MILK YIELD, MILK COMPOSITION AND BLOOD METABOLITE PROFILES IN DAIRY COWS SUPPLEMENTED WITH VITAMIN D ENRICHED YEAST

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of vitamin D enriched yeast supplementation on milk performance, vitamin D content in milk, and blood metabolite profiles. Six crossbred Holstein Friesian cows were randomly allocated to treatment by using a 3 x 3 Double Latin square design, including a control group (T1), 5 g live yeast supplementation (T2), and 5 g vitamin D enriched yeast supplementation (160,000 IU/head/day; T3). Milk and blood samples were collected on days 28 of each trail period, for analyzing milk composition, vitamin D content in milk, and blood metabolite profiles. The result showed that the vitamin D enriched yeast supplementation group had 25-hydroxyvitamin D2 concentration in blood significantly higher than other comparable groups (64.27 compared to 47.39 and 49.31 ng/ml, respectively; P < 0.01). There were no significant differences between treatments for milk yield or ECM yield and milk composition but the vitamin D enriched yeast supplementation group had significantly higher vitamin D content in milk than the T1 and T2 groups (690.83 compared to 562.83 and 529.48 ng/1000mL, respectively; P < 0.01). As a result, supplementing vitamin D enriched yeast with dairy cow diets cloud improve vitamin D content in milk

Identification and characterization of miRNAs expressed in the bovine ovary

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>MicroRNAs are the major class of gene-regulating molecules playing diverse roles through sequence complementarity to target mRNAs at post-transcriptional level. Tightly regulated expression and interaction of a multitude of genes for ovarian folliculogenesis could be regulated by these miRNAs. Identification of them is the first step towards understanding miRNA-guided gene regulation in different biological functions. Despite increasing efforts in miRNAs identification across various species and diverse tissue types, little is known about bovine ovarian miRNAs. Here, we report the identification and characterization of miRNAs expressed in the bovine ovary through cloning, expression analysis and target prediction.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The miRNA library (5'-independent ligation cloning method), which was constructed from bovine ovary in this study, revealed cloning of 50 known and 24 novel miRNAs. Among all identified miRNAs, 38 were found to be new for bovine and were derived from 43 distinct loci showing characteristic secondary structure. While 22 miRNAs precursor loci were found to be well conserved in more than one species, 16 were found to be bovine specific. Most of the miRNAs were cloned multiple times, in which let-7a, let-7b, let-7c, miR-21, miR-23b, miR-24, miR-27a, miR-126 and miR-143 were cloned 10, 28, 13, 4, 11, 7, 6, 4 and 11 times, respectively. Expression analysis of all new and some annotated miRNAs in different intra-ovarian structures and in other multiple tissues showed that some were present ubiquitously while others were differentially expressed among different tissue types. Bta-miR-29a was localized in the follicular cells at different developmental stages in the cyclic ovary. Bio-informatics prediction, screening and Gene Ontology analysis of miRNAs targets identified several biological processes and pathways underlying the ovarian function.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Results of this study suggest the presence of miRNAs in the bovine ovary, thereby elucidate their potential role in regulating diverse molecular and physiological pathways underlying the ovarian functionality. This information will give insights into bovine ovarian miRNAs, which can be further characterized for their role in follicular development and female fertility as well.</p

The three-way relationship of polymorphisms of porcine genes encoding terminal complement components, their differential expression, and health-related phenotypes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The complement system is an evolutionary ancient mechanism that plays an essential role in innate immunity and contributes to the acquired immune response. Three modes of activation, known as classical, alternative and lectin pathway, lead to the initiation of a common terminal lytic pathway. The terminal complement components (TCCs: C6, C7, C8A, C8B, and C9) are encoded by the genes <it>C6</it>, <it>C7</it>, <it>C8A</it>, <it>C8B</it>, <it>C8G</it>, and <it>C9</it>. We aimed at experimentally testing the porcine genes encoding TCCs as candidate genes for immune competence and disease resistance by addressing the three-way relationship of genotype, health related phenotype, and mRNA expression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Comparative sequencing of cDNAs of animals of the breeds German Landrace, Piétrain, Hampshire, Duroc, Vietnamese Potbelly Pig, and Berlin Miniature Pig (BMP) revealed 30 SNPs (21 in protein domains, 12 with AA exchange). The promoter regions (each ~1.5 kb upstream the transcription start sites) of <it>C6</it>, <it>C7</it>, <it>C8A</it>, <it>C8G</it>, and <it>C9</it> exhibited 29 SNPs. Significant effects of the TCC encoding genes on hemolytic complement activity were shown in a cross of Duroc and BMP after vaccination against Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, Aujeszky disease virus and PRRSV by analysis of variance using repeated measures mixed models. Family based association tests (FBAT) confirmed the associations. The promoter SNPs were associated with the relative abundance of TCC transcripts obtained by real time RT-PCR of 311 liver samples of commercial slaughter pigs. Complement gene expression showed significant relationship with the prevalence of acute and chronic lung lesions.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The analyses point to considerable variation of the porcine TCC genes and promote the genes as candidate genes for disease resistance.</p

Quality Factor for Low Doses of High-LET Radiations

The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP77) and the International Commision on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU70) have recommended that the evaluation of radiation hazards be based on the “dose equivalent” defined as the product of the absorbed dose and some modifying factors, the most important of which is the quality factor (Q). The quality factor is intended to allow for the effect on the resulting detriment of the microscopic distribution of the absorbed energy. It is therefore defined as a function of the collision stopping power (L∞) in water at the point of interest. Thus Q rises monotonically with increasing LET until 175 keV/μm where it achieves a value of 20 and remains at 20 for all higher values of LET