PCR Based Genotyping of Lulu Cattle of Nepal for A1, A2 Type Beta-caseins

Lulu is an indigenous breed of cattle (Bos taurus) found in high altitude regions of western Nepal. Population of Lulu cattle has been declining due to introgression with other exotic breeds to increase milk productivity. Here we aimed at finding potential approach for conserving Lulu cattle and its assets by studying the milk contents and investigating which variant of beta-casein protein is present in this breed. Beta caseins are an abundant protein in cow milk with A1 and A2 being the most common genetic variants of this protein. Consumption of A1 type of milk has numerous health-related complications whereas A2 type of milk has numerous human health promoting factors. We used restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) for determining the A1 and A2 variant of beta casein in Lulu cattle. For performing DNA extraction, we collected (n = 18) blood samples of Lulu from Mustang and (n=17) Nepal Agriculture research council farm. The amplified fragments in 3% agarose at 251bp and 213bp respectively confirmed the presence of both A1 and A2 gene in Lulu; however, A2 was of greater abundance. Our study indicated that Lulu has A2 variant of beta-casein predominantly. The gene frequency of A1A1 is 0, A1A2 is 0.06 and A2A2 is 0.94. We further found that the allele frequency of A1 and A2 is 0.03 and 0.97 respectively. We designed special primer for sequencing CSN2 genes since A2 type beta casein gene was predominantly seen on Lulu. The sequencing result further supports our RFLP result as most of our samples have “C” nucleotide SNP in amplified CSN2 gene sequence. The Chi-square value of the current study is 0.04 which supports Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium inferring that Lulu cattle are still in the pure state, where there is no genetic introgression with the exotic breed for the sake of improvement of productivity

Paternal Origins and Migratory Episodes of Domestic Sheep

Deng et al. show that domestic sheep harbor four Y chromosome lineages and early expansions of sheep were associated with the segregation of primitive and fat-tailed phenotypes as well as traits selected for different purposes

Do the Poor Benefit from Corporate Social Responsibility? A Theory-Based Impact Evaluation of Six Community-Based Water Projects in Sri Lanka

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can work as an effective means towards minimising business risk and maintaining amicable relationships with diverse groups of stakeholders. While many studies have examined the impacts of CSR on firm value and customer perceptions, little is known about the effects of a philanthropic engagement of the private sector on external stakeholder groups, such as local communities in developing countries. This paper examines welfare effects of six community-based water supply projects that were supported by a thermal power plant in Sri Lanka as part of the company's CSR strategy. The implications of these CSR activities are analysed from the perspective of the project beneficiaries, the majority of them poor smallholder farmers. Household production and labour income functions are estimated from survey data to analyse two pathways through which the water projects affect the beneficiaries' lives. First, the households get individual access to water that allows for the irrigation of home gardens, increases land productivity and changes households' farm output and income (irrigation channel). Second, the projects have an indirect effect on households' income via a time channel, i.e. the effect that due to the individual water access the households save time as there is no need any more to fetch water from far away water bodies or wells. This allows for a reallocation of labour time for other productive income-generating activities. Despite the considerable costs that households have to bear for an individual water connection, the study finds a systematic, positive net income effect of the projects on the beneficiaries via both the irrigation and the time channel. Qualitative evidence supports these findings and also reveals additional positive, non-monetarised project impacts. As the water projects would not have been realised without the subsidiary financial support of the power plant, it is concluded that the company's CSR engagement is increasing the welfare of the beneficiary communities