فصلنامه پژوهشهای تولیدات دامی
پیاپی 34 (زمستان 1400)

Improving the effective factors in the production of broiler chickens is one of the most important goals of the poultry industry in the whole world. Today, natural growth supplements have been introduced to achieve optimal poultry performance, including probiotics and medicinal plants that have been used to improve growth rate or bird health.

This experiment was conducted in a completely random design with 300 Ross 308 broilers to investigate the effects of antibiotics, prebiotics and locust bean gum on performance, carcass characteristics, immune system and blood parameters of broilers. Chickens were distributed in 6 treatments and 5 replications (10 replicates per chick). The experimental groups were as following: 1) the control with basal diet (no antibiotics and no growth stimulator); 2) treatment  with virginiamycin antibiotic (100 mg/kg of diet); 3) treatment  with celmanax prebiotic (25 mg/kg of diet); 4) treatment  with celmanax prebiotic (50 mg/kg of diet); 5) treatment  with locust bean gum (25 mg/kg of diet); and 6) treatment  with locust bean gum (50 mg/kg of diet).

The results showed that seed gum in both doses without affecting the feed intake, the highest weight gain was observed in Salmanax prebiotic treatment in dose of 50 mg/kg. The best feed conversion ratio was observed in Salmanax prebiotic treatment of 50 mg/kg. The percentage of breast was significantly higher with the addition of 50 mg of prebiotics compared to the control group (p<0.05). Fabricius bursa weight and antibody titer produced against Newcastle were significantly increased by adding 50 mg of prebiotics to the diet in compare of control group (p<0.05). Also, the mean concentrations of cholesterol and LDL in Salmanax and mustard seed gum groups at 50 mg levels were significantly lower than the control group.

Although the addition of carob seed gum to broiler diets on yield did not cause a significant difference in carcass characteristics compared to the control, it was more effective than the experimental group containing antibiotics. Due to the positive effects of prebiotics and carob seed gum, it is possible to use these compounds as growth stimulants to eliminate antibiotics from poultry diets.

Antibiotics have been widely used in animal production for decades to promote growth. Although there is a trend toward reducing antibiotics in diets and now in Europe new laws have been passed to ban their use. As a result, economically important diseases such as enteritis necrosis (NE), which is caused by Clostridium perfringens in chickens, have become more prevalent. The alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters could affect gut health and performance by their impact on intestinal microflora. The purpose of this experiment was to compare the efficacy of some feed additives as alternatives to antibiotic for preventing of subclinical necrotic enteritis in broilers.

The study was conducted using 336 one-day-old male broiler chicks in a completely randomized design with 7 treatments, 4 replicates and 12 chicks per replicate. The treatments included: 1) Negative control (NC, corn-soybean meal-based diet without any feed additive); 2) Positive control (PC, diet containing wheat and fish-meal without any feed additive); 3) Antibiotic (PC diet + zinc-bacitracin); 4) Probiotic (PC diet + probiotic); 5) Prebiotic (PC diet + prebiotic); 6) Phytobiotic (PC diet + phytobiotic); and 7) Organic acid (PC diet + organic acids).

The results indicated that addition of antibiotic or its alternatives to the PC diet did not affect average daily feed intake, average daily gain, feed conversion ratio and relative weight of internal organs (p>0.05). Evaluation of cecal bacterial population at d 41 showed that chickens were infected by subclinical necrotic enteritis. The count of Clostridium perfringens was significantly lower in broilers fed either phytobiotic or antibiotic than in broilers recieved either NC or PC treatments. Broilers fed probiotics, prebiotics or organic acid in their diet had lower counts of Clostridium perfringens in cecal contents than those fed PC diet (p<0.05), however the difference was not significant when compared to NC treatment (p>0.05).

According to the sampling results on days 29 and 41, addition of phytobiotic compared to antibiotic, increased the number of lactobacilli while reduced the count of Clostridium perfringens and coliforms. Therefore, phytobiotic can be a suitable alternative for antibiotic to promote gastrointestinal health and prevent subclinical necrotic enteritis in broilers.

The use of different sources of calcium with different particle sizes in laying hens and also the effects of calcium source type and size on bird production performance and egg quality, due to the effects of calcium source type and particle size on production performance and Egg quality has been reduced in laying hens.

This experiment was performed to investigate the effect of using different sources of calcium and its particle size on production performance and egg quality of Hy lin, W-80 Leghorn hens. For this purpose, 192 laying hens with similar body weight and production were selected And experiment in a completely randomized design with factorial arrangement (2 × 3) with three sources of calcium (lumyashel, oyster shel, calcium carbonate) and two particle sizes (1- fine with particles <2 mm and 2-mixture, ‌‌ a mixture of Particles < 2 and 2-4 mm), 4 replicates and 8 birds per replicate were performed for 8 weeks from 42-50 weeks of age.

