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In the current study, a total of six 5 year old healthy bulls reared in heat stress zone were used and semen from these bulls was collected by artificial vagina and undergoes for semen quality analysis. Results of semen quality parameters showed that the average semen volume and sperm density of Simmental bulls were 9.3mL and 1.23 × 109mL, and sperm acrosome integrity rate were lower as compared to Xiangxi cattle bulls. The transcriptome analysis revealed a 36.8Gb clean data and the obtained clean data of each sample was reached 5.84Gb. The transcriptome analysis further revealed that the percentage of q30 base was 91.19% or above. Based on the comparison results, 4,890 new genes were found, including 2,451 functional annotations. Go analysis explored that GO annotation system included 3 main sections that were biological processes, molecular functions and cellular components, respectively. In conclusion, results showed that the average semen volume and sperm density of Simmental bulls was higher and sperm motility and sperm acrosome integrity rate was lower as compared to Xiangxi cattle bulls. This study has developed a transcriptomic profile of spermatozoa of Xiangxi cattle and Simmental cattle bulls and reported Xiangxi cattle and Simmental cattle bull’s spermatozoa change the gene expression involved in various biological process. This study could provide the experimental basis of poor fertility in Xiangxi cattle bulls and provide possible fertility biomarkers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reproductive efficiency of a heifer is directly dependent on the health of reproductive system especially ovary and uterus. Current experiment was carried out to screen candidate genes related to reproductive traits and detect molecular mechanisms of DEGs by using RNA-sequencing (RNAseq) and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) to understand the environmental adaptability, molecular breeding and analyze the reproductive performance. Furthermore, Illumina II high throughput sequncing technology was utilized in the current experiment to sequence transcriptomes and analysis related to pathway of different genes between uterus and ovary in Xiangxi cattle. The total number of ovary assembled was compared to the reference genome sequence, DEGs analysis, GO and KEGG enrichment analysis and candidate gene screening were performed. Based on the transcriptome data, seven cDNA libraries were constructed by utilizing total RNA. Out of seven contracted cDNA libraries, in every sequencing library, raw reads reached >133 Mb, and >94% clean reads remained. After comparing the Xiangxi cattle ovaries with the uterus, a total of 3635 mRNAs were found, in which 1608 were significantly up-regulated expressed and 2027 were down-regulated expression mRNAs. The mRNA expression of ADCY3, ADCY4, ADCY9, FSHR, BMP15, LHCGR, INSR, CYP11A1, CYP17A1, CYP19A1, STAR and SCARB1 in ovary of Xiangxi Cattle were significant different in ovarian and uterus tissues. Through GSEA and PPI network, we found the ovarian steroidogenesis pathway played significant role in signal regulation during the development of the ovarian tissue of the Xiangxi cattle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to understand the variations of genomic organization of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and provide data for the studies on disease resistance of avian species, the MHC class II polymorphism in Chinese Z-goose was investigated for the first time in the present study. Eight alleles, which probably came from different loci, were found in six different geese with only one obvious band in the restriction fragment length polymorphism data. The numbers of nonsynonymous substitutions (dN) in peptide binding region of exon 2 were higher than that of synonymous substitutions (dS), and no stop codons or frameshift mutations were found in this region, indicating that balance selection was in operation, and the sequences are not likely to be pseudogenes. In addition, we successfully obtained five different long MHC class II fragments (about 1,162 bp) in six geese and found that the length of intron 1 was longer than that in chicken and some other birds, but intron 2 seemed to be intermediate in length. The phylogenetic tree appeared to branch in an order consistent with accepted evolutionary pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of current experiment was to sequence the high-throughput transcriptome of the Xiangxi and Simmental cattle's sperms by using RNA SEQ technology and to screen the expression genes related to the development and reproduction of the sperms. For this purpose, sperms from three Xiangxi yellow cattle and Simmental cattles were collected, separated and purified and cDNA library was constructed. After sequencing, we searched the database, screened the differential expression, analyzed the go and KEGG pathway by David software, and screened the genes related to sperm development through the function inquiry of gene cards. The results of the current study showed that a total of 4890 new genes were discovered, and out of 4890 new gens 2451 were annotated. One hundred fifty-five differentially expressed genes were selected, including 88 up-regulated genes and 67 down-regulated genes. According to the GO analysis, the differentially expressed genes involved in biological processes accounted for 40.9%, cell components