Colostrum Quality in Different Goat Breeds Reared in Northern Italy.

This study aimed to characterize the colostrum quality in three different local goat breeds of Northern Italy (i.e., Frisa Valtellinese, Orobica, and Lariana) and a cosmopolitan one (i.e., Camosciata delle Alpi) (n = 30 per breed), reared under traditional semi-extensive and intensive systems, respectively. Lariana showed the highest percentage of fat (10.18 ± 3.14%) and total solids (30.73 ± 4.89%) but the lowest percentage of lactose (1.87 ± 0.82%; p < 0.05); Orobica had the lowest percentage of fat (7.13 ± 2.48%), total solids (24.11 ± 5.48%), and protein (10.77 ± 4.53%) but the highest percentage of lactose (3.16 ± 0.73%; p < 0.05). This suggests that breeds which have a more pronounced meat aptitude (i.e., Frisa and Lariana) have a higher concentration of components than breeds with more dairy aptitude (i.e., Orobica and Camosciata). Uni- and multivariate analyses showed that IgG is the parameter that best differentiates local breeds from cosmopolitan ones (p < 0.01). Colostrum from Frisa goats showed the highest IgG concentration (100.90 ± 8.11 mg/mL), while the lowest concentration was in the Camosciata breed (74.75 ± 20.16 mg/mL). Finally, the highest lactoferrin concentration was in Frisa (1781.3 ± 892.6 µg/mL) and the lowest in Camosciata and Lariana (763.1 ± 357.9 and 1148.0 ± 858.6 µg/mL, respectively; p < 0.05). Differences between Camosciata and local breeds could be due to the different farming systems, in addition to the genetic characteristics. The higher quality of colostrum produced by some local goats could be an adaptive characteristic that helps the growth and survival of the kids.

Understanding seasonal weight loss tolerance in dairy goats: a transcriptomics approach.

BACKGROUND: Seasonal weight loss (SWL) is a very important limitation to the production of ruminants in the Mediterranean and Tropical regions. In these areas, long dry seasons lead to poor pastures with low nutritional value. During the dry season, ruminants, particularly those raised in extensive production systems, lose around 30% of their body weight. Seasonal weight loss has important consequences on animal productive performance and health. In this study, RNA sequencing was used to characterize feed restriction effects in dairy goat of 2 breeds with different SWL tolerance: Majorera (tolerant) and Palmera (susceptible). Nine Majorera and ten Palmera goats were randomly distributed in a control and a restricted group: Majorera Control (adequately fed; MC; n = 4), Palmera Control (adequately fed; PC; n = 6), Majorera Restricted (feed restricted; ME; n = 5) and Palmera Restricted (feed restricted; PE; n = 4). On day 22 of the trial, mammary gland biopsies were collected for transcriptomics analysis. RESULTS: From these samples, 24,260 unique transcripts were identified. From those, 82 transcripts were differentially expressed between MC and ME, 99 between PC and PE, twelve between both control groups and twenty-nine between both restricted groups. CONCLUSIONS: Feed restriction affected several biochemical pathways in both breeds such as: carbohydrate and lipid transport; intracellular trafficking, RNA processing and signal transduction. This research also highlights the importance or involvement of the genes in tolerance (ENPP1, S-LZ, MT2A and GPNB) and susceptibility (GPD1, CTPS1, ELOVL6 and NR4A1) to SWL with respectively higher expression in the Majorera restriced group and the Palmera restricted group in comparison to the control groups. In addition, results from the study may be extrapolated to other dairy ruminant species.

Short-term effects of milking frequency on milk yield, milk composition, somatic cell count and milk protein profile in dairy goats.

