Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Ludmila Zavadilová Author-Name: Eva Kašná Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Animal Science, Prague-Uhříněves, Czech Republic Author-Name: Zuzana Krupová Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Animal Science, Prague-Uhříněves, Czech Republic Author-Name: Anita Klímová Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Animal Science, Prague-Uhříněves, Czech Republic Title: Health traits in current dairy cattle breeding: A review Abstract: The review focuses on breeding practices aimed at improving resistance to diseases and health disorders that are associated with better efficiency, welfare and longevity of cows. It is commonly known that diseases like mastitis, foot and claw disorders, metabolic and reproductive issues seriously violate dairy cows' well-being. The cause of prevailing health and fertility deterioration has been the intensive selection merely based on higher milk production starting after the Second World War. Therefore since the last decades of the 20th-century genetic selection programs have been increasingly focused on increasing resistance to diseases and improving fertility traits using several omics techniques, including genomics. The first steps for maintaining the goal of genetic breeding for disease resistance were the introduction of disease data collection at national levels followed by an elaboration of gene evaluation systems. It was proved that diseases exhibit additive genetic variability exploitable in the breeding. For greater breeding efficiency, the indicator traits are used, which were strongly genetically correlated with health traits, have higher heritability, and above all, are usually easily measurable at low cost. Genome-wide association studies have identified several polymorphisms associated with disease liability that could also be used for speeding up selection efforts. Keywords: cow; clinical mastitis; foot and claw disease; metabolic disease; genomics. Keywords: cow, clinical mastitis, foot and claw disease, metabolic disease, genomics Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 235-250 Volume: 66 Issue: 7 Year: 2021 DOI: 10.17221/163/2020-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/163/2020-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-202107-0001.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:66:y:2021:i:7:id:163-2020-CJAS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Radovan Kasarda Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding Biology, Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Nitra, Slovak Republic Author-Name: Nina Moravčíková Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding Biology, Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Nitra, Slovak Republic Author-Name: Barbora Olšanská Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding Biology, Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Nitra, Slovak Republic Author-Name: Gábor Mészáros Author-Workplace-Name: Division of Livestock Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria Author-Name: Luboš Vostrý Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Genetics and Breeding, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: Hana Vostrá-Vydrová Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Ethology and Companion Animal Science, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: Kristína Lehocká Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding Biology, Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Nitra, Slovak Republic Author-Name: Ján Prišťák Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding Biology, Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Nitra, Slovak Republic Author-Name: Juraj Candrák Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding Biology, Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Nitra, Slovak Republic Title: The evaluation of genomic diversity and selection signals in the autochthonous Slovak Spotted cattle Abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effective population size based on linkage disequilibrium and the trend of inbreeding derived from runs of homozygosity (ROH) in the Slovak Spotted cattle. The ROH segments longer than 4 Mb were then analysed to identify selection signals. Eighty-five individuals were genotyped using the ICBF International Dairy and Beef chip (dams of sires) and Illumina BovineSNP50 BeadChip (sires). The ROH segments > 1 Mb occurred most often in the autosomal genome with an average number of 16.75 ± 7.23. The ROH segments > 16 Mb covering 0.41% of the genome pointed to the long-term effort of breeders to reduce inbreeding in the population of Slovak Spotted cattle. However, the average observed heterozygosity indicated a decrease in overall diversity in the current population. The decrease of heterozygosity per generation also confirmed the estimates of historical and recent effective population size (a decrease of 6.88 animals per generation). The predicted current effective population size was 58 animals. Twenty-one regions across 12 different autosomes were fixed due to the high selection