Formation of bull-producing groups of cows in Ayrshire breed using genomically evaluated candidates

Purpose: Assessment of the quality of the well-producing groups, the productivity of candidates for the first lactation, the possibility of using genomically estimated cows to increase the parameters of mothers of future bulls, to analyze the quality of the offspring of bulls of various origins.Materials and methods. Research was performed on the basis of breeding plants Karelia Megrega (1455 cows) and Ilinskoe (1200 cows). Analyzed the productivity of bob-producing groups isolated on trivials. 66 Genomically estimated flaws were delivered from Finland after calving for milk productivity for the first lactation with local peers. In assessing the quality of the offspring of producers of different origin, the productivity of 1441 of the daughter of imported bulls and 620 daughters of domestic bulls took place. The degree of differences was assessed by the results of biometric processing of indicators.Results. At the Ilyinskoye dairy farm, the milk yield for lactation of cows of the bull-producing group is 11977 kg of milk with a fat content of 4.33%, protein content of 3.22%. There are 11119 kg of milk at the Megrega farm, 4.42% and 3.23%, respectively. A significant number of individuals (14.7-19.8%) with a milk yield above 9,000 kg of milk, which are a source of replenishment of bull-producing groups, were identified at breeding farms among the first heifers. The possibility of forming and improving the quality of bull-producing groups of cows at the expense of their own livestock is noted, provided that the factors of feeding and keeping animals, increasing the fat content and protein content of milk are optimized.Comparison of productivity indicators of imported "genomic" cows with local peers gave mixed results. At the Ilyinskoye farm, "genomic" cows significantly outperformed subjects of conventional breeding in all indicators: milk yield by 796-903 kg of milk, fat content by 0.27%, protein content by 0.09-0.06%, fat production by 59.4-63.8 kg, protein production by 33.9-34.8 kg, live weight by more thanAt the Megrega farm, in terms of fat content and production, "genomic" individuals also significantly outperformed local peers, and in milk yield and protein content, the differences were unreliable. Genomic evaluation of animals and the involvement of "genomic" cows can contribute to the formation of better groups of mothers of future bulls, especially to solve the most urgent problem of increasing fat and protein milk.Conclusion. In the conditions of large dairy breeding complexes with the technology of loose maintenance, it is advisable to use a system for placing groups of bull mothers in comfortable conditions in special rooms, including individual service.

Inter- and Intra-Individual Variation in the Behavior of Feed Intake on Nutrient Availability in Early Lactating Dairy Cows

Since energetic deficits in dairy cows can only be reduced at an animal level, the objective of the present study was to determine the extent of variation in intake behavior within and between animals during early lactation, to explore the magnitude of interactions between feed intake, intake behavior and nutrient digestibility, and to identify levers for maximizing feed intake at the individual animal level. Feeding behavior, intake and nutrient digestibility of 28 German Holstein dairy cows, fed TMR with 7.0 MJ NEL, were studied between the 2nd and 15th week after calving. Dry matter intake was assessed daily and nutrient digestibility weekly, with iNDF240 as an intrinsic marker. Results showed high intra- and inter-individual variation in intake behavior parameters with coefficients of variation (CV) up to 0.58 in meal frequency. Nutrient digestibility varied only slightly with CV values up to 0.10 in crude protein. Milk yield, meal frequency, feeding time, feeding rate and meal size had significant positive effects on DMI (p < 0.01). To achieve long-term improvements in feed intake, it is important to optimize feed intake and feeding behavior of individual animals by improving feeding conditions and develop technical tools to identify animals with insufficient feed intake.

Rumen Development of Artificially-Reared Lambs Exposed to Three Different Rearing Regimens

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of three different rearing regimens on rumen development in lambs reared artificially. Romney ram lambs were randomly allocated to one of three treatments: commercial milk replacer fed to 57 d of age and high fibre concentrate pellets (HFP57); commercial milk replacer, high fibre concentrate pellets, and early weaning from milk replacer at 42 d of age (HFP42); high protein milk replacer from 2–16 d of age followed by commercial milk replacer, low fibre concentrate pellets, and early weaning from milk replacer at 42 d of age (LFP42). Lambs were slaughtered at 57 d of age. Volatile fatty acid content in rumen fluid at slaughter was analysed and rumen tissue samples were collected for histological examination. The rumen n-butyric content was greater (p < 0.05) in both LFP42 and HFP42 treatment lambs compared to HFP57 lambs. The n-valeric content was greater (p < 0.05) in LFP42 lambs compared to both HFP57 and HFP42 treatment lambs. Thickness of the rumen dorsal wall determined by ultrasound scanning at 49 d was greater (p < 0.05) in both HFP42 and LFP42 lambs compared to HFP57 lambs. There was an interaction (p < 0.05) between treatment and site of rumen tissue sampling on papillae width, density, and rumen muscular layer thickness. Collectively, early weaning and the provision of a low fibre pellet leads to improved rumen function and physical development.

