vulgare Mill) in the diet of lactating goats, two complete diets containing either 20% Rhodes grass hay or 20% fennel straw were balanced to be isonitrogenous. Twelve lactating Saudi native goats of Aardi breed in their early lactation were divided equally into two groups depending on milk yield and were assigned to the two diets for 6-wk. Milk yield, milk production efficiency, milk composition and feed intake were not affected by fennel straw feeding. It can be concluded that fennel straw could be included in the diet of lactating goats without adversely affecting lactation performance.

Key words: Goats, lactation, fennel, Foeniculum vulgare.

Department of Animal Sciences

Superior Institute of Agriculture

Chott-Meriem, 4042 Susa, Tunisia

(Received October 13, 2008; accepted May 3, 2009)

Hachana, Y. and Kraïem, K. 2009. Proteolysis and storage stability of ultra high temperature processed milk as influenced by somatic cell count and bacterial count. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 65-70.

To study keeping quality of UHT processed 1.5% fat milk of different somatic cell count (SCC) and bacterial count (BC), that would be sufficient to produce an off-flavor, a 180 days experiment was conducted. Sixty eight per cent of panelists detected off-flavor related to proteolysis, when the decrease in casein as a percentage of true protein (CN/TP) was > 5%. UHT milk produced from low SCC milk (50,000 cells ml-1) and low bacterial count (<105 cfu ml-1) maintained high organoleptic quality for the entire 180 days shelf-life period. UHT milk produced from milk with high SCC (740,000 and 1,102,000 cells ml-1) developed an off-flavor at about 90 and 60 days, respectively. Off-flavor was detected at 30 days storage when BC was high in raw milk (>2x106 cfu ml-1). It was concluded that initial somatic cell and bacterial counts of UHT milk determined its keeping quality.

Key words: Somatic cell count, bacterial count, proteolysis, organoleptic quality, UHT milk.

¹Department of Animal Breeding

²Department of Food Technology

Mendel University of Agiculture and Forestry in Brno

Zemedelska 1, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic

³Department of Nutrition

Animal Husbandry and Animal Hygiene

Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology

University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno,

Palackeho 1-3, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic

(Received September 22, 2008; accepted February 28, 2009)

Novotná, L., Kuchtík, J., Šustová, K., Zapletal, D. and Filip…ík, R. 2009. Effects of lactation stage and parity on milk yield, composition and properties of organic sheep milk. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 71-76.

Effects of lactation stage (LS) and parity (PA) on daily milk yield (DMY), composition, properties and rennet curd quality (RCQ) of organic sheep milk were evaluated using 10 crossbred ewes reared on an organic sheep farm. Both LS and PA as well as the interaction of LS × PA had a significant effect on DMY and the contents of total solids, fat, protein, casein and lactose. The DMY for the whole lactation increased with the order of lactation. LS, PA and the interaction of LS × PA also had a significant effect on all milk properties as well as the RCQ. In the course of all lactations, titrable acidity (TA) kept increasing. It was found that the higher the values of titrable acidity, the longer the rennet clotting time became and RCQ became worse.

Keywords : Organic sheep milk, stage of lactation, parity, milk yield, composition and properties of milk, rennet curd quality.

¹Department of Anatomical Sciences

²Department of Clinical Sciences

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

Shiraz University

Shiraz, Iran

(Received October 22, 2008; accepted March 27, 2009)

Kazemi, S., Mansouri, H. and Tabatabaei Naeini, A.T. 2009. Histomorphological and angiogenesis observations in the heart of the male puppy following ligation of the paraconal artery. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 77-80.

To study the effect of ligation of paraconal artery, simulating a coronary blockage, six 2-month-old male puppies were divided into three groups. Two puppies each were used as a control group, operated for histomorphological investigations (group A) and used for angiogenesis observations ( group B). In operated animals (groups A and B) paraconal trunks were ligated at the base. Animals were euthenized after 45 d and their hearts were dissected out. In group A, 3 parts on the wall of the left ventricle, according to the vicinity to the ligated vessel, were separated as I, II, III parts, fixed and studied by light and electron microscope. In group B contrast medium was injected into the coronary sinuses above the aortic valves and radiographs were taken. No ischemic changes were seen in the chosen parts of the heart due to the growth and development of circumflex branches and anastomotic process, which supplied the heart wall.