pressure. Within these genomic regions were identified various genes associated with reproduction (SLC9C1, PTPN12), milk production (IGF1, ABCG2), beef production (IFRD1, PTPN4), developmental processes (FMNL2, GLI2), immune system (CD96, CSK) and coat colour (KIT). These selection signals detected in the genome of Slovak Spotted cattle confirm the constant effort of breeders to preserve the dual-purpose nature of this breed. Keywords: autozygosity, effective population size, effect of selection, inbreeding, local cattle breed Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 251-261 Volume: 66 Issue: 7 Year: 2021 DOI: 10.17221/265/2020-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/265/2020-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-202107-0002.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:66:y:2021:i:7:id:265-2020-CJAS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Ferenc Szabó Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Széchenyi István University, Mosonmagyaróvár, Hungary Author-Name: Judit Márton Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Széchenyi István University, Mosonmagyaróvár, Hungary Author-Name: Eszter Szabó Author-Workplace-Name: Juhász Gyula Faculty of Education, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary Author-Name: Márton Szűcs Author-Workplace-Name: Association of Hungarian Limousin and Blonde d'Aquitaine Breeders, Budapest, Hungary Author-Name: Szabolcs Bene Author-Workplace-Name: Institut of Animal Sciences, Georgikon Campus, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Keszthely, Hungary Title: Relationship between direct and maternal genetic effects on weaning weight of Limousin and crossbred beef calves Abstract: Population genetic parameters, direct and maternal breeding value, the genetic trend in the weaning weight of Limousin beef cattle calves were estimated in the period 1992-2019. Data of 19 764 calves (15 437 purebred Limousin and 4 327 crossbred) were computed. Crossbred calves were sired by Limousin breeding bulls from Simmental dams. Calves in question came from 37 herds and from 240 sires in Hungary. DFREML and MTDFREML software was used for the estimation of population genetic parameters, BLUP animal model for breeding value estimation. Weighted linear regression model was used for describing genetic trends. The maternal heritability (h2m ± SE = 0.29 ± 0.03; 0.32 ± 0.10) was approximately half of the direct heritability (h2d ± SE = 0.63 ± 0.05; 0.68 ± 0.12). The direct maternal covariance is negative, the direct maternal genetic correlation coefficients (rdm ± SE = -0.80 ± 0.03 and -0.96 ± 0.07) are strong negative. The Spearman rank correlation between direct and maternal breeding value in purebred population is moderate and negative (rrank = -0.33; P < 0.01), in crossbred population it is strong and negative (rrank = -0.99; P < 0.01). According to direct and maternal breeding values of sires, the genetic trend of the weaning weight of purebred and crossbred Limousin calves appeared stagnant during the examined period (b = +0.01 kg/year to +0.19 kg/year). Keywords: heritability, direct maternal correlation, breeding value, genetic tren Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 262-270 Volume: 66 Issue: 7 Year: 2021 DOI: 10.17221/298/2020-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/298/2020-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-202107-0003.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:66:y:2021:i:7:id:298-2020-CJAS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Zhiqiang Guo Author-Workplace-Name: Sichuan Animal Science Academy, Chengdu, P.R. China Author-Name: Bin Wang Author-Workplace-Name: Sichuan Animal Science Academy, Chengdu, P.R. China Author-Workplace-Name: College of Animal Science and Technology, Southwest University, Chongqin, P.R. China Author-Name: Jingzhi Lu Author-Workplace-Name: College of Animal Science and Technology, Southwest University, Chongqin, P.R. China Author-Name: Congyan Li Author-Workplace-Name: Animal Breeding and Genetics key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, P.R. China Author-Name: Liangde Kuang Author-Workplace-Name: Sichuan Animal Science Academy, Chengdu, P.R. China Author-Name: Xiaoxia Tang Author-Workplace-Name: College of Animal Science and Technology, Southwest University, Chongqin, P.R. China Author-Name: Xiuli Mei Author-Workplace-Name: Sichuan Animal Science Academy, Chengdu, P.R. China Author-Name: Xiaohong Xie Author-Workplace-Name: Sichuan Animal Science Academy, Chengdu, P.R. China Author-Workplace-Name: Animal Breeding and Genetics key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, P.R. China Title: Analysis of the relationship between caecal flora difference and production performance of two rabbit species by high-throughput sequencing Abstract: The purpose of this experiment is to study the relationship between the difference in production performance between Sichuan White (SC) rabbits and New Zealand (NZL) rabbits and the diversity of caecal flora. Twelve pregnant SC rabbits and 12 NZL female rabbits were selected for this experiment. After