Iranian Journal of Animal Science
Year:2016 | Volume:47 | Issue:3 |Papers Count:17

The aim of this research was the collection and freezing of honey bee sperm, Apis mellifera, as a trail and evaluating different semen extenders to improve sperm quality after freeze-thawing process as a first trail in Iran. Semen was collected using artificial insemination device. In this experiment three different extenders including; egg yolk (TEY), buffer and 0. 5% soybean lecithin (TSL0. 5) and buffer and 2% soybean lecithin (TSL2), were used. Collected semen samples were evaluated using microscope and then were diluted with extenders. Diluted samples were gradually cooled in a refrigerator to 5° C and immediately loaded into straws and then frozen in liquid nitrogen. Data were analyzed using the GENMOD procedure of SAS software and results were expressed as least square means. The results demonstrated higher (P<0. 05) fresh sperm motility in extenders containing egg yolk (4. 75± 0. 14) and 2% soybean lecithin (4. 5± 0. 2) in comparison to 0. 5% soybean-lecithin based extender (4. 12± 0. 12). Also, the average of cooled motile spermatozoa in TEY and TSL2 based extenders (4. 5± 0. 2 and 4. 62± 0. 12, respectively) was significantly higher than TSL0. 5 based extender (3. 87± 0. 24). Post-thawed sperm motility in TEY (3. 6± 0. 24) was significantly (P<0. 05) higher than soybean-lecithin based extenders. According to the results of this study, it seems that semen storage of honey bee using egg yolk and 2% soybean-lecithin based extenders would be an appropriate extender for artificial insemination in order to accelerate breeding programs.

In this research the effects of different levels of oily and aqueous extracts of Chamomile flower on biochemical characteristics and quality of breast meat were examined. Using 400 broiler chicken (Cup 500) in to 5 treatments, with 4 replicates and 20 chickens per replicate chicken were daily treated with 85 and 128 mg per kg body weight aqueous extracts, and 14 and 21 mg per kg body weight of oily extracts in drinking water. In Day 21st and 42nd, (3 chicken per replicate) were randomly slaughtered and biochemical characteristics and quality of breast meat were examined. The results showed that the breast meat of crude fat amount in the chickens treated with 85 mg per kg body weight of aqueous extract, were significantly (P<0. 05) higher than the others. The carcass yield in chicken which received oily extracts was significantly (P<0. 05) higher than control group. The taste and tenderness of meat in treatment 85 mg per kg body weight of aqueous extract were significantly better than control. In conclusion the results of this study showed that, both of the aqueous and oily extracts of Chamomile flower changed biochemical composition of breast meat but only the aqueous extract improved sensory characteristics of the meat.

This experiment was conducted to determin the effect of 25(H)D3 and K3 vitamins on immune system of Ross 308 broiler chicken in a completely randomized design with a 3×4 factorial arrangement with four replicates and 16 observation per replicate. Treatments included vitamine D3 (0, 0. 4, 0. 6 and 0. 8 μ g) and vitamin K3 (0, 2 and 6 μ g). On day 180 g incubation 0. 5 ml of treatment solution was injucted in fertile eggs. Male chicken were reared in experiment cages for a period of 42 days. To evaluate humoral immune system reaction 0. 5 ml SRBC (10%) was injected on chickens’ breast muscle at the 28th and 35th day, thereafter chicken blood samples were taken on the 35th and 42nd day. In order to evaluate the cellular immune system reaction, Phyto-hemagglutinin (PHA) was injected in the curtain chickens toe on day 24 of rearing period and skin response were studied on 1 and 5 days after injection. The results showed that with increasing levels of vitamin K3, antibody titers against Newcastle were increased (P<0. 05). Treatment of increased 0. 4 μ g and 6 μ g K3 in antibody levels to SRBC and IgG significantly and showed the maximum stimulation to PHA injection and treatment 12 with 6 μ g K3 and 0. 8 μ g D3 showed the lowest amount of stimulation (p<0. 05). Finally, it can be concluded that 0. 4 μ g vit D3 and 6 μ g vit K3 can improve cellular and humoral immune response in broiler chickens.