Keywords : Histomorphology, angiogenesis, heart, ligated artery, myofibrils, puppy, electron microscope,radiographs.

^1*Department of Clinical Studies

²Department of Pathobiology

School of Veterinary Medicine

Shiraz University, Shiraz, 71345-1731, Iran

(Received January 24, 2008; accepted April 21, 2009)

Nazifi, S., Razavi, S.M. and Esmailnejad, Z. 2009. Evaluation of serum proteins in cows naturally infected with Theileria annulata. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 81-83.

Blood samples were collected from jugular vein of 8 healthy and 33 naturally infected cows with Theileria annulata. In infected cows marked anemia was noticed. An increase in α1- and β globulin and a decrease in serum total protein and γ-globulin concentrations were observed (P<0.05) in infected cows. It is concluded that bovine tropical theileriosis induces inflammatory reactions leading to hypoproteinemia and immunosuppresion.

Keywords: Serum protein electrophoresis, theileriosis, Theileria annulata, cow.

Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University

Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Animal Science

Biometry and Genetics Unit, 17020-Canakkale/Turkey

(Received July 21, 2008; accepted March 15, 2009)

MendeÕ, M. 2009. Growth curves for body weight and some body measurement of Ross 308 broiler chickens. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 85-88.

To investigate the growth characteristics of Ross 308 male broiler chickens 30 male broiler chickens were used. Results of growth curve analyses suggest that the Gompertz growth model fitted the weight-age, shank width-age, shank length-age and body length-age data very well, while the linear growth model fitted the breast bone length-age, breast width-age and breast circumference-age data. The growth rate (b) for body weight (0.04) was found obviously smaller than that of shank width (0.23), shank length (0.18) and body length (0.23). Inflection point (k) for shank width and body length was found similar. For one weak increase in age a 19.49 mm enhancement in breast bone length, 6.41 mm enhancement in breast width and 4.06 cm enhancement in breast circumference are expected. All regression slope estimates (except for breast width) were significant.

Key words: Growth curve, body measurement, nonlinear regression, broiler chicken.

^aDepartamento de Ciencia Animal

Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Valencia, Spain

^bInstituto del Frío, CSIC, Madrid, Spain

^cDanisco Animal Nutrition, Madrid, Spain

(Received September 16, 2008; accepted March 06, 2009)

Fernández, C., Rodríguez-Alcalá, L.M., Abilleira, E., de la Fuente, J.M. and Fontecha, J. 2009. Influence of betaine on milk yield and fatty acid composition in lactating dairy goats. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 89- 92.

Two groups of 30 goats were selected to determine the effects of added betaine (4 g/kg) on diets of Murciano- Granadina dairy goat. After an experimental period of 3 months no significant differences between groups were observed for milk yield, chemical composition and somatic cells count in milk. Feeding betaine supplemented diets increased relatively the proportions of short chain fatty acids (C6:0 to C10:0) and significantly (P<0.05) increased the proportions of medium chain fatty acids (C12:0 to C15:0) in milk fat. Thus betaine feeding maybe considered beneficial for producing milk good for human health.

Keywords: Betaine, goat milk, fatty acid.

Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology

College of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

G.B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology

Pantnagar-263 145, India

(Received October 16, 2008; accepted March 30, 2009)

Verma, S., Ahmad, A.H., Rahal, A. and Singh, K.P. 2009. Pharmacokinetics of florfenicol following single dose intravenous and intramuscular administration in goats. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 93-96.

Pharmacokinetics of florfenicol following intravenous (i.v.) and intramuscular (i.m.) administration (20 mg.kg-1) was studied in healthy goats. Based on pharmacokinetic data, an i.v. and i.m. dosage regimen of florfenicol in goats was calculated to be 14.38 and 15.08 mg.kg-1, respectively, at 12 h interval.

Key words: Pharmacokinetics, florfenicol, goat.

