Genetic parameters for EUROP carcass traits within different groups of cattle in Ireland

The first objective of this study was to test the ability of systems of weighing and classifying bovine carcasses used in commercial abattoirs in Ireland to provide information that can be used for the purposes of genetic evaluation of carcass weight, carcass fatness class, and carcass conformation class. Secondly, the study aimed to test whether genetic and phenotypic variances differed by breed of sire. Variance components for carcass traits were estimated for crosses between dairy cows and 8 breeds of sire commonly found in the Irish cattle population. These 8 breeds were Aberdeen Angus, Belgian Blue, Charolais, Friesian, Hereford, Holstein, Limousin, and Simmental. A multivariate animal model was used to estimate genetic parameters within the Holstein sire breed group. Univariate analyses were used to estimate variance components for the remaining 7 sire breed groups. Multivariate sire models were used to formally test differences in genetic variances in sire breed groups. Field data on 64,443 animals, which were slaughtered in commercial abattoirs between the ages of 300 and 875 d, were analyzed in 8 analyses. Carcass fat class and carcass conformation class were measured using the European Union beef carcass classification system (EUROP) scale. For all 3 traits, the sire breed group with the greatest genetic variance had a value of more than 8 times the sire breed group with least genetic variance. Heritabilities ranged from zero to moderate for carcass fatness class (0.00 to 0.40), from low to moderate for carcass conformation class (0.04 to 0.36), and from low to high for carcass weight (0.06 to 0.65). Carcass weight was the most heritable (0.26) of the 3 traits. Carcass conformation class and carcass fatness class were equally heritable (0.17). Genetic and phenotypic correlations were all positive in the Holstein sire breed group. The genetic correlations varied from 0.11 for the relationship between carcass weight and carcass fatness class to 0.44 for the relationship between carcass conformation class and carcass fatness class. Carcass weight and classification data collected in Irish abattoirs are useful for the purposes of genetic evaluation for beef traits of Irish cattle. There were significantly different variance components across the sire breed groups.     

Bioavailability of vitamin A sources for cattle

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the bioavailability of 5 sources of vitamin A. It was hypothesized that some vitamin A products have protective coatings that are more resistant than others to rumen destruction and that such protection would result in greater tissue concentrations of vitamin A. Fifty-three yearling Angus x Brahman cattle, consisting of 39 steers and 14 heifers, were stratified by BW and sex and randomly assigned to 6 high-concentrate diet groups receiving no vitamin A supplementation (control) or vitamin A supplemented from the following sources: Microvit A (Adisseo, Acworth, GA), Rovamix A (DSM, Parsippany, NJ), Sunvit A, Lutavit A, and Microvit A DLC (Adisseo). The vitamin A treatment groups were fed daily 80,000 IU of retinol/animal in a low-retinol concentrate diet (78.5% oats, 10% cottonseed hulls, 8% molasses, and 2% cottonseed meal; DM basis) and a free-choice, poor quality (low carotene) hay for 84 d. Every 28 d, BW was determined and liver biopsies and plasma were collected and analyzed for retinol concentrations. All retinol treatments showed significant increases in liver retinol concentrations compared with control animals (P < 0.0001), which steadily decreased over time. At all collection times, Microvit A led to numerically, but not significantly, greater concentrations of retinol in liver than did all other treatments. However, at the end of the experiment, there was no significant difference in liver retinol concentration among Microvit A, Rovamix A, Lutavit A, and Microvit A DLC diets. When liver retinol concentrations at all collection times were considered, Microvit A and Rovamix A appeared to provide the most bioavailable vitamin A.     

Energy and protein requirements for maintenance and growth of Boer crossbred kids

Meat production by goats has become an important livestock enterprise in several parts of the world. Nonetheless, energy and protein requirements of meat goats have not been defined thoroughly. The objective of this study was to determine the energy and protein requirements for maintenance and growth of 34 (3/4) Boer x (1/4) Saanen crossbred, intact male kids (20.5 +/- 0.24 kg of initial BW). The baseline group was 7 randomly selected kids, averaging 21.2 +/- 0.36 kg of BW. An intermediate group consisted of 6 randomly selected kids, fed for ad libitum intake, that were slaughtered when they reached an average BW of 28.2 +/- 0.39 kg. The remaining kids (n = 21) were allocated randomly on d 0 to 3 levels of DMI (treatments were ad libitum or restricted to 70 or 40% of the ad libitum intake) within 7 slaughter groups. A slaughter group contained 1 kid from each treatment, and kids were slaughtered when the ad libitum treatment kid reached 35 kg of BW. Individual body components (head plus feet, hide, internal organs plus blood, and carcass) were weighed, ground, mixed, and subsampled for chemical analyses. Initial body composition was determined using equations developed from the composition of the baseline kids. The calculated daily maintenance requirement for NE was 77.3 +/- 1.05 kcal/kg(0.75) of empty BW (EBW) or 67.4 +/- 1.04 kcal/kg(0.75) of shrunk BW. The daily ME requirement for maintenance (118.1 kcal/kg(0.75) of EBW or 103.0 kcal/kg(0.75) of shrunk BW) was calculated by iteration, assuming that the heat produced was equal to the ME intake at maintenance. The partial efficiency of use of ME for NE below maintenance was 0.65. A value of 2.44 +/- 0.4 g of net protein/kg(0.75) of EBW for daily maintenance was determined. Net energy requirements for growth ranged from 2.55 to 3.0 Mcal/kg of EBW gain at 20 and 35 kg of BW, and net protein requirements for growth ranged from 178.8 to 185.2 g/kg of EBW gain. These results suggest that NE and net protein requirements for growing meat goats exceed the requirements previously published for dairy goats. Moreover, results from this study suggest that the N requirement for maintenance for growing goats is greater than the established recommendations.     

