جمال فیاضی

Myostatin (MSTN) is a member of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), which is a negative regulator for muscle differentiation and growth in various mammals and plays a key role in muscle growth and meat quality. Today, CRISPR technology can be used to accurately change any attribute. The CRISPR/Cas9 technology creates double-strand breaks (DSBs) in the target region of DNA, which can be repaired by homology repair (HDR) in the presence of the corresponding homologous repair template or by non-homologous end joining (NHEJ).

Guide RNAs (sgRNA) were designed using CRISPOR online software. Eggs collected from 150 Varami sheep were placed in 50-microliter drops of culture medium in an incubator containing 7% CO2 and 95% humidity. 22-24 hours after IVM, a mixture of two guide RNAs cloned in a CRISPR vector was injected into each oocyte at a concentration of 30 ng with a microinjection microscope. After microinjection, the parthenogenesis method was used to fertilize the eggs. After the activation of the eggs in the wells of the 96-well plate, the bottom of which was covered with cumulus cells and sage medium for eight days in an incubator with a temperature of 38.5 degrees Celsius and 7% CO2gas, they were cultivated under conditions of maximum humidity. After eight days, the zygotes that had reached the embryonic stage were analyzed with a fluorescent microscope. The embryos of the test group that emitted green light, as well as one embryo from the control group, were individually placed in nine microliters of DNA Lysis to prepare their genomes. They were incubated in a temperature program of one hour at 65 degrees and ten minutes at 90 degrees. In order to investigate the gene editing of the embryos that emitted green light, the PCR products of five greened embryos along with one embryo of the control group were sequenced by the trench method.

Finally, 12 sheep embryos were produced, which were analyzed with a fluorescent microscope, and a total of five embryos emitted green light. The green light indicated that they had received the CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Among the five embryos, two of the embryos with guide RNA 1 showed a single nucleotide deletion upstream of PAM. Additionally, two of the embryos showed a single nucleotide deletion in guide RNA 2, while one of the embryos remained unchanged. Sequence analysis of the knockout embryos revealed that 83% of the cells were cut. After creating two types of single nucleotide deletions in different positions of sheep embryos, the effect of this genomic editing was detected by examining the amino acid sequence of the embryos in the control group and those carrying the mutation. It was observed that the deletion of a single nucleotide caused by guide RNA resulted in a change in the genome framework and termination code, leading to a shorter amino acid sequence in the edited sheep compared to the control group. This research marked the first time that laboratory embryos of Varamin sheep genetically manipulated by CRISPR/Cas9 technology were produced.

The nucleotide sequence of MSTN gene in Varami sheep was different from the sequence recorded in NCBI. Five embryos showed CRISPR technology markers. Both of the designed guide RNAs caused mutations in the nucleotide sequence and termination code in the amino acid sequence.

In order to evaluate cytoplasmic inheritance of growth traits (including birth weight, 3, 6, 9 and 12 month weight), the total number of 19717 Arabic sheep records which was collected by Agricultural Organization of Khuzestan province was used during1989 to 2010. Following the cytoplasmic lines from progeny to the parents, cytoplasmic primary sources were identified. Environmental factors affecting these traits were analyzed by SAS statistical software. Genetic parameters were estimated using Bayesian statistical method and MTGSAM software. Significant effect (P <0.01) on traits including lambs sex, birth type, maternal age and birth year were found. Based on the lowest acacia criteria in Bayesian statistical method, models 5, 5, 3, 4, 3 for birth weight, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months were the best models respectively. The cytoplasmic inheritance for birth weight, 3 months of age was 0.02, 0.03, and for the weights at 6, 9 and 12 months age, there was no cytoplasmic inheritance. However, the observed cytoplasmic variance for birth weight and 3 months old weight in Arab sheep were 0.004, 0.410, respectively, while no cytoplasmic variance for 6 to 12 months old was observed. Generally, although for the weight trait the share of cytoplasmic inheritance was low, but considering maternal effects and cytoplasmic heritages would result in a more accurate estimation of the genetic parameters of the growth traits of all ages.

Several cross breeding experiments have been performed in sheep. These researches have focused mainly on traits of lamb production or meat production. The aim of the present study was to compare the expression of Calpastatin gene in lambs of Arabi and its cross-breed with Romanov. For this purpose, 16 Arabi and hybrid lambs were used in a completely randomized design with 2 treatments and 8 replicates. Hybrid lambs were born from similar ewes which artificially inseminated with Romanove ram sperm by laparoscopy method after estrous synchronization. The lambs were reared after birth in the same conditions and slaughtered at the age of 6 months. Immediately after slaughter, sampling of the muscle portion of longissimus lumborum was performed from the right side of the animal. After extraction of total RNA, its quality and quantity were evaluated and used for cDNA production. Glyceraldehyde 3 phosphate dehydrogenase gene was used as housekeeping gene to normalize the data. Finally, expression of calpastatin gene was evaluated by Real-time qPCR. SAS and REST software were used for analysis of gene expression data. The results of this study showed that the Calpastatin gene expression was 1.3 times higher in crossbred lambs comparing to Arabi (P˂0.05). These results may confirm that cross-breeding can have a significant effect on calpastatin gene function over the pure group. Further studies should be performed to determine the role of calpastatin in muscle physiology.

Bee venom is a liquid, colorless and acidic mixture (pH 4.5-5.5) that contains 18 different compounds such as enzymes, peptides and biological amino acids. Some of these compounds have anti-inflammatory properties and some have toxic and allergenic properties. Bee venom is produced by female worker bees. The most important peptides in bee venom are melittin, apamin, adolapin and mast cell degranulating (MCD) peptide. The most important enzymes in bee venom can be called hyaluronidase and phospholipase A2 (PLA2). Bee venom has been used in the past, especially in traditional medicine, as a medicine to treat various diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and also to reduce muscle pain.Massive bee attacks are considered one of the Public Health problems in some countries in the world, including Iran. No specific therapy is available for bee stings and the treatment is done by chemical drugs, leading us to develop Fab-based antivenom as a potential new treatment. So far in Iran, no action has been taken to produce Fab-based antivenom to save people who are sensitive to bee stings. Therefore, the aim of this research was to produce an effective and safe horse serum antidote against the Iranian honey bee (Apis mellifera meda).

