نشریه پژوهش های علوم دامی
سال سی و سوم شماره 2 (تابستان 1402)

Safflower meal (SF) is utilized as a protein source in ruminant diet, however the protein of is highly degradable by rumen microorganisms. One of the most important factors in determining the protein value of feed for growing or lactating ruminants is the amounts of dietary proteins escape from rumen degradation. Several processing methods such as chemical and physical treatments have been well applied to protect crude protein from microbial degradation. Chemical processing causes environmental pollution which may adversely affect protein digestibility in the small intestine and in some cases may appear in animal products (NRC 2001; Schwab et al 2007). Ionizing radiation such as gamma ray has so much energy it can knock electrons out of atoms and causes fragmentation, cross-linking, aggregation, and oxidation by oxygen radicals generated in the radiolysis of water in proteins. Advantages of microwave irradiation compared to conventional heating are faster heating rates, shorter processing times and energy efficiency. Studies have shown that GR irradiation of sunflower meal, cottonseed meal, and canola meal were successful in reducing degradation of CP by rumen microorganisms (Ghanbari et al 2015; Taghinejad-Roudbaneh 2016). However, there is lack of information on effects of heating and irradiation with gamma ray and microwave irradiation on SF protein degradability. Therefore, the purpose of present study was to evaluate and compare the effects of gamma irradiation at doses of 20 and 40 kGy and microwave irradiation for 3 and 5 minutes on ruminal DM and CP degradation kinetics as well as digestibility of SF.

This research was carried out in Karaj Animal Science Research Institute. First, safflower seeds of Golmehr cultivar were prepared from the institute approved by the General Department of Oilseed of the Ministry of Jihad-e-Agriculture. The DM of SF was determined and then, sufficient water was added to sample to increase the moisture content SF to 250 g/kg. Then, two samples (500 g each) were subjected to microwave irradiation at a power of 800 W for 3 and 5 min. Another two samples (500 g each) were subjected to gamma irradiation at doses of 20 and 40 kGy. The samples were ground to pass a 2 mm screen for the ruminal in situ study. Degradation kinetics of DM and CP were determined according to in situ procedure (Orskov and McDonald 1979). Six g of untreated or irradiated feed samples were incubated in the rumen of three ruminally fistulated bulls for periods of 0, 2, 4, 8, 16, 24 and 48 h. Then, bags were removed from rumen and washed with cold water and dried in an oven at 65 C⸰ for 48 hours and weighed. To determine the degradability of the DM and protein, residuals of bags were weighed. In order to determine the digestibility of SF, two-stage digestion was used method (Tilly and Terry 1963). DM and CP degradability parameters were estimated by using equation of P=a+b(1-e-ct). Chemical composition data were statistically analyzed in a completely randomized design and degradability data were statistically analyzed in a completely randomized block design with GLM procedures of SAS software. Differences among the means were determined by LSD test, at a significant level of p<0.05.

Different treatments had not significant effect on the chemical composition of SF (p>0.05). The DM and organic matter digestibility of SF was reduced by irradiation (p<0.05). The mechanism for reducing digestibility in heat-processed feeds is very complex. During heat treatment, chemical reactions (such as the Millard reaction), protein structure changes, and cross-linking between protein and carbohydrates may occur. These reactions convert feed proteins into resistant digestible compounds and are responsible for reducing the digestibility of DM and organic matter after microwave processing (Van Soest 1994). Microwave irradiation for 3 and 5 minutes increased the rapidly degradable fraction of DM and CP and degradation rate of CP. Microwave irradiation for 3 and 5 minutes decreased the potentially degradable fraction of DM and CP (p<0.05), also irradiation by microwave for 3 and 5 minutes decreased slowly degradable fraction of DM and CP (p<0.05). Gamma irradiation at doses of 20 and 40 KGy reduced the rapidly degradable fraction of DM and CP (p<0.05). Gamma irradiation at doses 20 and 40 KGy reduced the effective degradability of CP and DM at ruminal outflow rate of 2, 5 and 8% (p<0.05). Reduction of CP degradability as a result of irradiation is due to the occurrence of cross-linking of polypeptide chains, denaturation and protein aggregation )Ciesla et al 2000). Under the effect of microwave irradiation for 3 and 5 minutes, the effective degradability of DM and CP increased compared to gamma irradiation (p<0.05). Gamma irradiation increased the potentially degradable fraction of CP (p<0.05). Gamma irradiation increased the slowly degradable fraction of CP (p<0.05). Gamma irradiation at dose of 20 kGy increased undegradable protein at ruminal outflow rate of 2, 5 and 8 %. Also, microwave irradiation for 3 and 5 minutes reduced undegradable protein compared to the control (p<0.05). Microwave irradiation for 3 and 5 minutes increased the rumen degradable protein at ruminal outflow rate of 5 and 8% (p<0.05). The highest amount of rumen degradable protein was related to microwave irradiation for 5 minutes (p<0.05). metabolizable protein (MP) of microwave irradiated-SF at ruminal outflow rate of 5 and 8% was not significantly different compared to control (p>0.05), however microwave radiation for 3 minutes significantly reduced MP of SF compared to control (p<0.05). Microwave irradiation for 3 minutes at ruminal outflow rate of 0.02, 0.05 and 0.08% decreased MP of SF by 6.23, 7.58 and 39.24% compared to untreated samples, respectively. Gamma radiation at doses of 20 and 40 kGy decreased MP at ruminal outflow rate of 2 and 5 %, but at ruminal outflow rate of 8% was not significantly different compared to control. Final

The results of this experiment showed that however, gamma irradiation of SF decreased MP of SF, but gamma irradiation compared to other treatments decreased rumen degradable protein and increased rumen undegradable protein. Subsequently, in vivo studies are required to investigate effect of feeding irradiated-SF on performance of ruminants.

