Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Alexandra Novotná Author-Name: Michaela Brzáková Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Genetics and Breeding of Farm Animals, Institute of Animal Science, Prague-Uhrineves, Czech Republic Author-Name: Alena Birovaš Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Genetics and Breeding of Farm Animals, Institute of Animal Science, Prague-Uhrineves, Czech Republic Author-Name: Zdeňka Veselá Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Genetics and Breeding of Farm Animals, Institute of Animal Science, Prague-Uhrineves, Czech Republic Title: Genetic evaluation of the scrotal circumference of beef bulls in the Czech Republic Abstract: The objective of the present study was to estimate the genetic parameters for the scrotal circumference of bulls of beef breeds in the Czech Republic. The used database for the years 1996-2020 comprised information on the scrotal circumference measurements from 22 065 bulls of 19 pure breeds and crossbred animals of the Beef Simmental, Charolais, and Hereford breeds. After adjustments, the database contained 16 404 records. To test the influence of systematic fixed effects, the GLM/SAS procedure using the least-squares method was applied. The contemporary group, weight and age of the bulls were included as significant systematic environmental effects (< 0.05). The genetic parameters were determined by a single-trait model using the AIREMLF90 program. The heritability coefficient of the scrotal circumference was 0.27. Environmental correlations of the scrotal circumference with the bull weight were moderate and positive (r = 0.2), but the correlations between the age in days and the scrotal circumference were almost zero (r = 0.03). The results indicate that the scrotal circumference of beef cattle breeds provides sufficiently high genetic variability that can be used to identify individuals with an above-average circumference and, in this way, increase the probability of selection of a young bull with a better reproduction potential. Keywords: beef cattle, reproduction potential, fertility indicator Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 349-355 Volume: 67 Issue: 9 Year: 2022 DOI: 10.17221/84/2022-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/84/2022-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-202209-0001.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:67:y:2022:i:9:id:84-2022-CJAS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Alexander Makarevich Author-Workplace-Name: Research Institute for Animal Production Nitra, National Agricultural and Food Centre (NPPC), Lužianky, Slovak Republic Author-Name: Eliška Špaleková Author-Workplace-Name: Research Institute for Animal Production Nitra, National Agricultural and Food Centre (NPPC), Lužianky, Slovak Republic Author-Name: Elena Kubovičová Author-Workplace-Name: Research Institute for Animal Production Nitra, National Agricultural and Food Centre (NPPC), Lužianky, Slovak Republic Author-Name: Jiří Bezdíček Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Zoology, Palacký University Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic Author-Name: Peter Chrenek Author-Workplace-Name: Research Institute for Animal Production Nitra, National Agricultural and Food Centre (NPPC), Lužianky, Slovak Republic Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Science, Slovak University of Agriculture, Nitra, Slovak Republic Title: Cooling storage of ram sperm in presence of antioxidant glutathione Abstract: In the process of cryopreservation, the semen of farm animals can be threatened by many factors, such as oxidative damage, which affect the motility and plasma membrane function of the sperm. As an endogenous antioxidant in animals, glutathione (GSH) can significantly improve the quality of thawed sperm when added to the diluent of the semen. This study was aimed at examining the effect of GSH (given at 0.5 mM, 1.5 mM and 5 mM) on the motility and viability of ram sperm following storage under cooling conditions for several days. GSH reduced the negative effect of the cooling conditions on the total and progressive motility (CASA), stability of the membranes (annexin V/PI) and incidence of the apoptosis/necrosis (Yo-Pro-1/PI) in the sperm maintained at 5 °C for 24 h and 48 hours. However, this effect was neither reflected in the penetrating nor in the fertilising ability (zygotic cleavage rate) of the sperm examined in a heterologous (bovine oocytes and ram sperm) in vitro fertilisation test with GSH applied at 1.5 mM for 48 h of cooling storage. These results indicate that the addition of GSH to the sperm extender can maintain the quality of the ram sperm stored at cooling conditions for at least two days. To make a definite conclusion about the GSH effect on the sperm functionality (fertilising ability), other GSH concentrations should be tested. Keywords: sheep, spermatozoa, motility, viability, membrane, apoptosis Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 356-364 Volume: 67 Issue: 9 Year: 2022 DOI: 10.17221/113/2022-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/113/2022-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-202209-0002.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:67:y:2022:i:9:id:113-2022-CJAS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Chang Gao Author-Workplace-Name: College of Animal Science, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, P.R. China Author-Workplace-Name: Inner Mongolia Herbivorous Livestock Feed Engineering Technology Research Center, Hohhot, P.R. China Author-Workplace-Name: Key Laboratory of Smart Animal Husbandry at Universities of Inner Mongolia Automomous Region, Hohhot, P.R. China Author-Name: Dong Gao Author-Workplace-Name: College of Animal Science, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, P.R. China Author-Name: Qiuxu Zhang Author-Workplace-Name: College of Animal Science, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, P.R. China Author-Name: Yuan Wang Author-Workplace-Name: College of Animal Science, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, P.R. China Author-Workplace-Name: Inner Mongolia Herbivorous Livestock Feed Engineering Technology Research