Animal models are used to model the observations of animal performance that are genetically dependent. These models are considered as generalized linear mixed models and the genetic correlation structure of data is considered through random effects of breeding values. One goal of the mentioned models is to estimate variance components. In this research, an approximate Bayesian approach presented to estimate variance components in animal model and compared with the conventional Bayesian approach. A generated data set for hypothetical animal population with 1084 records was used. The observations are the animal's birth weight and the data includes dam ID, sire ID, sex and birth year. The effect of gender was considered as fixed effect and the effects of dam, animal and year of birth were used as random effect. Four different models were fitted by the conventional Bayesian approach and the appropriate model was selected by deviance information criteria. The approximate Bayesian approach was applied on it. Time consuming with a PC with configuration (Intel Core i7, 4GB, 2. 7 GHz) was about 120 second for the conventional Bayesian approach and little than 10 second for the approximate Bayesian approach. Goodness of fit was computed by relative root mean squared error of prediction that was respectively 0. 1568 and 0. 1499 for conventional Bayesian and the approximate Bayesian approaches. T-test was used to illustrate lack of significant different to fit weight of animals between two approaches. The null hypothesis was accepted with p-value 0. 98 that it shows mean of fitted animal weights for two approaches are equal.

The aim of this study was to investigate the association of bovine leukocyte antigen-DRB3 alleles with peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) proliferation in response to Staphylococcus aureus. The animals included in this study (n=347) were approximately of same age and comprised of F2 Holstein-Friesian  Charolais (n = 155), Holstein-Friesian backcross (F0 Holstein-Friesian dams crossed with unrelated F1 sires, n = 60), Charolais backcross (F1 dams crossed with F0 Charolais sire, n=46) and pure Holstein-Friesian (n = 86). A sequence-based typing method was used in order to determine the genotype of the animals at BoLA-DRB3 locus and a linear mixed model was used to evaluate the association of bovine leukocyte antigen-DRB3 alleles with peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) proliferation. Beside the BoLA-DRB3 alleles, fixed effects of genetic group and gender and random effect of sires were included into the statistical model. In this research, 27 alleles were found for BoLA-DRB3 gene. The results showed that alleles BoLA-DRB3*0101 and BoLA-DRB3*0902 significantly affected on the stimulation index of S. aureus– induced peripheral blood mononuclear cell proliferation (P<0. 05). The results may be useful for investigating the biological mechanism of immune response against S. aureus.

The objective of this research was to estimate the genetic parameters and trend of somatic cell count in Holstein cows of Iran using test day records. The phenotypic the used data consisted of were consisting of 407167 first lactation test day records the which were collected by the center of Animal Breeding and Livestock Production Improvement center of Iran during 2009 to 2013. Somatic cell count was transformed to Somatic cell score using logarithm transformation method. The genetic parameters were estimated using random regression models with Bayesian statistical method based on Gibbs sampling. The results revealed that the observed trend for additive genetic variance and permanent environmental were similar high in early lactation compared to other days. The heritability was estimated between 0. 023-0. 065 for somatic cell score. Repeatability showed highest changes at the start and the end of lactation. Additive genetic correlations were estimated for days 5 and 305. The result showed high variation in genetic trend of somatic cell score in different years, without an specific trend.

Selective signatures in whole genome can help us to understand the mechanisms of selection and to identify the genomic regions that have been under natural or artificial selection during long years. The objective of this study was to identify the genomic regions that have been under artificial and natural selection in Baluchi and Zel sheep breeds. 143 sheep from Baluchi (N=96) and Zel breeds (N=47) have been genotyped using the Illumina ovine SNP50 BeadChip. Unbiased method of Weir and Cockerham’ s FST (Theta) was used to detect the selection signatures in the R package. The results revealed seventeen genomic regions on 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18 and X chromosomes. Bioinformatics analysis demonstrated that some of these genomic regions overlapped with reported genes included in the development of the skeletal system and tail, cytology cells, immune system, sugar and energy metabolism and reproduction traits such as RPS6KA3, HOXB9, ESPL1, AAAS, FNDC3A genes. The results of the present study and the identified genomic regions can play an important role in study of the effect of the selection on population differentiation in two Baluchi fat-tailed and Zel thin-tailed breeds and subsequently, would direct us to identify the genomic regions associated with traits differentiate these breeds.

This research was conducted to evaluate the effects of synthetic methionine replacement with herbal methionine (HM) on performance, blood biochemical parameters and carcass characteristics in broiler chicken. A total of 280 8-old Ross 308 male chicken were randomly assigned to 7 dietary treatments: control, in which 100% methionine requirement was supplied form DL-methionine, and in treatments 2 to 7, DL-methionine in control was replaced by 20, 40, 50, 60, 80 and 100% HM, respectively. Each treatment replicated 4 times (10 birds per each). Body weight at 21 and 42 d in broilers fed HM in levels up to 60% and 50% replacement was similar to those fed control diet, respectively. Experimental treatments had no significant impact on feed intake during the trial. No differences were observed in carcass percentage and relative weights of abdominal fat, breast, tights, liver, heart, thymus, lien, and bursa among the treatments. Herbal methionine replacement had no significant effect on blood total protein, globulin, uric acid and triglyceride content. Concentration of serum albumin was significantly elevated in birds fed diets contained 80% HM, whereas cholesterol content in treatment 100% HM and glucose content in treatments 60, 80 and 100% HM significantly reduced in compare to control (P≤ 0. 05). In conclusion, it could be feasible to use herbal methionine in broiler diets as a replacement to supply a part of the methionine requirement without negatively affecting performance or carcass traits.