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.

Honey bees play a significant role in the balance of nature, especially through the pollination process. Pollination is important for the viability of many pastoral enterprises, market gardens and orchards. As at June 2010 the estimated value of pollination to Victorian agricultural and horticultural crops was estimated to exceed $400 million. Horticultural and seed industries are partially or completely dependent on effective pollination by honey bees.The bee keeping industry is one of the important sections of agriculture in Iran. It is a manufacturing activity that is possible throughout the year. Thousands of households are passing the life with this manner.

The main aim of the present study is an examination of effective factors on honey production yield at Arasbaran apiaries in the east Dizmar district of Khoda afarin County of the east Azerbaijan province. METHIDS: Type of research is descriptive - correlation and statistical population was all (643) the bee keepers in 4 villages of the east Dizmar district of Khoda afarin County. In order to examining the reliability of the questionnaire a pre - test was conducted. The value of Cronbach's alpha coefficient for different parts of the questionnaire was between 0/77 – 0/85. Sample size of the bee keepers was determined by random systematic method with Cochrane formula. Finally, 243 bee keepers was selected. The data was analyzed by using SPSS22 and LISREL8.72 soft wares. It is worth noting that yield of honey production is dependent variable and was calculated based on the amount and quantity of products (bee wax, honey and bee glue) which produced by Bee keepers from each hive in kilograms.

According to research findings, bee keepers are in middle age range. This range of age can be considered positive point of the combination of young force and experience. The minimum education level of one third of bee keepers is bachelor. So, it is possible to perform literacy - based educations and, on the other hand, this capacity can be used to teach other bee keepers with low literacy. In terms of being bee keepers innovator, statistics show that they do not use the modified queen and rely on queen's natural duplicating method. It would be a reason to being intangible beekeepers need for training and feasibility to use the modified queen under consideration of governmental organisation and also, using the method of controlled process of the queen duplication. Improvement and modernization of hives is not favorable.This fact affects on the rate of each hive production and market qualification of honey products. There are positive and significant correlation in 5% level between dependent variable (honey products yield) and some factors such as; the individual, professional, psychological and technical characteristics. Based on the rate of factor loading, psychological factor (1.27) and variables such as: seeking out weather news, being helpful of extension and education classes, the interest to continue beekeeping job, social desirability of beekeeping and the distance of the apiaries had the most effect on variance changes of honey yield.

Livelihoods of bee keepers was not evaluated appropriately, so in order to helping bee keepers to continue the production of honey, providing sustainable livelihoods, alternatives and supplements are suggested. The whole state of the colonies are not suitable. It is necessary to take place an urgent act by agricultural extension office of the east Azerbaijan province for promoting technologies consistent with regional conditions. Developing usage of the modified queen and the industrial method of duplicating queen feels strongly to be planned in the research district. Labor - save technologies be introduced for declining duration of referring bee keepers to hives. Variables such as desirability of social status of bee keeping and interest in continuing bee keeping job had significant affect on honey production so, the distinctive suggestion is that custodians of affairs do the necessary measures like promotion to introduce more bee keeping job to the community. It is important to predict creating required conditions to buy modern hives due to granting a subsidy facilities. By reducing the production cost of bee keepers ' performance rises, therefore the obvious suggestion in order to reduce costs is setting up bee keepers ' formations. One of the variables influencing honey yield is replacing of honeycombs. Specified suggestion for this case is predicting training headlines, applying appropriate supervision and implementing of extensional programs. Also, Generalizing and expanding education with the aim of transferring elderly and highly qualified person's experiences to young people, on the one hand, and increasing the possibility of applying new technologies, on the other hand, will have a double effect on bee keepers honey yield. The effect of following the meteorology news on the honey yield is above. This fact illustrates the role of proper knowledge of bee keepers of meteorological variables on honey production. So, it is important that east Azerbaijan agriculture jihad organization preparing daily messages for bee keepers in the form of SMS or by mass media. Preparing reports about prediction of meteorological status in the form of weekly, monthly, seasonal and six mouths is emphasized.

Agricultural by-products, which contain high fibre and have low nutritional value, are one of the feed sources for ruminant animals. A variety of cereal residues including wheat straw, corn stover and paddy straw are generally used to supplement the green forage as animal feed. Wheat is an important cereal crop, which generates a huge amount of lignocellulose in the form of straw. Some various strategies have attempted to improve forage quality. These methods include physical treatments (heat, steam and pressure) as well as treatment with chemical treatments such as acids, alkalis, NH3 and ozone. However, using them is associated with some problems as they require complex material and have detriments such as secondary pollution. Recently the researches have focused on biological alternatives, especially since they are environmentally benign and widely acceptable. One of the biological methods is to use micro-organisms including fungi and bacteria many of which had been found to degrade cellulose and other plant cell wall fibers. The cellulase activity of the fungus is premier, whereas bacteria have a faster growth rate than fungi, and there is increasing interest in cellulase production by bacteria and they can generate cellulase much better. Cellulolytic bacteria are present in a variety of sources such as composting heaps, decaying agricultural wastes, soil and gastrointestinal tract of herbivores. These bacteria are presumed to live in both the rumen and in the colon that digest plant cell walls. Annually, large amounts of agricultural residues are produced in countries around the world, including Iran. These agricultural residues are important foods in the diet of ruminants. However, the use of these products as a food source in the diet of ruminants is limited due to their limited biological structure and low protein. Different physical, chemical and biological methods have been used to process wheat straw, all of which aim to break down lignin and make more cellulose and hemicellulose available for fermentation in the rumen. The use of biological processing method by fungi has received more attention due to the lack of environmental pollution. White rot fungi are the only organisms that are able to aerobically break down lignin into CO2 and water. Schizophyllum commune is an edible fungus of the basidiomycete’s family. Spraying of lacase enzyme from Schizophyllum (liquid culture lacase, solid culture lacase and purified lacase) on wheat straw, corn straw and sorghum straw gradually reduces the amount of Neutral Detergent Fiber of straws and As a result, it increases the digestibility of straws. Lignin is an important constituent of these agro-residues which is resistant to most of the bacterial enzymatic systems, as well as non-digestible by ruminants and rumen microflora. Solid state bioprocessing of agro residues by ligninolytic fungi have got the potential to convert these materials into better feed. Beside lignin, these agro residues contain complex polysaccharides (hemicellulose and cellulose) and water-soluble fractions (soluble sugars, some pectin component, some soluble proteins and organic acids). Lignin binds with hemicellulose and cellulose to form a matrix and make these polysaccharides unavailable for the ruminants. Bio delignification of agro-residues has got the potential to convert this biomass into more nutritive and easily digestible feed. Most studied white rot fungi species are quite efficient lignin degrader but it also degrades an enormous amount of organic matter thus limiting its practical use for improvement of animal feed quality. while the pretreated straw may be useful for other purposes including biofuel production. It necessitates the need to look for organisms which can degrade the lignin without causing major loss of other important constituents like hemicellulose and cellulose. The purpose of this experiment was to determine the chemical composition, volume of gas produced, dry matter degradability, degradability of Neutral Detergent Fiber and volatile fatty acids produced by wheat straw processed with Schizophyllum commune under liquid culture and solid culture using nylon bags and gas production method.

