Does the fat tailed Damara ovine breed have a distinct lipid metabolism leading to a high concentration of branched chain fatty acids in tissues?

Articles in International JournalsFat tailed sheep breeds are known for their adaptation to nutritional stress, among other harsh production conditions. Damara sheep, native to Southern Africa, have recently been exported to other areas of the world, particularly Australia, aiming to produce lamb in semi-arid regions. Damaras have a unique hanging fat tail, a fat depot able to be mobilized under nutritional stress. In this article we perform an in-depth characterization of the fatty acid profiles of the fat tail in underfed and control Damara rams. Profiles were very similar between experimental groups, with the exception of palmitic acid (16:0) that was lower (P = 0.014) in underfed animals. However, the most striking result was the very high proportions of non-terminal branched chain fatty acids found in the fat tail adipose tissue, as well as the gastrocnemius muscle of Damara rams. The muscle of Dorper and Merino rams used in the same experiment did not present non-terminal branched chain fatty acids, suggesting that Damara rams have a unique lipid metabolism. Herein, we interpret this trait relating it to a higher ability of Damara sheep to digest fibrous fodder and to putative differences in the propionate metabolism by comparison to other sheep breeds

MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL : A data set of terrestrial, volant, and marine mammal occurrences in P ortugal

Mammals are threatened worldwide, with 26% of all species being includedin the IUCN threatened categories. This overall pattern is primarily associatedwith habitat loss or degradation, and human persecution for terrestrial mam-mals, and pollution, open net fishing, climate change, and prey depletion formarine mammals. Mammals play a key role in maintaining ecosystems func-tionality and resilience, and therefore information on their distribution is cru-cial to delineate and support conservation actions. MAMMALS INPORTUGAL is a publicly available data set compiling unpublishedgeoreferenced occurrence records of 92 terrestrial, volant, and marine mam-mals in mainland Portugal and archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira thatincludes 105,026 data entries between 1873 and 2021 (72% of the data occur-ring in 2000 and 2021). The methods used to collect the data were: live obser-vations/captures (43%), sign surveys (35%), camera trapping (16%),bioacoustics surveys (4%) and radiotracking, and inquiries that represent lessthan 1% of the records. The data set includes 13 types of records: (1) burrowsjsoil moundsjtunnel, (2) capture, (3) colony, (4) dead animaljhairjskullsjjaws, (5) genetic confirmation, (6) inquiries, (7) observation of live animal (8),observation in shelters, (9) photo trappingjvideo, (10) predators dietjpelletsjpine cones/nuts, (11) scatjtrackjditch, (12) telemetry and (13) vocalizationjecholocation. The spatial uncertainty of most records ranges between 0 and100 m (76%). Rodentia (n=31,573) has the highest number of records followedby Chiroptera (n=18,857), Carnivora (n=18,594), Lagomorpha (n=17,496),Cetartiodactyla (n=11,568) and Eulipotyphla (n=7008). The data setincludes records of species classified by the IUCN as threatened(e.g.,Oryctolagus cuniculus[n=12,159],Monachus monachus[n=1,512],andLynx pardinus[n=197]). We believe that this data set may stimulate thepublication of other European countries data sets that would certainly contrib-ute to ecology and conservation-related research, and therefore assisting onthe development of more accurate and tailored conservation managementstrategies for each species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite thisdata paper when the data are used in publications.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mammals in Portugal: a data set of terrestrial, volant, and marine mammal occurrences in Portugal

Mammals are threatened worldwide, with ~26% of all species being included in the IUCN threatened categories. This overall pattern is primarily associated with habitat loss or degradation, and human persecution for terrestrial mammals, and pollution, open net fishing, climate change, and prey depletion for marine mammals. Mammals play a key role in maintaining ecosystems functionality and resilience, and therefore information on their distribution is crucial to delineate and support conservation actions. MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL is a publicly available data set compiling unpublished georeferenced occurrence records of 92 terrestrial, volant, and marine mammals in mainland Portugal and archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira that includes 105,026 data entries between 1873 and 2021 (72% of the data occurring in 2000 and 2021). The methods used to collect the data were: live observations/captures (43%), sign surveys (35%), camera trapping (16%), bioacoustics surveys (4%) and radiotracking, and inquiries that represent less than 1% of the records. The data set includes 13 types of records: (1) burrows | soil mounds | tunnel, (2) capture, (3) colony, (4) dead animal | hair | skulls | jaws, (5) genetic confirmation, (6) inquiries, (7) observation of live animal (8), observation in shelters, (9) photo trapping | video, (10) predators diet | pellets | pine cones/nuts, (11) scat | track | ditch, (12) telemetry and (13) vocalization | echolocation. The spatial uncertainty of most records ranges between 0 and 100 m (76%). Rodentia (n =31,573) has the highest number of records followed by Chiroptera (n = 18,857), Carnivora (n = 18,594), Lagomorpha (n = 17,496), Cetartiodactyla (n = 11,568) and Eulipotyphla (n = 7008). The data set includes records of species classified by the IUCN as threatened (e.g., Oryctolagus cuniculus [n = 12,159], Monachus monachus [n = 1,512], and Lynx pardinus [n = 197]). We believe that this data set may stimulate the publication of other European countries data sets that would certainly contribute to ecology and conservation-related research, and therefore assisting on the development of more accurate and tailored conservation management strategies for each species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite this data paper when the data are used in publications