The results showed that calcium carbonate had the lowest solubility and fine particles were more soluble than large particles (p<0.05). The main effect of  calcium source on feed intake was significant(p<0.05).  The main and interaction effects of calcium source and its particle size on feed conversion ratio, egg weight and number of broken eggs were not significant (p> 0.05). The effect of main and interactions of source and particle size on the characteristics of internal traits of eggs (Albumen percentage, yolk percentage, Albumen height, HU unit and yolk index) did not significant (p> 0.05). But albumen pH showed a significant difference,The lowest pH was related to the diet containing lumyashel with a value of 9 and the highest pH was related to the oyster shell(p<0.05). The main and interaction effecs of calcium source and particle size on egg external quality, shell percentage, shell thickness, shell ash were not significant (p>0.05), but the specific gravity of eggs was significantly affected by the main effects of the calcium source (p<0.05), and the lowest and highest values were for lumyashell and oester shel.

The final result showed that calcium carbonate had the lowest solubility among the calcium sources used in this study and fine particles were more soluble than large particles. However, no significant difference was observed between internal and external egg quality traits and production performance of birds using different calcium sources and different particle sizes.

The use of phytase enzyme in poultry nutrition increases the bioavailability of phosphorus, improves the digestibility of nitrogen and amino acids and apparent metabolizable energy, and ultimately improves poultry performance. The aim of current study was to evaluate the effects of different levels of phytase and vitamin D3 on the production and quality characteristics of Japanese quail eggs.

540 laying Japanese quails were used in a completely random design with factorial arrangement with 9 treatments, 4 replications and 15 birds per replication. Experimental treatments included: 1. Phytase-free and 1500 IU vitamin D3, 2. Treatment containing 500 FTU phytase and 1500 IU vitamin D3, 3. Treatment containing 1000 FTU phytase and 1500 IU vitamin D3, 4. Treatment without Phytase and containing 2000 IU Vitamin D3, 5. Treatment containing 500 FTU phytase and 2000 IU vitamin D3, 6. Treatment containing 1000 FTU phytase and 2000 IU vitamin D3, 7. Treatment without Phytase and containing 2500 IU Vitamin D3, 8. Treatment containing 500 FTU phytase and 2500 IU vitamin D3, 9. Treatment containing 1000 FTU phytase and 2500 IU vitamin D3. Each treatment was assigned to four replicates of 15 birds according to a completely randomized design with factorial arrangement. The experiment duration was 56 days, with a 14-day pre-test period to select uniform quails for production. During the experiment, functional traits (egg production percentage, average egg weight, average feed intake, feed conversion ratio) as well as quality traits of quail eggs (shape index, haugh unit, yolk index, yolk and white weight, shell weight, shell thickness) Blood parameters (cholesterol, albumin, HDL, glucose, total protein, calcium and phosphorus) were examined.

The results of the experiment showed that in terms of egg production percentage, egg weight, haugh unit, egg shell weight and thickness, treatment 9 (treatment containing FTU 1000 phytase and 2500 IU of vitamin D3) showed higher values than the control group (treatment 1) (p<0.05). Also in analyzing blood indices, different levels of phytase enzyme with 2500 vitamin D3 levels (treatments 7, 8 and 9) increased blood calcium and phosphorus concentrations compared to control treatment.

The results of this study showed that Addition of phytase enzyme along with increased vitamin content (treatment containing 1000 FTU phytase and 2500 IU of vitamin D3) in Japanese quail diet, improve the percentage of production and average egg weight, quality of quail eggs and increases blood calcium and phosphorus.

Nutrition and feedstuffs are the main part of the costs in the breeding of roiler chicekn. Introduce of new feedstuffs and agricultural wastes as part of the diet can be an effective step in reducing production costs. The use of dried surplus mulberry due to its valuable nutrients can be effective in poultry nutrition.The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the effects of using different levels of dried surplus mulberry and multi-enzyme supplementation on growth performance, carcass characteristics, blood indices, immune response and intestinal morphology in broiler chickens.

Three hundred twenty 1-day-old Ross 308 broiler chicks were used in a completely randomized design with factorial arrangement. The experimental treatments included 4 levels of mulberry (0, 2.5, 5, 7.5- %) and 2 levels of multi-enzyme (0 and 0.1%). Eight dietary treatments had 4 replicates and 10 birds in each replicate. At 42 days of age, 2 chickens were slaughtered from each replicate and blood samples and carcass coonents were taken. In order to evaluate the intestinal morphology, a 1 cm piece of chickens's jejunum was collected and fixed in formalin.