Goats in Canary Islands are milked once a day by tradition, but in most countries with high technology on farms, goats are milked twice a day, which is known to improve milk yield. Therefore it is important to know whether the increase of milking frequency can improve the production without impairing milk quality. The objective of this study was to investigate the short term effects of three milking frequencies on milk yield, milk composition, somatic cell count (SCC) and milk protein profile in dairy goats traditionally milked once a day. Twelve Majorera goats in early lactation (48±4 d in milk) were used. During a 5-week period, goats were milked once a day (X1) in weeks 1 and 5, twice a day (X2) in weeks 2 and 4, and three times a day (X3) in week 3. Milk recording and sampling were done on the last day of each experimental week. Milk yield increased by 26% from X1 to X2. No differences were obtained when goats were switched from X2 to X3, and from X3 to X2. The goats recovered the production level when they returned to X1. Different patterns of changes in the milk constituents due to the milking frequency effect were observed. Fat percentage increased when switched from X1 to X2, then decreased from X2 to X3, and from X3 to X2, whereas it did not show significant differences from X2 to X1. Milking frequency did not affect the protein and lactose percentages. SCC values were unaffected when goats were milked X1, X2 and X3, but then they increased slightly when milking frequency was returned to X2 and X1. Finally, quantitative analysis showed an increase in intensities of milk protein bands from X1 to X2, but the intensities of casein bands (α(S1)-CN, α(S2)-CN, ß-CN, κ-CN) and major whey proteins (α-La, ß-Lg) decreased from X2 to X3.

The effect of colostrum intake on blood plasma proteome profile in newborn lambs: low abundance proteins.

BACKGROUND: Colostrum intake by newborn lambs plays a fundamental role in the perinatal period, ensuring lamb survival. In this study, blood plasma samples from two groups of newborn lambs (Colostrum group and Delayed Colostrum group) at 2 and 14 h after birth were treated to reduce the content of high abundance proteins and analyzed using Two-Dimensional Differential in Gel Electrophoresis and MALDI MS/MS for protein identification in order to investigate low abundance proteins with immune function in newborn lambs. RESULTS: The results showed that four proteins were increased in the blood plasma of lambs due to colostrum intake. These proteins have not been previously described as increased in blood plasma of newborn ruminants by colostrum intake. Moreover, these proteins have been described as having an immune function in other species, some of which were previously identified in colostrum and milk. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, colostrum intake modified the low abundance proteome profile of blood plasma from newborn lambs, increasing the concentration of apolipoprotein A-IV, plasminogen, serum amyloid A and fibrinogen, demonstrating that colostrum is essential, not only for the provision of immunoglobulins, but also because of increases in several low abundance proteins with immune function.

Host-feeding pattern of Culex theileri (Diptera: Culicidae), potential vector of Dirofilaria immitis in the Canary Islands, Spain.

To identify the host range of potential vectors of Dirofilaria immitis Leidy, the causal agent of canine dirofilariasis, we studied the bloodmeal origin of mosquitoes trapped on two of the Canary Islands, Gran Canaria and Tenerife, where this disease is considered hyperendemic. On Gran Canaria, mosquitoes were captured using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) traps (outdoors) and resting in a bathroom (indoors). Only CDC traps were used to capture mosquitoes in Tenerife. The species captured in decreasing order of abundance were Culex theileri Theobald, Culex pipiens L., Culiseta longiareolata Macquart, Anopheles atroparvus van Thiel, and Anopheles cinereus Theobald. The origins of bloodmeals were identified for 121 Cx. theileri and 4 Cx. pipiens after amplification and sequencing of a fragment of the vertebrate cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene. Cx. theileri fed on goats, sheep, dogs, cattle, cats, humans, and chickens, and Cx. pipiens fed on goats and chickens. A lower success of bloodmeal identification was obtained in mosquitoes captured resting indoors than outdoors in CDC traps, probably because of a longer time period between feeding and capture. Although most Cx. theileri fed on ruminants, this species also fed on different mammal species susceptible to dirofiliarasis, including humans, suggesting it could play a role on parasite transmission.

The effect of diet and DHA addition on the sensory quality of goat kid meat.

To enhance the nutritional quality of meat, dietary strategies have been developed to manipulate the fatty acid profiles of muscle tissue. Fatty acids affect meat attributes, including hardness, colour and lipid stability, and flavour. Little research has been done, however, on the effects of dietary omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) supplementation on the sensory characteristics of meat. To address this issue, six diets were fed to goat kids: goat's milk, powdered whole cow's milk, powdered whole cow's milk plus docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (low dose), milk replacer, milk replacer plus DHA (low dose), and milk replacer plus DHA (high dose). A descriptive, semi-trained sensory evaluation and a consumer triangular test were performed to analyse the resulting meat. High doses of omega-3 PUFA produced meat with unusual odours, unpleasant flavours, and low overall appreciation scores. Low doses of DHA maintained a positive sensory perception.