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This study aims to evaluate the genetics of imported semen and assess the genetic trend of production traits in Holstein cows during their first lactation in Iran. The data was collected from 28 different herds in Isfahan province between 2011 and 2020. Variance-covariance components were estimated by the restricted maximum likelihood method and the single and multi-trait animal model. The correlation between breeding values for bulls reported in catalogs and estimated in this was calculated. The mean of the least squares by countries shows that the daughters of Spanish bulls have the highest average for milk production, and the daughters of German, French, Spanish, and American bulls have the highest average percentage of fat and protein and the amount of fat and protein, respectively. Estimated heritability for milk production, fat, and protein percentage, and the amount of fat and protein were 0.34±0.011, 0.48±0.021, 0.41±0.016, 0.40±0.090, and 0.39±0.010 respectively. The mean genetic trend of milk production, fat percentage, protein percentage, fat content, and protein content were 92, 0.010, 0.004, 1.73, and 2.52, respectively. The correlation between the estimated and reported breeding value of bulls for milk production trait, percentage of fat and protein, and the amount of fat and protein was estimated at 0.48, 0.67, 0.69, 0.14, and 0.26, and all of the estimated correlations are statistically significant at the level of 0.05. Based on the results for the most critical production trait in Isfahan herds, milk production, American bulls have the best performance and genetic trend.

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of dietary supplementation of bovine lactoferrin (bLF) on growth performance, carcass traits, histomorphology of jejunum, immune function and hepatic and splenic gene expression of interferon‐gamma (IFN‐γ) and interleukine‐2 (IL‐2) in broiler chickens. A total of 240 one‐day‐old Ross 308 male broiler chickens were randomly allotted into six dietary treatments with four replicate pens (10 chicks per pen) and fed experimental diet in 3 feeding phases (starter: d 0–10, grower: d 11–24 and finisher: d 25–42). The experimental treatments were (1) corn–soya bean meal‐based basal diet (control), (2–5) basal diet supplemented with 200, 400, 600, 800 mg/kg bLF, respectively, and (6) basal diet supplemented with 200 mg/kg oxytetracycline (OTC). The average body weight gain (ABWG) of broilers fed 800 mg/kg bLF was 8.48% higher than those fed a corn–soybean meal‐based diet during the starter period (d 0–10) (linear effect, p = 0.002; quadratic effect, p = 0.24). Average daily feed intake (ADFI) and the feed conversion ratio (FCR) were not affected (p>0.05) by bLF supplementation. At 42 days of age, the breast meat percentage and carcass yield of broilers fed 800 mg/kg bLF compared with the control group significantly increased by 9.51% and 6.03% respectively (p < 0.05). Compared with the chicks fed the control diet, the chicks fed diets supplemented with bLF had higher villus height, muscle thickness and villus surface area (p > 0.05). Dietary bLF inclusion increased the total immunoglobulin (IgT) titre against sheep red blood cells (SRBCs) antigen (linear effect, p = 0.031; quadratic effect, p = 0.035) and improved the phytohaemagglutinin‐P (PHA‐P)‐skin test of broilers. Compared with the control, bLF enhanced the gene expression of IFN‐γ in spleen (p = 0.048, linear effect, p = 0.009; quadratic effect, p = 0.093) and liver (p = 0.012, linear effect, p = 0.008; quadratic effect, p = 0.01) and IL‐2 expression in spleen (p = 0.021, linear effect, p = 0.026; quadratic effect, p = 0.103). The bLF supplementation had no effect on IL‐2 gene expression in liver (p > 0.05, linear effect, p = 0.213; quadratic effect, p = 0.159). In conclusion, we found that supplementation of broiler diets with 800 mg/kg bLF can improve the growth performance, carcass yield, cell‐mediated and antibody‐mediated immune responses and enhance the IL‐2 and IFN‐γ gene expression of broilers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Olive oil is the most important product of olive fruits with worldwide consumption, particularly in Mediterranean countries. Olive oil is generally extracted mechanically from the olive fruits. Some biotic and abiotic factors may affect the quality of oil extracted from olive fruit. Contamination with fungi during growth period in the garden or during the conservation of the harvested crop under storage condition may leave negative effects on the quality of olive oil. However, there is no data available on the effects of fungal infections on qualitative properties of olive oil in Iran. In the present study effects of several fungal groups previously isolated from rotten olive fruit in olive orchards includingAlternaria alternata,Fusarium nygamai,Aspergillus ochraceus,Arthrinium