Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Hanna Unterauer Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Integrative Biology and Biodiversity Research (DIBB), University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna, Austria Author-Name: Norbert Brunner Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Integrative Biology and Biodiversity Research (DIBB), University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna, Austria Author-Name: Manfred Kühleitner Title: Modelling the growth of rearing cattle Abstract: Scientific growth literature often uses the models of Brody, Gompertz, Verhulst, and von Bertalanffy. The versatile five-parameter Bertalanffy-Pütter (BP) model generalizes them. Using the least-squares method, we fitted the BP model to mass-at-age data of 161 calves, cows, bulls, and oxen of cattle breeds that are common in Austria and Southern Germany. We used three measures to assess the goodness of fit: R-squared, normalized root-mean squared error, and the Akaike information criterion together with a correction for sample size. Although the BP model improved the fit of the linear growth model considerably in terms of R-squared, the better fit did not, in general, justify the use of its additional parameters, because most of the data had a non-sigmoidal character. In terms of the Akaike criterion, we could identify only a small core of data (15%) where sigmoidal models were indispensable. Keywords: Akaike information criterion, Bos taurus, Bertalanffy-Pütter differential equation, simulated annealing Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 441-449 Volume: 66 Issue: 11 Year: 2021 DOI: 10.17221/98/2021-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/98/2021-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-202111-0001.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:66:y:2021:i:11:id:98-2021-CJAS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Lihua Qiu Author-Name: Xinyang Fan Author-Name: Xiaohong Teng Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Animal Science and Technology, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, P.R. China Author-Name: Pei Wang Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Animal Science and Technology, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, P.R. China Author-Name: Yongwang Miao Title: Molecular cloning, functional characterization, tissue expression and polymorphism analysis of buffalo PRDX6 gene Abstract: PRDX6 is a bifunctional protein involved in antioxidant regulation and phospholipid metabolism. Previous studies have shown that PRDX6 is involved in some biological pathways and networks related to lactation. The aim of this study was to explore the characteristics, function, tissue expression and variation of buffalo PRDX6 gene. We cloned and characterized the complete coding sequence (CDS) of buffalo PRDX6. The CDS of PRDX6 for swamp and river buffalo is the same, which consists of 675 nucleotides and encodes a protein of 224 amino acids. Buffalo PRDX6 contains one PRX_1cys functional domain (AA 7-222), which is probably related to the regulation of oxidative stress. Multi-tissue differential expression analysis showed that buffalo PRDX6 was highly expressed in the muscle, brain, lung and small intestine during non-lactation and lactation, and there were significant differences in expression in all the tissues except the small intestine between the two periods. It is worth noting that the mRNA abundance of buffalo PRDX6 in non-lactating mammary gland is higher than that in lactating mammary gland. Among the two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) identified in the CDS in this study, c.261C>T is shared by the two types of buffalo with different allelic frequencies, and c.426T>G is found only in river buffalo. The c.426T>G is non-synonymous, resulting in the amino acid substitution p.Asn142Lys. Only one nucleotide differential site is identified in PRDX6 gene between buffalo and other species of Bovidae. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that buffalo PRDX6 has a closer genetic relationship with that of the species in Bovidae. These results indicate that PRDX6 probably plays a crucial role in the mammary gland of buffalo. This study provides the foundation for further functional studies of PRDX6 in buffalo. Keywords: water buffalo, peroxiredoxin 6 gene, bioinformatic analysis, SNPs, population genetic structure Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 450-458 Volume: 66 Issue: 11 Year: 2021 DOI: 10.17221/42/2021-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/42/2021-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-202111-0002.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:66:y:2021:i:11:id:42-2021-CJAS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Yuting Yang Author-Workplace-Name: Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science, Faculty of Animal Science and Technology, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, P.R. China Author-Workplace-Name: State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, Ministry of Agriculture Feed Industry Centre, China Agricultural University, Beijing, P.R. China Author-Name: Huan Gao Author-Workplace-Name: Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science, Faculty of Animal Science and Technology, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, P.R. China Author-Name: Jinming Ran Author-Workplace-Name: Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science, Faculty of Animal Science and Technology, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, P.R. China Author-Name: Ying Huang Author-Workplace-Name: Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science, Faculty of Animal Science and Technology, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, P.R. China Author-Name: Minghua Yang Author-Workplace-Name: Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science, Faculty of Animal Science and