Center, Hohhot, P.R. China Author-Workplace-Name: Key Laboratory of Smart Animal Husbandry at Universities of Inner Mongolia Automomous Region, Hohhot, P.R. China Author-Name: Aiqin Gao Author-Workplace-Name: College of Animal Science, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, P.R. China Title: Performance, meat quality, intramuscular fatty acid profile, rumen characteristics and serum parameters of lambs fed microencapsulated or conventional linseed oil Abstract: Microencapsulated linseed oil (MLO) has been used in diets to enhance the omega-3 fatty acid concentration of meat in beef cattle without negatively affecting ruminal microbials and digestion; however, the growth performance, meat quality, intramuscular fatty acid profile, and rumen characteristics in response to MLO have not been examined in sheep. Thus, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of microencapsulated or conventional linseed oil supplement on growth performance, meat quality, intramuscular fatty acid profile, rumen characteristics and serum parameters in Small-tailed Han sheep. Eighteen 5-months-old male sheep (25.31 ± 1.31 kg) were allocated to three groups. After seven days of adaptation to a basal diet, fed for 80 days, the treatments allocated were (1) basal diet (CON); (2) basal diet with added 2% linseed oil (LO); (3) basal diet with added 4% MLO. The results showed that treatments had no effects on growth performance (P ≥ 0.10). Compared to CON and MLO group, the pH24 h of the longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle in LO group was lower (P = 0.07), while the shear force was higher (P = 0.01). Compared to CON group, the addition of linseed oil increased proportions of C17:1, C18:2 n-6c, total polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), PUFA/saturated fatty acids and total n-6, while it decreased the proportion of C17:0, C16:1 and C18:1 c-9 in LD muscle (P < 0.10). The lambs in LO and MLO group had higher proportions of C20:1, C18:3 n-3 and total n-3 in LD muscle than those in CON group (P < 0.10). Compared to CON group, the ruminal pH value of MLO group and the ruminal NH3-N content of LO group were lower (P < 0.10). The total volatile fatty acid, proportion of acetate, and acetate/propionate were deceased in LO and MLO groups (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the two supplements significantly increased the proportions of propionate, butyrate and isovalerate (P < 0.05). Circulating cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations were increased by linseed oil supplementation (P = 0.04). In conclusion, these results indicate that microencapsulated linseed oil did not exhibit any superior effects on muscle fatty acid composition and rumen fermentation of lambs. Keywords: microencapsulated linseed oil, growth performance, meat characteristics, omega-3 fatty acids, rumen fermentation Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 365-373 Volume: 67 Issue: 9 Year: 2022 DOI: 10.17221/77/2022-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/77/2022-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-202209-0003.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:67:y:2022:i:9:id:77-2022-CJAS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Xu Zhao Author-Workplace-Name: College of Agriculture and Forestry Science, Linyi University, Linyi, P.R. China Author-Name: Huashan Huang Author-Workplace-Name: Shandong Longda Biotechnology Co., Ltd, Linyi, P.R. China Title: Changes in the triglyceride metabolism in the thigh muscle and liver of broilers injected intravenously with angiopoietin-like protein 4 Abstract: Angiopoietin-like protein 4 (ANGPTL4) is a potential circulating mediator connecting nutritional factors and fat metabolism, however, information is lacking on the exact role of ANGPTL4 on triglyceride metabolism in the thigh muscles and livers of broilers. The objective of this study was to determine the changes in the triglyceride metabolism in the thigh muscles and livers of broilers injected intravenously with ANGPTL4. In experiment 1, 36 male Arbor Acres broilers at 35 days of age were randomly allocated into six treatments with six replicates. The broilers were subjected to intravenous injection of polyhistidine-small ubiquitin-related modifier-ANGPTL4 (His-SUMO-ANGPTL4) once at a dose of 0, 20, 100, 500, 2 500, or 12 500 ng/kg body weight (BW), respectively. The results showed that the injection of His-SUMO-ANGPTL4 at a dose of 500, 2 500 and 12 500 ng/kg BW decreased (P < 0.05) the broilers' heart-fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP) mRNA expression in the thigh muscle. All of the His-SUMO-ANGPTL4 broiler injected groups had a lower (P < 0.05) adipocyte-fatty acid-binding protein mRNA expression in the thigh muscle. In experiment 2, 18 male Arbor Acres broilers at 35 days of age were randomly allocated into three treatments with six replicates. The broilers were given an injection of normal saline (NS), His-SUMO, or His-SUMO-ANGPTL4 (500 ng/kg BW) once. The results showed that the broilers receiving an injection of ANGPTL4 at a dose of 500 ng/kg BW decreased (P < 0.05) the H-FABP mRNA expression in the thigh muscle. Besides, the broilers given an injection of ANGPTL4 at a dose of 500 ng/kg BW increased (P < 0.05) the fatty acid synthase mRNA expression and activity and decreased (P < 0.05) the microsomal triglyceride transfer protein mRNA expression in the liver. However, the concentrations of the high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, very low-density lipoprotein, insulin, growth hormone and leptin in the serum were not affected by the ANGPTL4 injection. In conclusion, ANGPTL4 has the ability to change the triglyceride metabolism in the thigh muscles and livers of broilers. Keywords: biochemical parameters, chicken, hormone, lipid metabolism-related enzyme, recombinant chicken angiopoietin-like protein 4 Journal: Czech Journal of Animal Science Pages: 374-383 Volume: 67 Issue: 9 Year: 2022 DOI: 10.17221/134/2021-CJAS File-URL: http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/134/2021-CJAS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/cjs-202209-0004.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:67:y:2022:i:9:id:134-2021-CJAS