To process wheat straw, the straw was first soaked in water for 12 hours and then sterilized in an autoclave at 121 ° C for 20 minutes. For solid culture, a 7-day-old mushroom was transferred to each jar containing sterilized wheat straw and stored at 26 ° C for 25 days. Liquid culture medium containing the secreted enzymes was inoculated after filtration of the fungi on the liquid and into a glass chamber containing sterile and soaked wheat straw and kept at 26 ° C for 25 days. Wheat straw was removed from the jars after 25 days and dried for 4 days at 60 ° C. The gas production of the treatments in glass vials at 2,4,6,8,12,24,48,72,96,120,144 hours and their degradability were measured using nylon bags and three Holstein cows fistulated at 2,4,6,8,12,24,48,72,96 hours of ruminal incubation.

Processing of wheat straw by Schizophyllum commune reduced dry matter and Neutral Detergent Fiber. Solid culture and liquid culture increased the amount of protein from 2.94 to 6.12 and 5.7%, respectively. Cumulative gas production increased during 144 hours of incubation in wheat straw processed by solid culture. Organic matter digestibility percentage, dry matter digestibility percentage and Metabolisable energy in wheat straw processed by liquid culture method showed a significant increase. The amount of crude microbial protein in wheat straw processed by liquid culture method showed a significant increase. Dry matter degradability increased during 96 hours of ruminal incubation and the potentially fermentable portion of processed wheat straw by solid culture. There was no significant difference between different treatments in terms of nutritional value index. The degradability of Neutral Detergent Fiber was reduced during 96 hours of incubation and the effective degradability in the treated groups was reduced. Liquid and solid culture processing increased the total amount of volatile fatty acids and ammonia nitrogen in wheat straw.

In general, processing of wheat straw with Schizophyllum by solid culture method improved some nutritional components, but the addition of fungal liquid culture medium did not have a significant positive effect on increasing the nutritional value of wheat straw.

Honey is a healthy, nutritious and natural food that contains minerals, enzymes, and vitamins that give a person nutritious and organoleptic properties. It is produced on all five continents and its consumption varies from country to country due to cultural reasons and eating habits (FAO, 2022). Honey production in the world has increased from 771,114 tons in 1971 to 1,770,119 tons in 2020, with an annual growth rate of 1.84 percent (Knoema, 2022). Honey plays an effective role in ensuring global food security, and its market structure is dictated by its production efficiency. Given the limited resources of the agricultural sector, the optimal use of natural resources by improving technological efficiency in honey production would help ensure sufficient food for the increasingly growing world population (kavand et all., 2014; Hosseinzad & Koopahi, 1999). One of the factors affecting the efficiency of honey production is competitive and efficient markets. Therefore, the main objective of the present study is to determine the structure of the honey market in the provinces that produce this product and its relation to the technical efficiency of the producers.

This study uses the Herfindahl-Hirschman index (HHI) to study the market structure of honey-producing provinces in Iran. The Herfindahl-Hirschman index is calculated by squaring the market share of each competing production unit in the industry and then summing the resulting numbers. For this purpose, two different scenarios are considered. In the first scenario, the HHI was calculated based on the share of production of the counties and in the second scenario, it was calculated based on the number of apiaries in each county. To estimate the technical efficiency, the stochastic frontier Cobb-Douglas production function was used. For this purpose, first, the HHI values were considered as inefficient function variables and then the inefficiency function along with the Cobb-Douglas frontier function using maximum likelihood method was estimated and the technical efficiency values of the provinces were calculated. The data used in this study for 2019-20 have been obtained from the results of the census of Iranian apiaries. Excel2013 software was used to calculate Herfindahl-Hirschman index values and Stata15 software was used to estimate the Cobb-Douglas stochastic frontier production function.

