ABSTRACT
The present investigation was carried out on 459 Murrah buffaloes affected with some reproductive problem with 618 calving records(out of total 1336 Murrah buffaloes) sired by 118 sires over a period of 12 years from 2007 to 2018 at GADVASU, Ludhiana. The heritability estimates for dystocia, retention of placenta (ROP), anestrus, repeat breeding (RB), abortion and postpartum abnormal discharge (PPAD) were 0.04, 0.10, 0.05, 0.074, 0.085 and 0.121 respectively. The overall means for breeding values for dystocia, ROP, abortion, anestrus, RB and PPAD were 0.4, 0.2, 0.4, 0.2, 0.078 and 11.8%, respectively. Rank correlation of abortion with ROP was very high (0.99±0.02) and with anestrus, dystocia, RB and PPAD were also high i.e. 0.98±0.03, 0.98±0.03, 0.97±0.03, 0.95±0.04 respectively. Heritability estimates of reproductive problems have indicated appreciable values, signifying that incorporation of these traits in selection program will enhance the rate of improvement.
ABSTRACT
The present investigation was carried out on 459 Murrah buffaloes affected with some reproductive problem with 618 calving records (out of total 1336 Murrah buffaloes) over a period of 12 years from 2007 to 2018 at GADVASU, Ludhiana. The overall incidence of dystocia, retention of placenta (ROP), anestrus, repeat breeding (RB),postpartum abnormal discharge (PPAD) and abortion w.r.t. total number of animals were 0.9, 0.3, 3.3, 9.3, 12.3, 13.3 and 6.2%, respectively and w.r.t. affected animals were 2.8, 9.8, 27, 35.7, 38.8 and 18.1%, respectively. Parity of calving had significant effect (P<0.05) on ROP and anestrus. Season had significant (P<0.05) effect on dystocia and ROP. Period had highly significant effect (P<0.01) on dystocia, anestrus, RB and abortion while significant effect on PPAD. Results indicated that incidence of RB, PPAD and ROP increases as the animal become older. Further incidence of dystocia are higher during first and last parities whereas incidence of anestrus are more during earlier parities (in heifers). Incidence of ROP and PPAD are more during rainy season. Incidence of dystocia and anestrus are more during winter season whereas incidence of abortion are more during summer season. Overall incidence revealed a reduction in reproductive disorders in latter periods showing progressive improvement in management of reproduction problems over period
ABSTRACT
Background Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) are important for the production of interspecies germ line chimeras. The interspecies germ cell transfer technique has been suggested as a way to conserve endangered birds. Our objective was to develop a technique for restoring endangered birds by developing interspecies germ line chimeras between pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) and chicken (Gallus gallus) with SSCs. Results SSCs were isolated from the surgically removed testis of a pheasant. Growth conditions for pheasant SSCs were established by co-culturing STO (SIM mouse embryo-derived thioguanine and ouabain resistant) cells and pheasant SSCs. The colony-forming cells divided and proliferated stably to yield an established SSC line. Pheasant SSCs showed strong reactivity for GDNF family receptor alpha1 (GFRa1) marker. Finally, production of germ line chimeras was attempted by transferring pheasant SSCs into recipient embryos. Although final embryo survival was 5.6% (20/354), the initial survival rate was 88% (312/354). To measure the percent transfer of donor SSC to gonads, the pheasant SSCs were labeled with PKH 26 fluorescent dye. We observed 30% donor cells and 9.48% c-kit/CD117-positive cells in the gonads of recipient chickens. Donor SSCs were thus stably engrafted in the recipient gonads. Conclusions This study showed that SSCs can be used as a tool for the conservation of endangered birds and the production of germ line chimeras. Our findings yield insights into how we may use the pheasant spermatogonial stem cell line for efficient production of interspecies germ line chimeras and ultimately, to the restoration of endangered birds.