Lipid composition and nutritional value of some meats with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO)

Comunicação OralCongresso Nacional. Instituto Politécnico de Beja, Escola Superior Agrária de BejaThe aim of this work was to characterise and compare the lipid cQmposition (lípid and eholcsterol contents, fatty acid composition and conjugated linoleie acid isomers) and nutritiona! value (PUFA/SFA and n-6/n-3 ratios) of four Portuguese mea!s with Protceted Designation of Origin (POO; Camalentejana-PDO beel: Mertolenga-POO beef, Barrosã-POO veal and Arouquesa-POO veal), in 1\\'0 distinct slaughter seasoos (early autUnm and late spring). The purebred bovines were maintained according to the traditional productioo systems following the rules established in the meat-POO product specificatioos. ln addition, we also compared the nutritional qU31ityof illtramuscular fat in thesc meats-PDO ,vith the meat obtained from AlentejanaxCharolais erossbrcd young bulls produced io a typical intcnsive concentrate-based system. The results obtained for Carnalentejana-PDO beef (Meat Science. 2006. 72, 425-436), Mertolenga-PDO bcef (Joumal of lhe Science of Food and Agrieulture, 2006, 86, 2196-2205), Barrosã-PDO veal (Food Chemistry, 2006, 94,469-477; Meat Science, 2007, 75,44-52) and Arouquesa-PDO veal (Meat Science, submitted), indicate that intramuscular tàts of meats-PDO. as a result of the beneficial grass effects 00 the eharacterislics of meat lipids, are of grcater nutritional quality than inteosively produêcd bcef from crossbred young bulls throughout the year. However, the data suggest that beef-PDO (Camalentejana-POO aod Mertolenga-POO) iotramuseular falorelative 10Ihat fram veal-PDO (Barrosã-PDO veal and Arouquesa-PDO veal), depiets a 1m.vnutritional ql,lality throughout the year. These differences may be explained by the finishing period of Alentejana and Mertolenga purebrcd young bulls 011coneentrate, which attenuates the beneficia] effects on the charaeteristies ofmeat fat associated with grass intakeAGRO/2003/512, POCTI/CVT/2002/44750 and CIISA/2002/5

Partial gas-liquid chromatogram of the branched chain fatty acid region of the fat tail in Damara Ram lambs.

<p>Peak identification: 1) 10:0; 2) 10:0-4Me and 10:0–6Me; 3) 11:0; 4) 11:0–4Me; 5) 11:0–4,8Me; 6) 12:0; 7) 12:0–4Me; 8) 12:0–8Me; 9) 12:0–4,8Me; 10) 13:0; 11) 13:0–6Me; 12) 13:0–4Me; 13) i–14:0; 14) 13:0–4,8Me; 15) 14:0–2Me; 16) 14:0; 17) 14:0–6Me; 18) 14:0–8Me; 19) 14:0–4Me; 20) 14:0–10Me; 21) i-15:0; 22) 14:0–2,6Me; 23) a-15:0; 24) 14:1<i>cis-</i>9; 25) 15:0; 26) 15:0–8Me; 27) 15:0–4Me; 28) i-16:0; 29) 16:0–2Me; 30) 16:0; 31) 16:0–6Me; 32) 16:0–8Me; 33) 16:0–4Me; 34) 16:0–12Me; 35) i-17:0; 36) 16:1<i>cis-</i>7; 37) 16:1<i>cis-</i>9 and a-17:0; 38) 17:0; 39) 17:0–12Me; 40) i-18:0; 41) 17:1cis-9. Abbreviations: BTH, Butylated hydroxytoluene; Me, methyl; i, iso; a, anteiso.</p

Effect of feed restriction in the fatty acid composition (% of total fatty acids) of the fat tail in Damara ram lambs.

<p>Abbreviations: Me, methyl; BCFA, branched-chain fatty acids; BI, biohydrogenation intermediates, include total C18 FA minus 18:0, 18:1<i>cis-</i>9, 18:1<i>cis-</i>11, 18:2n-6 and 18:3n-3.</p

Electron impact mass spectra of the: A) 16:0–4Me; B) 16:0–6Me; C) 16:0–8Me; and D) 12:0–4,8Me branched chain fatty acids in the fat tail of Damara Ram lambs.

<p>Electron impact mass spectra of the: A) 16:0–4Me; B) 16:0–6Me; C) 16:0–8Me; and D) 12:0–4,8Me branched chain fatty acids in the fat tail of Damara Ram lambs.</p

Damara fat tailed sheep.

<p>A) Damara, Dorper and Australian Merino rams at the initial stages of the feeding trial. Notice the characteristic hanging fat tail of the ram up front. B) Several aspects of the fat tail in several of the Damara rams used in this trial. C) In the first plane, brown Damara ram.</p

Effect of feed restriction on the growth and fat tail in Damara ram lambs.

<p>Effect of feed restriction on the growth and fat tail in Damara ram lambs.</p