This study was performed to investigate the incidence of abortion based on different definitions and, the effect of climate and herd size on abortion as well as its phenotypic trend. Using calving records collected from 16 dairy herds from years 2004 through 2014. Incidence rate and analysis of affecting factors on abortion were done using the FREQ and GENMOD procedures of SAS software, respectively. According to the definition of abortion as death and expulsion of fetus between 60-260 d, 100-260 d or 150-260 d of pregnancy, overall abortion incidence was 15. 5%, 11. 25% and 6. 6%, respectively. Herd size, climate, parity, year and season of calving as well as the interaction of calving year × season and climate × calving year were associated with abortion (P < 0. 001). Greatest abortion incidence was observed for second parity cows (28. 7%). The highest and lowest rates of abortion (16. 0 vs. 14. 5%) happened in the mild and cold climate, respectively. Also, the larger herds, with more than 3000 cows, had almost 1% higher abortion incidence than smaller herds, with less than 1000 cows. The average rate of abortion incidence was highest in the spring and lowest in the autumn (17. 8 vs. 13. 5 %). According to the regression of least squares means on calving year, abortion incidence showed a positive and significant trend (P < 0. 003) by 0. 4 per year. The results of this study can be used in the analysis of management practices to control abortion.

In this research, effects of adding Methafix (containing malate and fumarate as organic acids) with or without Monensin in diet of fattening Farahani lamb's on performance, and plasma concentration of some metabolites and minerals were investigated. Twenty-four male lambs (4-6 months old, 35. 9 ± 7. 4 kg) were randomly assigned to; 1) control diet (control), 2) control with 24 mg of Monensin/kg of DM (Monensin), 3) control with 4 g of Methafix/kg DM (Metafix) and 4) control with 24 mg of Monensin + 4 g of Methafix/kg DM (Monensin+Metafix). Lambs’ performance and blood glucose, urea, total protein, calcium, phosphorous, sodium and potassium metabolites were determined in two biweekly periods at the beginning (first) and end (second) of fattening period. Except for feed efficiency, parameters of performance were not affected by treatments (P>0. 05). Blood urea, total protein, sodium and potassium were not affected by treatments (P>0. 05). Metafix increased blood concentration of calcium in comparison to control and Monensin (P<0. 05). At the first period of finishing average daily gain was significantly higher than that in the second period (286 vs. 154 g. d-1, P<0. 05). Lambs had showed lower blood glucose but higher blood urea and total protein at the end of fattening period compare to the first period. In conclusion, Monensin supplementation of diet improved feed efficiency of lambs, but no synergistic effects were found between Monensin and Methafix in relation to performance and blood metabolites during fattening period in Farahani lambs.acidosis,dicarboxylic acids,ionospheres,ruminants

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of different dietary enzyme supplemented non-starch polysaccharides on growth and physiological traits of broilers. 625 one day old Ross-308 broiler chickens were allocated randomly to 5 treatments with 5 replicates using a CRD statistical design through 1 to 21 and 22 to 42 days of rearing period. Treatments were included control, wheat, wheat + enzyme, barley and barley + enzyme. According to the results, effect of various diets with different source of NSP on growth traits was significant and wheat or barley diets supplemented with enzymes had higher means than those without enzymes (p<0. 01). Effect of various diets with different source of NSP supplemented with or without enzymes on villus morphology was significant (p<0. 01). Wheat and barley without enzymes resulted in reducing villus height, adversely increasing villus width and crypt depth in three parts of intestine, but supplementation with enzymes restored the adverse effects (p<0. 01). Wheat and barley without enzymes resulted in higher pancreatic enzyme activity and serum enzyme levels (p<0. 01). Also these two diets resulted in higher gene expression for nutrient transporters and mucin producer in the intestine but supplementation with enzymes restored the situation (p<0. 01). As a final result using of different source of non-starch polysaccharides without enzymes in this experiment resulted in destruction of broiler growth and physiological traits but supplementation with enzymes restored the undesirable effects.

