Brachyury in German Holstein cattle

In 11 German Holstein cattle with black and white or red and white coat colour short tails could be observed. All affected animals were born in different farms. A clinical examination could not reveal further congenital anomalies of other organs. The parents of the affected animals showed no abnormalities of the tail. The pedigree data showed that all short tailed animals were related with each other and this fact provides evidence that brachyury is an inherited congenital anomaly. The coefficients of relationships were between 0.20 and 25%. The pedigree indicated a monogenic or oligogenic autosomal recessive inheritance. Environmental factors causing short tails in these animals were not obvious.     

新疆褐牛改良哈萨克牛效果分析

由于哈萨克牛长期以来处于野交乱配、近亲交配状态,其体型日益变小,生长速度缓慢,产肉性能极低,经济效益低下。为充分利用新疆褐牛的肉用性能,提高养牛经济效益,促进肉牛养殖规模化、集约化、产业化,增加农牧民收入,塔城地区通过引入新疆褐牛改良当地哈萨克牛,其改良效果明显,尤以体重、乳产量提高最为明显。     

Genetic analysis of syndactyly in German Holstein cattle

Congenital syndactyly with a variable number of affected feet was observed in eight black and white German Holstein calves. Analysis of the pedigree data revealed that all affected individuals could be traced back to a single founder. The pedigree was consistent with monogenic autosomal recessive inheritance and variable expressivity. Bovine syndactyly or "mulefoot" has been previously shown to map on the telomeric end of bovine chromosome 15 and we performed PCR genotyping of microsatellite markers spanning 27 cM of this chromosomal region to test the new cases for genetic linkage with the phenotype. The haplotype segregation confirmed the suggested inheritance pattern of the mulefoot mutation in this family and markers RM004, BM848 and BMS820 showed significant linkage to the phenotype. The results confirmed the chromosomal location of the mulefoot gene in this pedigree. Furthermore the study demonstrated that although marker testing has been available for nearly a decade the use of mulefoot carriers in cattle breeding remains uncontrolled. The presented family provides a resource for positional cloning of the causative mutation.     

Occurrence and seasonal behavior of gastrointestinal nematodes infecting Maine dairy cattle.

Gastrointestinal tracts of 48 yearling Maine dairy cattle were examined (8 animals every 2 months) for 1 year. Adult and immature nematodes were identified and counted. Species recovered were Bunostomum phlebotomum, Cooperia mcmasteri, Cooperia oncophora, Cooperia pectinata, Cooperia punctata, Haemonchus placei, Nematodirus helvetianus, Oesophagostomum radiatum, Ostertagia circumcincta, Ostertagia lyrata, Ostertagia ostertagi, Trichostongylus axei, and Trichuris ovis. Strongyle parasitism was observed during every sampling period and the overall incidence was 93.7%. The most commonly encountered genera were Ostertagia spp (85.4%) and Cooperia spp (81.2%). Seasonal fluctuations in the worm burden of various nematodes were observed, with largest numbers seen in the fall. The incidence and degree of parasitism appeared to be related to environmental conditions. Proportions of adult and immature worms were shown to fluctuate with the time of year. Greatest numbers of immature worms were observed during the fall and winter.     

德本F1牛生长发育性能试验

试验对德国黄牛与当地土种黄牛杂交改良效果进行了测定。在粗放式饲养管理条件下。德本F1在体型外貌、生长速度、适应性、经济效益等方面,比当地黄牛均有显著提高。     

Occurrence and molecular characterization of Cryptosporidium spp. and Enterocytozoon bieneusi in dairy cattle,beef cattle and water buffaloes in China

Cryptosporidium spp. and Enterocytozoon bieneusi are important protists in a wide range of vertebrate hosts, causing diarrheal diseases. Cattle are considered potential reservoirs of Cryptosporidium infection in humans, although their role in the transmission of E. bieneusi is not clear. In the present work, 793 fecal specimens from dairy cattle, native beef cattle, and water buffaloes on 11 farms in China were examined for the presence of Cryptosporidium spp. and E. bieneusi using nested PCR targeting the small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene of Cryptosporidium spp. and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of E. bieneusi. For Cryptosporidium, 144/446 (32.3%) dairy cattle, 44/166 (26.5%) beef cattle, and 43/181 (23.8%) water buffaloes were PCR-positive. Sequence analysis was successful for 213 of the 231 Cryptosporidium-positive isolates; among them 94 had Cryptosporidium andersoni, 61 had Cryptosporidium bovis, 54 had Cryptosporidium ryanae, 2 had a Cryptosporidium suis-like genotype, and 2 had mixed infections of C. bovis and C. ryanae. In dairy and beef cattle, C. andersoni and C. bovis were the most common species, whereas C. ryanae was the dominant species in water buffaloes. The latter species produced SSU rRNA sequences different between cattle and water buffaloes. For E. bieneusi, the infection rate of E. bieneusi in dairy cattle, beef cattle and water buffaloes was 4.9%, 5.4% and 2.2%, respectively. All 35 E. bieneusi-positive specimens were successfully sequenced, revealing the presence of four genotypes: three Group 2 genotypes previously reported in cattle as well as humans (I, J and BEB4) and one Group 1 genotype recently reported in yaks (CHN11). Genotypes I and J were the most common genotypes in dairy and beef cattle, while genotype CHN11 was the only genotype seen in water buffaloes. Thus, the distribution of Cryptosporidium spp. and E. bieneusi in water buffaloes might be different from in dairy and beef cattle in China. These findings indicate that some of the Cryptosporidium species and all four E. bieneusi genotypes identified in bovine animals in the study areas may have zoonotic potential.