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Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is one of the most important constituent and a pattern recognition molecule of the innate immune system. MBL gene possibly contributes to bacterial infection resistance and was proposed as a molecular marker for milk production traits to control mastitis. Due to its location near to QTLs associated with Somatic cell score (SCS) and mastitis, the MBL1 gene may be considered as a candidate gene. Sahiwal cows in milk were selected randomly to identify g.2686T>C point mutation in exon 2 of MBL1 gene and its association with somatic cell score. A 401 bp PCR fragment of MBL1 gene encompassing the exon 2 was amplified and digested with Hae III to screen the reported SNP. Genotype analysis using PCR-RFLP revealed a polymorphic banding pattern. Sequencing was also carried out to validate the PCR-RFLP results of nucleotide sequence in a particular region. The preliminary information obtained from the study indicated that the targeted variantof MBL1 gene in indigenous cattle had no association with SCS and mastitis resistance which may be a breed specific characteristic. Since present study has formulated the results based on a relatively small sample size, further studies with large sample size are required to validate these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Munjal, a muttontype sheep, is popular among the farmers for their heavy body weight. The animals have massive body with a dark brown face. The study reports an assessment of type characteristics of Munjal sheep and their association with body weight. Measurements were recorded on nine morphological characteristics, two zoometric indices and adult body weight on 91 ewes and 36 rams of Munjal breed maintained at sheep farm of LUVAS, Hisar. The adult body weight in females and males was estimated as 35.28±0.61 and 45.00±0.82 kg, respectively. The height, length, heart girth and paunch girth in females were estimated as 71.07±0.34, 70.43±0.41, 80.29±0.42 and 81.93±0.55 cm, respectively. The corresponding estimates in males were obtained as 73.97±0.62, 74.08±0.73, 86.92±0.70 and 89.22±0.72 cm, respectively. The face length and head circumference in ewes were 20.81±0.12 and 44.67±0.20 cm while the corresponding estimates in rams were 23.36±0.23 and 48.50±0.41 cm, respectively. The body index in ewes and rams was 87.80 and 85.27 per cent, respectively pointing towards the rectangular body shape and an indication of better conformation for meat production. Multivariate regression analysis indicated that body weight can be predicted with higher accuracy by incorporating body length and heart girth of the animal under field conditions without weighing scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data on 397 Murrah buffaloes maintained at Buffalo Research Center, LLR University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Hisar from 1992 to 2011 was utilised. Average value in kg/ day for different ten test-days were 4.50±0.08, 7.27±0.09, 8.11±0.09, 8.06±0.10, 7.83±0.10, 7.51±0.09, 7.10±0.11, 6.38±0.10, 5.77±0.10 and 5.06±0.11, respectively. Period of calving had significant effect on TDl to TD8. Season of calving had significant effect on TD2 only. High estimates of heritability for TD2 to TD5 and good estimates of genetic and phenotypic correlations among these test day milk records offer ample scope of genetic improvement in these traits through selection and correlated response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to achieve the objective, the data pertinent to lifetime traits on 762 Hariana cows, progeny of 23 sires maintained at Government Livestock Farm, Hisar were considered for the prediction of lifetime traits from early lactation traits. The prediction of phenotypic values for Number of lactation completed, Life time milk yield, Production life and Milk yield per day of productive life were obtained. The equation having the combination of first three lactation traits is recommended for the prediction of phenotypic value of lifetime traits in Hariana cows. Generally the peak yield of all lactations contributed maximum to R2 value for all lifetime traits. Therefore, it may be concluded that selection on the basis of peak yield would also improve the lifetime performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on genetic studies about milk production efficiency traits in Murrah buffaloes. Various tangible factors on different traits under study were estimated using the least-squares and maximum likelihood computer program of Harvey using Henderson's method III. Estimates were categorized in terms of heritability and genotypic correlations. Findings revealed that first lactation peak yield persistency can be used as a selection criterion.

This article analyzes the genetic traits on 305 days and test day milk yield records in Murrah buffaloes. The experiments showed that period of calving had significant effect on test day milk yield while season of calving had nonsignificant effect on all the traits. It also observes that estimates of heritability of various traits were not different from zero as standard errors of estimates were higher.

In order to predict the breeding value, the data pertaining to lifetime traits on 762 Hariana cows, progeny of 23 sires maintained at Government Livestock Farm, Hisar for a period of 35 years were analyzed which showed that the index including MY1, PY1, MY2 and PY2 showed an increase of at least 19.21 per cent in accuracy compared to the index having only MY1 and PY1 and thereafter, there was trivial increase in accuracy by adding third and fourth lactation traits in the index compared to a large increment in generation interval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study which estimated genetic parameters on the basis of first lactation milk yield and reproduction traits in Murrah buffaloes. The study analyzed data pertaining to 326 Murrah buffaloes maintained at Buffalo Research Centre (BRC) in Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University in Haryana, India, from 1987 to 2006. The results showed high genetic and phenotypic correlations for all production traits and reproduction traits except for first dry period (FDP).