This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of sodium bentonite litter supplement and stoking density on performance and litter quality using a total of 252 broiler chicks in completely randomized design with 6 treatments which were arranged factorially (3×2) and 4 replicates. Experimental factors included: stocking density (14; low and 18; high /birds per m2) and three levels of sodium bentonite litter supplement (0, 2 and 4 kg/m2). Higher stocking density led to lower performance, higher moisture, pH, count of E. coli and oocysts in litter, intestinal lesions score, footpad and hock lesion scores and breast blister (P<0. 01). Litter moisture and footpad and hock scores were reduced by application of 2 kg/m2 litter supplement (P<0. 01). Supplementation of 4 kg/m2 sodium bentonite decreased count of E. coli and nitrogen in litter and improved body weight gain of broilers than control (P<0. 01). Interactions between stocking density and litter supplement for footpad and hock scores (35 day of age) were significant (P<0. 05) as lesions were negligible in lower stocking density without any effect by litter supplement, although the lesions induced by higher density were reduced using 4 kg/m2 litter supplement. Results indicated that application of sodium bentonite as litter supplement had beneficial effects on broilers performance and litter quality.

The aim of this study was to estimate the genetic trend and genetic parameters of survival traits in Baluchi sheep using survival records from 27978 Baluchi sheep, which were collected by the Animal Breeding Center of Iran during1979 to 2009. Genetic parameters of lamb survival from 1 to 400 days of age and from 1 to the last recording date. Traits were estimated using animal model (with or without permanent environment of dam) for right censored data assuming an exponential distribution via Gibbs sampling. Effect of year and month of birth, sex, litter size and herd were assumed as fixed. The posterior mean of direct heritability for survival from 1 to 400 days of age and from 1 to the last recording date in first and second model ranged from 0. 135-0. 158 and 0. 085-0. 168, respectively. Posterior mean permanent variance ratio was 0. 076 for survival from 1 to 400 days of age and 0. 144 for survival from1 to last recording date. The genetic trend for these traits was − 0. 0005 and − 0. 001, respectively. Heritability for survival trait suggested that genetic selection for this trait would be effective in the breeding programs.

An experiment was conducted on 240 one-day old Ross 308 broiler chicks using a completely randomized design in a 2×3 factorial arrangement with two levels of nano-adjuvant (with and without) and three levels of dietary protein (low, medium and high) during a 42 d experimental period. The main effect of protein density on feed intake was significant during the starter and grower periods (P<0. 05). With regard to body weight gain, the main effect of protein density was significant in the starter, grower and whole experimental periods (P<0. 01). Among the main and interaction effects, only the main effect of protein density on feed conversion ratio in the starter period was significant (P<0. 01). The effect of protein density was also significant on the relative weights of carcass, legs, abdominal fat pad and bursa of Fabricius (P<0. 05). The main effects of the protein density and nano-adjuvant for total anti-SRBC and IgG titers were significant at day 28 (P<0. 05). Cell immunity in response to PHA-P injection was not affected by the factors. As an overall conclusion, diets with high protein density showed a better ability in improving the performance and immune response of broiler chicks compared to the diets with medium and low protein density. Also, the results showed some advantages for nano-adjuvant in humoral immune response stimulation.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the physical characteristics, chemical composition and protein fractions of sugar beet pulp produced in Iran and comparing them with the tabular values of Cornell net Carbohydrate and Protein System. A total of 39 samples of 13 different sugar factories were sampled from Iran-wide. Particle size distributions of samples were determined using the Penn State Particle Separator. Results showed that collected samples of sugar beet pulp had significantly (P < 0. 01) greater CP (10. 6 vs. 9. 8) and EE (0. 90 vs. . 60) concentrations and lesser OM (92. 9 vs. 94. 7) and NDF (40. 6 vs. 44. 6) contents compared to the tabular values. Furthermore, sugar beet pulp, based on CP%, had greater soluble protein (39. 2 vs. 26. 5), A fraction (35. 6 vs. 25. 5), B1 fraction (3. 6 vs. 1. 0) and lesser B2 fraction (11. 7 vs. 20. 4) and B3 fraction (37. 2 vs. 41. 8) than the tabular values (P < 0. 01). Accordingly, only 25 and 10% of collected samples had an equal value to the tabular values in terms of CP and NDF concentrations, respectively. Therefore, it is highly recommended that beet pulp is analyzed before balancing rations by nutrition consultants and/or dairy producers or average values resulted from this research are used at least in order to have more balanced diets.