Our findings show that the mean value of the Herfindahl-Hirschman index based on the first scenario in 2019 is 0.23 and in 2020 is 0.24. Therefore, Iran’s honey market during the studied years turns out to be monopolistic competition. The mean value of the Herfindahl-Hirschman index according to the second scenario for 2019 and 2020 was calculated as 0.16 and 0.17, respectively, which indicates that the country's honey market was competitive during the years under review. According to the results of Cobb-Douglas Stochastic frontier production function, inputs including; apiary, labor and hive have a positive and significant impact on honey production. The average efficiency during 2019-20 according to the first scenario is 61.2% and according to the second scenario is 64.2%. According to the first and second scenarios, it is possible to increase the efficiency by 38.8% and 35.5%, respectively. The results of the inefficiency function also confirmed that increasing the value of the Herfindahl-Hirschman index (i.e. increasing the degree of monopoly and distance from the competitive market) has a positive effect on inefficiency (negative effect on efficiency).

In conclusion, the results indicated that Iran’s honey market in recently years was has changed to monopolistic situation. This event has caused to decrease the efficiency of apiaries. So it can be possible to increase the efficiency of apiaries through stablishing competitive structure in honey market. In this case motivating for investment in modern production technologies and related industries can help to competitive circumstances in the honey market. market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency market structure and technical efficiency

Sustainable use, development and conservation of poultry genetic resources are of particular importance for agriculture, food production, rural development and the environment (Besbes et al. 2007). Indigenous chickens are often considered as a support for low input backyard or free-range system of production in rural, semi-urban and nomadic areas (Haunshi et al. 2019). Native chickens have unique characteristics such as ability to adapt to adverse environments, hardiness, broodiness and aggressiveness to protect their chicks, and more. However, low genetic potential is one of the identified limitations for increasing the productivity of native chickens along with inadequate nutrition and disease prevalence (Magothe et al. 2012a). The inbreeding accumulation and the decline in genetic diversity that occurs due to the mating of related animals in closed populations negatively affect phenotypic values and additive genetic variance (Falconer and Mackay 1996). Inbreeding, which occurs because of mating of related animals in a population, often occurs in the closed and small populations. The negative consequence of inbreeding is referred to as inbreeding depression, which has become a major concern in research related to evolution, ecology, and conservation biology (Reed et al. 2012). In small populations in particular, the inbreeding depression is significant in reproduction issues and has important consequences for the population's ability to evolve and adapt to environmental changes and ultimately their longevity (Leroy 2014).Increasing the inbreeding rate in closed populations of indigenous chickens' farms may negatively affect the increase in population productivity following the selection process and have destructive effects on improving economic traits in the population. Therefore, considering the importance of the issue, it seems necessary to monitor the inbreeding rate as well as the resulting depression in the under selection closed population of breeding station of Khorasan Razavi indigenous fowl.

In order to estimate the inbreeding rate and evaluate its effects on some important economic traits the pedigree data of 38489 birds collected during 2006-2017 in breeding station of Khorasan Razavi indigenous fowl were used. First, the pedigree data of the studied traits were edited using Foxpro and Excell software and then the files required for data analysis were prepared. The eight traits including average egg weight (AEW), egg number (EN), egg weight at 1st day of laying (EW1), age at sexual maturity (ASM), weight at sexual maturity (WSM), body weight at 12 weeks of age (BW12), body weight at hatch (BW1) and body weight at 8 weeks of age (BW8) were studied. The inbreeding coefficients of all birds recorded in the pedigree were estimated using the CFC program (Sergolzai et al. 2006). The inbreeding coefficients of the birds were divided into different categories. Then, the mean changes of inbreeding during different generations were evaluated and the amount of inbreeding changes in each year was calculated using SPSS software by fitting linear regression of inbreeding per generation. Also in this study, regression coefficients of studied traits on individual and maternal inbreeding percentage were estimated with the REML procedure of WOMBAT software (Meyer 2007) through different models.

The results showed that about 57% (21892 birds) of all birds registered in the pedigree were inbred. The mean of individual and maternal inbreeding varied relatively little over 12 generations. The mean inbreeding of all birds and inbred birds was estimated to be two and three percent, respectively. The highest and lowest inbreeding rates were three and 0%, respectively. As the results show, despite the closed raising and selection of the population and also the increase in the probability of inbreeding in the population, the inbreeding rate has been increased with a relatively low slope over the generations. In general, during the studied generations, the average coefficient of individual and maternal inbreeding in the whole population showed an increasing trend, so that by fitting the linear regression of inbreeding to the generation, the rate of changes in individual and maternal inbreeding was estimated to be about 0.005± 0.03 and 0.004± 0.02 per generation, respectively. In a study conducted on the Isfahan improved native chicken population (Jelokhani et al. 1400), researchers estimated the rate of individual and maternal inbreeding changes per year for the all population by fitting linear regression of inbreeding per generation to 0.006± 0.05 and 0.005± 0.04, respectively, which is approximately consistent with the results of the present study. In this study, 43.12% of the birds were non-inbred and the rest of the birds (47.68%) were grouped in six different inbred groups. The results showed that among the inbred groups, the most inbred birds (47.68%) were birds with inbreeding coefficients between 0 and 5%, which indicates that the population inbreeding is relatively low. Various studies have been performed on the inbreeding rate of domestic chickens in the country; the results are consistent with the results of the present study. For example, the results of a study on 26 generations of genetically improved domestic chickens of Mazandaran showed that, the rate of inbreeding for this population is relatively low (Ghorbani and Omrani 1399). In another study to estimate the inbreeding rate of Indigenous Kokok balenggek chicken (KBC) population in Indonesia, the researchers estimated the inbreeding coefficient to be 0.0031 (0.31%) and concluded that considering the inbreeding rate of herd is less than one percent, and inbreeding less than one percent indicates that one percent of heterozygosity is lost in one generation, the population is not endangered (Rusfidra et al. 2014). In another study on the population size of 37 protected local chicken breeds in five European countries, the relatively low inbreeding rates (0.02 to 0.71%) was reported (Spalona et al. 2007). In our study, the highest effect of individual inbreeding was shown on BW12. In this trait, for a one percent increase in inbreeding rate, the body weight decreases by 1.17 grams. Based on the another study performed on the Isfahan improved native chicken population (Jelokhani et al. 1400), it was shown that for every one percent increase in individual and maternal inbreeding, the WSM is reduced to 3.97 and 1.38 grams, respectively. In another study conducted on Mazandaran native fowls, the results showed that for every one percent increase in individual inbreeding, body weight decreased for the traits including BW12, BW8 and WSM (Ghorbani and Emrani 1399). The results of another study on the improved Fars native fowl revealed the greatest effect of inbreeding on body weight traits (8 and 12 weeks). In this study, for every one percent increase in individual inbreeding, body weight at 12 and 8 weeks decreased by 2.14 and 1.07, respectively (Jelokhani and Ghorbani, in press).