Crude bee venom (BV) was prepared from Iranian bees (Apis mellifera meda) using an electric bee venom collecting machine. The poison dries quickly in the air. The dried venom was collected from the glass plates every day with the help of special spatulas and stored in dark glasses in a freezer at -20 ºC for future experiments. To remove mucus and extra substances, the poison is dissolved in a ratio of 1:1 with saline (physiological serum) and centrifuged at high speed. After centrifugation, the upper clear solution is separated and filtered with a 0.2 micron filter.The amount of protein in the crude venom solution was determined by the Bradford protein assay method and based on the standard curve obtained by measuring different concentrations of bovine serum albumin (BSA) solution.The median lethal dose (LD50) value of BV was determined with 24 male mice. Mice were divided into 4 groups. Then 0.5 ml of different doses of venom (60, 70, 80, 90, 100 and 110 μg/ml) dissolved in sterile normal saline were injected intravenously. Control group were injected with 0.5 ml saline solution. Mortality was recorded after 24 hours and LD50 was calculated based on probit analysis. In this research, 3 horses were used to produce antivenom against honey bee venom. For this purpose, horses were immunized with Iranian bee venom 7 times with 7-day intervals, and immunogenicity was evaluated in laboratory conditions with ELISA test. The precipitated antivenom with saturated ammonium sulfate was also used to perform the neutralizing test in mice. To check the quality of antivenom, the neutralization of phospholipase A2 activity was performed using different concentrations of antivenom. Finally, for determining the efficiency of the prepared antivenom, the median effective dose (ED50) value was calculated by probit analysis. In this research, three adult mares (three years old, 400 to 450 kg) were used. To immunize the horses, bee venom was injected with complete and incomplete Freund's adjuvant. Complete Freund's adjuvant was used in the first and second inoculations, and incomplete Freund's adjuvant was used in subsequent inoculations. Venom inoculation was carried out incrementally from 50, 100, 250, 500, 1000, 2000 and 4000 micrograms in 7 times with 7 days intervals. The injection was done subcutaneously (in the neck). Isolation of horse antibody was performed with the standard protocol of the saturated ammonium sulfate method. Evaluation of immunogenicity in laboratory conditions was done by ELISA test. The serum of immunized horses and the precipitated antivenom with saturated ammonium sulfate were was also used to perform the neutralizing test in mice. To check the quality of antivenom, the neutralization of phospholipase A2 activity was performed using different concentrations of antivenom. Finally, for determining the efficiency of the prepared antivenom, the median effective dose (ED50) value was calculated by probit analysis. To determine the effectiveness of the prepared horse antivenom, bee venom was mixed with a constant amount of antivenom in increasing doses and injected into mice

The total protein in the crude BV solution was calculated to be 56 mg/ml. Also, the LD50 of the crude BV was obtained as 4.84 μg/g. ELISA test results showed an immune response that increased more during the immunization schedule. Neutralization of phospholipase A2 activity using different concentrations of antivenom showed that Iranian bee venom has phospholipase activity and 120 μg/ml of this antidote is able to completely neutralize the activity of phospholipase A2. It is clear that, firstly, Iranian honey bee venom has phospholipase activity, and secondly, 55 micrograms of antivenom are needed to neutralize 50% of phospholipase A2 activity in 100 micrograms of venom.The ED50 value will be approximately 54 times the LD50. This means that the antivenom can neutralize up to 54 times the LD50. Therefore, the death caused by 4 mg of bee venom is neutralized by 1 ml of antivenom, so the average effective dose ED50 will be 4 mg/ml. If 100 micrograms of venom enters the body in each bee sting, then 1 ml of produced antivenom can neutralize 40 bee stings.

The result showed that horse antivenom against honey bee venom is capable to neutralize the crude venom in mice model.

Cytochrome B plays a role in the electron transport chain, and as this gene leads to energy production in animals and increases efficiency, identifying the most effective factors on this gene and comparing the best applicable ligands in the electron transfer pathway can improve animal production and facilitate genetic studies. In this study, the interactions of protoheme and flavin mononucleotide in combination with cytochrome B were simulated using molecular docking to select the most effective ligand in electron transfer by comparing two practical ligands. The results of molecular docking and analysis using online servers showed that protoheme has the highest number of amino acids involved in electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions compared to flavin mononucleotide. Based on the obtained results of molecular docking, protoheme had the best binding energy and the best pose with the most negative energy and the largest number, indicating the best ligand-protein complex binding, compared to flavin mononucleotide, and it can be said that the higher number of interactions and bonds formed by the combination of protoheme with cytochrome B can confirm this claim. Arginine has a high positive charge and may have contributed to the formation of hydrogen bonds that may have increased electrostatic interactions in combining protoheme with cytochrome B. The cytochrome B protein-protein interaction network was predicted based on mitochondrial proteins, and 10 proteins with high potential node degree scores were identified.