Valvular pulmonic stenosis in bullmastiffs

Six bullmastiffs with congenital heart disease were evaluated over a three-year period. In all the cases the problem was shown to be dysplasia of the pulmonary valve. Five cases were male, one was female. All dogs available to follow-up developed signs of cardiac decompensation. Bullmastiffs must be added to the list of breeds in which valvular pulmonic stenosis is encountered frequently.     

USE OF ULTRASOUND-GUIDED FINE-NEEDLE ASPIRATION BIOPSY AND AUTOMATED CORE BIOPSY FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF GASTROINTESTINAL DISEASES IN SMALL ANIMALS

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy and core biopsy in the diagnosis of infiltrative gastrointestinal diseases. Six dogs and seven cats with clinical signs of gastrointestinal disease underwent ultrasonography and intestinal lesions were identified. One or more ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy and/or core biopsy procedures were performed in each patient. Each patient also underwent one of the following additional procedures for comparison of results: 1) surgery (n=4), 2) endoscopy (n=2), 3) post mortem exam (n=3), and, 4) for lymphoma diagnosed with ultrasound-guided procedures, response to chemotherapy (n=4). Correct diagnoses were obtained in nine of the 13 patients, incorrect diagnoses in two of the 13 patients, and inconclusive diagnoses in two of the thirteen patients. Of the 16 total ultrasound-guided procedures performed, ten were confirmed as correct, three as incorrect, and three were non-diagnostic. Intestinal lesions with bowel wall thickness greater than 2.0 cm had a higher percentage of correct diagnoses than lesions of lesser wall thickness. Gastric lesions had a higher percentage of correct diagnoses than small and large intestinal lesions. Malignant lesions had a higher percentage of correct diagnoses than benign lesions. There were no complications. Ultrasound-guided gastrointestinal fine-needle aspiration biopsy and core biopsy appears to be a safe, accurate, and rapid procedure for use in the diagnosis of infiltrative gastrointestinal disease.     

The use of cultured hepatocytes from goats and cattle to investigate xenobiotic oxidative metabolism

The oxidative metabolism of aldicarb (ALD), a carbamate pesticide, and fenbendazole (FBZ), an anthelmintic, was studied using cultured hepatocytes obtained from 4 goats and a bullock and incubated with ALD (50 mol/L) and FBZ (10 mol/L). The parent compounds and the metabolites were measured by HPLC. Both compounds are metabolized at the sulphur atom via two sequential oxidations, first to the sulphoxide (aldicarb sulphoxide and oxfendazole, respectively) and then to the sulphone. Oxfendazole and fenbendazole sulphone from FBZ, and aldicarb sulphoxide from ALD were found in both species. Aldicarb sulphone was not produced by the hepatocyte preparations from the bullock. The good correlation obtained comparing the in vitro results of FBZ metabolism with published in vivo dat obtained on FBZ kinetics in the same species confirmed the usefulness of in vitro models for predictive analysis of in vivo xenobiotic biotransformations.Abbreviations ALD aldicarb - ALDSON aldicarb sulphone - ALDSOX aldicarb sulphoxide - BSA bovine serum albumin - ID internal diameter - EGTA ethylene glycol bis(-aminoethyl ether) N,N,N,N-tetraacetic acid - FBZ fenbendazole - FBZSON fenbendazole sulphone - HBSS Hanks' balanced saline solution - HPLC high-pressure liquid chromatography - LDH lactate dehydrogenase - MFO mixed function oxidase - NCS newborn calf serum - OXF oxfendazole - WME Williams' Medium E     

Genetic variation in the 5′UTR of the KRT2.13 gene of sheep

KRT2.13 is a type II keratin wool intermediate filament (IF) protein. Extensive variation was revealed in the 5′ untranslated region (UTR) of the ovine KRT2.13 gene (KRT2.13) using polymerase chain reaction – single strand conformational polymorphism (PCR‐SSCP) analysis. Nine unique PCR‐SSCP patterns were obtained with individual sheep having either one (homozygous), or a combination of two (heterozygous) of these patterns. Seven of the amplicons that produced the apparently homozygous patterns were successfully sequenced (GenBank FJ217670 – FJ217676), revealing eight single nucleotide insertions, 10 single nucleotide substitutions, a nucleotide deletion and a 16 nucleotide insertion that occurred in only one of the sequences. The seven sequences showed between 85% and 95% homology to the previously identified KRT2.13 sequence (GenBank X72379). This study emphasizes the power of PCR‐SSCP analysis in genotyping, as this extensive variation was found in only 100 sheep, of a variety of breeds. Since variation in the 5′UTR of genes may affect their expression, this genetic variation needs to be further studied to establish its role if any, in influencing gene expression and consequently wool traits.     

Equine mammary gland disease with a focus on botryomycosis: A review and case study

Mammary gland problems occur incidentally in horses and one of the rarer conditions is botryomycosis (bacterial pseudomycosis, bacterial granuloma, staphylococcal pseudomycetoma). This article includes a short review of equine mammary gland problems inappropriate lactation, mastitis and neoplasia and botryomycosis, and additionally 2 clinical cases of botryomycosis of the udder resulting from Staphyloccocus aureus infection will be discussed. Both cases involved nonpregnant, nonlactating mares referred for chronic mammary inflammation with draining abcessation. In both mares, botryomycosis caused by S. aureus was confirmed by histopathology and a bacterial culture. Both mares recovered fully after surgical hemimastectomy under general anaesthesia.