Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Susanne Sinz Author-Workplace-Name: ETH Zürich, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Zürich, Switzerland Author-Name: Carmen Kunz Author-Workplace-Name: ETH Zürich, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Zürich, Switzerland Author-Name: Annette Liesegang Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Animal Nutrition, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland Author-Name: Ueli Braun Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Farm Animals, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland Author-Name: Svenja Marquardt Author-Workplace-Name: ETH Zürich, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Zürich, Switzerland Author-Name: Carla R. Soliva Author-Workplace-Name: ETH Zürich, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Zürich, Switzerland Author-Name: Michael Kreuzer Author-Workplace-Name: ETH Zürich, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Zürich, Switzerland Title: In vitro bioactivity of various pure flavonoids in ruminal fermentation, with special reference to methane formation Abstract: Polyphenols, like flavonoids, have been investigated when present in intact plants or in extracts as methane mitigating dietary supplements in ruminants. The aim of the present study was to examine pure compounds in a short-term in vitro experiment using the Hohenheim Gas Test method. We focused on the group of the flavonoids and tested which of them had the potential to mitigate methane without negatively affecting ruminal fermentation. Eight flavonoids were tested: epicatechin, luteolin-7-glucoside, quercetin, and isoquercetin in Experiment 1; catechin, gallocatechin, epigallocatechin, and epigallocatechin gallate in Experiment 2. Tannic acid, no flavonoid but a phenolic acid with known methane mitigating properties, served as positive control, and the unsupplemented basal diet as negative control. In both experiments, each of these compounds (including tannic acid) was tested at dosages of 0.5, 5.0, and 50.0 mg/g basal diet dry matter (DM) in four runs each. Gallocatechin, tannic acid, and epigallocatechin gallate (50 mg/g DM) lowered fermentation gas formation and in vitro organic matter digestibility relative to the negative control (Experiment 2). Apart from tannic acid, epicatechin, quercetin, isoquercetin, and luteolin-7-glucoside (5 and 50 mg/g DM) reduced the amount of CH4 produced in relation to total gas produced (Experiment 1). The incubation fluid ammonia concentration was decreased with luteolin-7-glucoside and tannic acid (50 mg/g DM). From the flavonoids tested especially luteolin-7-glucoside seems to have a similar potential as tannic acid to mitigate methane and ammonia formation during ruminal fermentation in vitro, both favourable in environmental respect. These results need to be confirmed in live animals. Keywords: rumen, ammonia, Hohenheim Gas Test, epicatechin, isoquercetin, luteolin-7-glucoside, quercetin, catechin, tannic acid Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 293-304 Volume: 63 Issue: 8 Year: 2018 DOI: 10.17221/118/2017-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/118/2017-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-201808-0001.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:63:y:2018:i:8:id:118-2017-CJAS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Martin Ptáček Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Animal Husbandry, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: Jaromír Ducháček Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Animal Husbandry, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: Jitka Schmidová Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Animal Science, Prague-Uhříněves, Czech Republic Author-Name: Luděk Stádník Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Animal Husbandry, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic Title: Response to selection of a breeding program for Suffolk sheep in the Czech Republic Abstract: Lamb growth performance traits in relation to parental breeding values (BVs) for these traits were evaluated in a purebred Suffolk sheep population in the Czech Republic. The research lasted over 8 years and included 24 886 lambs. Four relevant parental BVs were observed: BV predicted for lamb live weight direct effect (BVLW-DE), BV predicted for lamb live weight maternal effect (BVLW-ME), BV predicted for lamb musculus longissimus lumborum et thoracis depth (BV-MLLT), and BV predicted for lamb backfat thickness (BV-BT). The lamb live weight (LW; kg), musculus longissimus