¹College of Life Sciences and Technology

Southwest University for Nationalities

ChengDu, China 610041

²Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Mengla, Yunnan 666303, China

³Department of Animal Sciences and Division of Nutritional Sciences

University of Illinois

Urbana, 61801 Illinois, USA

(Received September 23, 2008; accepted March 1, 2009)

Li, S., Jiang, M., Liu, Y., Fu, X., Drackley, J.K., Chen, Y., Ye, Y., Wang, Y. and Zhong, J. 2009. Molecular cloning and sequence analysis of hepatic lipase gene in yak. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 97-101.

In order to study the biological function of hepatic lipase (hl) gene in yak, the cDNA sequence encoding hepatic lipase from yak was cloned by RT-PCR method using gene specific PCR primers. The cloned cDNA fragment (1540 bp) contained a 1503 bp open reading frame, encoded 500 amino acids (AAs) with a molecular mass of 56.734 kDa. It showed a high level of sequence identity to Bos Taurus (99.40%), Homo sapiens (77.64%), Oryctolagus cuniculus (76.20%), Mus musculus (68.88%), Xenopus laevis (55.27%) and Danio rerio (47.69%). The hl gene was expressed only in liver tissue and not in heart, spleen, kidney and brain tissues. Further analysis of yak HL amino acid sequence implied that it contained a complete lipase active site (VHLIGYSLGA) ranging from 162 to 171 amino acid residues. It also contained two conserved domains, conserved lipase domain (18AAs-350AAs) in its N-terminal and the PLAT domain (353AAs-488AAs) in its C-terminal. The phylogenetic analysis showed that yak and Bos taurus were the closest species. The prediction of secondary structures indicated that HL of yak had the similar secondary structure with other isolated HL. The results of this study suggested that hl gene of yak was similar with Bos taurus and was expressed only in liver tissue.

Key words: Yak, hepatic lipase, cloning, expression.

Division of Surgery

Indian Veterinary Research Institute

Izatnagar-243 122, India

(Received October 24, 2008; accepted March 10, 2009)

Maiti, S.K., Khimta, S., Bhadane, B., Kumar, N. and Sharma, A.K. 2009. Therapeutic evaluation of herbal “ImmuPlus” with or without doxorubicin in the management of canine mammary tumours. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 103-108.

Spontaneously occurred canine mammary tumours (70) were treated with chemotherapy (doxorubicin), immunotherapy (ImmuPlus), adjuvant chemotherapy and by surgical therapy. In chemotherapy group the Hb and TEC values reduced significantly (P<0.05) from the base line value at 2^nd week of therapy. Histologically, benign and malignant mixed tumours were predominant. Doxorubicin and herbal drug “ImmuPlus” were found effective in the treatment of canine mammary tumours. ImmuPlus has been found as good immunomodulatory drug in cancer chemotherapy.

Key words: Chemotherapy, doxorubicin, dog, ImmuPlus, immunoglobulin, mammary, tumour, surgical therapy.

Anhui Province Key Laboratory for Conservation

and Exploitation of Biological Resource

College of Life Sciences

Anhui Normal University

Wuhu 241000, PR China

(Received November 10, 2008; accepted February 21, 2009)

Xu, M., Wu, X-B., Yan, P. and Zhu, H. 2009. Telomere length shortens with age in Chinese alligators (Alligator sinensis). J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 109-112.

A fundamental observation of replicative senescence is the telomere shortening in many species. The objective of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the length of the telomeric DNA and the age of the Chinese alligator, as well as to offer a molecular approach to determine the age of this species. To that end, the Southern Blot method was used in this paper to analyze the telometric DNA of Chinese alligators from three age groups. The results showed that telomere lengths of erythrocytes have a significant variance among individuals (P<0.0001). In addition, the results demonstrated that, for Chinese alligators, telomere lengths greatly decrease with the increasing age.

Key words: Chinese alligator, telomere, lifespan, southern blot.