According to the findings in the present study, since the population is closed and under selection, the probability of inbreeding in the population is high. However, because there are controlled matings in the population of breeding station of Khorasan Razavi indigenous fowl, the inbreeding rate in each generation has increased slightly, which shows the appropriate management practices are running in selecting the best birds. Best management practices such as controlling the matings between birds can prevent an increase in population inbreeding as well as its possible negative effects on the traits.

Using agro-Industrial by-products in animal nutrition is an efficient way to improve low quality materials to high quality feeds. Agro-industrial by-products are wasted often and their disposal may cause environmental problems, as they are perishable and potential pollutants. Tomato pomace (TP) is the main waste of tomato factories. In Iran, about 6.9 million tons of tomatoes are produced annually, from that about 575,000 tons of TP is produced. TP, as a by-product, is a good source of vitamin B1, B2 and a reasonable source of vitamin A. Additionally, TP contains important compounds such as carotenoids such as lycopene, which their presence in animal products can be important for consumer health. TP can be used as promising protein and fiber sources in ruminant nutrition. The chemical composition of TP in different parts of the country has already been reported. There are some discrepancies among the results in term of chemical composition. Different results obtained by various studies could be due to the different analytical methods used as well as differences in processing conditions. A few experiments have examined the potential use of TP in ruminant diets. For example, TP has been used in dairy cows without any negative effect on milk production. There are also reports of a positive effect of using TP in fattening lambs. However, information about the effect of TP on ruminal fermentation and digestibility parameters is lacking. The aim of this study was to determine the chemical composition and nutritional value of dried TP and its replacement with wheat bran (WB) in vitro.

Initially the TP was prepared from Rojin Tak factory in Kermanshah. After that, TP samples have dried in the shade, and transported to the laboratory. Chemical composition and gas production parameters of TP and WB were measured using conventional methods. Dry matter (DM), ash, Ether extract (EE), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and crude protein (CP) of the samples were determined. In the first gas production experiment, ruminal fluid was obtained from two male Lori sheep (live weight 47 ± 0.2 kg) fitted with permanent rumen cannula. Samples (250 mg on a DM basis and particle size 1 mm) were accurately weighed into 100 ml serum bottles. Each bottle was filled with 5 mL strained rumen fluid and 20 mL buffer solution, closed with a butyl rubber stopper, sealed with aluminum crimp, shaken and placed in a water-bath at 39°C. Gas production (ml/250 mg sample) after 24 h (GP24), 48 h (GP48), 72 h (GP72) and 96 h (GP96) incubation were determined. two parameters of b (GP from the fermentable fraction (ml)) and c ( rate constant of GP (ml/h)) were calculated based on gas production at 16 h The gas volume produced was recorded at 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h using a digital pressure transducer. Fermentation parameters were determined after 24 h of incubation. Bottles were placed in an ice bath to stop fermentation and gradually warmed up to 25°C. The gas production volume was recorded and pH determined. From each bottle, a sub sample of supernatant (5 mL) was immediately preserved with 5 mL of HCl 0.1 N and stored at -20°C for ammonia-nitrogen (NH3-N) analysis. Fermentation residues were oven dried at 60°C for 48 h to estimate the DM disappearance. Furthermore, the in vitro dry matter (IVDMD) and organic matter disappearance (IVOMD), short chain fatty acid (SCFA; mmol/g DM), microbial protein (MP; mg/g DM) and estimated metabolisable energy (ME; Mcal/kg DM) of TP were measured and compared to those of wheat barn (WB). In the second gas production experiment, the effects of 0 (control), 2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10% (dry matter basic) levels of TP substituted with WB on fattening lambs diet were investigated (on based nutrient requirements). In this section, fermentation parameters were determined only at 16 h after incubation.

The results showed that organic matter, ash, CP, NDF and ADF of TP were 940, 59, 172, 630 and 420 g/kg DM, respectively. In the present experiment, TP had more CP, EE, NDF and ADF than WB (P<0.05). TP showed lower gas production potential and gas production rate than WB (P<0.05). TP showed lower GP24, GP48, GP72 and GP96 than WB (P<0.05). The inclusion of TP in diets linearly increased partitioning factor and MP (P<0.05), but it linearly decreased IVDMD, IVOMD, SCFA and ME (P<0.05). The partitioning factor and microbial protein production of TP was higher than WB (P<0.05). It seems that low gas production for TP compared to WB was resulted due to high content of insoluble fiber in the TP, which requires more time for attachment and fermentation of microorganisms. Complete replacement of TP with WB increased partitioning factor and microbial protein production (P<0.05), with no negative effect on gas production, metabolizable energy and fermentation parameters (P>0.05). Increased microbial protein production with TP incubation is presumably related to the presence of phenolic compounds in TP. It has been shown that in low-concentration, tannins may improve microbial protein production by modulating rumen fermentation conditions. The experimental results showed that by adding TP, digestibility of dry matter and organic matter decreased. This reduction seems to be related to the higher cell wall part of the TP as compared to WB. It appears that carbohydrates in TP are digested slower than those in WB. This could be overcome by some chemical treatments. Another reason for the reduced digestibility of TP diets is probably due to higher fat content of TP.

