Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Zuzana Linhartová Author-Workplace-Name: South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Vodňany, Czech Republic Author-Name: Miloš Havelka Author-Workplace-Name: South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Vodňany, Czech Republic Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty and Graduate School of Fisheries Sciences, Hokkaido University, Hakodate, Japan Author-Name: Martin Pšenička Author-Workplace-Name: South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Vodňany, Czech Republic Author-Name: Martin Flajšhans Author-Workplace-Name: South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Vodňany, Czech Republic Title: Interspecific hybridization of sturgeon species affects differently their gonadal development Abstract: Gonad development in fish is generally assumed to be negatively influenced by interspecific hybridization, resulting in sterility or sub-sterility. However, this is not the case in sturgeons (Acipenseridae), in which fertile hybrids are common. In the present study, we investigated gonad development in several sturgeon interspecific hybrids and purebred species. Six interspecific hybrid groups and three purebred groups were analyzed including 20 hybrid specimens with even ploidy, 40 specimens having odd ploidy levels, and 30 purebred specimens. Hybrids of species with the same ploidy (even ploidy - 2n, 4n) exhibited normally developed gonads similar to those seen in purebred specimens. In contrast, hybrids of species differing in ploidy (odd ploidy - 3n) did not display fully developed gonads. Ovaries were composed of oocytes or nests of differentiating oocytes that ceased development in early stages of meiosis (pachytene to zygotene) with a higher content of adipose and apoptotic tissue. Testes contained single spermatogonia along with Sertoli cells and spaces lacking germ cells. The obtained results showed that gonad development was influenced by genetic origin and ploidy of the sturgeon hybrids and were consistent with full fertility of hybrids with even ploidy. Sterility of females, but possibly limited fertility of males, is suggested for hybrids with odd ploidy. Keywords: Acipenseriformes, gonad histology, hybrid fertility, hybrid gametogenesis Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 1-10 Volume: 63 Issue: 1 Year: 2018 DOI: 10.17221/37/2016-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/37/2016-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-201801-0001.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:63:y:2018:i:1:id:37-2016-CJAS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Mohamed Ketta Author-Name: Eva Tumova Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Animal Husbandry, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic Title: Eggshell characteristics and cuticle deposition in three laying hen genotypes housed in enriched cages and on litter Abstract: The objective of the present study was to compare the eggshell characteristics and cuticle deposition of Lohmann Brown, Hy-Line Silver Brown, and Isa Brown layers kept in two different housing systems. The three laying hen genotypes were housed in enriched cages (100 hens, 750 cm2/hen, 10 hens/cage) and in littered pens (100 hens, 9 hens/m2, 10 hens/pen). The experiment was carried out in weeks 40-56 of hens age. Non-significant interactions of genotype and housing system for eggshell quality parameters and cuticle deposition were detected in this study. Egg weight was significantly affected by genotype (P ≤ 0.001) and housing system (P ≤ 0.043). The heaviest eggs were laid by Lohmann Brown, while the lightest eggs were produced by Hy-Line Silver Brown. Eggshell strength was not affected by genotype and housing system, however, genotype had a significant effect on eggshell thickness (P ≤ 0.033). Isa Brown eggs had thicker eggshells compared to Lohmann Brown and Hy-Line Silver Brown. However, a non-significant effect of housing system on eggshell thickness was observed. Eggshell percentage was significantly affected by both genotype and housing system. Genotype of laying hens had a significant effect on cuticle deposition; significantly higher cuticle deposition was observed in Lohmann Brown eggs (P ≤ 0.001). It could be concluded that genotype had a significant effect on eggshell quality parameters and cuticle deposition. However, the housing system effect was less important in these characteristics. Keywords: eggshell quality, cuticle quality, genotype, housing system Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 11-16 Volume: 63 Issue: 1 Year: 2018 DOI: 10.17221/75/2017-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/75/2017-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-201801-0002.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:63:y:2018:i:1:id:75-2017-CJAS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Radko Loučka Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Animal Science, Prague-Uhříněves, Czech Republic Author-Name: Yvona Tyrolová Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Animal Science, Prague-Uhříněves, Czech Republic Author-Name: Filip Jančík Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Animal Science, Prague-Uhříněves, Czech Republic Author-Name: Petra Kubelková Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Animal Science, Prague-Uhříněves, Czech Republic Author-Name: Petr Homolka Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Animal Science, Prague-Uhříněves, Czech Republic Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Microbiology, Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: Václav Jambor Author-Workplace-Name: NutriVet, s.r.o., Pohořelice, Czech Republic Title: Variation for in vivo digestibility in two maize hybrid silages Abstract: The experiment was aimed at confirming that silages made of two very similar hybrids could have different in vivo digestibility, primarily amylase-treated neutral detergent fibre digestibility (aNDFD), which could strongly influence the result of the calculation of energy value of fodder. Both the stay-green whole-plant types were grown at the same locality during two years and harvested at the same days at two-thirds milk line maturity. In the two subsequent years, silages without preservatives were made of both hybrids tested. All silages were fermented for 90 days. The in vivo digestibility of silages was measured in digestion trials with six sheep. All silages had good fermentation quality, and no differences in that regard were found between hybrids or years (P > 0.05). Hybrid had stronger effect than year on all indicators of chemical composition and digestibility of nutrients other than dry matter (DM). Hybrid significantly affected all indicators measuring chemical composition and digestibility of nutrients other than DM (P = 0.18). The aNDFD was closely correlated with all other measures of nutrients digestibility (P < 0.01). The results confirm the importance of breeding hybrids and analyzing silages for aNDFD. Keywords: ruminant, nutritive value, neutral detergent fibre, fermentation, correlation Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 17-23 Volume: 63 Issue: 1 Year: 2018 DOI: 10.17221/37/2017-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/37/2017-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-201801-0003.