¹Doctorado en Ciencias de la Producción y de la Salud Animal

FMVZ, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)

Ciudad Universitaria, México

²Animal Production and Agriculture Department

Research Area: Ecodesarrollo de la Producción Animal Universidad

Autónoma Metropolitana-Xochimilco, México

³Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Ciudad Universitaria, México

⁴EIAI, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla

Teziutlan. Pue, México

⁵Laboratory of Neurochemistry

Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitació, México D.F., México

(Received November 1, 2008; accepted March 8, 2009)

Sánchez-Aparicio, P., Mota-Rojas, D., Trujillo-Ortega, M.E., Zarco-Quintero, L.A., Becerril-Herrera, M., Alonso-Spilsbury, M. and Alfaro-Rodríguez. A. 2008. Effect of prostaglandins for inducing birth on weight, vitality and physiological response in newborn pigs. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 113-118.

To evaluate the effect of prostaglandin administration to induce farrowing on incidence of stillbirth (SBP), evidence of intra-partum hypoxia (HBP) and weight, viability and acid-base equilibrium in piglets at birth, 395 newborns product of 40 Yorkshire × Landrace hybrid were studied upon. Sows were randomly divided equally into two treatments. Treatment 1 (T1) received 2 ml of an intramuscular (I M) normal saline solution and Treatment 2 (T2) was treated with a  single dose of 10 mg I M of prostaglandin analogue, to induce a synchronized parturition 48 h before the estimated time of parturition. The weight of the SBP was approximately 142 g less (P<0.0376) in T2 (PGF2α), compared with the T1. The weight of the HBP was approximately 247 g less (P<0.0001) in T2 compared to T1. The vitality score of ABP was good in both treatments. Two response variables (glucose, Ca++ ) in ABP were significantly greater in T2 compared to T1. When PGF2α was injected in the sow 48 h before giving birth, it has negative effects causing hyperglycemia and low weight at birth and diminished vigor in the newborn piglets. However, further studies with variable time interval are recommended.

Keywords: Piglets, prostaglandins, delivery, vitality, blood gases.

¹Department of Ruminants Science

²Laboratory of Biostatistics

³Laboratory of Molecular Cytogenetic

West Pomeranian University of Technology

Doktora Judyma 10, 71-460 Szczecin, Poland

(Received November 20, 2008; accepted May 25, 2009)

Szatkowska, I., Dybus, A., Grzesiak, W., J“drzejczak, M. and Muszy½ska, M. 2009. Association between the growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH) gene polymorphism and milk production traits of dairy cattle. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 119-123.

The association between the GHRH/HaeIII gene polymorphism and milk production traits of Polish Holstein and Jersey cows were analysed. A total of 427 animals were included in the study. A PCR-RFLP method was used for genotyping. The frequencies of genotypes and alleles for the Polish Holstein cows were 0.078 - AA, 0.339 - AB, 0.583 - BB and 0.248 - GHRH^A, 0.752 - GHRH^B. For the Jersey cows, the frequencies were: 0.032 - AA, 0.427 - AB, 0.541 - BB and 0.246 - GHRH^A, 0.754 - GHRH^B. In all lactations, the Jersey cows with AA genotype exhibited the highest milk fat content. In the 2nd and 3rd lactations the AA Jersey cows had lower milk yields compared with the AB/BB cows. However, Polish Holstein cows did not exhibit such effects of genotypes on milk yield/traits. It still remains unclear that the analysed polymorphism could influence to the physiology of milk fat production.

Keywords: GHRH gene, PCR-RFLP, milk production traits, dairy cattle.

Department of Animal Nutrition

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

University of Firat

Elazig, Turkey

(Received November 23, 2008; accepted February 28, 2009)

Ciftci, M., Dalkilic, B., Cerci, I.H., Guler, T., Ertas, O. N. and Arslan, O. 2009. Influence of dietary cinnamon oil supplementation on performance and carcass characteristics in broilers. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 125- 128.

To study the effects of dietary antibiotic (avilamycin) and cinnamon oil supplementation on broilers performance, 240 5-day-old commercial broiler chicks (Ross–308) were divided into 4 equal groups and randomly assigned to four treatment diets with four replicates. Experimental groups were; corn-soybean meal basal diet (Control), basal diet supplemented with 10 mg/kg Avilamycin (Antibiotic), 500 or 1000 ppm of cinnamon oil (C500, C1000). Birds receiving the diet containing 500 ppm cinnamon oil showed the highest average daily gain with best feed conversion efficiency. In conclusion, cinnamon oil, at a dose of 500 ppm, could be used as an alternative to antibiotic for growth promotion in broiler diets.