Resutls: 

The results were revealed that interaction effects in diet contained 7.5% of dried surplus mulberry compared to 2.5% of mulberry increased the amount of feed intake at the starter period (0-10 days; p<0.05). The carcass efficiency was higher in birds fed 2.5% of mulberry compared to other treatments. The treatment with 5 and 7.5% dried surplus mulberry with enzyme decreased abdominal fat percentage and increased the percentage of burs of fabricus, spleen and anti-SRBC titer compared to control group (p<0.05). The carcass efficiency and abdominal fat percentages were affected by the enzyme supplementation (p<0.05). The treatments of 5 and 7.5% dried surplus mulberry with enzyme, increased the villus height and absorption area of intestine in comparison to control group (p<0.05). The interaction effects of dried surplus mulberry and multi-enzyme were significantly decreased cholesterol, LDL and increased HDL concentration in comparison to control group (p<0.05).

It is concluded that using dried mulberry surplus with enzyme may decrease blood lipid and improve immune response and intestine morphology without effect on growth performance of broiler chickens.

The use of food additives in the diets of farm animals such as poultry has an important role in improving the level of their health, increasing the amount of their products and improving their products quality. Nowadays, feed additives prepared from microbial products and medicinal plants are among the common additives used in feeding of broiler chickens. These products don’t have any adverse effects on broiler health, and their use in the diet of broilers has been welcomed by consumers.This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of antibiotic, symbiotic, pepermint powder and mixture of symbiotic and pepermint powder on performance, carcass traits and blood parameters of broilers.

In this experiment 240 Ross 308 broilers were used in 5 treatments, 4 replicates and 12 chicks in each replicate in two experiment period include: growth (11 to 24 days), and finish (25-42 days), in a completely rondomised design. Experimental diets included: 1) control group (without any additives), 2) antibiotic (100 ppm.kg diet), 3) symbiotic (0.5 and 0.25 g.kg diet in growth and finish periods), 4) pepermint powder (1% of diet), and 5) symbiotic (0.5 and 0.25 g.kg diet in growth and finish periods) + peppermint (1% of diet).

The results showed that in growth period, using of pepermint powder significantly reduced the amount of final weight (p<0.05). In finish period, all additives in contrast to control group, increased the amount of daily weight gain and improved feed conversion ratio (p<0.05). In totall experiment period, all additives increased the amount of daily weight gain (p<0.05). Experimental groups had no effects on the amount of daily feed intake. Experimental groups incontrast with control group, significantly reduced the amount of bours fabrisious relative weight (p<0.05). So, the the lowest relative weight blonged to peppermint treatment, whereas the highest it blonged to control group. Symbiotic + peppermint group significantly reduced the level of blood LDL (p<0.05).

Finally using of feed addtives in diets of broiler chicks such as current experiment recommended doses can be having benifical effects on their performance, immunity and blood parameters.

Corn silage is becoming one of the main popular feeds for dairy farms, but due to high water demand, sustainability of corn silage production is coming to be constraint. Sorghum has been considering alternative silage crop with significant forage production and lower water requirement. Therefore, this experiment was plant to replace corn silage by sorghum silage in the diet of dairy cows.

Sorghum (Speed feed Var.) and corn were planted (two hectares for each) and the forge obtained was ensiled separately. Four diets (treatments) contained 24 percent silage (DM basis) formulated in which corn silage replaced with 0.00, 33, 66 and 100% with sorghum silage. 32 lactating cows (average 44 days in milk) were divided into two blocks with average daily milk of 34.11 and 28.20 kg and then the cows of each block allocated to four experimental diets. Nutritive values of the diets adjusted to the requirements of cows in each block.

Average daily dry matter intake was not statistically affected by the experimental diets but the cows in high milk yield blocks consumed higher dry matter (p<0.05). The fresh milk and 3.5FCM yield did not affected by the treatments but the average milk yield was different between the blocks throughout the experiment. Feed efficiency based on the kg of milk yield per kg dry matter intake was not affected by the treatments and between the blocks as well. Milk compositions including fat, protein, lactose, solid non fat, total solid and milk urea nitrogen were not affected by the treatments but total saturated fatty acids were decreased by inclusion of sorghum silage in the diets (p<0.05).

In general, results showed that the corn silage could be replaced by sorghum silage (speed feed var.) in the diets of lactating cows (with daily milk yield about 30kg). However, due to the lower starch and lower energy content in sorghum silage than the corn silage, the diets should be supplemented with starch sources to compensate the energy balance, when use sorghum silage.

The Norfur system developed in Island, Norway, Sweden and Denmark for predicts nutrient supply and requirement for maintenance, milk production, growth and pregnancy in cattle. Due to the diversity in ruminal degradation of NDF and its effect on animal performance, knowledge of NDF digestibility in forage is critical to the effective feeding of ruminants. The aim of this study was to compare the degradability of alfalfa, wheat straw and corn silage and to estimate the concentration of  indigestible neutral detergent fiber (iNDF) and potential digestible NDF (pdNDF) using the Norfur system.

