Heat stress and effect of shade materials on hormonal and behavior response of dairy cattle: a review

In tropical countries, at high temperatures, several physiological rearrangements occur in cows as they attempt to facilitate heat dissipation and/or reduce metabolic heat production. Following exposure to heat, cattle appear to acclimatize within 2–7 weeks. The failure of homeostasis at high temperatures may lead to reduced productivity or even death. The situation is even worse when humidity adds to high temperature. Livestock with elevated body temperature exhibit lower DMI and growth with less efficiency, reducing profitability for dairy farms in hot and humid climates. Shading of feed and water also offers production advantages. Although several elaborate methods for reducing heat stress in cows have been reported, simple shade materials appear to be the most cost-effective methods that are currently applicable to tropical developing countries. Different materials are being used to provide shade during warm weather. The shade material determines the microclimate—it should be light, strong, durable, weatherproof, good looking and a bad conductor of heat, and free from tendency to condense moisture inside. This review discusses various shade materials and their advantages and disadvantages in different situations.     

Hypolipidemic effect of oils with balanced amounts of fatty acids obtained by blending and interesterification of coconut oil with rice bran oil or sesame oil

Blended oils comprising coconut oil (CNO) and rice bran oil (RBO) or sesame oil (SESO) with saturated fatty acid/monounsaturated fatty acid/polyunsaturated fatty acid at a ratio of 1:1:1 and polyunsaturated/saturated ratio of 0.8-1 enriched with nutraceuticals were prepared. Blended oils (B) were subjected to interesterification reaction using sn-1,3 specific Lipase from Rhizomucor miehei. Fatty acid composition and nutraceutical contents of the blended oil were not affected by interesterification reaction. Male Wistar rats were fed with AIN-76 diet containing 10% fat from CNO, RBO, SESO, CNO+RBO blend (B), CNO+SESO(B), CNO+RBO interesterified (I), or CNO+SESO(I) for 60 days. Serum total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triacylglycerols (TAGs) were reduced by 23.8, 32.4, and 13.9%, respectively, in rats fed CNO+RBO(B) and by 20.5, 34.1, and 12.9%, respectively, in rats fed CNO+SESO(B) compared to rats given CNO. Rats fed interesterified oils showed a decrease in serum TC, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and TAGs in CNO+RBO(I) by 35, 49.1, and 23.2 and by 33.3, 47, and 19.8% in CNO+SESO(I), respectively, compared to rats given CNO. Compared to rats fed CNO+RBO blended oils, rats on CNO+RBO interesterified oil showed a further decrease of 14.6, 24.7, and 10% in TC, LDL-C, and TAG. Rats fed CNO+SESO interesterified oils showed a decrease in serum TC, LDL-C, and TAG by 16.2, 19.6, and 7.8%, respectively, compared to rats given blended oils of CNO+SESO (B). Liver lipid analysis also showed significant change in the TC and TAG concentration in rats fed blended and interesterified oils of CNO+RBO and CNO+SESO compared to the rats given CNO. The present study suggests that feeding fats containing blended oils with balanced fatty acids lowers serum and liver lipids. Interesterified oils prepared using Lipase have a further lowering effect on serum and liver lipids even though the fatty acid composition of blended and interesterified oils remained same. These studies indicated that the atherogenic potentials of a saturated fatty acid containing CNO can be significantly decreased by blending with an oil rich in unsaturated lipids in appropriate amounts and interesterification of blended oil.     

Identification and validation of cold responsive microRNAs of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Hevea brasiliensis</Emphasis> using high throughput sequencing

