Fertility traits of purebred Holsteins and 2- and 3-breed crossbred heifers and cows obtained from Swedish Red, Montbéliarde, and Brown Swiss sires.

The objective of this study was to compare fertility traits of heifers and primiparous cows from Swedish Red × Holstein (SR × HO; n = 634 and 581, respectively), Montbeliarde × Holstein (MO × HO; n = 126 and 114, respectively), Brown Swiss × Holstein (BS × HO; n = 59 and 50, respectively), and MO × (SR × HO) (n = 241 and 139, respectively) crossbreds, versus those of Holstein heifers and cows (HO; n = 3,483 and 2,549, respectively). Animals were born between 2007 and 2011, and belonged to 4 herds located in northern Italy. Heifers were compared for age at first service (AFS), age at first conception (AFC), interval between first service and conception (IFC), nonreturn rate at 56 d after first service (NR56), conception rate at first service (CR), and number of inseminations required for conception (INS). The same traits were evaluated in primiparous cows, except that AFS and AFC were replaced with days at first service (DFS) and days open (DO). The AFS, AFC, IFC, DFS, and DO traits were continuous variables and were thus analyzed under a proportional hazards Cox model that properly accounted for censoring among cows that were culled or failed to conceive. The NR56, CR, and INS traits were analyzed as binary traits using logistic regression. Our results indicated that, among heifers, SR × HO crossbreds had a better chance of having an earlier first service and conceiving earlier than HO, with hazard ratios (HR) of 1.31 for AFS and 1.34 for AFC. Similarly, MO × (SR × HO) crossbreds differed from HO heifers in this regard (HR = 1.18 and 1.24, respectively). For the primiparous cows, all crossbreds showed significant differences for DFS, DO, and IFC relative to purebred HO, with the exception of the BS × HO crossbreds. The MO × HO, SR × HO, and MO × (SR × HO) crossbred cows showed increased chances of having fewer DFS (HR = 1.40, 1.30, and 1.27, respectively), fewer DO (HR = 1.59, 1.43, and 1.58, respectively), and fewer IFC (HR = 1.52, 1.26, and 1.39, respectively) than HO cows. All crossbred genotypes, including BS × HO cows, showed higher probabilities for higher NR56, higher CR, and lower INS than purebred HO cows. Together, these findings indicate that the studied crossbred cows have higher reproductive potential than Holsteins

Survival analysis of piglet pre-weaning mortality

Survival analysis methodology was applied in order to analyse sources of variation of preweaning survival time and to estimate variance components using data from a crossbred piglets population. A frailty sire model was used with the litter effect treated as an additional random source of variation. All the variables considered had a significant effect on survivability: sex, cross-fostering, parity of the nurse-sow and litter size. The variance estimates of sire and litter were closed to 0.08 and 2 respectively and the heritability of pre-weaning survival was 0.03

Genetic analysis of fertility in the Italian Brown Swiss population using different models and trait definitions

AbstractThe aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for fertility and production traits in the Brown Swiss population reared in the Alps (Bolzano-Bozen province, Italy). Fertility indicators were interval from parturition to first service, interval from first service to conception (iFC), and interval from parturition to conception, either expressed as days and as number of potential 21-d estrus cycles (cPF, cFC, and cPC, respectively); number of inseminations to conception; conception rate at first service; and non-return rate at 56 d post-first service. Production traits were peak milk yield, lactation milk yield, lactation length, average lactation protein percentage, and average lactation fat percentage. Data included 71,556 lactations (parities 1 to 9) from 29,582 cows reared in 1,835 herds. Animals calved from 1999 to 2007 and were progeny of 491 artificial insemination bulls. Gibbs sampling and Metropolis algorithms were implemented to obtain (co)variance components using both univariate and bivariate censored threshold and linear sire models. All of the analyses accounted for parity and year-month of calving as fixed effects, and herd, permanent environmental cow, additive genetic sire, and residual as random effects. Heritability estimates for fertility traits ranged from 0.030 (iFC) to 0.071 (cPC). Strong genetic correlations were estimated between interval from parturition to first service and cPF (0.97), and interval from parturition to conception and cPC (0.96). The estimate of heritability for cFC (0.055) was approximately double compared with iFC (0.030), suggesting that measuring the elapsed time between first service and conception in days or potential cycles is not equivalent; this was also confirmed by the genetic correlation between iFC and cFC, which was strong (0.85), but more distant from unity than the other 2 pairs of fertility traits. Genetic correlations between number of inseminations to conception, conception rate at first service, non-return rate at 56 d post-first service, cPF, cFC, and cPC ranged from 0.07 to 0.82 as absolute value. Fertility was unfavorably correlated with production; estimates ranged from −0.26 (cPC with protein percentage) to 0.76 (cPC with lactation length), confirming the genetic antagonism between reproductive efficiency and milk production. Although heritability for fertility is low, the contemporary inclusion of several reproductive traits in a merit index would help to improve performance of dairy cows

