Milking Characteristics of Istrian and Littoral Dinaric Donkey Breeds

Istrian and Littoral Dinaric donkey are autochthonous breeds which habitat primarily in the Mediterranean part of Croatia. During the second half of the 20th century they have lost primary function as working animals, which led to breeds suppression. Nowadays these two breeds are in the status of endangered ones. One of the possibilities for their economic re-affirmation is launching the program for production and processing donkey’s milk. The aim of the study was to determine the possibility of milk production of Istrian and Littoral Dinaric jennies in terms of quantity and chemical composition. Istrian jennies produce 745.4 mL/milking while Littoral Dinaric produce 317.8 mL/milking. Milk form Littoral Dinaric jennies contained a significantly higher proportion of milk fat and proteins. There were no significant differences in the content of lactose, dry matter, number of somatic cells and microorganisms in milk between these two breeds. Considering the potential for milk production and milk quality, we believe that both breeds are suitable for integration in the programs for milk production, thus enabling for both population to be economically sustainable. It is necessary to develop production technology and markets, with special emphasis considering quality of donkey milk and safety of consumers

Fumonisin-induced hepatocarcinogenesis: mechanisms related to cancer initiation and promotion.

We review the hepatocarcinogenic effects of fungal cultures of Fusarium verticillioides(= Fusarium moniliforme) strain MRC 826 in male BD IX rats. Subsequent chemical analyses of the fumonisin B (FB) mycotoxin content in the culture material used and long-term carcinogenesis studies with purified FB1 provide information about dose-response effects, relevance of hepatotoxicity during FB1-induced carcinogenesis, and the existence of a no-effect threshold. Fumonisin intake levels of between 0.08 and 0.16 mg FB/100 g body weight (bw)/day over approximately 2 years produce liver cancer in male BD IX rats. Exposure levels < 0.08 mg FB/100 g bw/day fail to induce cancer, although mild toxic and preneoplastic lesions are induced. The nutritional status of the diets used in the long-term experiments was marginally deficient in lipotropes and vitamins and could have played an important modulating role in fumonisin-induced hepatocarcinogenesis. Short-term studies in a cancer initiation/promotion model in rat liver provided important information about the possible mechanisms involved during the initial stages of cancer development by this apparently nongenotoxic mycotoxin. These studies supported the findings of long-term investigations indicating that a cytotoxic/proliferative response is required for cancer induction and that a no-effect threshold exists for cancer induction. The mechanisms proposed for cancer induction are highlighted and include the possible role of oxidative damage during initiation and the disruption of lipid metabolism, integrity of cellular membranes, and altered growth-regulatory responses as important events during promotion

Bovine Polledness – An Autosomal Dominant Trait with Allelic Heterogeneity

The persistent horns are an important trait of speciation for the family Bovidae with complex morphogenesis taking place briefly after birth. The polledness is highly favourable in modern cattle breeding systems but serious animal welfare issues urge for a solution in the production of hornless cattle other than dehorning. Although the dominant inhibition of horn morphogenesis was discovered more than 70 years ago, and the causative mutation was mapped almost 20 years ago, its molecular nature remained unknown. Here, we report allelic heterogeneity of the POLLED locus. First, we mapped the POLLED locus to a ∼381-kb interval in a multi-breed case-control design. Targeted re-sequencing of an enlarged candidate interval (547 kb) in 16 sires with known POLLED genotype did not detect a common allele associated with polled status. In eight sires of Alpine and Scottish origin (four polled versus four horned), we identified a single candidate mutation, a complex 202 bp insertion-deletion event that showed perfect association to the polled phenotype in various European cattle breeds, except Holstein-Friesian. The analysis of the same candidate interval in eight Holsteins identified five candidate variants which segregate as a 260 kb haplotype also perfectly associated with the POLLED gene without recombination or interference with the 202 bp insertion-deletion. We further identified bulls which are progeny tested as homozygous polled but bearing both, 202 bp insertion-deletion and Friesian haplotype. The distribution of genotypes of the two putative POLLED alleles in large semi-random sample (1,261 animals) supports the hypothesis of two independent mutations

WTH3 is a direct target of the p53 protein

Previous results showed that overexpression of the WTH3 gene in multidrug resistance (MDR) cells reduced MDR1 gene expression and converted their resistance to sensitivity to various anticancer drugs. The WTH3 gene promoter was found to be differentially regulated in paired MDR vs non-MDR MCF7 cells owing to epigenetic modifications and transcription factor modulations. To understand further the mechanisms that govern WTH3's differential expression, we uncovered a p53-binding site in its promoter, which indicated that WTH3 could be regulated by the p53 gene. This hypothesis was then tested by different strategies. The resulting data revealed that (1) the WTH3 promoter was upregulated by the p53 transgene in diverse host cells; (2) there was a correlation between WTH3 expression levels and p53 gene status in a cell line panel; (3) a WTH3 promoter region was directly targeted by the p53 protein in vitro and in vivo. In addition, overexpression of the WTH3 gene promoted the apoptotic phenotype in host cells. On the basis of these findings, we believe that the negative role played by the WTH3 gene in MDR development is through its proapoptotic potential that is regulated by multiple mechanisms at the transcription level, and one of these mechanisms is linked to the p53 gene