In overall, using TP in the diets of fattening lambs had no negative effect on rumen fermentation parameters; therefore, based on chemical composition and lower price of TP compared to WB, using TP up to 10% of diets might be economically useful in lamb fattening.

The number of teat is an important trait in relation to the maternal ability of high litter size sheeps, it is important to know the genetic function and controlling positions of this trait in the genomes of different species. High litter size domestic animals are potentially dependent on colostrum-derived immunoglobulins due to placental structure in the early hours of life. Therefore, the number of teat plays a critical role when there are more offspring born at birth than the number of teats. In some cases, particularly the number of the extra teat and even their position is very important. A method to identify new loci and confirm existing QTL is through genome-wide association studies (GWAS). QTL assisted selection and genomic regions affecting the production traits have been considered to increase the efficiency of selection and improve production performance. Genome wide association studies typically focus on genetic markers with the strongest evidence of association. However, single markers often explain only a small component of the genetic variance and hence offer a limited understanding of the trait under study. A solution to tackle the aforementioned problems, and deepen the understanding of the genetic background of complex traits, is to move up the analysis from the SNP to the gene and gene-set levels. In a gene-set analysis, a group of related genes that harbor significant SNP previously identified in GWAS, is tested for over-representation in a specific pathway. The present study aimed to conduct a genome wide association studies (GWAS) based on Gene-set enrichment analysis for identifying the loci associated with teat number trait using the high-density SNPs.

Hu sheep, a descendant of Mongolian sheep, is a famous lambing breed in China. In ewes of the Hu sheep, TT (individuals with two normal teats) and MT (individuals with two normal teats and one or two supernumerary teats) account for 76–62% and 38–24% respectively. For MT ewes, the supernumerary teats are smaller than the normal teats, but some can produce milk. In the current study, we analyzed the complex genetic mechanism of differences in teat number using single-locus GWAS in a total of 160 Hu sheep. The gene set analysis basically consists of three different steps: the assignment of SNPs to genes, the assignment of genes to functional categories, and finally the association analysis between each functional category and the phenotype of interest. Genome wide association study was performed with birth weight and biometric traits using GEMMA software. Using the biomaRt2 R package, the SNP were assigned to genes if they were within the genomic sequence of the gene or within a flanking region of 25 kb up- and downstream of the gene. For the assignment of the genes to functional categories, the Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway databases were used. The GO database designates biological descriptors to genes based on attributes of their encoded products and it is further partitioned into 3 components: biological process, molecular function, and cellular component. The KEGG pathway database contains metabolic and regulatory pathways, representing the actual knowledge on molecular interactions and reaction networks. Finally, a Fisher’s exact test was performed to test for overrepresentation of the significant genes for each gene-set. The gene enrichment analysis was performed with the goseq R package. In the next step, a bioinformatics analysis was implemented to identify the biological pathways performed in BioMart, Panther, DAVID and GeneCards databases.

Gene set enrichment analysis has proven to be a great complement of genome-wide association analysis (Gambra et al., 2013; Abdalla et al., 2016). Among available gene set databases, GO is probably the most popular, whereas KEGG is a relatively new tool that is gaining ground in livestock genomics (Morota et al., 2015, 2016). We had hypothesized that the use of gene set information could improve prediction. However, neither of the gene set SNP classes outperformed the standard whole-genome approach. Gene sets have been primarily developed using data from model organisms, such as mice and flies, so it is possible that some of the genes included in these terms are irrelevant for meat production. A better understanding of the biology underlying meat production specifically, and an advance in the annotation of the ovine genome, can provide new opportunities for predicting production using gene set information.In this research, 7 SNP markers on chromosomes 3, 5, 7, 8, 12, 14 and 17 located in CDH11, NUMB, FGF2, ESR1, LGR5, INSR and PTGS2 genes were identified. Some of the found genes, are consistent with some of the previous studies related to teat number traits. According to pathway analysis, 11 pathways from gene ontology and biological pathways were associated with teat number (P˂0.05). Among these pathways, Blastocyst development, Mesenchymal cell development, Developmental growth involved in morphogenesis, Muscle cell differentiation and AMPK signaling pathway have important functions in development of mammary gland and activation of the AMPK signaling pathway. Finally, it is worth noting that our gene-set enrichment analysis was conducted using a panel of SNP obtained from a single marker regression GWAS, which relies on a simplified theory of the genomic background of traits, without considering the joint effect of SNP. Hence, other approaches (e.g., GWAS exploring SNP by SNP interactions) might provide a better basis for biological pathway analysis.

In total, this study supported previous results from GWAS of teat number, also revealed additional regions in the sheep genome associated with these economically important trait. Using these findings could potentially be useful for genetic selection in the breeding programs.

Heat treatment of a wide variety of feeds has been traditionally used to improve the utilization of their protein by ruminants. Heat treatment of legume seeds can inactivate anti-nutritional factors, it is also effective in increasing the digestibility (Seifdavati 2012). Chemical composition and heat processing can affects fermentability of Vicia Ervilia grain. Particle size and moisture during processing also influence the possible effects of processing. Digestibility may be directly determined in vitro or estimated by using in vitro procedures, which are cheaper and more convenient. In vitro gas production technique was widely used to evaluate the nutritive value of legume forages (Evitayani et al 2004) and tannin containing tree leaves (Rubanza et al 2003). This experiment was conducted to investigate of the nutritive value of Vicia Ervilia using the in vitro disappearance and gas production techniques.