Degradability parameters of dry matter and neutral detergent fiber with in situ method using three ruminal fistulated sheep at intervals of 0, 2, 4, 8, 16, 24, 48 and 96 h was evaluated in  a complete randomized design. To measure of iNDF, three grams of samples were incubated in nylon bags for up to 288 h.

there was a significant difference between the three alfalfas, corn silage and wheat straw in the degradability of dry matter and NDF. Rumen disappearance of DM and NDF during incubation periods of 0 to 96 h was highest in alfalfa forage and lowest in wheat straw. Rapid and slow degradable fractions of dry matter in alfalfa, wheat straw and corn silage were 24.50, 6.57 and 22.20% and 48.30, 41.43 and 45.00%, respectively. There was no significant difference in rate of degradation between the experimental treatments at the 5% level. Effective degradability at 2, 5 and 8% rates of outflow from the rumen was also significantly different between experimental treatments (p<0.0001). Effective degradability and potentially digestible NDF concentrations were highest in alfalfa and lowest in wheat straw. There was a significant difference between pdNDF and iNDF parameters in wheat straw compared to corn and alfalfa silage and alfalfa forage had a higher potential for digestibility (p<0.0001). The highest concentration of iNDF was in wheat straw and then in corn silage and the lowest concentration were in alfalfa after 288 hours of incubation (55.31, 28.81 and 12.94% of NDF, respectively).

According to the results of this study, using the Norfur system to determine the degradability of neutral detergent fibers, the lowest amount of iNDF and the highest amount of pdNDF belonged to alfalfa compared to corn silage and wheat straw, which indicates higher digestibility of alfalfa forage.

Chicken meat waste and whey powder as by-products are often rich in high quality proteins and can be hydrolyzed by protease enzymes produced by microorganisms. The aim of this study was to produce bioactive peptides from chicken meat waste and whey powder by bio-fermentation by Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus licheniformis, Aspergillus oryzae, and hydrolysis by autoclave. Also, isolated and hydrolyzed protein sources were evaluated under in vitro condition.

Chicken meat wastes were first degreased and then their protein was isolated through alkaline extraction and acid precipitation. The microorganisms were cultured in a specific culture medium and then added to the protein isolated in the previous step, and the fermentation hydrolysis process was performed. An autoclave was also used for hydrolysis. Isolated and hydrolyzed protein sources were evaluated in vitro to determine the amounts of crude protein, organic matter, ash, dry matter, ether extract, and the amount of gas produced in vitro. Finally, the data obtained from the laboratory evaluation were statistically analyzed using a completely randomized statistical model using SAS 9.4 software

The results of production and evaluation of isolated and hydrolyzed protein sources showed that during hydrolysis, minor changes were made in the chemical composition, but the production of low molecular weight peptides increased. Also, it was found that the production of bioactive peptides from different sources by different methods has different efficiencies. Among the products of chicken meat waste and whey powder, the highest amount of low molecular weight peptides was produced by Bacillus subtilis (1.227 and 0.786 μg / ml, respectively). Autoclave treatment also led to the breaking of weak chemical bonds and increased production of small peptides. Also, the results of in vitro gas production method showed that hydrolysis of chicken meat waste and whey powder using Oryzae, increased the amount of gas produced (139.77 and 189.21, respectively) and all hydrolysis treatments improved the digestibility of dry mater.

The general results of the study showed that hydrolysis of chicken meat waste and whey powder through bio-fermentation and hydrolysis by autoclave increased the production of bioactive peptides and Bacillus subtilis produced the highest amount of peptides. Also, Aspergillus oryzea treatment compared to other treatments made the largest increase in the amount of gas production and fermentable part, which shows the positive effect of hydrolyzed protein production by this method in increasing the biological activity of chicken meat waste and whey protein.

Using horticultural and agricultural products such as almond hull is a useful way to compensate for feedstuff shortages and reduce environmental pollution. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of slow-release non-protein nitrogen replacement (Nitrosa) with urea in diets containing almond hulls on microbial protein production and nitrogen balance in sheep in order to provide an inexpensive non-forage fiber source with easily accessible nitrogen.

Materail and Methods:

This study was performed using four adult sheep weighing 49.33 ± 4.59 which were kept in metabolic cages were assigned in a 4×4 Latin square design in four 19-days periods. Feed intake and daily excretion of feces and urine were measured. Four rations were tested with the same raw protein and energy content, which contained 36% of the total crude protein content of non-protein nitrogen supplements. Only urea was used in the first treatment. In the second treatment, 24% of the crude protein required by urea and 12% by Nitrosa were provided. In the third treatment of urea and Nitrosa, respectively, 12 and 24%, and in the fourth treatment, Nitrosa was used only to provide 36% of the total crude protein needed in four periods. Each period included 14 days of habit and 5 days of measurements.