Factors affecting the incidence of first-quality wheels of Trentingrana cheese

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Monitoring of sensory attributes used in the quality payment system of Trentingrana cheese

Abstract Trentingrana is a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) hard cheese manufactured in the valleys of Trento province (eastern Italian Alps) by several small cooperative dairies linked in a consortium. Nine months after production, wheels are delivered to a shared facility, ripened up to 18 mo, and assessed by a panel of 8 experts for 7 sensory attributes; namely, external aspect, rind thickness, paste color, texture, odor, taste, and aroma. The evaluation takes place every 2 mo on wheels sampled within each dairy. Based on the results of the assessment, dairies receive a price premium or penalty depending on a quality index, which is the weighted sum of the scores attributed to each sampled wheel. Sensory scores and quality index of 652 wheels representing 11 dairies and 10 yr of production were analyzed using a model that included fixed effects of dairy, year, and season of production, and first-order interactions between them. The coefficients of determination ranged from 0.50 (texture) to 0.66 (aroma). All factors significantly affected the studied traits, with the exception of interactions between dairy and season of production for texture and external aspect, and between year and season of production for odor. Dairy was the most important source of variation for visually assessed traits (external aspect, rind thickness, paste color, and texture) and for quality index, whereas year of production was the most important for flavor attributes (odor, taste, and aroma). The latter traits were always highly correlated among them and with the quality index, whereas correlations among visually assessed attributes, between them and flavor attributes, and between them and the quality index were more erratic. The sensory evaluation performed by the panel of experts has proven to be a useful tool to define the quality index and address the payment system of Trentingrana cheese, but it has some limitations in correctly describing the sensory profile of cheese and identifying specific defects and possible remedies

Molecular characterization of the meq gene of Marek\u2019s disease viruses detected in unvaccinated backyard chickens reveals the circulation of low- and high-virulence strains

Marek's disease (MD) is an important lymphoproliferative disease of chickens, caused by Gal lid alphaherpesvirus 2 (GaHV-2). Outbreaks are commonly reported in commercial flocks, but also in backyard chickens. Whereas the molecular characteristics of GaHV-2 strains from the commercial poultry sector have been reported, no recent data are available for the rural sector. To fill this gap, 19 GaHV-2 strains detected in 19 Italian backyard chicken flocks during suspected MD outbreaks were molecularly characterized through an analysis of the meq gene, the major GaHV-2 oncogene. The number of four consecutive prolines (PPPP) within the proline-rich repeats of the Meq transactivation domain, the proline content, and the presence of amino acid (aa) substitutions were determined. Phylogenetic analysis was performed using the Maximum Likelihood method. Sequence analysis revealed a heterogeneous population of GaHV-2 strains circulating in Italian backyard flocks. Seven strains, detected from birds affected by classical MD, showed a unique meq isoform of 418 aa with a very high number of PPPP motifs. Molecular and clinical features are suggestive of a low oncogenic potential of these strains. The remaining 12 strains, detected from flocks experiencing acute MD, transient paralysis, or sudden death, had shorter Meq protein isoforms (298 or 339 aa) with a lower number of PPPP motifs and point mutations interrupting PPPP. These features allow us to assert the high virulence of these strains. These findings reveal the circulation of low and high-virulence GaHV-2 strains in the Italian rural sector

Genetic and genomic analyses of latent variables related to the milk fatty acid profile, milk composition, and udder health in dairy cattle