The experimental treatments were grinding Vicia Ervilia grain, steam flak, roasting and microwave. Processing steam flak, treated steam at 100°C for 30 min and then immediately passed through rollers were allowed to air for 48 h and then sealed in plastic bags. Roasting treatments at 120°C for 10 min and microwave irradiation (Nasional at a power of 800w) for 3 min. The treatments were milled through a 2.0 mm screen. Samples of treatments were dried in oven at 65°C for 24h. The gas production of treatment were recorded at 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 36 and 48 h of incubation time using a water displacement apparatus. For this purpose two ruminal fistulated sheep were used. Rumen liquor samples were obtained from the two weathers that were fed a diet content 60% roughage: 40% concentrate. Rumen fluid was pumped with a manually operated vacuum pump and transferred into prewarmed thermos flask, combined, filtered through four layers of cheesecloth and flushed with CO2. McDougall (1948) buffer solution was prepared and placed in a water bath at 39°C. Samples (300 mg) were weighed into 50 ml serum vial. Each feed sample was incubated in triplicate with 20 ml of rumen liquor and buffer solution (1:2). The vials were sealed immediately after loading and were affixed to a rotary shaker platform set as (120 rpm) housed on a incubator. Vials for each time point, as well as blanks, were prepared in quadruplicate. The metabolizable energy, net energy for lactation content of feeds, short chain fatty acid and digestible organic matter were calculated using equations of Menke & Steingass (1988) and Getachew et al. (2002). For in vitro disappearance method, the incubation time were 2, 8, 12, 24 and 48 h. The rumen liquor was obtained from the same sheep used in the gas production technique and receiving the same diet to similar conditions for both techniques. Mc Dougall (1948) buffer prewarmed to 39 ºC. The inoculum was dispensed 20 ml per vial into 50 ml serum vial (containing of 300 mg sample per vial) which had been warmed to 39 ºC and flushed with oxygen free CO2. The vials were sealed immediately after loading and were affixed to a rotary shaker platform set as (120 rpm) housed in incubator. Vials for each time point, as well as blank (containing no substrate), were prepared in triplicate. Triplicate vials were removed after 2, 8, 12, 24 and 48h of incubation. The residues were washed three times in phosphate buffer followed by centrifugation (2500 rpm, 10 min) and dried at 105 ºC and determined DM disappearance. The data was analyzed by completely randomized design.

Dry matter disappearance and gas product increased with increasing incubation time. Heat processing of steam flak increasing of DM disappearance and gas produced at 48 h and higher than the other treatments (P<0.05). The gas production volume at 48 h incubation for treatments of control, microwave, roasting and steam flaking were 141, 140, 134.57 and 147 (ml/gDM), respectively. The gas production for sum of soluble and insoluble (a+b) fractions (ml/gDM) and gas production rate (ml/h) in control treatment were 142.9 and 0.106, respectively. Dry matter disappearance from in vitro increased with increasing incubation time. The disappearance percentage of DM in control treatment for 2 and 48 h of incubation were 39.88 and 83.48 and degradabilities coefficients (a, b and c) were 31.08, 48.03 and 0.088, respectively. For roasting treatments DM disappearance and gas produced at 48 h were lower than the other treatments. Barley grain treated by the steam flak, flame rusting and exploring can be decreased ruminal crude protein (McNiven 1994). Ljokjel et al (2003) reported that heat treatment decreased ruminal degradation of starch in both barley grain and pea grain. Parnian et al (2010) showed that, cumulative gas production of sorghum grain was linearly increased by altering period of microwave irradiation. Parand et al (2010) reported that the gas production of barley grain for steam flak, microwave and roasting at 48 h were obtained 239.4, 275.9 and 239.7 (ml/gDM), respectively, these values does not match with the results of this study. Similar to the latter, previous in vitro and in vivo studies (Hironaka et al 1992; Huntington 1997) have shown that steam flaking increased ruminal starch digestibility of barley in feedlot cattle. Seifdavati et al (2012) showed the gas production of Vicia Ervilia at 24 h was obtained about 246.29 ml/gDM and rate of gas product was achieved 0.063 (%h) that decreased with autoclave processing. Hadji Panayioton and Economids (2001), reported degradability characteristics of lupin (a, b and c) about 12.45%, 84.41% and 0.1 h-1, respectively. There was strong positive correlation between gas production, in vitro and in situ dry matter disappearance so that the gas production technique can be suitable replacement for in situ and in vitro DM disappearances. The steam flaking treatment showed high potential for producing of gas and high degradability of DM compared to the other treatments (P<0.05). Regarding to high gas production and in vitro degradability in steam flaking treatment, this treatment can be used to improve of digestion process in animal nutrition.

Successful artificial insemination requires successful collection,sperm evaluation and the addition of preservatives to sperm shelf life.Despite many efforts and addition of protective and antioxidant substances ,the quality of frozen-thawed sperm is low and the resulting fertility is not acceptable.For this reason,in this research,the cooling method has been used insted of freezing.The aim of this investigation was to assess the effect of apricot gum adding to tris-base diluents on liquid ram semen storage and ewe pregnancy rate.