lumborum et thoracis depth (MLLT; mm), and backfat thickness (BT; mm) were assessed at 100 days of age. A dataset was created using the most current parental BVs for each year (2007-2014) and subsequent growth traits of their lambs in the next season (2008-2015). Linear regressions showed an increased tendency when one point in dam BVs was associated with an increase in lamb LW (0.393 kg; P < 0.01 in BVLW-DE and 0.090 kg; P < 0.05 in BVLW-ME), MLLT (0.340 mm; P < 0.01 in BV-MLLT), or BT (0.243; P < 0.01 mm in BV-BT). Lower (but significant - P < 0.01) values on linear regression were detected for sire BVs, when 0.135 kg of LW, 0.217 mm of MLLT, and 0.214 mm of BT corresponded to 1-point increases of BVLW-DE, BV-MLLT, or BV-BT. This was confirmed by ANOVA evaluation, especially for LW and MLLT traits. Maximal differences (P < 0.05) in lamb LW were 1.84 kg or 0.88 kg regarding to dam or sire BVLW-DE groups. Similarly, the difference (P < 0.05) in lamb MLLT reached 0.82 mm in dam BV-MLLT, while 0.57 mm was detected in sire BV-MLLT groups. These results have practical implications for the objectives of selection schemes used in the Suffolk sheep population in the Czech Republic. Keywords: lamb, breeding values, growth performance traits, performance recording Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 305-312 Volume: 63 Issue: 8 Year: 2018 DOI: 10.17221/21/2018-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/21/2018-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-201808-0002.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:63:y:2018:i:8:id:21-2018-CJAS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Yongmei Guo Author-Workplace-Name: College of Animal Science, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, P.R. China Author-Name: Jian Gong Author-Workplace-Name: College of Animal Science, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, P.R. China Author-Workplace-Name: College of Life Science and Technology, Inner Mongolia Normal University, Hohhot, P.R. China Author-Name: Binlin Shi Author-Workplace-Name: College of Animal Science, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, P.R. China Author-Name: Xiaoyu Guo Author-Workplace-Name: College of Animal Science, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, P.R. China Author-Name: Sumei Yan Author-Workplace-Name: College of Animal Science, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, P.R. China Title: Effects of selenium on selenoprotein synthesis and antioxidant parameters of bovine mammary epithelial cells Abstract: This study aimed to investigate the effects of selenium (Se) on the selenoproteins synthesis and antioxidant parameters of bovine mammary epithelial cells (BMECs). The experiment was conducted as a single factor completely randomized design to explore the effect of different levels of Se supplementation (0, 10, 20, 50, and 100 nmol/l) on selenoproteins synthesis and antioxidant parameters of BMECs, and to screen the appropriate dose of Se supplementation ensuring a better antioxidant function. Se supplementation increased cell proliferation, the activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and superoxide dismutase, total antioxidant capacity and seleoprotein P (SelP) content, and decreased reactive oxygen species and malondialdehyde levels in a dose-dependent manner. Se supplementation of 50-100 nmol/l had a better effect. Se supplementation also increased thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) activity in a dose-dependent manner, and Se supplementation of 20-50 nmol/l had a better promoting effect. The dose-dependent response between Se supplementation and mRNA and protein expression of GPx1 and TrxR1, as well as SelP mRNA expression was also observed in this experiment. The mRNA and protein expression of GPx1 was up-regulated with the addition of 50-100 nmol/l Se, and the mRNA expression of TrxR1 and SelP was up-regulated with the addition of 20-100 nmol/l Se. Results indicated that Se supplementation of 50 nmol/l had a better promoting effect on the selenoproteins synthesis and antioxidant parameters of BMECs. Keywords: trace element, dairy cows, glutathione peroxidase, thioredoxin reductase, antioxidant function Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 313-322 Volume: 63 Issue: 8 Year: 2018 DOI: 10.17221/24/2018-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/24/2018-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-201808-0003.