The present study was performed to investigate the effect of injection of PMSG and GnRH hormones on reproductive performance of Arabi ewes in the breeding season. 75 ewes were divided into 5 groups. The first group had no estrus synchronization program and no hormonal injection (control). Vaginal progesterone sponge (MAP) was inserted into other groups for 14 days. Simultaneously with the withdrawal of sponge, they were treated with: 1- injection of 500 IU of PMSG, 2- injection of 100 micrograms of GnRH, 3- injection of 500 IU of PMSG plus 100 micrograms of GnRH and 4- without injection (MAP only). One healthy and fertile Arabi ram was assigned to each of the 5 ewes. Estrous behavior of ewes was recorded for 7 days. The estrous response, return to estrus, pregnancy length, lambing rate, prolificacy rate, fecundity rate and the ratio of the birth of male and female lambs, were not affected by treatments. Injection of PMSG and GnRH were able to reduce the time of estrus onset coMAPred to sponge treatment alone (P<0.05). The birth weight and weight of 30, 60 and 90 days in lambs, although were affected by the treatments (P<0.05), but no obvious effect of hormone injection was observed on these parameters. In general, the injection of PMSG and GnRH in the estrus synchronization program of Arabi ewes, although was an effective method in estrus onset time, but could not have a significant effect on the other reproductive performances of the animal during the breeding season.

Improving the performance of economic traits of domestic livestock by means of sounds breeding programs could elaborate meeting the protein demands of the human world population. The water buffalo, also called the domestic water, bears up substantial value in terms of milk and meat production. Khuzestani buffalo, the subspecies of domestic Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) has become a strategic animal species in Khuzestan province, Iran, due to its ability to adapt to adverse environmental conditions, low quality feed sources dependency and high quality products. Archaeological and ancient records show little evidence regarding the expansion of the Khuzestani buffalo. Many people in the region depend on this species for their livelihoods than on any other domestic animal. In this regards, the buffalo lactation could have crucial role in farmers' economy. In general, having knowledge of lactation curve, may shed some lights on management and farm-based operation of milk production system. The lactation curve is a graphical representation tool that reflects the effect of couple of numbers of different factors on milk production during lactation; therefore, it is useful in making better management decisions. In other words, it could summarize the pattern of milk production, biological and economic efficiency of the animal. Several models have been suggested to describe the lactation curves. In this study, in order to estimate the association between different fitted lactation curves and their comparisons on Khuzestani buffalo, six nonlinear mathematical models (Wood, Wilmink, inverse polynomial, Complex logarithm, Ali and Schaefer and Digestra) were used.

The data used in this study, consisted of 103760 test day records of milk yield of 14280 buffalu in the first parity that collected by the Agricultural Jihad Center of Khuzestan province during 1993 to 2020. The Microsoft Excel was used to edit the data. Animals with unknown birth and calving dates were removed. Those fixed effects that had significant effects on the coefficients of lactation curve (P < 5%) were included in the final model. The lactation curve parameters were estimated using the nonlinear regression procedure (NLIN) of SAS software version 9.4 on test day records. Evaluation of goodness of fit was based on the coefficient of determination (R2), root mean square error (RMSE) and Akaike information criterion (AIC). The (Co) variance components were estimated by multi-trait animal model using restricted maximum likelihood method run in WOMBAT software.

Descriptive statistics of milk production of Khuzestani buffaloes based on 103760 records from different areas shown that the average milk production was 8.048 kg, standard deviation was 3.047 and coefficient of variation was 37.87 as well. Wood's mathematical model provided the best fit of the lactation curve due to the highest value for the R2 and lower values for RMSE and AIC compared to the other models and it obtained as 0.88. The a, b and c parameter values of Wood’s model were estimated 6.91, 0.057 and 0.00083, respectively. The results showed that the wood model was able to estimate the time of peak milk yield more accurately than the other models. The peak milk yield of Khuzestani buffaloes (8.30 kg/d) appeared on average in the tenth week (day 69) after calving. The heritability of lactation curve traits for initial yield (a), upward slope of the curve (b) and downward slope of the curve (c) were obtained 0.57, 0.27 and 0.48, respectively. In this study, the persistency(s) value for typical lactations were lactation curve were estimated 7.49. The genetic correlations among lactation curve parameters ranged from -0.55 (upward slope of the curve and initial yield) to 0.138 (upward and downward slope of the curve), whereas the phenotypic correlations ranged from -0.35 (Between initial yield and the upward slope of the curve) to +0.196 (b and c). The solutions of mixed model equations revealed that Buffalo with IDs 3436, 3410, 3360, 2868, 24, and 3174 had the highest breeding value for coefficient a. In other hand, buffalo 3438, 3409, 3418, 3361, 3282, and 3169 showed the highest breeding value in the coefficient b. Finally, the buffaloes that obtained the highest hereditary value in different coefficients of lactation curve were introduced as the superior buffaloes. By knowing the best buffaloes in terms of breeding value for parameters a and b, it is possible to select buffaloes to be parent for next generation. In general, evaluating lactation curve equations using nonlinear models and multi-trait analysis is an effective step in identifying buffaloes with high genetic potential to improve and increase milk production efficiency. The results of the present study showed that among the six mathematical models studied, Wood's incomplete gamma function had more viability for fitting the lactation curve of Khuzestani buffalo. The effect of calving season was not significant on lactation parameters while year of calving had a significant effect. Negative and moderate genetic correlations between initial production parameters (a) and upward slope (b) of the lactation curve indicate that keeping on with higher initial production level will have a lower rate of increase until peak production. In the present study, multivariate analysis led to the relationship of all coefficients of the lactation curve with each other and as a result more realistic parameters were estimated for them. It is suggested that in future studies, a computer-aided economic production system be designed and the economic coefficients related to the parameters of the lactation curve be estimated for integration into the selection index. Also, in order to improve the performance of Khuzestani buffalo, it is recommended to study the genomic relationship of milk production curve parameters.