Dual X-Ray Image under Neural Network Adopted in Comparison of Efficacy and Safety of Deep Hydrolyzed Protein Milk Powder and Parenteral Nutrition in Intervention of Neonatal Noninfectious Abdominal Distension

Objective. The aim of this study was to explore the application value of double X-ray image based on neural network in comparison of the efficacy and safety of deep-water proteolytic milk powder and parenteral nutrition in the intervention of neonatal noninfectious abdominal distention. Methods. Clinical data of 58 neonates diagnosed with noninfectious abdominal distention were retrospectively analyzed. 2D-3D registration was simplified into two steps by decomposing spatial rigid-body transformation parameters into two planes, including 2D-2D approximate rigid-body registration and single-parameter 2D-3D rigid-body registration. Then, the convolution neural network was used to fit the nonlinear mapping relationship between the residual of X-ray images and the corresponding attitude differences of children, and the residual regression spatial rigid-body transformation parameters of the X-DRR image pairs were obtained. Noninfectious abdominal distention was diagnosed in all neonates, of which 28 neonates were treated with deep hydrolyzed protein milk powder. Another 30 neonates who received parenteral nutrition support were set as control group. All newborns received two weeks of treatment. The total effective rate, birth weight recovery, weight growth rate, intestinal feeding recovery time, and incidence of feeding intolerance were compared between the two groups. Results. Spatial coordinate decomposition using double X-ray can simplify the mapping relationship between spatial coordinate transformation and X-DRR residual image. Compared with the gray level iterative optimization registration algorithm, the registration accuracy and speed were significantly improved. The total effective rate in the treatment group (92.86%) was significantly higher than that in the control group (9%). The recovery time of birth weight, intestinal feeding recovery time, and meconium excretion time were significantly shorter than those in the control group, and the body weight in the treatment group increased faster than that in the control group ( P < 0.05 ). In addition, the incidence of feeding intolerance was 3.57% (1/28) in the treatment group and 36.36% (8/22) in the control group, which was significantly lower than that in the treatment group ( P < 0.05 ). Conclusion. After data training, the network can complete accurate double ray registration in 0.04 s. Deep hydrolyzed protein milk powder had remarkable therapeutic effect on neonates, with no infective abdominal distention, fast recovery, and low incidence of feeding intolerance, which was safe and reliable in clinical application.

The influence of different genotypes of kappa-casein and beta-lactoglobulin on the productivity of cows of Ayrshire, Holstein and Yaroslavl breeds

Under the conditions of intensification of dairy cattle breeding, genetic markers of protein-milk content, namely allelic variants of kappa-casein and beta-lactoglobulin, are increasingly used. They are established by the method of DNA testing on blood samples of breeding animals. This method is also being introduced in our country, which is especially important when selecting breeding sires for the artificial insemination network. The purpose of the research was to study the quality indicators of milk of cows bred in the region of breeds (Ayrshire, Holstein, Yaroslavl), and the protein-milk product produced from it as cottage cheese, depending on the influence of the genotype. The research has been carried out in CJSC “Agrofirma “Pakhma” in the Yaroslavl region. The object of research was cows of Ayrshire, Holstein and Yaroslavl breeds. The sample included 99 cows, including 36 animals of Ayrshire breed, 33 Holstein and 30 Yaroslavl breed. A comparative comprehensive evaluation of the dairy productivity of cows of Ayrshire, Holstein and Yaroslavl breeds under the conditions in one herd using DNA testing has been carried out, for the entire productive period of economic use, the realization of the genetic potential has been traced. For the first time in the Yaroslavl region DNA testing of Ayrshire cows was carried out and new data on the polymorphism of the CSN3 and LGB genes in Holstein and Yaroslavl cows were obtained. The association of CSN3, LGB genotypes and complex genotypes with milk productivity and technological properties of milk has been investigated. The yield and quality of cottage cheese from the milk of cows of different breeds in association with CSN3 genotypes have been studied. As a result of studying the quality indicators of milk of cows of different breeds and the protein-milk product produced from it as cottage cheese, depending on the influence of the genotype. It has been found that cows of different breeds and different genotypes had significant differences in the quality of milk and cottage cheese produced from it, which must be taken into account when conducting breeding work with these breeds.