Allantoin showed a significant difference between treatments under the influence of experimental diets. So that treatment 3 had a significant difference with treatment 1 and 2, but did not differ with treatment 4. Also, treatment 2 had a significant difference with treatment 4 (p<0.05). Xanthine and hypoxanthine were not affected by diets (p>0.05). Uric acid, total purine derivatives excreted and all purine derivatives absorbed microbial nitrogen production, and microbial protein production under experimental diets showed a significant difference between treatments (p<0.05). The dry matter digestibility, crude protein, crude fat, and organic matter were not affected by the experimental syringes and there was no significant difference between the treatments (p>0.05). The digestibility of insoluble fiber in neutral detergent under the influence of experimental diets showed a significant difference between treatments (p<0.05). Treatment 4 had significant differences with treatment 1 and 3 and there was no difference between treatment 4 and 2.

Based on the results Using Nitrosa in diets containing almond hull as a low-cost non-forage fiber source also low-protein can be useful in improving the digestibility of fiber.

High levels of isoflavones in the diet containing raw soy and its products can have adverse effects on the level of reproductive hormonal parameters and subsequent, abnormal fertility in livestock. Therefore, in this study, an 8-week period (3 weeks before to 5 weeks after inoculation) was selected to evaluate these phytoestrogenic compounds on off-season reproductive performance of Afshari ewes.

60 Afshari sheep of 3 to 4 years old with an average weight of 60 3 3 kg and a body score of 2.5 to 3 in the form of three treatments of 20 heads including 1 or control (containing cottonseed meal), 2 and 3 respectively Soybean meal and extruded whole soybeans were selected in a completely randomized design for the study. Blood sampling was performed in three steps (before and after cider sampling and 12 days after inoculation), through the venous vein and before morning feeding.

The results of mean fertility and regeneration rates were not significantly different between experimental treatments. However, the fertility rate between treatment 2 (90%) and 3 (60%) tended to be significant (p = 0.0396). The frequency of sex of lambs was significantly different between treatments, so that the frequency of male lambs in treatments 1, 2 and 3 were 70.6, 66.6 and 33.3%, respectively (p = 0.0374). The highest nutrient content in the treatment contained extruded whole soybean with 66.7% and the lowest was related to the control treatment with 29.4%. The sex hormones estrogen and progesterone as well as blood insulin were not significantly different between the experimental treatments. Blood cholesterol concentration was significantly different between control treatment and treatment 2 compared to treatment 3 in the period one day before cider removal (p = 0.0279) and 2 days after (p = 0.082). The highest amount of cholesterol was in the treatment containing extruded soybeans in the first blood sampling step (80.730 and 79.470 mg / dl) and the lowest was in the treatment containing soybean meal (70.08 and 70.84 mg / dl).

The results of the present study showed that experimental treatments had no significant effect on reproductive parameters in Afshari ewes. Due to the effects of long-term presence of phytoestrogens of soy products on Ewes reproductive parameters, in a short period of flushing and at this level of replacement, no significant reduction was observed compared to the control treatment. Final analysis of the data showed that due to the interference of the effects of plant phytoestrogens, fatty acids and other factors affecting the reproduction of ewes, to obtain better results and limit the effect of parallel factors, the use of phytoestrogens extracted from soy, can provide a more reliable answer.

During sperm freezing, the production of reactive oxygen species and the reduction of antioxidant activity cause damage to sperm. Most of the stress is due to the high production of reactive oxygen species and the impermeability of antioxidants to mitochondria. In this study, the effects of four levels of a combination of 2, 4- dinitrophenol which is a targeted mitochondrial antioxidant and Luteolin antioxidants, which are among the strongest flavonoid compounds with antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, were evaluated in lecithin-based Lake Extender.

For this purpose, semen samples from 15 roosters were collected by dorso-abdominal massage method. Semen samples are mixed together after initial evaluation after diluting and adding different levels, treatment 1 (0.5 nanomolar 2, 4- dinitrophenol + 0.75 micromolar Luteolin), treatment 2 (0.5 nanomolar 2, 4- dinitrophenol + 1 micromolar Luteolin), treatment 3 (0.75 nanomolar 2, 4- dinitrophenol + 0.75 micromolar Luteolin) and treatment 4 (0.75 nanomolar 2, 4- dinitrophenol + 1 micromolar Luteolin), of antioxidants, samples were frozen by nitrogen vapor. After thawing, the samples were evaluated for sperm performance parameters.