Based on the RNA-seq method, a thorough set of information can be obtained from the identification of geneswhich the results  may be beneficial  in the genetics and breeding of livestock and poultry. So far, few studies have been reported regarding the use of this method in the evaluation of native poultry transcriptome. Considering the importance of lncRNAs in biological processes, the present study has investigated the lncRNAs from the transcriptome of native Isfahan  chicken and the commercial Ross 708 strain as well as differences  in their expression. In this study using next generation sequencing, 568 lncRNAs were identified, out of which the expression changes of 116 lncRNAs were meaningful (P-value ≤0.05). The results showed differently-expressed incRNAs which are associated with the biological pathways including histone and lysine methylation, myeloid leukocyte activation, positive regulation of cytokine production ,, , and regulation of lymphocyte activation. The analysis of molecular functions of the genes indicated the activity of non-membrane-spanning tyrosine kinase, protein methyltransferase, S-adenosylmethionine-dependent methyltransferase, and transfer of one-carbon groupsacting on a protein, and signaling receptor binding are enhanced meaningfully. Based on the results, lncRNAs that vary in expression between native and commercial groups are associated with immune and methylation pathways, and can be used as biomarkers.

The myxovirus (Mx) gene play a crucial role in the antiviral responses of chicken. The Mx gene is a potential candidate as a genetic resistance marker to the avian influenza virus in chickens. This study was conducted to determine the polymorphism of myxovirus gene polymorphism using PCR-RFLP method in Khuzestan native chicken. In this research, blood samples were collected randomly from 100 Khuzestan native chicken (Malasani, Andimeshk and Shush) and DNA were extracted. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to amplify 299bp fragments of myxovirus (Mx) gene by specific primers. Then, the amplified fragment was digested with HPY8l enzyme. Allele frequency for A and G, in Shoosh 0.54 and 0.46, Mollasani 0.85 and 0.15 and Andimeshk 0.57 and 0.47 and genotype frequencies of AA, GG and AG, in Shoosh 0.40, 0.33 and 0.27, Mollasani 0.8, 0.1 and 0.1 and Andimeshk 0.45, 0.40 and 0.15 were achieved, respectively. The results showed that the frequency of allele A was higher than G. Furthermore, the observed heterozygosity and the effective number of alleles demonstrated low diversity in the population. Chi-square (X2) analysis showed that the locus allele frequencies are not in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The results of this study suggested that the MX gene had polymorphism and had a high potential for use as a genetic marker for resistance to avian influenza and Newcastle disease.

In order to investigate the effect of vitamin E and vitamin E nanoliposomes on the expression of the  STAR gene in testis and TSPO gene in the ovary of Japanese quail, an experiment using 864 pieces of quail for 10 weeks in a completely randomized design with six treatments, six replications and 24 Breeding quail (16 females and eight males) was performed in each replication. The treatments were fed diets containing different levels of vitamin E (25, 50 and 100 IU per kg of diet) and vitamin E nanoliposomes (25, 50 and 100 IU per kg of diet). The results of this study showed that the effect of the experimental treatments on the expression of TSPO gene in the ovary and STAR gene in the testis was significant (P<0.05). The addition of 50 IU of vitamin E significantly increased TSPO gene expression in the ovary compared to the control treatment (P<0.05). The results also showed that the level of 25 IU nanoliposome of vitamin E increased the expression of TSPO gene in the ovary, which was not significantly different from the control treatment. The use of vitamin E and vitamin E nanoliposome levels significantly decreased the expression of STAR gene in the testis of Japanese quail (P<0.05). According to the results of this study, the addition of 25 IU vitamin E nanoliposomes as well as 50 and 100 IU levels of vitamin E has a significant effect on the expression of TSPO gene in the ovary, which is one of the genes affecting fertility and reproduction.

Accurate estimation of genetic variance components is essential for the correct prediction of breeding values. The discovery of SNP markers and advances in molecular genetics and the discovery of new methods for sequencing the entire genome of living organisms and the development of bioinformatics methods and computer science, etc. have provided a great deal of molecular data and created a branch of genetics called genomics. This study aimed to estimate the genomic variance components of Border sheep using SNP data.

For this study, the SNP panel, which was genotyped with a 50k marker chip from Illumina, was used. Data were collected at Falkiner Farm in Australia. The studied traits were birth and weaning weights, diameter, and length of wool yarn. To study the relationship between allelic frequency and the amount of justified genetic variance justified, SNPs were classified into five different groups of rare allelic frequency (MAF), with approximately equal numbers in each group. The analyses were performed with the approach of limited genomic maximum likelihood and the method of analysis of complex genome traits with GCTA software.

Genomic heritability estimated by SNPs with a rare allelic frequency of more than one percent for birth weights, weaning, diameter, and length of wool were 0.58, 0.47, 0.59, and 0.2, respectively. The contribution of different groups of SNPs with rare allelic frequencies in justifying genetic variance for different traits was different and in general a significant part of genetic variance was justified by SNPs with

Although the number of SNPs was different in different groups, the amount of genetic variance justified by different MAF groups was different. According to the results, a very large, ideal sample size and better coverage of low-frequency variants are needed to obtain a stronger and more reliable inference.

To determine the best function for describing lactation of Najdi cow in Khuzestan, the day-based milk production test records, collected by Shushtar support station from 1990 to 2014, were used. Records included 2369 data related to 444 first parity cows. To determine the best mathematical function, six functions includind incomplete gamma, wilmink, inverse polynomial, complex logarithmic, Cobby and Le Du, and polynomial regression were evaluated. All functions were fitted using PROC NLIN procedure of SAS software and Gauss-Newton iteration method on day-based milk production test records; and compared based on coefficient of determination R2, corrected coefficient of determination, the mean square error and Akaike index. The results showed that the inverse polynomial function offers a better description for lactation curve in Najdi cattle.  The lactation curve parameters (a, b, c) were estimated 4.4841, 0.2514, 0.00273, and their heritability were 0.354±0.120, 0.280±0.11 and 0.276±0.155, respectively. Moderate heritability suggests the opportunity of genetic response via selection program. Heritability of these traits can be improved by correcting the known environmental impacts.