Growth and Body Composition of Artificially-Reared Lambs Exposed to Three Different Rearing Regimens

This study was designed to investigate the influence of pellet fibre level, milk replacer composition and age at weaning on growth and body composition of lambs reared artificially. Romney ram lambs were randomly allocated to one of three rearing treatments; HFP57: commercial milk replacer to 57 days of age, and high fibre concentrate pellets; HFP42: commercial milk replacer with early weaning at 42 days of age, and high fibre concentrate pellets; LFP42: high protein milk replacer from 2–16 days of age followed by commercial milk replacer with early weaning at 42 days of age, and low fibre concentrate pellets. Lambs were slaughtered at 57 days of age. Overall average daily liveweight gain of lambs did not differ (p > 0.05) between treatments. Dressing out percentage, carcass weight, empty small intestine and omental fat were higher (p < 0.05) in HFP57 than in both HFP42 and LFP42 lambs. HFP42 and LFP42 lambs had heavier (p < 0.05) empty rumen weights. Whole body protein content was higher (p < 0.05) in HFP42 lambs compared to both HFP57 and LFP42 lambs. Fat content and daily fat deposition were greater (p < 0.05) in HFP57 lambs than HFP42 and LFP42 lambs. Weaning lambs at 42 days of age with provision of either low or high fibre concentrate pellets, resulted in similar growth rates, reduced whole body fat deposition and was a more cost-effective rearing regimen.

Relationship of cation-anion balance in the prepartum rations of primiparous holstein cows with colostrum and milk composition, and milk production / Relação do equilíbrio cátion-ânion nas rações pré-parto de vacas holstein primíparas com a composição do colostro e a composição e produção do leite

Anion supply in prepartum rations affects the mineral metabolism in primiparous cows. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of calcium chloride and dietary calcium sulfate in prepartum heifers’ rations on the composition of colostrum, fat and protein milk content, and total milk production during 305 days of lactation. Forty five Holstein heifers were assigned to three groups (15 per group) 21 days before calving. The heifers received a partially mixed ration (PMR) plus 2.5 kg/cow/day of wheat middlings (CP= 18.5%, neutral detergent fiber= 36.7%). Mineral salts with a dietary cation-anion difference (DCAD) of +200 mEq/kg of dry matter (DM) were added in the control group (TCon); calcium chloride was added in one of the experimental groups (TCICa), and calcium sulfate was added in the other experimental group (TSoCa), both with DCAD= +30 mEq/kg of DM. After calving, they were fed on commercial feed, corn silage, and alfalfa grazing. The content of fat, protein, calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium in the colostrum was not different among the treatments (p0.05). TClCa cows produced a greater average of milk (kg/day), fat and protein corrected milk (kg/day), fat (kg/day), and net energy of lactation (Mcal/day). The TClCa group had higher milk production, and fat (kg) and protein (kg) content than TCon (p0.05), with intermediate values for TSoCa. The supply of calcium chloride in the prepartum of heifers produced differences in milk production and composition during the 305 days of lactation.

αvβ3-Targeted sEvs for Efficient Intracellular Delivery of Proteins Using MFG-E8

Background: Small extracellular vesicles (sEvs) are nanometer-sized membranous particles shed by many types of cells and can transfer a multitude of cargos between cells. Recent studies of sEvs have been focusing on their potential to be novel drug carriers due to natural composition and other promising characteristics. However, there are challenges in sEvs-based drug delivery, one of which is the inefficient loading of drugs into sEvs, especially for large biomolecules. Results: In this study, we proposed a membrane-associated protein milk fat globule–epidermal growth factor 8 protein (MFG-E8) to produce αvβ3-targeted sEvs with high delivery efficiency of interested protein. MFG-E8 is a secreted protein with NH2-terminal epidermal growth factor (EGF)–like domains, containing an Arg-Gly-Asp sequence that binds αvβ3 and αvβ5 integrins, and COOH terminal domains C1 and C2, which can bind to lipid membrane with strong affinity. Firstly, we transiently expressed MFG-E8 in HEK293F cells and found that this protein could be secreted and adhere to the cell membrane. The recombinant MFG-E8 is also secreted into sEvs and located at the outer membrane of sEvs. Then we generated engineered sEvs by expressing high levels of the EGFP fused to MFG-E8 in HEK293F cells and showed that MFG-E8 could increase the delivery efficiency of EGFP into sEvs. Further delivery of Gaussia luciferase（GL） by fusion expression with MFG-E8 in donor cells demonstrated that target proteins fused with MFG-E8 still kept their activity. Finally, we identified the sEvs’ target to αvβ3 by comparing the transfection efficiency with MFG-E8 loaded sEvs(Exo-MFG-E8) in αvβ positive cells and αvβ3 negative cells. Analysis showed higher target protein could transfect into αvβ positive cells with Exo-MFG-E8 than with sEvs only with EGFP(Exo-EGFP), meaning the engineered sEvs with MFG-E8 not only could target the αvβ positive cells, but also could increase the delivery of target protein into sEvs.Conclusion: this study suggests that recombinant MFG-E8 is an ideal protein to increasingly deliver the drug into sEvs and give sEvs the ability to target the αvβ positive cells.