delivery, the young rabbits were divided into two groups according to breeds, each group had 30 replicates, and each replicate had one rabbit. During the experiments, these rabbits were kept in the same room, and the temperature in the room was controlled at 12-25 °C, with a 16-hour light cycle every 24 hours. The nutritional composition of the feed and other environmental conditions were consistent. On the 59th day of the experiment, the caecum contents of the two groups of young rabbits were collected. The results showed that the survival rate of the SC rabbit group was higher than that of the NZL rabbit group, and the diarrhoea rate and average daily gain were lower than those of the NZL rabbit group (P < 0.05). The results of high-throughput sequencing of the 16S gene showed that compared with the NZL rabbit group, the relative abundance of Bacteroides increased, and the abundance of harmful flora Verrucomicrobia and Proteobacteria decreased (P < 0.05). Functional analysis of the microflora showed that the relative abundance of carbohydrate metabolism genes in the SC rabbit group was higher than in the NZL rabbit group. In conclusion, compared with the NZL rabbits, the SC rabbits have a more optimized intestinal flora structure and lower abundance of harmful bacteria. Moreover, the intestinal health level of SC rabbits is improved, and the tolerance to roughage of SC rabbits is increased. Keywords: comparative study, gut microflora, high-throughput sequence, New Zealand rabbit, Sichuan White rabbit Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 271-280 Volume: 66 Issue: 7 Year: 2021 DOI: 10.17221/225/2020-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/225/2020-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-202107-0004.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:66:y:2021:i:7:id:225-2020-CJAS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Necmettin Ceylan Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey Author-Name: Sait Koca Author-Workplace-Name: Beypilic Broiler Integration Company, Bolu, Turkey Author-Name: Shahram Golzar Adabi Author-Workplace-Name: Huvepharma, Istanbul, Turkey Author-Name: Nejla Kahraman Author-Workplace-Name: Beypilic Broiler Integration Company, Bolu, Turkey Author-Name: Muhammad Nasir Bhaya Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Afyon Kocatepe University, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey Author-Name: Mehmet Fatih Bozkurt Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Afyon Kocatepe University, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey Title: Effects of dietary energy level and guanidino acetic acid supplementation on growth performance, carcass quality and intestinal architecture of broilers Abstract: Energy, known as the most expensive nutrient in broiler feed, is what strongly adjusts and affects the growth of broilers. Creatine has a key role in cellular energy metabolism and could be synthesised from guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) in the liver; however, its de novo synthesis is not able to adequately fulfil the demand of energy metabolism, especially in fast-growing modern broilers. So the aim of the study was to evaluate the efficiency of commercial GAA in energy-reduced broiler diets on performance and intestinal development. Overall, 11 400 day-old Ross 308 chicks were randomly allocated to six dietary treatments with ten replicates in each. Dietary treatments were designed as a 3 × 2 factorial arrangement with three levels of dietary metabolisable energy (AMEn) recommended by Aviagen for Ross 308 broilers (12.55 MJ/kg, 12.97 MJ/kg and 13.38 MJ/kg for starter, grower and finisher, respectively), 0.209 MJ/kg and 0.418 MJ/kg reduced and two levels of GAA (0.00% and 0.06%). There was no significant GAA × AMEn interaction for all performance parameters, carcass traits and jejunal morphological parameters (except for the villus width). Reduction of dietary AMEn (0.209 MJ/kg and/or 0.418 MJ/kg) caused a significant depression in body weight (BW) gain (P < 0.001) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) (P < 0.001). However, a decreasing AMEn level increased villus height (P < 0.003) and villus surface area (P < 0.03), while crypt depth and villus width were similar. The GAA improved final BW and FCR by 1.77% and 1.66%, respectively (P < 0.001). Birds fed low energy diets supplemented with GAA showed a significant improvement in the performance so that BW and FCR were the same as in the control birds; however, no such positive effects were obtained in jejunal villus development. Hence, it might be concluded that 0.06% GAA supplementation improves BW and FCR and can save at least 0.209 MJ/kg dietary AMEn in broiler diets. Keywords: broiler, creatine, energy utilisation, jejenum morphologhy, breast meat Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 281-291 Volume: 66 Issue: 7 Year: 2021 DOI: 10.17221/11/2021-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/11/2021-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-202107-0005.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:66:y:2021:i:7:id:11-2021-CJAS