The Diacylglycerol O-Acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1) gene plays a key role in the production of triglycerides and milk fat by encoding the enzyme DGAT1. Recent research has shown that polymorphisms in the DGAT1 gene affect milk production. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate polymorphism in exon 14 region of DGAT1 gene in Khuzestan dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius) using PCR-SSCP method. To perform this experiment, blood samples were collected from 80 dromedary camels in Khuzestan province. After DNA extraction, a 310-bp fragment of exon 14 region of DGAT1 gene was amplified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Six different SSCP patterns, including six different genotypes of AA (45%), AB (33.75%), BB (5%), CC (3.75%) , DD (2.5%) and EE (10%) and five alleles including A (0.619), B (0.219), C (0.038), D (0.025) and E (0.1) were identified. Moreover, the chi-square (χ2) test showed that the population was not in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The number of effective alleles, Shannon index, expected and observed heterozygosity for this site was calculated 2.259, 1.07, 0.557 and 0.338, respectively. The results indicated polymorphism and low heterozygosity in the population under study. It is suggested to increase the diversity in the dromedary camel population of Khuzestan by developing appropriate breeding programs.

The aim of present study was to investigate the effect of selection against ascites syndrome on different traits body growth, internal organs, and bloodparameters in a broiler line. Therefore, by classifying different families based on the frequency of ascites under intense ascites inducing condition(AIC), 10 susceptible families (SUS) and 10 resistant families (RES) to ascites were selected and another set of offspring from the same families werebred under normal commercial condition (NCC). This process of selection and cross validation was carried out twice in the two distinct generations.The genetic relationship of different traits, the difference in the frequency of ascites between AIC and NCC, and the difference between different traitsin SUS and RES were performed by correlation statistics, Chi-square test, and GLM procedure of SAS software (version 9.1), respectively. Thecorrelation between ascites susceptibility in different families indicated that families that showed more ascites under AIC also had more ascites underNCC. Comparative study of different traits in susceptible and resistant groups showed that in SUS, body weight, growth rate and respiratory capacitywere significantly lower and blood partial pressure of carbon dioxide was significantly higher than RES (P<0.05). In the present study it was shownthat selection against this syndrome not only does not reduce growth rate in the investigated broiler line, but also improves growth traits and resistanceto this syndrome in the mentioned line.

The aim of this study was the effect of adding different levels of vitamin C (0, 1.5, 3, 4.5 and 6 mg / ml) after freezing in semen diluent on the quality parameters of Najdi goat sperm.

Semen samples were collected twice a week from 4 male goats with an average weight of 50± 5 kg by electroojaculator. The sperm samples after cryopreservation were analyzed for sperm motility and velocity characteristics using computerized sperm analysis system (CASA), percentage of sperm survival and abnormal sperm, membrane health and antioxidant capacity.

The results showed that the levels of 3 and 4.5 mg of vitamin C in diluent of goat sperm containing improved total motility, progressive motility and percentage of sperm survival in comparison with the control group (P<0.05). In sperm membrane health, the level of 3 mg of vitamin C was significantly different from the control and the level of 1.5 mg of vitamin C (P <0.05); But there was no significant difference with levels of 4.5 and 6 mg of vitamin C. The percentage of abnormal sperm was not affected by different levels of vitamin C (P <0.05). Sperm antioxidant capacity at the levels of 4.5 and 6 mg of vitamin C, had the highest value and had a significant difference compared to the control treatment (P <0.05).

According to the results of this study, adding 3 and 4.5 mg levels of vitamin C to Tris diluent Najdi goat sperm improves sperm quality parameters and sperm antioxidant capacity after freezing.

Growth, defined as changes of body weight over time, is an economically important trait in sheep that directly determines meat production.Increase in live weight or dimension against age has been described as growth. Changes in live weight or dimension for a period of time are explained by the growth curves. Animal breeders are interested in the genotypic and phenotypic relationships during all phases of growth. Knowledge of genotypic and phenotypic relationships among live weights, degree of maturity and growth rate during all phases of growth is necessary to formulate breeding programs to improve lifetime efficiency.  Growth models are mathematical functions which are applied for describing the growth pattern. Understanding, estimating, and capturing the defining characteristics of growth processes are key components of developmental research. The aim of the present study was to estimate the genetic parameters for growth traits in Zandi sheep, by determining the most appropriate animal models to be fitted. In addition, genetic, phenotypic and environmental correlations between traits were estimated.

The data used in this study were obtained from the Animal Breeding Center of Iran. The data were screened several times to remove the defective and out of range records. Growth curve parameters used in study were asymptomatic mature weight (A), Growth rate (B) and maturity rate (K). The procedure of SAS software was used for studying of fix effects. Based on body weight at different ages and using different initial values, each of the growth curve parameters was estimated using SAS software version 9.1 and NLIN procedure. Estimation of (co)variance components of growth curve parameters was conducted using Bayesian approach implemented in MTGSAM and Wombat software. The number of Gibbs sampling rounds used was 200,000 rounds.  Ten percent of these numbers (20,000 rounds) was burn-in. The convergence criterion for stopping repetitions in this analysis was also considered as 10 decimals (10-10). Sampling intervals of 200 and Gouss- Seidel 10000 repetitions were considered. In order to find the best model incorporating the constant and random effects affecting each of the parameters of the growth pattern, the following models, with and without regard to maternal effects including maternal additive genetic effects and permanent maternal environmental effects in the model (Meyer’s models) were tested.