Key words : Broiler, cinnamon oil, antibiotic, performance, carcass weights, carcass characteristics.

¹Medicinal and Natural Product Chemistry Research Center

Shiraz University of Medical Sciences

Shiraz, Iran

²Islamic Azad University

Medical School, Tehran-Iran

³Gastroenterohepatology Research Center

Nemazee Hospital, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences

Shiraz, Iran

(Received November 27, 2008; accepted March 16, 2009)

Kheradpezhouh, E., Miri, R., Motevaselian, M. and Mehrabani, D. 2009. Effect of cimetidine on antinociceptive properties of morphine in mice. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 129-132.

To study the effect of H2 receptor blockers on opioid analgesics, 50 mice were divided into 5 equal groups including control group and those receiving morphine (5 mg/kg), cimetidine (20 mg/kg), vehicle (Normalsaline) and morphine (5 mg/kg) plus cimetidine (20 mg/kg). Hot plate test (HPT) was used to evaluate the pain response and pre-and post-drug latency time. In first stage, HPT was used twice with a 4 h interval and in the second stage, 15 min after subcutaneous injection of each drug. Pre- and post-drug latency time in control, morphine, cimetidine, vehicle and morphine plus cimetidine groups were 8.1±1.36 and 7.4±1.72; 6.8±0.7 and 20.6±1.73; 6.1±0.64 and 13.3±1.09; 6.4±0.65 and 6.1±0.86; and 6.8±0.47 and 25.5±2.19, respectively. Pain response (MPE%) in morphine, cimetidine and cimetidine plus morphine groups in comparison with control and vehicle groups was higher (P<0.05), highest being in cimetidine plus morphine group. As cimetidine showed antinociceptive effects and increased the antinociceptive effect of morphine, so, cimetidine would decrease the need for morphine in patients suffering from acute pains.

Keywords: Antinociception, pain, cimetidine, morphine, mouse.

1Department of Anatomical Science

2Department of Clinical Science

School of Veterinary Medicine

Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

Mashhad 91775-1793, Iran

(Received November 29, 2008; accepted June 28, 2009)

Saadatfar, Z. and Shahsavani, D. 2009. Structure of the chloride cell in the gill epithelium of Mugil aurata (Mugillidae, teleostei). J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 133-136.

The main ultrastructural properties of gill chloride cells in Mugil aurata from south of Caspian sea was investigated. These cells are packed with other cells in filament epithelia and are divisible into dark and light cells. Quantitatively the two cells are notably different in membranous network and the number of mitochondria. The tubulo-vesicular in both cells comes in close contact with mitochondria and nucleus. The close relation was observed between the chloride cells and accessory. This indicates that chloride cells are communicated with external milieu via the channel system of accessory cells.

Key words: Gill, chloride cell, Mugil aurata.

¹ KahramanmaraÕ Sütçü Imam University

Faculty of Agriculture

Department of Animal Science

46100, KahramanmaraÕ Turkey

²Harran Universities

Faculty of Agriculture

Department of Animal Science

Sanli Urfa, Turkey

(Received November 24, 2008; accepted July 10, 2009)

Gürbüz, Y., Cetin, M. and Sengul, T. 2009. Effect of phytase supplementation on performance, tibia ash and serum P in broilers fed diets with different levels of phosphorus. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 137-140.

In order to determine the optimal concentration of phytase and available phosphorus (aP) supplementation in broiler diets; 0.13%, 0.26% and 0.40% aP contents, each supplemented with 400, 800 and 1200 IU/kg phytase respectively, were tested against a control diet of 0.49% aP with no enzyme addition. Birds performed significantly better with control diet with sufficient phosphors concentration. The diet of 0.13% available aP with 400 IU/kg enzyme concentration (A) had lowest serum phosphorus level and tibia ash content in broiler chicken. No remarkable difference, available was observed in feed utilization efficiency among the experimental diets. However, costly aP could be saved by feeding it at the lowest level with highest level of phosphatase.