The results of the present study showed that the addition of treatments 2 and 3 to the leak diluent during freezing and thawing of rooster sperm significantly increased the parameters of total motility and progressive movement and also treatment 3 significantly increased sperm velocity in a straight line and the criterion of direct sperm motility. Also, treatments 2 and 3 significantly increased survival compared to the control group and reduced the amount of semen malondialdehyde and sperm with abnormal morphology during freezing and thawing (p<0.05). Also, treatment 3 was able to increase membrane integrity. Plasma increase compared to the control group (p<0.05).

The results of the present study show that the combined use of these two antioxidants has increased the properties of both antioxidants and improved the quality and quantity of sperm.

In the dairy industry, it is important to identify the genotypes resistant to mastitis while select high-yielding dairy cows. Bovine β-difensin gene polymorphism can be used as a molecular marker in the selection of mastitis-resistant dairy cows. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between point mutation of β4-difensin gene and the occurrence of clinical mastitis in the dairy cows using RFLP-PCR method and identification of superior genotype of dairy cows β-difensin gene for mastitis resistance.

blood sample (with EDTA anticoagulant) was taken from total 73 cows (32 with a history of mastitis and 41 with no history of mastitis) in an industrial dairy farm. After DNA extraction amplification of the region of bovine β-difensin gene (393 bp) was performed. PCR products were digested by endonuclease (NlaIII (Hin1II)) for rapid detection of polymorphism in the 2239 region of the β-difensin gene (C to T conversion). Statistical analysis was performed by Chi-square test.

Allele frequencies were 0.68 and 0.32 for C and T, respectively. Statistical analysis was performed by Chi-square test. The results of this study indicate the association between number of mastitis and polymorphism in the β-difensin gene. In other words, the incidence of mastitis was  numerically lower in cows with T allele than in cows without it (p=0.07).

It can be concluded that the bovine β-difensin gene can also be used as a molecular marker in the selection of dairy cows to reduce the incidence of mastitis.

 Nowadays, endotoxemia is considered as one of the fundamental causes of infertility in different animals or humans due to various bacterial infections because of the entry of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the membrane of the gram-negative bacteria’s wall into the blood. This study aimed to evaluate the inflammation caused by LPS and the protective effect of kaempferol (KAE), which is a natural flavonoid with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties on oocytes developmental competence.

For this purpose in oocyte maturation medium, in the first experiment with concentrations of 0, 0.1, 0.1, 1 and 10μg/ml of  LPS, in the second experiment with concentrations of 0, 0.1, 1 and 10 μM of  KAE and in the third experiment with concentrations of  0, 0.1, 1 and 10 μM of  KAE  with  LPS  were cultured for  24  hours. After in vitro maturation, mature oocytes were identified and fertilized with incubated sperm, and the rates of cleaved oocyte and oocytes reached to blastocyst stage were analyzed.

The treatment with 1 and 10 μg/ml of LPS significantly reduced blastocyst rate compared to the control group (p<0.05), but supplementation of oocyte maturation medium with different concentrations of KAE had no effect on the rates of cleaved oocyte and oocytes reached to blastocyst stage (p>0.05). In addition, the results of different concentrations of KAE with LPS show that KAE  did  not has no significant effect on the rates of cleaved and blastocyst oocyte inflammatory conditions caused by lipopolysaccharide (p>0.05).

In summary, the data presented here have shown that LPS exhibits detrimental effects on sheep oocyte development in a dose-dependent manner and KAE is not effective in ameliorating these effects.

There is a global concern about presence of mycotoxins in milk and dairy products and governmental quality control centers continuously qualify and monitor these products, and milk producers might charge bill if their products are contaminated with aflatoxins. The current project was conducted to qualify and monitor aflatoxin M1 in milk supplied to milk-collecting- stations in Zanjan’s area during all seasons of the year.

Milk samples were randomly collected a day in each season. Milk sample tubes were centrifuged, and top layer of fat was harvested, and aflatoxin M1 of milk was determined by ELISA method.

All samples had contamination with aflatoxin M1; however, contamination was lower than that of global standard (500 ng/L). 18.5 percent of the samples had contamination with aflatoxin M1 based on European limits (50 ng/L), with 0 percent in spring and 35.3 percent in winter. The mean concentration of aflatoxin M1 in samples was 44ng/L (16 to 129) and its content was 25, 52, 34, and 64 ng/L in spring, summer, fall, and winter respectively.

Although aflatoxin M1 concentration of collected milk samples was lower than the limit, but continuous qualifying and monitoring of milk supplied to dairy factories or traditional market must be done and producers should try to keep a low level of toxins in their products.