 Environmental factors such as year of birth and sex of lamb showed significant influence on growth curve parameters (A, B and k) in Zandi sheep. Estimates of direct heritability is based on best models using REML and Bayesian methods for A, B and K were 0.064 and 0.14, 0.17and 0.16, 0.16and 0.18 respectively. Maternal heritability was in range of 0.006 - 0.08 and Proportion of environmental variance to phenotypic variance in range of 0.03 - 0.05 parameters growth curve. Among the growth curve parameters, only A and k have biological interpretation and therefore, relationship between them may provide necessary conclusions. Estimates of direct genetic correlation between growth curve parameters were 0.323, -0.429 and 0.803 between A-B, A-K and B-K, respectively. The positive and high genetic correlation between A and B parameters is evident as expected for common genetic and physiological mechanisms controlling these traits. Positive genetic correlation between these traits suggests that selection in one parameter of the growth curve would also improve the other parameter. Residual correlations between growth curve parameters varied form −0.296 (between A-K) to 0.732 (between B-K). Phenotypic correlations between growth curve parameters varied form −0.184 (between A-K) to 0.743 (between B-K). The phenotypic and genetic antagonism between A and k indicates that rapid reduction in growth rate after inflexion point results in lower mature weights. This finding would be helpful for improving selection by identifying the animal who reaches inflexion point earlier and attend higher mature weights later.

 Current genetic estimates for growth curve parameters in Zandi sheep could be applied in designing selection program in this breed. The low estimates of heritability for A, B and K parameters could be assigned to the high phenotypic variance arising from large environmental variation. This therefore implies that much of the improvement in these growth curve parameters could be obtained by improvement of environment rather than genetic selection. It is important to provide good environmental conditions along with optimal management strategies in the flock to achieve a desired shape of growth curve through changing the parameters of model.

Data used in this study related to growth traits in Lori sheep that were collected during 2001 - 2010 by Research Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources of Lorestan province. Growth traits were consist of different ags (brithy, 3 month, 6 month and 9 month). Avarage weight Lori sheep was in birth weight 3.49 kg and in 9 month weight 29.79 kg. The SAS statistical software was used to determine the effect of environmental factors and WOMBAT software was applied to estimate genetic parameters with 6 different models via animal model analysis one trait REML parameters. Environmental factors like birth year, sex, type of birth and age of mother on lambing time had significant effect on all traits (p<0.0001). Type of birth and sex had significant effect on all traits except the 9 month age (p<0.0001). The direct heritability using best chosen model for birth weight, weaning weight, 6 months weight, 9 months weight were respectively obtained as follows: 0.34, 0.01, 0.16 and 0.1 and mathernal heritability for these traits were estimated 0.16, 0.03, 0.05 and 0.06, respectively.

The objective of this study was to identify known intergenic lncRNAs related to biological pathways of acidosis in Holstein calves using ruminal tissue. Two groups of healthy calves (N=3) and affected by acidosis (N=3) were compared. Paired-end sequencing method was performed using the Hiseq2500 illumine platform. Hisat2 software was used to align reads to the bovine reference genome and StringTie software package was used to assemble read files into transcripts. Using next generation sequencing, 1636 genes belonging to known intergenic lncRNAs were identified, of which 56 genes showed significant differential expression (P≤0.05). Neighbor genes of known intergenic lncRNAs were determined on bovine genome. Analysis of biological pathways and molecular function showed that five biological pathways were significantly (P≤0.05) enriched. These pathways were Apelin signaling pathway, Gap junction, Glucagon signaling pathway, Renin secretion, and AGE-RAGE signaling pathway. Moreover, two molecular functions including gap junction channel activity, and phosphatidyl inositol phospholipase C activity were significantly (P≤0.05) enriched. Some lncRNAs have different expression in healthy and acidosis samples, and the decreased pH acts as a stimulus to activate some biological signaling pathways. In conclusion, it was indicated that lncRNAs with differential expression between the control group and the group affected by acidosis are associated with pathways related to rumen energy metabolism and signaling. Identified differentially expressed lncRNAs could be used as prognostic in acidosis and biomarkers or promising candidates in animal breeding.

Introduction :

Expressed Myostatin gene in the muscles is a member of the TGF-β family. It extends skeletal muscle and regulates the activity of muscle fibers.The Myostatin gene (GDF-8) works as a negative regulator of the skeletal muscle growth. Mutation in the Myostatin sequence changes its regulating function and results in the growth and hypertrophy of the muscles. Mutation in Myostatin has been found in various species. This gene has three exons and two introns in all species. Mutant alleles are significantly correlated with the growth rate and desired carcass traits and increase the ratio of muscle to fat and bone. Cross breeding is a common method of exploiting the genetic differences between different breeds and increasing the ability of individuals which is often considered as the quickest way to improve the sheep production efficiency.This study was conducted to investigate the effect of cross breeding on the Myostatin genes in Arabi lambs and its cross with Romanov.

At the beginning of the experiment, the similar ewes were artificially inseminated with Romanove ram sperm by laparoscopy method after estrous synchronization. Born lambs were kept in similar conditions.For this purpose, 16 Arabi and hybrid lambs were used in a completely randomized design with two treatments and eight replicates. After slaughter, the meat samples were immediately collected from right side of  longissimus lumborum muscle and transferred to the lab in liquid nitrogen and stored at -80 °C. RNA extraction was performed using the Trizol (Easy Blue) method. The quantity and quality of the extracted RNA were determined using a spectrophotometer (Thermo Scientific, Nanodrop, 2000C, USA) from 260 to 280 and 1% agarose gel (20 minutes at 100 volts). Total RNA quality was checked after extraction and used to produce cDNA. Synthesis of cDNA was made using the (Gene All) cDNA build kit in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. The designing of the forward and reverse primers for the Myostatin gene and the reference one of Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase was performed using the Primer Quest program on the IDT site (Integrated DNA Technologies). Finally, the expression of Myostatin gene was evaluated by Real-time qPCR. Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene as housekeeping one was used to normalize the data. SAS and REST softwares were used to analyze the final weight and gene expression data, respectively.