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:63:y:2018:i:8:id:24-2018-CJAS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Anna Nienartowicz-Zdrojewska Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Genetics and Animal Breeding, Poznań University of Life Science, Poznań, Poland Author-Name: Zbigniew Sobek Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Genetics and Animal Breeding, Poznań University of Life Science, Poznań, Poland Author-Name: Jolanta Różańska-Zawieja Title: Evaluation of gestation length and birth weight of offspring of Polish native cattle breeds in context of estimating genetic parameters Abstract: Research material included data on gestation length of 15 436 cows of Polish native breeds. These were: White Backed (BG; 324 records), Polish Red (RP; 5396 records), Polish Black and White (ZB; 3508 records), and Polish Red and White (ZR; 6208 records). The calvings took place in 2005-2009, and we analysed two calving seasons, lactation number, the degree of calving difficulty, sex, and body weight of newborn calves. The effect of birth year on gestation length and birth weight of offspring was statistically significant, whereas calving season had statistically highly significant effect on both. Gestation length in the analysed breeds was 281.02, 283.35, 280.5, 281.53 for BG, RP, ZB, and ZR, respectively. The birth body weight heritability was 0.13 (RP), 0.33 (ZB) and 0.40 (ZR). Keywords: pregnancy, birth body weight, heritability, native breed Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 323-330 Volume: 63 Issue: 8 Year: 2018 DOI: 10.17221/65/2017-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/65/2017-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-201808-0004.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:63:y:2018:i:8:id:65-2017-CJAS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Claudia Cristina Paro de Paz Author-Workplace-Name: Beef Cattle Centre, Animal Science Institute, Sertãozinho, Brazil Author-Name: Guilherme Costa Venturini Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Improvement and Animal Nutrition, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Botucatu, Brazil Author-Name: Enio Contini Author-Workplace-Name: Beef Cattle Centre, Animal Science Institute, Sertãozinho, Brazil Author-Name: Ricardo Lopes Dias da Costa Author-Workplace-Name: Animal Science Institute, Nova Odessa, Brazil Author-Name: Luara Paula Lameirinha Author-Workplace-Name: Beef Cattle Centre, Animal Science Institute, Sertãozinho, Brazil Author-Name: Celia Raquel Quirino Author-Workplace-Name: Laboratory of Animal Reproduction and Genetic Improvement, Northern Rio de Janeiro State University, Goytacazes, Brazil Title: Nonlinear models of Brazilian sheep in adjustment of growth curves Abstract: Growth curves of the Morada Nova sheep males and females were described using nonlinear models and the relationships between body weight and thoracic circumference were evaluated. Altogether 1516 repeated measures of body weight and thoracic circumference of the Morada Nova sheep (668 males and 848 females) taken since birth till 730 days of age were used. The Brody, Richards, von Bertalanffy, Gompertz, and Logistic models have been tested. The Fisher's test (F) was used to verify the differences (P < 0.05) in growth curves between males and females. The Gompertz model presented a significant difference (P < 0.001) for growth curve parameters between males (asymptotic weight (A) = 40.5 kg and maturing rate (k) = 0.0043 kg/day) and females (A = 36.44 kg and k = 0.0028 kg/day). The relationships between body weight and thoracic circumference presented R2 above 0.7 and a high significance (P < 0.0001) for all categories, showing that the thoracic circumference may be a good indicator of body weight. In addition, a significant effect (P < 0.05) of the relationship between thoracic circumference and prediction of animal's body weight was verified using the models of linear, quadratic, and cubic regression. Among the models studied, the Gompertz model presented the best fit and biological interpretation. Furthermore, the Gompertz model indicated the need to separate animals by sex in order to properly meet nutritional requirements and determine adequate slaughter age. Thoracic circumference can be used to predict animal body weight with a high accuracy. Keywords: body weight, Gompertz, growth rate, mature weight, thoracic circumference Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 331-338 Volume: 63 Issue: 8 Year: 2018 DOI: 10.17221/87/2017-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/87/2017-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-201808-0005.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:63:y:2018:i:8:id:87-2017-CJAS