Technology, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, P.R. China Author-Name: Lijie Yang Author-Workplace-Name: State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, Ministry of Agriculture Feed Industry Centre, China Agricultural University, Beijing, P.R. China Author-Name: Sumei Zhao Author-Workplace-Name: Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science, Faculty of Animal Science and Technology, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, P.R. China Author-Name: Shiyan Qiao Author-Workplace-Name: State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, Ministry of Agriculture Feed Industry Centre, China Agricultural University, Beijing, P.R. China Author-Name: Hongbin Pan Author-Workplace-Name: Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science, Faculty of Animal Science and Technology, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, P.R. China Title: Comparison of early-life jejunal microbiota diversity in two pig breeds Abstract: The pig intestinal microbiota perform multiple physiological functions during the lifespan of the host. Host genetics is considered a major factor shaping the intestinal microbiota. This study explored the jejunal microbial diversity and potential functional differences between Dahe (DH) and Diannan small-ear (DS) pigs, two important native Chinese breeds with different growth characteristics. Nine piglets of each breed (DH and DS) were fed sow milk until the age of 35 days. Jejunal chyme samples were collected for 16S rRNA sequencing. The birth weight, final body weight at day 35, and average daily gain tended to increase more in DH piglets than in DS piglets. The jejunal microbial Shannon index was also higher in DH piglets than in DS piglets (P < 0.05). At the genus level, the relative abundances of Clostridium XI, Clostridium sensu stricto, Turicibacter, Megasphaera, Veillonella, Mitsuokella, and Selenomonas in DH pigs were higher than those in DS individuals, whereas Streptophyta, Enterococcus, Lactococcus, and Weissella were lower in DH pigs than in DS pigs (P < 0.05). Furthermore, linear discriminant effect size analyses revealed 25 differential bacterial taxa between DH and DS piglets. Spearman's analysis found that Enterococcus was negatively correlated with final body weight (P = 0.025, r = -0.56) and average daily gain (P = 0.034, r = -0.53), while average daily gain was positively correlated with Clostridium XI (P = 0.01, r = 0.63) and Mitsuokella (P =0.007, r = 0.64). Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes annotation identified eight functional categories related to amino acids and energy metabolism in DH piglets, while three categories were related to lipid metabolism in DS piglets. Our findings suggest that DH pigs have higher microbial diversity, while DS pigs may have higher fat deposition ability. Keywords: 16S rRNA, Dahe pig, Diannan small-ear pig, jejunum, microbial composition Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 459-469 Volume: 66 Issue: 11 Year: 2021 DOI: 10.17221/63/2021-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/63/2021-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-202111-0003.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:66:y:2021:i:11:id:63-2021-CJAS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Shengnan Sun Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Bast Fiber Crops, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changsha, P.R. China Author-Workplace-Name: College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, P.R. China Author-Name: Gongxuan Chen Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Life Sciences and Chemistry, Hubei University of Education, Wuhan, P.R. China Author-Name: Zhenping Hou Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Bast Fiber Crops, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changsha, P.R. China Author-Name: Xuelei Zhang Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Bast Fiber Crops, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changsha, P.R. China Author-Name: Guitao Jiang Author-Workplace-Name: Hunan Institute of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Changsha, P.R. China Author-Name: Duanqin Wu Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Bast Fiber Crops, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changsha, P.R. China Title: Effects of chop lengths of ramie silage on ruminal fermentation, free amino acid content, and cellulase activity in goats Abstract: Twelve Liuyang black goats were selected and divided into three groups in a randomized design and they were provided one of the three treatment diets with different chop lengths of ramie silage [1 cm (RS1), 2 cm (RS2), and 3 cm (RS3)]. The length had no effect on pH or the content of acetic acid, butyric acid, and valeric acid. In contrast, NH3-N decreased (P = 0.024) and the ratio of acetate to propionate (P = 0.083) and total volatile fatty acid (TVFA) content (P = 0.087) tended to decrease, and the proportion of propionic acid tended to increase (P = 0.096) with an increase in the chop length of ramie. The increasing lengths of ramie silage decreased the content of total essential amino acids (AA) (P = 0.001), total non-essential AA (P = 0.003), and total AA (P = 0.001), and decreased the concentration of aspartic acid (P = 0.076) in the ruminal fluid. Ramie silage affected xylanase activity (P = 0.043), with greater activity in RS1 than in RS2 and RS3. The recommended chop length of ramie silage is 1 cm because of increasing TVFA, amino acid concentration, and xylanase activity in the ruminal fluid of goats. Keywords: black goats, fiber degradation, forage ramie, nutritional assessment, rumen microbes Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 470-475 Volume: 66 Issue: 11 Year: 2021 DOI: 10.17221/6/2021-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/6/2021-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-202111-0004.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:66:y:2021:i:11:id:6-2021-CJAS