Cold stress is one of the major abiotic factors that influence the productivity and geographical distribution of many agriculturally important crops like Hevea brasiliensis. Cultivation of H. brasiliensis in India is being extended to northeastern regions, where low temperature during winter adversely affects its survival, growth, and productivity. Developing cold-tolerant genotypes is a primary requisite to maximize the productivity under such challenging environmental conditions. However, lack of methods for early evaluation of cold tolerance in the newly developed clones and the extensive time required for assessing their tolerance in the field are major constraints for clonal selection. The present study was initiated with an objective to identify and characterize cold stress responsive miRNAs from H. brasiliensis that show stronger association with cold tolerance. Next generation sequencing using Illumina HiSeq method revealed the expression of 21 and 29 conserved miRNA (from clone RRIM 600) families in cold-stressed and control samples, respectively. Forty-two novel miRNAs were identified from this study. Upon differential expression analysis, eight conserved miRNAs were found commonly expressed in both the samples. When expression analyses were performed subsequently with six selected miRNAs in two Hevea clones (viz. RRII 105 and RRIM 600), miR169 showed a strong association with cold tolerance. miRNAs such as miR482 and miR159 also exhibited association with cold tolerance. This study suggests the possibility of employing these miRNAs as markers for cold tolerance after validation in more number of genotypes with varying levels of cold tolerance.     

Dysgenesis of the tubal system in an infertile mare karyotype 63,X:64,XY:65,XXY

A Thoroughbred mare, barren during three years at stud, unresponsive to therapy, and not palpably abnormal anatomically was found to have hypoplasia of the uterine tubes after excision at laparotomy. The cause was an unbalanced genotype. The mosaic karyotype, determined on a blood sample, was indispensible in diagnosis and the case extends the potential for cytogenetic prognostic procedures.     

OSTEOCHONDROSIS IN THE LATERAL FEMORAL CONDYLES OF A HORSE

Osteochondrosis of the lateral femoral condyles was diagnosed radiographically in an 8-month-old, female Arabian horse, which had been presented with a hindlimb lameness. The diagnosis was confirmed by gross and microscopic pathology. The location of the lesions was considered unusual for osteochondrosis in the horse.     

Recombinant Bone Morphogenetic Proteins: Novel Substances for Enhancing Bone Healing

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are differentiative factors whose principal function is to induce transformation of undifferentiated mesenchymal cells into chondroblasts and osteoblasts in a dose-dependent manner. Bone morphogenetic proteins have been isolated postnatally in mammals from bone matrix, periosteal cells, mesenchymal cells of marrow stroma, tooth anlagen, and cells of osteosarcoma and chondrosarcoma. Distribution in additional embryonic tissues implies a broader organogenic function. Bone morphogenetic proteins are the only differentiative factors able to singularly induce de novo bone formation in vitro and in vivo. Recombinant DNA technology allows their production in large and highly purified quantities. The BMPs' osteoinductive ability has been shown with a variety of carriers including collagens and polymers at heterotopic and orthotopic sites in a wide range of species. They are presently being readied for clinical use as alternatives to bone grafts. Other potential applications include use as pulp capping agents, promoters of implant osteointegration and soft tissue reunion with bone, treatments for nonadaptive bone disease, and implants for use with mitotically expanded skeletal stem cell populations. Errors in the genetic coding of BMPs may manifest as clinical disease entities.     

Marker assisted accelerated introgression of null allele of kunitz trypsin inhibitor in soybean

Development of kunitz trypsin inhibitor (KTI)-free soybean is crucial for soy-food industry as the heat inactivation employed to inactivate the anti-nutritional factor in regular soybean incurs extra cost and affects protein solubility. In the presented work, a null allele of KTI from PI542044 was introgressed into cultivar ‘JS97-52’ (recurrent parent) through marker assisted backcrossing. Foreground selection in BC₁F₂, BC₂F₂ and BC₃F₂ was carried out using the null allele-specific marker in tandem with SSR marker Satt228, tightly linked with a trypsin inhibitor Ti locus. Background selection in null allele-carrying plants through 106 polymorphic SSR markers across the genome led to the identification of 9 KTI-free lines exhibiting 98.6% average recurrent parent genome content (RPGC) after three backcrosses, which otherwise had required 5–6 backcrosses through conventional method. Introgressed lines (ILs) were free from KTI and yielded at par with recurrent parent. Reduction of 68.8–83.5% in trypsin inhibitor content (TIC) in ILs compared to the recurrent parent (‘JS97-52’) was attributed to the elimination of KTI.