This study was conducted in the khalatposhan research station of Tabriz University,EastAzarbyjanProvince,Iran.semen was collected by artificial vagina twice a week during the breeding season. A total of 25 ejaculates were collected from 5 Ghezel rams. Average age of rams was 3 years.Immediately after collection,each ejaculate was immersed into a water bath maintained at 37 ℃ prior to evaluation.The semen samples were evaluated for volume,wavemotion,spermconcentration,membraneintegrity,Ph,totalmotility,progressive motility and viability by routine examinations. The volume of ejaculate by graduated tube (shamsuddin,2000). To evaluate the wave motion,a drop of undiluted semen was placed on a pre-warmed slide 37℃ without a corerslip and examined underphase contrast microscope(100×)(Nikon,Eelpse,E200,Japan). Fresh semens have been studied in terms of volume,concentration,total motility,viability and morphology and only samples with over 2.5 billion sperm and a progressive motility of over 70% were used for dilution.Semen samples was diluted with tris(2.71g),citric acid(1g),fructose(1.4g),penicillin(100,000IU) and streptomycin(100mg) in 100 ml distilled water.Then 73 ml of this solution was mixed egg yolk(20ml). One gram of solid apricot gum was dissolved in 10ml sterile distilled water to prepare the liquid apricot tree gum. After diluting the semen samples, it was divided into four equal parts and three parts were added to 100,150 and 200 µl/ml of apricot tree gum diluting liquid,respectively,and one item(control group) no material was added.Diluted semen samples were poured into 2ml microtubes and placed in a container containing 37Ċ water in the refrigerator for 90 min to slowly reach 5Ċ.Semen samples were evaluated every three days for 36 days. In this study,12 ewes were artificial inseminated by cervical insemination and all three ewes were ineminated with one treatment.Sperm used for artificial insemination were stored for 24 hours.The artificial inseminated ewes in this experiment,were 4 years old.Data were analysed using the Glm and mixed procedures of SAS 9.2 software.

In this investigation, it was observed that adding apricot gum at all levels of 100,150 and 200µl did not have a significant effect on sperm quality until the third day after cooling to tris-base diluents in all three concentrations of 100,150 and 200µl after the third day after cooling(P>0/05).but after the third day of cooling significantly improved sperm quality parameters such as viability,total motility,progressive motility,morphology and membrane health(P<0/05).but between there was not any significant difference between treatments with apricot gum(P>0/05).In this study,12 ewes were artificial inseminated by cervical insemination and all three ewes were ineminated with one treatment.Sheep inoculated with control treatment had 33.33% fertility,100 and150µl apricot gum treatment had 66.67% fertility and 200µl apricot gum treatment had 100% fertilityMammalian sperm cells present highly specific lipidiccomposition,high content of polyunsaturated fatyacids,plasmalogenes and sphingomyelines.This unusual structure of sperm membrane is responsible for its flexibility and the functional ability of sperm cells (Sanocka and Kurpisz,2004).However,spermatozoa,s lipids are the main substrates for peroxidation ,what may provoke server functional disorder of sperm (Aitken,1989).A reason for higher,pathological lipid peroxidation of sperm membranes can be un balanced oxidative stress (Sanocka and Kurpisz,2004).The spermatozoon like all cells living under aerobic conditions,constantlv faces the oxygen paradox;oxygen is required for life,but oxidative metabolism of biological molecules can be potentially toxic because of the formation of highly reactive oxygen species(ROS)that can modify cell functions or viability (Aitken and Clarkson,1987).Reactive oxygen species leak from mitochondria in to the cytoplasm were they cause cellular damage by oxidizing a variety of biologically important molecules including DNA,proteins,lipids and carbohydrates (Przekwas,2003).Also oxidative stress by an imbalance of oxidants and antioxidants in favour of the former and is capable of inflicting injury on membrane lipids,proteins and nucleic acid (Toyokuni,1999). Endegenous antioxidant are sufficient to prevent free radicals that are produced in the normal state in the cells but an increase in free radical production leads to oxidative damage (Bunker,1992).Natural polysaccharides and their conjugates have been widely used in food and medicine fore long time.Numerous biological and pharmalogical favourable effects of natural polysaccharides have been extensively studies in a vitro and in animal models in vivo and more kinds of natural polysaccharides have been tested and even applied in therapies (Wang and Fong,2004;Liu,2016).It was demonstrated that some natural polysaccharides were effective at preventing oxidative damage in living organism this could be a potential resource of novel antioxidants (Tsiapali,2001).It is well described that the reducing capacities of polysaccharides is related to their sulfation rate molecular weight,glycosidiclinkages,hydroxyl groups but also carboxylic groups of uronic acids (Hentati,2018).It was previously reported that adirect correlation between the antioxidant activity and the reducing power of polysaccharides (El-shaurbagy GA,2014).Indeed,this antioxidant activity is explained by the presence of many free hydroxyl groups in the structureChemical analysis of apricot gum was performed in (2012) by the LIuveras-Tenoria.They found total sugars(60%),galactose(43%),mannose(4%),arabinose(44%),xylose(7%) and ramnose(1%) in apricot gum (LIuveras,2012). of polysaccharides. In addition, some papers reported that the presence of arabinos in the structure of polysaccharides could reduce the production of hydroxyl radicals by chelation of pro-oxidant ions(Lefish,2018).In a study conducted to investigate the effect of adding xanthan gum to horse sperm diluents,the researchers reported that adding xanthan gum to the diluents reduces sperm motility compared to the control group,but in other sperm quality parameters,they did not see a significant difference with the control group,which is inconsistent with the findings of our research(Gheller,2019).In another experiment to investigate the effect of substituting Gum diluents on teacling increased the storage time of semen better than the control grup and in Arabic for egg yolk in ram sperm diluents,researchers reported that substituting Gum Arabic for egg yolk increased the belief of artificial inseminated ewes which is consistent with the results of artificial insemination of sheep in our study(Zeitoun,2017). The study found that adding apricot tree gum to the tris-base treatments with apricot tree gum sperm quality is was better than in the control grup.So far,no research has been conducted to investigate the effect of adding apricot tree gum to semen diluents and this study was conducted for the first time.

In general,the results of this study showed that the addition of Apricot Gum to tris-base diluents due to regenerative reviews increases the quality and longevity of ram liquid semen and increases its fertility.