Defensins are small antimicrobial peptides that play an important role in innate immunity. Therefore, their coding genes can be used as markers in selecting markers to help improve the economic quality of domestic animals. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between C2239T SNP of the intron region of the beta-4-defensin gene with milk production traits and the somatic cell count in Holstein cows.

For this purpose, genomic DNA was extracted from 182 dairy cows. Then, using a suitable primer pairs, a 393 bp fragment from intron of bovine B4-defensin sequence (2100 to 2493) was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction. Then, the amplified fragment was screened by single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) and DNA sequencing methods. The associations between genotypes of the SNP with SCC and milk production traits were analyzed using the GLM procedure of SAS (9.1).

  A total of 3 distinct SSCP patterns (A, B and C) were observed which confirmed single nucleotide polymorphism (substitution of C to T) at position 2239 upon sequence analysis in the population. The frequencies of CC, CT and TT genotypes were 0.79, 0.13 and 0.08, respectively. No significant difference was observed between SNP genotypes and milk production traits and SCC. However, the genotypes were tended to associate with milk yield (p=0.10). The highest average milk yield and somatic cell count were found in the TT genotype, whereas the lowest ones for average milk yield and somatic cell count were CT a CC genotypes, respectively.

In this study, no significant relationship was observed between the identified genotypes with milk production traits and the number of body cells, but this relationship showed a significant tendency for the amount of daily milk production. The results also showed that TT and CT genotypes for this mutation had the highest and lowest milk production, respectively.

Biometric measures of some body dimensions can be used as indicator of a particular breed. Among these characteristics, the horse's head and neck regions dimensions are of particular importance. These characteristics, in addition to showing differences among breeds of the horses, may also affect the performance and beauty of the animal. The long head and neck in horses makes the animal more flexible and increases the performance. Rearing conditions, age, sex and nutrition of the horses are important factors for body dimension traits.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of some environmental factors on biometric traits of the head and neck of Thoroughbred horses in Golestan province. For this purpose, the head and neck regions dimensions of 105 randomly selected Thoroughbred horses were measured.  The studied horses included 66 stallions and 39 mares ranging from 2 to 4 years of age. The number of horses in Gonbad Kavous, Aq Qala and Bandar Turkmen counties were 61, 24 and 20, respectively. According to the San Giacomo Standard and by using a tape meter, 13 biometric dimensions of the horses head and neck regions, including Head Length (HL), Ear Length (EL), Eye to Eye Width (EEW), Ear to Eye Length (EED), Eye to Jaw Length (EJL), Eye to Mouth Length (EML), Jaw Width (JW), Muzzle Circumference (MC), Head Neck Circumference (HNC), Neck Midpoint Circumference (NMC), Neck Body Circumference (NBC), Upper Neck Length (UNL) and Neck Down Length (NDL) were measured. Descriptive statistics, analysis of variance and comparison of least squares means (LSM), were obtained using Means procedure, General Linear Models (GLM) and Tukey-Kramer Test at a significant level of 5% by SAS statistical software, respectively.

The results indicated that HL, EEW, MC, HNC, NBC and UNL traits were lower dispersion and coefficient of variations compared to other traits.The highest and the lowest coefficients of variation were estimated for JW (14.68%) and HL (4.29%), respectively. Analysis of variance showed that the effect of age on EEL (p<0.05) and NBC (p<0.01), sex on EEW (p<0.05), JW (p<0.01), MC (p<0.01), HNC (p<0.01), NMC (p<0.01) and NBC (p<0.01) and rearing area on HL (p<0.01), EEW (p<0.05), JW (p<0.05), MC (p<0.05), HNC (p<0.01), NMC (p<0.01), NBC (p<0.01) and UNL (p<0.01) traits were significant.

The results of this study showed that, the biometric dimensions of the head and neck regions of Thoroughbred horses were higher than those for other Iranian horses and environmental factors such as age, sex and rearing area had significant effects on these traits. The results of this study can be used for comparing, selecting and breeding of Thoroughbred horses of Golestan province.

To date, sex determination technique in domestic animal has economic benefits. Recently, circulating free DNA (cfDNA) highlighted as suitable candidate for non-invasive sex determination in livestock and endangered wild life animals. Based on this motivation, the objective of this report was the potential usefulness of free fetal DNA in maternal blood for prenatal fetal gender determination in pregnant goats.

 In this respect, a total of 21 animals, including 17 pregnant females with a gestation period of six weeks, unborn goats and 2 males (negative controls) were selected. During the running experiment, estrous synchronization  was performed by intravaginal CIDR. The animals not returned to estrus was considered as an indicator of success in pregnancy. Also in the last months, ultrasound method was used to confirm pregnancy. In the next phase, cffDNA was extracted from the blood plasma of female goats using the available common experimental protocol. The primers in this experiment were designed based on AME gene located on X and Y chromosomes. The polymerase chain reaction was optimized based on available standard methods.