Results and discussion:

 cDNA synthesis was accomplished after extracting the RNA and measuring its purity. After the cDNA synthesis and dilution, the PCR reaction was performed. Following the successful replication of the desired fragments of Myostatin genes and Glyceraldehyd 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, the observation of the products in the agarose gel with the ladder confirmed the correctness of the fragments size. The size of the replicated fragments for the Myostatin and Glyceraldehyd 3-phosphate dehydrogenase genes are 81 and 144 bp, respectively. After ensuring the efficiency of the designed primers, the Real Time PCR reaction was performed in two replicates for each cDNA sample. The information obtained was sorted and analyzed. Results indicated that the highest mean of the target gene in Arabi breed and the lowest one in the crossbred group. The difference between the Arabi and crossbred group was significant (p < 0.05). The results indicated that the crossbreeding caused a significant reduction in the Myostatin gene expression. The expression of Myostatin gene in Arabi race was 1.4 fold greater than that in the cross bred group. This was in concordance with the final lamb weights which were significantly different for the two groups. The final weight in the cross bred lambs were higher than the Arabi counterparts.

Conclusion:

 Based on the obtained data, the current investigation was the first study in the field of Myostatin gene expression in Arabi×Romanove cross breeding. In overall, the results showed that the cross breeding can significantly affect the expression of the studied gene.  Regarding the effect of Myostatin gene on the muscle function, decreased Myostatin gene expression may influence the final weight gain. As this study showed the effect of crossbreeding on Myostatin gene expression, it is necessary to consider the consequences of crossbreeding on the native sheep breeding programs. This study could help in more understanding the cross breeding effects on the livestock performance

Oocyte maturity includes nuclear and cytoplasmic maturity, both of which are important for embryo fertilization. Cytoplasmic maturation involves the redistribution of a range of organelles, including mitochondria. The nuclear and cytoplasmic mammalian oocytes maturation is a complex process nuclear maturation is demonstrated by extrusion of first polar body while there may be no indication for cytoplasmic maturation According to critical role of mitochondria for energy production in oocytes, it can be considered as an indicator of cytoplasmic maturation. Oocyte maturation requires more energy. Energy reaches its peak during ovulation. Changes in the mitochondrial distribution pattern can affect the ability of embryo development from oocytes. Since fetal mitochondrial replication is not performed until the blastocyst its stage, mature Oocytes (MII), fertilized Oocytes, Energy required for fertilization, embryonic development prior to implantation and early stages of fetal development depend on the storage of mitochondria in the time of ovulation. Therefore, the location and function of mitochondria can affect the quality of the Oocyte and consequently interfere with the process of embryo development. The topic of genetic networks explores the most important genes in a physiological process. The graph theory is used to construct and reconstruct the biology network. In biology networks, genes, proteins, or any other molecule that plays a role in a cell can be considered as a node and the relationship between these nodes is considered as an edge.

 In this study, GEO access codes for this data set GSE38345 were used to determine the effect of FSH on the expression of mitochondrial genes. In the past decade, with the ability to study genetic information of the genome in a wide range, micro arrays were a high-performance method for analyzing gene expression. The data are microarray and contain the gene expression information for cow's oocyte cells, whose maturity is influenced by the FSH hormone under laboratory conditions. After data implementation, the quality of the data was analyzed and if necessary, normalization was performed using the data conversion technique. Data analysis and comparison of gene expression in two cases before maturation (20 hours after oocyte treatment with FSH in laboratory conditions) and after maturation (96 hours after oocyte treatment with FSH in laboratory conditions) using From the GEO2R software link were done. After identifying the genes and examining the different genes expressed, two genotypes included Increased and decreased expression genes. The interaction of each gene group was studied using a string database based on co-expression data. Gene ontology was performed using the comparative GO database.

 In a comparison between oocyte gene expression data in the pre-maturation stage and the post-maturation stage after treatment with FSH, it was determined that 100 mitochondrial genes in maturation compared to pre-maturation stage increased expression and 94 genes of this organ has declined. Among them, the protein interaction network has been identified in a set of increased and decreased expression genes. Of the 100 genes that have been increased expression, 68 genes are coexpression based on string information. Among decreased expression genes, 53 genes from 64 genes were reported as coexpression. In the protein interaction network of the increased expression genes, the important genes of MRPS10, MRPS18A, MRPL16 and MRPL17, which played a role in the mitochondrial destruction and translation processes of mitochondrial genes, and in the network of decreased expression genes, MRPL22, ATP5B and ATP5C1 genes, which by reducing its expression, attempted to balance in the pathways associated with mitochondrial destruction and ATP production through its role in the ATP synthase structure.

The results of this study reveal the most important genes affecting mitochondrial activity during oocyte maturation and control genes of this organ according to the network of protein interactions in the set of increased and decreased expression genes. In addition, the most important biological pathways in order to understand the mechanism of FSH effect on oocyte maturation through mitochondrial organ is investigated. Also, by comprehensive examining the gene expression network in the process of cytoplasmic oocyte maturation and showing the marker genes and different biochemical pathways, it is possible to understand the quality of oocyte during maturation, which can help improve IVM-IVF technique. Since effective mechanisms in cytoplasmic maturity are not yet fully understood, efforts to identify important regulators of mitochondria in oocyte maturation process will be effective in using fertility technology in animal production.