The aim of this study was to perform genetic, genome-wide association (GWAS), and gene-set enrichment analyses with latent variables related to milk fatty acid profile (i.e., fatty acids factor scores; FAF), milk composition, and udder health in a cohort of 1,158 Italian Brown Swiss cows. The phenotypes under study were 12 FAF previously identified through factor analysis and classified as follows: de novo FA (F1), branched-chain FA-milk yield (F2), biohydrogenation (F3), long-chain fatty acids (F4), desaturation (F5), short-chain fatty acids (F6), milk protein and fat contents (F7), odd fatty acids (F8), conjugated linoleic acids (F9), linoleic acid (F10), udder health (F11) and vaccelenic acid (F12). (Co)variance components were estimated for factor scores using a Bayesian linear animal model via Gibbs sampling. The animals were genotyped with the Illumina BovineSNP50 BeadChip v.2 (Illumina Inc., San Diego, CA). A single marker regression model was fitted for GWAS analysis. The gene-set enrichment analysis was run on the GWAS results using the Gene Ontology and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway databases to identify the ontologies and pathways associated with the FAF. Marginal posterior means of the heritabilities of the aforementioned FAF ranged from 0.048 for F12 to 0.310 for F5. Factors F1 and F6 had the highest number of relevant genetic correlations with the other traits. The genomic analysis detected a total of 39 significant SNP located on 17 Bos taurus autosomes. All latent variables produced signals except for F2 and F10. The traits with the highest number of significant associations were F11 (17) and F12 (7). Gene-set enrichment analyses identified significant pathways (false discovery rate 5%) for F3 and F7. In particular, systemic lupus erythematosus was enriched for F3, whereas the MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) signaling pathway was overrepresented for F7. The results support the existence of important and exploitable genetic and genomic variation in these latent explanatory phenotypes. Information acquired might be exploited in selection programs and when designing further studies on the role of the putative candidate genes identified in the regulation of milk composition and udder health

Decellularized skeletal muscles support the generation of in vitro neuromuscular tissue models

Decellularized skeletal muscle (dSkM) constructs have received much attention in recent years due to the versatility of their applications in vitro. In search of adequate in vitro models of the skeletal muscle tissue, the dSkM offers great advantages in terms of the preservation of native-tissue complexity, including three-dimensional organization, the presence of residual signaling molecules within the construct, and their myogenic and neurotrophic abilities. Here, we attempted to develop a 3D model of neuromuscular tissue. To do so, we repopulated rat dSkM with human primary myogenic cells along with murine fibroblasts and we coupled them with organotypic rat spinal cord samples. Such culture conditions not only maintained multiple cell type viability in a long-term experimental setup, but also resulted in functionally active construct capable of contraction. In addition, we have developed a customized culture system which enabled easy access, imaging, and analysis of in vitro engineered co-cultures. This work demonstrates the ability of dSkM to support the development of a contractile 3D in vitro model of neuromuscular tissue fit for long-term experimental evaluations

Epithelial chemokine CXCL14 synergizes with CXCL12 via allosteric modulation of CXCR4

The chemokine receptor, CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4), is selective for CXC chemokine ligand 12 (CXCL12), is broadly expressed in blood and tissue cells, and is essential during embryogenesis and hematopoiesis. CXCL14 is a homeostatic chemokine with unknown receptor selectivity and preferential expression in peripheral tissues. Here, we demonstrate that CXCL14 synergized with CXCL12 in the induction of chemokine responses in primary human lymphoid cells and cell lines that express CXCR4. Combining subactive concentrations of CXCL12 with 100–300 nM CXCL14 resulted in chemotaxis responses that exceeded maximal responses that were obtained with CXCL12 alone. CXCL14 did not activate CXCR4-expressing cells (i.e., failed to trigger chemotaxis and Ca2+ mobilization, as well as signaling via ERK1/2 and the small GTPase Rac1); however, CXCL14 bound to CXCR4 with high affinity, induced redistribution of cell-surface CXCR4, and enhanced HIV-1 infection by >3-fold. We postulate that CXCL14 is a positive allosteric modulator of CXCR4 that enhances the potency of CXCR4 ligands. Our findings provide new insights that will inform the development of novel therapeutics that target CXCR4 in a range of diseases, including cancer, autoimmunity, and HIV.—Collins, P. J., McCully, M. L., Mart´ınez-Muñoz, L., Santiago, C.,Wheeldon, J., Caucheteux, S., Thelen, S., Cecchinato, V., Laufer, J.M., Purvanov, V.,Monneau, Y. R., Lortat-Jacob, H., Legler, D. F., Uguccioni, M., Thelen, M., Piguet, V., Mellado, M., Moser, B. Epithelial chemokine CXCL14 synergizes with CXCL12 via allosteric modulation of CXCR4. FASEB J. 31, 000–000 (2017). www.fasebj.or