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:63:y:2018:i:1:id:37-2017-CJAS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Jun-Qiang Liu Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Cellular and Molecular Biology, School of Life Sciences, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, P.R. China Author-Name: Yan-Hong Wang Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Cellular and Molecular Biology, School of Life Sciences, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, P.R. China Author-Name: Xing-Tang Fang Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Cellular and Molecular Biology, School of Life Sciences, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, P.R. China Author-Name: Ming Xie Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, P.R. China Author-Name: Yun-Sheng Zhang Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, P.R. China Author-Name: Shui-Sheng Hou Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, P.R. China Author-Name: Hong Chen Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Cellular and Molecular Biology, School of Life Sciences, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, P.R. China Author-Name: Guo-Hong Chen Author-Workplace-Name: College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, P.R. China Author-Name: Chun-Lei Zhang Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Cellular and Molecular Biology, School of Life Sciences, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, P.R. China Author-Workplace-Name: College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, P.R. China Title: Dietary energy level affects the composition of cecal microbiota of starter Pekin ducklings Abstract: In this study, we evaluated the phylogenetic diversity of the cecal microbiota of 3-week-old ducklings fed three diets differing in metabolizable energy. The contents of the ceca were collected from ducklings of different groups. The ceca bacterial DNA was isolated and the V3 to V4 regions of 16S rRNA genes were amplified. The amplicons were subjected to high-throughput sequencing to analyze the bacterial diversity of different groups. The predominant bacterial phyla were Bacteroidetes (~65.67%), Firmicutes (~17.46%), and Proteobacteria (~10.73%). The abundance of Bacteroidetes increased and that of Firmicutes decreased with increasing dietary energy level. The diversity decreased (Simpson diversity index and Shannon diversity index) with the increase in dietary energy level, but the richness remained constant. Notably, Brachyspira bacteria were detected with a very high relative abundance (4.91%) in ceca of ducks fed a diet with 11.30 MJ/kg metabolizable energy, suggesting that low energy content may affect their colonization in cecum. Keywords: duck, bacterial diversity, dietary energy Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 24-31 Volume: 63 Issue: 1 Year: 2018 DOI: 10.17221/53/2017-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/53/2017-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-201801-0004.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:63:y:2018:i:1:id:53-2017-CJAS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Aleksandra Szczepkowska Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, Olsztyn, Poland Author-Name: Mariusz Tomasz Skowroński Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Animal Physiology, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Olsztyn, Poland Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Veterinary, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Poznań, Poland Author-Name: Marta Kowalewska Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, Olsztyn, Poland Author-Name: Stanisław Milewski Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Sheep and Goat Breeding, Animal Bioengineering Faculty, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Olsztyn, Poland Author-Name: Janina Skipor Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, Olsztyn, Poland Title: Effect of melatonin from slow-release implants on aquaporins (AQP1 and AQP4) in the ovine choroid plexus Abstract: Aquaporins (AQPs) play important role in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) secretion and AQP1 and AQP4 are localized in the choroid plexus (CP), which is the main place of CSF production. In ewes, seasonally breeding animals, the turnover rate (TOR) of CSF is photoperiodically modulated and melatonin, a biochemical signal about changing photoperiod, is used to advance the onset of the breeding season by mimicking the stimulatory effect of short days (SD). This study evaluates the effect of melatonin implantation during long days (LD) on AQPs expression in the ovine CP. Studies were performed on ovariectomized, estradiol implanted ewes treated with placebo (n = 6) or with melatonin (n = 6) during LD. Ewes were sacrificed 40 days after melatonin/placebo implantation and CPs from the lateral/third brain ventricles were collected for Real-time and Western blot analyses. Additionally, for immunohistochemical analysis, CP samples were collected from ewes (n = 3) sacrificed during LD. We demonstrated an apical membrane localization of AQP1 and a diffused distribution of AQP4 in the epithelial cells of CP. The mRNA expression of AQP1 was 20 times higher than the expression of all AQP4 isoforms, and among them AQP4 isoforms containing exon 2 constituted approximately 38%. The melatonin implantation significantly (P < 0.05) increased the mRNA expression of AQP1 and AQP4 and the protein level of AQP4 isoforms (33 and 28 kDa). For AQP1 we observed a significant (P < 0.05) decrease of glycosylated (33 kDa) and a significant (P < 0.05) increase of unglycosylated (23 kDa) predominant protein form. Therefore it can be suggested that at least AQP1, which is involved in CSF production and has been demonstrated to be modulated by melatonin implantation, is linked with the photoperiodic modulation of the CSF production in ewes. Keywords: AQPs brain location, mimicked short days, cerebrospinal fluid, photoperiod, ewe Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 32-42 Volume: 63 Issue: 1 Year: 2018 DOI: 10.17221/6/2017-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/6/2017-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-201801-0005.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:63:y:2018:i:1:id:6-2017-CJAS