The article discusses clinical research which aims to examine the prediction of phenotypic and breeding value of first lactation milk yield in Murrah buffaloes. The first test day of lactation milk yield was recorded from the seventh day following calving and multiple regression analysis was utilized to predict lactation production. In conclusion, the accuracy of bimonthly test day records may be compared to that of lactation yield.

Using hydrogen oxidising bacteria to produce protein and other food and feed ingredients is a form of industrial biotechnology that is gaining traction. The technology fixes carbon dioxide into products without the light requirements of agriculture and biotech that rely on primary producers such as plants and algae while promising higher growth rates, drastically less land, fresh water, and mineral requirements. The significant body of scientific knowledge on hydrogen oxidising bacteria continues to grow and genetic engineering tools are well developed for specific species. The scale-up success of other types of gas- fermentation using carbon monoxide or methane has paved the way for scale-up of a process that uses a mix of hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide to produce bacteria as a food and feed ingredients in a highly sustainable fashion., (© 2020 The Institution of Engineering and Technology.)

Carbonic anhydrase catalyses the interconversion of carbon dioxide and water to bicarbonate and protons. It was unknown if the industrial-relevant acetogen Clostridium autoethanogenum possesses these enzymes. We identified two putative carbonic anhydrase genes in its genome, one of the β class and one of the γ class. Carbonic anhydrase activity was found for the purified β class enzyme, but not the γ class candidate. Functional complementation of an Escherichia coli carbonic anhydrase knock-out mutant showed that the β class carbonic anhydrase could complement this activity, but not the γ class candidate gene. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the β class carbonic anhydrase of Clostridium autoethanogenum represents a novel sub-class of β class carbonic anhydrases that form the F-clade. The members of this clade have the shortest primary structure of any known carbonic anhydrase.

Urokinase plasminogen activation system can play an important role in the appearance and progression of many cancers. Urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) is implicated in the control of cell adhesion and invasion, and is regarded as a strong prognostic marker in colorectal cancer. A C-->T substitution (the C/T polymorphism) in the nucleotide sequence encoding the kringle structure of uPA results in an alteration from proline to leucine at position 121. This substitution may be directly or indirectly involved in the decreased affinity for uPA substrates. In the present work the distribution of genotypes and frequencies of alleles of the C/T polymorphism were investigated. Tumour tissues and distal mucosa samples were obtained from 40 patients with colorectal cancer. Blood samples from sex and age matched healthy individuals served as control. The C/T polymorphism was determined by PCR amplification using the allele specific primers. No differences between genotypes of the C/T polymorphism in cancer tissue and distant mucosa of each patient were found. The distributions of the genotypes in both patients and control differed significantly (p < 0.05) from that predicted by the Hardy-Weinberg distribution. A distinct preference of heterozygotes (70% - patients, 65% - controls) was observed in both patients and controls. Additionally, there were no differences in the frequencies of the C and T alleles in both groups. The C/T polymorphism of the uPA gene may not be linked with colorectal cancer.

The high level of plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) in colorectal cancer predicts poor prognosis for patients. The insertion (5G)/deletion (4G) polymorphism (the 4G/5G polymorphism) and G-->A single base substitution (the G/A polymorphism) located at promoter of PAI-1 gene may have functional significance in regulation of its expression. In the present work the level of PAI-1, distribution of genotypes and frequency of alleles of the 4G/5G and G/A polymorphisms in samples of cancer tissue and normal mucosa as well as in blood were investigated. Blood, tumor and normal tissues were obtained from 40 patients with colorectal cancer. The 4G/5G and G/A polymorphism were determined by PCR amplification using the allele specific primers. The PAI-1 level was measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The distribution of the genotypes of both polymorphisms did not differ significantly (p > 0.05) from those predicted by the Hardy-Weinberg distribution. There were no differences in the genotype distributions and allele frequencies between blood, normal mucosa samples and cancer tissue. The 4G/5G and G/A polymorphisms were in linkage disequilibrium. The average level of PAI-1 in tumor samples was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than in normal tissue. The results obtained indicate that a higher level of PAI-1 can be associated with colorectal cancer. On the other hand, in colon cancer, the 4G/5G and G/A polymorphisms are not linked with elevated levels of PAI-1 and therefore may not be used to predict colon cancer prognosis.

Salts of divalent cadmium are well-known human mutagens and carcinogens. In the present work, the ability of vitamin C to modulate genotoxic effects of cadmium chloride on human lymphocytes was assessed using single cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay). Vitamin C at 20 and 100 micromol/l and cadmium at 5, 30 and 150 micromol/l significantly increased the tail moment of lymphocytes. Vitamin C also increased the tail moment of cells exposed to cadmium. This effect was concentration-dependent: the higher the vitamin C concentration the greater the tail moment. The combined effects of cadmium and vitamin C were more pronounced at all concentrations tested than the sum of the effects of the compounds applied separately (p < 0.05), so cadmium and vitamin C can be considered to have synergistic effects. The results obtained can be partly explained by the participation of cadmium in the Fenton reaction and reduction of its oxidized form by vitamin C.