accounted for 42.5%, and molecular functions accounted for 16.7%. KEGG pathway analysis showed that the differentially expressed genes were more distributed in the three pathways of signal transduction, cancer-related and neurological diseases. In the up-regulated genes, ten genes that may be directly involved in signal pathway regulation, cell cycle regulation and cell proliferation and differentiation were RICTOR, VDAC2, ETNK1, TRIM36, SET, SRSF5, JMJD1C, ZNF280D, RIOK3 and HDAC1. However, further research is required to explore these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of current study was to explore the phytochemical potential of elephant grass cultivated on cadmium (Cd) polluted soil of Hunan Providence, China. Results of current study explored that the plant height, yield and tiller number were similar in elephant grass planted on soil with different Cd concentration (P>0.05). In stem, the Cd contents increased from 0.80±0.14 mg·kg-1 to 5.67±4.25 mg·kg-1 with the increase of the soil Cd contents from 1.68 mg·kg-1 to 2.99 mg·kg-1 (P<0.05), while the Cd contents in stem decreased from 3.26±1.89 mg·kg-1 to 1.24±0.30 mg·kg-1 with further increase in the soil Cd concentration from 5.34 mg·kg-1 to 9.37 mg·kg-1 (P<0.05). Similar trends of results were observed for Cd contents in leaves and roots of elephant grass (P<0.05). Bioconcentration factor (BCF) results showed that BCF of Cd in stem, leaves, roots and whole plant of elephant grass initially increased when Cd concentration of soil increased from 1.68 mg·kg-1 to 2.99 mg·kg-1 (P<0.05), while the BCF of Cd in stem, leaves, roots and whole plant of elephant grass decreased with further increased of Cd concentration of soil (P<0.05) and the lowest BCF of Cd in stem, leaves, roots and whole plant of elephant grass was observed when the Cd concentration of soil was 9.37 mg·kg-1 (P<0.05). Translocation factor (TF) results showed that TF initially increased when Cd concentration of soil increased from 1.68 mg·kg-1 to 2.99 mg·kg-1 (P<0.05), while the TF decreased with further increased of Cd concentration of soil (P<0.05) and the lowest TF of was observed when the Cd concentration of soil was 9.37 mg·kg-1 (P<0.05). Cadmium distribution coefficient results of stem explored that soil Cd concentration did not influence the Cd distribution coefficient of stem (P>0.05). Similarly, Cd distribution coefficient results of leaves explored that soil Cd concentration from 1.68 mg·kg-1 to 5.34 mg·kg-1 did not influence the Cd distribution coefficient of leaves (P>0.05), however, Cd concentration 9.37 mg·kg-1 in the soil significantly decreased the Cd distribution coefficient of leaves (P<0.05). Based on results of current study, it could be suggested that Cd polluted land in Hunan province of China could be repaired by planting elephant grass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current study was conducted to evaluate the effects of age on production performance and meat quality of Xiangxi cattle. A total of 12 male weaning Xiangxi cattle (similar age and weight) were used in the current experiment. Animals were slaughtered at the age of six, eight and thirty months. Results showed that animals slaughtered at 30 months of age had the highest production performance and carcass traits (p < 0.05). The longissimus dorsi (LD) of the animals slaughtered at 6-month-age had a lower cooking loss and higher water content (p < 0.05). The LD of the animals slaughtered at 30-month-had significantly higher nutrient composition, total essential amino acid (EAA) composition and EAA/total amino acid percentage, C16 and saturated fatty acid (SFA) contents (p < 0.05). Moreover, higher C20, C17:1, monounsaturated FA, C18:3n-3, polyunsaturated FA, total FA contents and unsaturated fatty acid to saturated fatty acid ratio (p < 0.05) was observed in the LD muscle of cattle slaughtered at 18 months of age. Based on results, it is concluded that age significantly influenced the production performance, carcass traits, meat quality, and meat nutrient composition in Xiangxi cattle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of high rice grain diet on apparent nutrient digestibility, growth performance, nitrogen digestion, blood parameters and rumen fermentation in goats. Sixteen growing goats were divided into 2 groups and fed a normalconcentrate diet (NC, 55% concentrate of dry matter; n=8) or a high concentrate diet (HC, 90% concentrate of dry matter; n=8) for 5 wk. Growth performance, nutrients digestibility, nitrogen digestion, blood parameters and ruminal fermentation were measured. Total weight gain and average daily gain increased in the HC group (P<0.01). Digestibility of Neutral Detergent Fibre (NDF) and Acid Detergent Fibre (ADF), nitrogen intake and digested nitrogen also increased (P<0.05) by HC feeding. Triglycerides, cholesterol, high density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein concentrations in the blood decreased (P<0.05). HC diet feeding decreased (P<0.01) the pH value, acetate level and ratio of acetate to propionate, but increased (P<0.05) the concentrations of propionate, valerate and total volatile fatty acids in the rumen. These findings revealed that the HC diet could promote the growth of growing goats, change the ruminal fermentation pattern and lipid metabolism in the blood, but cause subacute ruminal acidosis, which might increase the risk of body health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]