Key words: Microbial phytase, broiler performance, phosphorus, tibia ash, serum phosphorus.

Department of Animal Science

Bharathidasan University

Tiruchirapalli-620024, India

(Received December 2, 2008; accepted March 23, 2009)

Shanju, S. and Geraldine, P. 2009. Immunological identification of site of vitellin synthesis in freshwater prawn Macrobrachium malcolmsonii. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 141-146.

The site of vitellin synthesis in the freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium malcolmsonii, was examined immunologically using the antibodies raised against the vitellin purified from mature ovaries of M. malcolmsonii. In double diffusion test, single precipitin lines were found between center well containing immune serum and peripheral wells containing purified vitellin, ovarian homogenate, female hepatopancreas and female hemolymph. The precipitin lines were continuous suggesting that immune serum precipitated the proteins of complete identitiy. Immunoelectrophoretic and immunoblotting studies reveal positive reaction in ovary, egg, female hemolymph and female hepatopancreas but not in male hemolymph, male hepatpancreas, gill and muscle. These results suggest hepatopancreas as possible site of yolk protein synthesis in freshwater prawn M. malcolmsonii.

Key words: Yolk protein, polyclonal antibody, hepatopancreas, immunodiffusion, immunoelectrophoresis, immunoblotting, Macrobrachium malcolmsonii.

Key Laboratory under Education Ministry and State Ethnic Affairs Commission of China

Southwest University for Nationalities

ChengDu, P.R. China 610041

(Received December 1, 2008; accepted April 1, 2009)

Chen, Y., Ye, Y., Wang, L., Liu, Y., Li, S. and Jiang, M. 2009. Cloning and sequence analysis of transferrin gene in Yak. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 147-151.

To study the transferrin (tf) gene in yak, cDNA sequence encoding TF from yak was cloned by RT-PCR method using gene specific PCR primers. The cloned cDNA fragment (2215 bp) contains a 2115 bp open reading frame, encodes 704 amino acids (AAs) with a molecular mass of 77.552 KDa. The deduced amino sequence shows a high level of sequence identity to Bos taurus (99.24%), Sus scrofa (80.19%), Equus caballus (79.33%), Homo sapiens (77.83%) and Mus musculus (72.19%), respectively. tf gene was expressed only in liver tissues. It also contained two conserved TF domains: one is in its N-terminal (25 AAs-351 AAs) and the other in its C-terminal (364AAs-689AAs). The phylogenetic analysis showed that yak and Bos taurus were the closest species. The results of this study suggested that tf gene of yak plays the same function as other species.

Key words: Yak, transferrin gene, cloning, expression.

Arid Land Institute

4119 Medenine, Tunisia

(Received December 12, 2008; accepted March 29, 2009)

Gaddour, A., Najari, S. and Ferchichi, A. 2009. Lactation curve of local goat, pure breds and crosses in southern Tunisia. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 153-157.

The gamma function was used to fit lactation curve of local goat, pure breds and crosses under southern Tunisian conditions. Data of 16 years of 993 adult dairy milk goats was analyzed to adjust individual milking curve per genetic group. Gamma models parameters were estimated by non linear regression iterative proceure. The local goat lactation curve was fitted after 16 iterations with a value of 0.22 as the residual means squares (RMS). The fastest convergence was led for Murciana with only 10 iterations. The most accurate assessment is registered for the local goat and F2 Alpine×local curves when the RMS reaches 0.22. Among pure breeds, the Alpine had the highest production at peak with 1.9 kg day-1. Within crossed genotypes, the peak of production was 3.66 kg for F2 Alpine×local. The starting production, the milking peak and date, the persistence coefficient illustrated differences between studied genotypes. Lactation curve shape and parameters highlighted milking differences and merits of studied genotypes and offer precious tools to optimise the local goat crossbreeding regarding the improvement objectives.

Key words: Goat, lactation curve, Gamma model, pure bred, crossbreeding, Tunisia.