phaeospermum,Cladosporium cladosporioides,Aureobasidium pullulans,Epicoccum nigrum,Penicillium expansum,Truncatella angustata,Trichothecium roseumandTrichoderma harzianumwere evaluated on some qualitative properties of olive oil, under laboratory condition on two olive cultivars (Zard & Roghani). For this purpose fresh and healthy fruits of olive, were surface sterilisation with 96% ethanol and rinsed with sterile water and then inoculated with each of the fungal groups separately using spore suspension (106 ml−1). The experiment was carried out in two replicates for each treatment (fungal isolates). The results of this study revealed that fungal infection caused significant increase in the extracted oil acidity and peroxide values. However, there was no significant difference in the acidity and peroxide values among different treatments (fungal isolates). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a population of multipotent progenitors which have the capacity of proliferation and differentiation into mesenchymal lineage cells. Hypoxia could promote the proliferation of MSCs. Micro-RNAs are endogenous RNAs that can play an important role in some processes such as proliferation and differentiation. MiR-210 could help for better proliferation of MSCs since this miRNA could activate HIF pathway. In current study we investigated if MSCs can preserve their differentiation and proliferation ability under normoxic conditions by upregulation of miR-210. Materials and Methods: MSCs isolated from C57 BL/6 mice by flushing it's femurs into the cell culture media. After 72 hours, MSCs which are plastic adherent cells were attached to the flask and non-adherent cells were removed. Subsequently, MSCs induced to differentiate into osteocytes and adipocytes with specific differentiation media in order to confirm their identity and multipotency. Then miR-210 was inserted in Lentiviruse vectors and affected MSCs. In each passage, the number and viability of cells were evaluated. Results: Comparison between miR-210 infected MSCs with control cells showed that miR-210 has ability to increase proliferation of MSCs significantly. Conclusion: We showed that miR-210 has ability to induce proliferation of MSCs without any negative effect on their differentiation abilities. Further studies are needed for evaluation of probable effects of miR-210 mechanisms on MSCs proliferation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The used data set included the records of 131990 Iranian Holstein dairy cattle for first three lactations that were collected from 1981 to 2008 time period by Animal Breeding Center, Iran. The traits which were considered for 305 days of lactation included milk, fat and protein yield and percentages of milk fat and protein. Variance components were estimated using average information restricted maximum likelihood (AI-REML) algorithm using AIREMLF90 software under single trait and repeatability models and Bayesian method by using a Gibbs sampling technique (BAGS) and by MTGSAM and GIBBS3F90 software by same models. The linear statistical models of the analyses included herd-year-season and lactations as fixed effects, age at calving as covariate and animal and permanent environment as random effects. The ranges of heritability estimates for lactations 1 to 3 by animal single and repeatability models using AI-REML and BAGS methods were 0.19 to 0.29, 0.17 to 0.26, 0.20 to 0.25, 0.21 to 0.25 and 0.19 to 0.35 for milk, fat and protein yield and percentage of milk fat and protein, respectively. Repeatability estimates by using BAGS method were 0.44, 0.35, 0.43 and by AI-REML method the values were 0.43, 0.34, 0.39 for milk, fat and protein yield, respectively. The results showed that estimated genetic parameter values by AI-REML analyses for all traits and lactations in both models were smaller than BAGS method. In addition, estimated heritability values for later lactations were lower in comparison with the first lactation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nutritive value of pistachio epicarp (PE) was evaluated by in situ and in vitro techniques. Chemical analysis indicated that PE was high in crude protein (11.30%) and low in neutral detergent fiber (26.20%). Total phenols, total tannins, condensed tannins and hydrolysable tannins contents in PE were 8.29%, 4.48%, 0.49% and 3.79%, respectively. Ruminal dry matter and crude protein degradation after 48 hr incubation were 75.21% and 82.52%, respectively. The gas production volume at 48 hr for PE was 122.47 mL g(-1)DM. As a whole, adding polyethylene glycol (PEG) to PE increased (p < 0.05) gas production volumes, organic matter digestibility and the metabolizable energy that illustrated inhibitory effect of phenolics on rumen microbial fermentation and the positive influence of PEG on digestion PE. The results showed that PE possessed potentials to being used as feed supplements.