In this study, the polymorphism of four microsatellite loci BMS1350, LGB, ILSTS45, and BMS1915 in chromosome 3 and their association with wool trait were investigated in Baluchi sheep. DNA extraction was performed from blood samples of 185 Baluchi sheep from Abbas Abad Breeding Station. Gene fragments of microsatellites were amplified by polymerase chain reaction with specific primers. The result shown allele E in BMS1915 locus with 0.40, Allele D in BMS1350 locus with 0.30, Allele B in LGB locus with 0.48 and Allele A in ILSTS4 locus with 0.46, had the highest frequency. The results of the Comparison of mean shown the LGB locus has the highest and ILSTS45 locus has the lowest production. Also, genotype AC in the LGB locus highest (1308 ±95.7) and genotype BC had the lowest (875 ± 54.7) of production. By comparing the coefficient of variation 4 loci founded that the greatest diversity and dispersion associated with the ILSTS45 and the lowest diversity associated with BMS1350 locus. Chi-square test (χ2) shown all of the microsatellite loci were in the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (P>0.05). Association analysis of polymorphism these loci shown there is no significant association between polymorphism of these loci and wool trait in Baluchi sheep (P>0.05). Statistical analysis showed there was no significant difference between loci polymorphisms and wool traits. Therefore, concluded in further research on selected studies based on molecular markers, the relationship between these loci and other traits in the Balochi sheep can be examined.

In this study environmental effects, genetic and phenotypic trends for body weight traits in different age in Arabi Sheep estimated. In this study used a total of 11365 records on birth weight, 6930 records of weaning weight, 3275 records of 6 month weight, 2043 records of 9 month weight and 1750 records of 12 month weight. The data used in this study, collected during 1994-2015 in Khuzestan province. The breeding value of the animal were estimated by restricted maximum likelihood method. The SAS statistical software was used to evaluate the effect of environmental factors and Wombat software was employed to estimate animals breeding value. The SPSS software was used for estimation of the trends. Environmental factors such as birth year, Sex, birth type and age of Mather were significant on all traits and were fixed effects in model. Animal’s age was introduced to the model as covariate. Estimation of direct genetic trend for birth weight, weaning weight, 6 month weight, 9 month weight and 12 month weight were as -0.07, -17, 2, 1 and 1 gr per year respectively. The phenotypic trend for considered traits was respectively 5, 256, 76, 83 and 194 gr per year. It can be concluded that reduction of the average breeding value in the genetic trends and the oscillation in the phenotypic trend are due to reduction of recording accuracy and entering livestock with low breeding value to the herd or negative impact of environmental factors on the production potential of livestock.

In the present study, phenotypic data including the live bodyweights and the growth rate characteristics of broiler chickens were collected from two offspring generation of 47 and 71 sires of a Commercial Broiler Line respectively and then were separately entered for estimation heritability and statistical calculating the correlation of growth-related traits under conditions routine breeding were used under inducible cold stress for ascites syndrome. Later on, the estimation of heritability for growth related traits was done using UNIVARIATE analyzes and calculation of genetic and phenotypic correlations of these traits with MULTYVARIATE analysis using AREML procedure of WOMBAT software. The heritabilities of growth-related traits varied from low to high in two routine and inducible cold stress condition (from 0.08 to 0.76(and most of it was generally early in the growth period and showed a decreasing trend with age, similar trends were observed in the results in both generations. Phenotypic correlations were lower than genetic correlations at all weeks. With increasing age, genetic and phenotypic correlations for all traits showed a decreasing trend. These results suggest that in addition to the greater influence of non-genetic factors in reducing the share of incremental genetic variance of the total variance, the occurrence of ascites in the last few weeks (especially in cold stress conditions) has reduced the heritability of growth-related traits. The observation of the present report indicated there is no high significant genetic correlation between growth-associated traits between routine temperature conditions and under cold-inducible stress existed, this phenomenon makes messages and conclusion responsible candidate gene for both conditions could not be the same. Outputs about moderate to high estimates for the heritability of the investigated traits indicate that genetic selection can lead to an improvement in such growth characteristics.

The rumen has a central role in production efficiency in ruminants. Understanding metabolism process of rumen tissue can improve production efficiency of ruminants. In the present work, the metabolic network in the rumen tissue of cattle was reconstructed using genome information and available knowledge of rumen tissue from BRENDA, KEGG, Uniprot and NCBI. The result of reconstruct network consisted of 410 enzymes, 1429 metabolites as nodes and 1771 reactions they take part as edges. The characteristics of the metabolite-centric network were analyzed using some plugins in Cytoscape software. The top 15 hub metabolites were determined. The result of search in KEGG pathway shown the most of hub metabolites include CoA, Acetyl-CoA, D-fructose-6-phosphate, ubiquinone, succinate, electron-transferring flavoprotein, pyruvate, tetrahydrofolate and 2-oxoglutarate, involved in reactions which participate in metabolic pathway. Also, the genes CPT2, CPT1A, CPT1B, CPT1C (EC 2.3.1.21), ETFDH (EC 2.3.1.41), GPAM, GPAT4, GPAT3, GPAT2 (EC 2.3.1.15) participate in fatty acid metabolism that genes associated with this pathway may be essential to improve meat production efficiency of cattle research. The degree distribution of network follow power-law distribution hence displays a scale-free property. The average path length was 13.142 and diameter was 38 that shows the network also has small world properties. The present work is the first study to reconstruct rumen tissue network that may provide information to greater understanding on metabolic potential of rumen. Hub metabolites in scale-free networks paly significant role in maintaining topological robustness, for this reason seem to be useful for bovine breeding researches.

Since SNP markers in genomic selection spread across the genome, they may potentially explain all of genetic variation. In this study, genotype data from Suffolk sheep, genotyped by 50k Illumina SNP chip were used. Birth weight and weaning weight traits were studied in this research. Quality control for minor allele frequency at two thresholds, one and five percent were studied. To study the association between allele frequency spectrum and captured additive genetic variance, all SNPs were partitioned in five MAF bins with the equal numbers of SNPs. The analysis were performed using GREML approach via GCTA method. Using all SNPs with MAF>0.01 estimates of genomic heritability were 0.45 and 0.19 for birth weight and weaning weight, respectively. For MAF>0.05 these values were 0.42 and 0.18 respectively. The contribution of different groups of SNPs with rare allele frequency in justifying genetic variation for the two traits was different. In general, a significant portion of the genetic variance was explained by SNPs with a MAF