The observation addressed existence of two fragment in the male embryo (171 bp AMELX gene band and 111 bp AMELY gene band) and one fragment in the female embryo (171 bp AMELX gene band). Here, most of findings was in line of similar pervious literatures and sex determination based on AME gene in case of sensitivity, specificity and accuracy indices indicated 0.83, 0.93 and 0.93 respectively.

On this basis, the results opened a new horizon of the potential usefulness of free fetal DNA in maternal blood for prenatal fetal gender determination in pregnant goats.

Baluchi sheep is one of the best wool breeds in Iran, it is well-known as high tolerance breed against dry weather and lack of forage. In this study, the effects of supplementing diet with cannabis seed on NPY gene expression in heart, liver testis, back fat and longissimus muscle tissues in Baluchi sheep were investigated. NPY is one of the most important genes involved in regulating appetite and energy balance and its most notable effect is stimulating feed intake.

12 Baluchi male lambs were randomly divided into two groups. The first group was fed a control diet containing 14 percent crude protein and the second group was fed a diet containing 14 percent crude protein and supplemented with 10 percent Cannabis seed. At the end of the 110 days fattening period, the animals were slaughtered and tissue samples were collected and properly frozen for RNA extraction. Total RNA was extracted from tissues and cDNA was constructed following RNA quality and quantity control. In order to approve cDNA synthesis, PCR reaction was used to amplify a fragment of β-actin control gene with a length of 112 bp. Real Time PCR was performed to evaluate NPY gene expression. Gene expression data were analyzed by REST software.

The outcomes of statistical analysis indicated that the fold change of NPY gene expression between control and treatment group was significant for liver and back fat tissues (p<0.05).  Moreover, we found that NPY gene expression was 9.82 and 1.03 times higher in liver and heart of the lambs treated with Cannabis seed compared with the control group, respectively. In back fat, longissimus muscle and testis gene expression levels decreased 6.46, 2.73 and 1.18 times between treatment and control groups, respectively.

 It may be concluded that addition of Cannabis seed to the diet affects the lamb fattening performance through the increased liver tissue activity and modifying fat tissue metabolism. Due to the fact that the NPY gene is associated with the regulation of appetite and energy balance, the effects of cannabis on the production capacity of lambs through molecular mechanisms can play a significant biological role in liver tissue.

The advent of the new generation of transcriptome sequencing has helped to improve the overall accuracy of different gene expression predictions using short RNA-Seq sequences. This technology can provide a more comprehensive view of functional genomics in many species with a unique gene sequence. The aim of this study was to investigate the structural reasons for different expression of mitochondrial genes in two subspecies of Holstein and Cholistani cattle, including ND3, ND4, ND4L, ND5 and ND6 genes, which are involved in important processes such as energy metabolism against stress. Biological and non-biological as well as disease resistance are involved.

In this study, RNA-Seq data were used to integrate 40 samples from the University of Wisconsin Dairy Cattle Center (Bos taurus) and 45 Christian cows (Bos indicus) at the Gujaratpir farm in Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan. IGB, MEGA6 and DnaSPV.5 software were used to investigate the level of transcriptome coverage and genetic differences among the five mitochondrial genes, which included polymorphic regions, deletion and addition regions, binding regions and the percentage of transitional and transversional nucleotide substitutions.

The highest deletion region and length in all studied genes was related to Holstein genome and the highest length and binding region was related to Cholistani cattle. The highest number of deletions in Holstein and Cleistani cows were related to ND4 gene with 74 and 66 points, respectively, and the lowest deletions were related to ND4L with 9 and 4 deletion sites, respectively. The ND4 and ND4L genes had no binding regions, but the ND5 and ND6 genes in the Holstein and Cleistian breeds with 1 and 2 binding regions increased the genome by 11 and 22 bp, respectively. The highest level of transcriptome coverage was observed in ND3 and ND4 genes and the lowest level was observed in ND6 gene locus. The number of polymorphic regions in ND5 locus was more than other genes and equal to 38 polymorphic regions. The results also showed that the percentage of transitional substitution in bases is higher than transversional substitution which can be the reason for the stability of changes during evolution. Therefore, some of the structural reasons for mitochondrial genes that were expressed differently in both Holstein and Cholistani subspecies could be related to deletion and addition, polymorphic regions, transcriptome coverage level, and type and amount of transitional and intersecting substitutions during the evolution of the two subspecies.

Intense selection for milk production in Holstein cows compared to the Cholistani breed has led to a reduction in the length of the mitochondrial genome and changes in the nucleotide structure of some mitochondrial genes, resulting in altered gene expression and different responses to different environmental conditions.