ANALIZA PEDIGREA AUTOHTONIH HRVATSKIH PASMINA GOVEDA: UPRAVLJANJE KONZERVACIJSKOM STRATEGIJOM

Autochthonous Croatian cattle breeds belong to groups of endangered European cattle breeds. Genetic diversity is essential for preservation of adaptive potential of populations and improvement of production potential in the future. Monitoring genetic diversity is the basis for effective conservation programmes. Pedigree analysis is a useful tool in the management of conservation strategy. In the work presented here, we investigate a pedigree information on autochthonous cattle breeds in order to get an insight into population structure and management of the genetic variability. The analysis included 3017 records of Istrian cattle, 578 records of Slavonian-syrmian podolian cattle and 898 records of Busha, registered in the Herd Book from 1994 to 2009. The positive population trends are observable in increased number of animals per breeds and frequent calving recoreded in the Herd Book, with a stagnation from 2002 to 2004. High coefficient of inbreeding level and specific relationship with high average relatedness coefficient in the population of Istrian cattle indicates the necessity of changing the breeding management. The main reason is utilisation of sires mostly born in the same or related herd and the interchange of animals with other herds is not frequent. In the population of Slavonian-syrmian podolian cattle a redesign of the mating scheme is needed. Share of the high inbreed animals in the population of Istrian and Slavonian-syrmian podolian cattle is relatively high. The lowest inbreeding and lowest average relatedness coefficient are found in Busha population. The obtained information will be useful in implementing a conservation program in the Croatian autochthonous endangered cattle breeds.Hrvatske autohtone pasmine goveda dio su skupine ugroženih europskih pasmina domaćih životinja. Genetska različitost je esencijalna za očuvanje adaptivnog potencijala pasmina i unapređenja njihovog proizvodnog potencijala u bližoj i daljnjoj budućnosti. Nadzor genetske različitosti je temelj učinkovitih konzervacijskih programa. Analiza rodoslovlja je korisna u upravljanju konzervacijskom strategijom. U iznesenom radu istražili smo odnose rodoslovnih informacija autohtonih pasmina goveda u cilju sjecanja uvida u populacijsku strukturu i način upravljanja genetskom varijabilnošću. Analizom je obuhvaćeno 3017 rodoslovnih zapisa istarskog goveda, 578 rodoslovnih zapisa slavonsko-srijemskog podolca i 898 rodoslovnih zapisa buše, registriranih u središnjoj matičnoj knjizi u razdoblju od 1994. do 2009. Pozitivni populacijski trendovi u svim autohtonim pasminama uočljivi su kroz povećanje broja uzgojno valjanih jedinki i teladi godišnje registriranih u središnji matični registar, uz uočljivu stagnaciju u razdoblju od 2002. do 2004. Viši koeficijent uzgoja u srodstvu i vrijednost koeficijenta prosječne srodnosti jedinki u populaciji istarskog goveda ukazuju na potrebu redizajna konzervacijske strategije. Glavni razlog tomu je korištenje bikova uglavnom rođenih u istom ili srodnom stadu, odnosno nedovoljna razmjena životinja između stada. U populaciji slavonsko-srijemskog podoloca uočeno je \u27usko grlo\u27, te se ukazuje potreba usklađivanja sheme sparivanja uzgojno valjanih jedinki. Udio visoko srodnih jedinki u populacijama istarskog goveda i slavonsko-srijemskog podoloca je značajan. Najmanja razina uzgoja u srodstvu i najmanji koeficijent prosječne srodnosti jedinki u populaciji zapaženi su u populaciji buše. Uočene informacije mogu biti vrlo korisne u provedbi konzervacijskih programa očuvanja hrvatskih autohtonih ugroženih pasmina goveda

Evaluation of the conservation status of the croatian posavina horse breed based on pedigree and microsatellite data

The Croatian Posavina horse (CPH) is native Croatian breed under a conservation program and under various programs of economic use (ecosystem services, agrotourism, and meat produc-tion). The aim of this study was to analyze the status of the CPH population through an analysis of their pedigree (28,483 records), phenotype (292 licensed stallions, 255 mares), and genetic structure (292 licensed stallions). The average generation interval was 8.20 years, and the number of complete generations was 1.66. The effective number of founders and ancestors was 138 and 107, respectively, with a ratio of 1.29, and the genetic conservation index was 4.46. As for the morphometric char-acteristics, the average withers height of the stallions was 142.79 cm, the chest circumference was 194.28 cm, and the cannon bone circumference was 22.34. In mares, the withers height, chest, and cannon bone circumference were lower (139.71 cm, 190.30 cm, and 20.94 cm, respectively). Genetic microsatellite analysis of the 29 sire-lines showed high genetic diversity, expressed as the mean allele number (7.7), allele richness (4.0), and expected heterozygosity (0.740). There was no evidence of high inbreeding or a genetic bottleneck. The genetic and phenotypic data indicate that the CPH is an important and diverse reservoir of genetic diversity and can be conserved because of its special characteristics (adaptability)