Artificial Insemination with Frozen Semen in Ewes at Different Times of the Breeding Season

Totally 13575 ewes of two different breeds, Dala and Spel, were inseminated with semen, frozen in straws and thawed at 70°C for 8 sec. An insemination dose of 0.2 ml containing approx. 150 × 10⁶ spermatozoa with at least 45 to 50% progressive motility was imerted 5 to 12 mm into the cervix. The insemination was performed once between 12 and 30 h after the onset of heat. The NR rate of the Dala ewes increased significantly during the season. The NR rate of the ewes inseminated before 15. November was 44.3%, from 15. to 20. November 52.2%. from 20. to 25. November 55.3% and from 25. November and later 61.4%. The corresponding values for the ewes of the Spel breed were 57.3, 58.7, 61.5 and 71.0% respectively, and only the difference between the two last values was statistically significant. The difference between the fertility of the two breeds was significant within each of the periods .     

Pregnancy Rates in Repeat-breeder Heifers Following Multiple Artificial Inseminations during Spontaneous Oestrus

Hormonal asynchronies during oestrus, related to the presence of suprabasal plasma-progesterone (P4) concentrations and a delayed ovulation, interfere with the fertility of repeat-breeder heifers (RBH). Since tubal dysfunction can occur in connection with hormonal asynchronies and constrained availability of fertile spermatozoa at the time of ovulation, the present study tested the hypothesis that frequent sperm deposition from onset of oestrus to ovulation may improve pregnancy rates in RBH. Five RBH and five virgin heifers (VH; controls) were repeatedly artificially inseminated (AI) at 6 h intervals from onset of oestrus to spontaneous ovulation. Hormone analyses revealed suprabasal P₄ concentrations and a delay in the occurrence of the luteinising hormone (LH) surge, but a normal cortisol profile in RBH. Compared with controls, RBH presented longer interval from onset of oestrus to ovulation, and therefore, received more AIs. Pregnancy rates in RBH reached control levels (60%; NS), indicating that the hypothesis might be correct. Pregnancy rates in VH were below the expected range, presumably attributed to a deleterious influence of the frequent handling. The study suggests that pregnancy rates can be improved in RBH by frequent AI in relation to spontaneous ovulation. However, this practice of repeated manipulations, while seeming not to show adverse effects, lacks practicality for routine use.     

鸡呼吸道传染病基因芯片诊断方法的建立

随着养禽业集约化程度的不断提高,鸡呼吸系统疾病的发生呈逐年上升趋势.而且大多数的呼吸道疾病不是单一病原感染,而是多种病原混合感染,从临床上难以及时鉴别诊断,延误防治时机,从而给养禽业造成巨大的经济损失.因此,禽呼吸道疾病已经成为生产和研究中的一类重要疾病.目前,禽呼吸系统疾病的诊断方法主要有病毒分离、血凝（HA）、血凝抑制（HI）、琼脂扩散、ELISA、PCR等,但是传统的检测方法灵敏度较低,而且当病原发生变异或感染禽处在潜伏期时会造成误诊.PCR方法每次只能检测一种病毒,费时费力.采用基因芯片的方法可以快速、准确地同步检测多种病原体,且需要样品量少、灵敏、特异、快速、费用低廉,将生物芯片技术用于禽呼吸道疾病诊断意义重大.     

母牛一胎双犊技术的研究

选择9头母牛先行人工授精、7天后再移植冷冻胚胎以生产双犊。试验结果表明,母牛产双犊达44.44%(P<0.01)。提示:采用A(I人工授精)+ET(胚胎移植)是提高母牛双犊率的有效技术措施之一。     

Comparison of pregnancy per AI of heifers inseminated with sex-sorted or conventional semen after oestrus detection or timed artificial insemination

The objective of the study was to compare the fertility after using sex-sorted or conventional semen either with oestrus detection (EST) or timed artificial insemination (TAI) in Holstein heifers. Holstein heifers were randomly assigned to one of the following treatments in a 2 × 2 factorial design. Heifers in the EST group were inseminated with sex-sorted (n = 114) or conventional semen (n = 100) after spontaneous or induced oestrus. Heifers in the TAI, subjected to the 5-day Cosynch+Progesterone protocol (GnRH+P4 insertion-5d-PGF_2α+P4 removal-1d-PGF_2α-2d-GnRH+TAI), were inseminated with sex-sorted (n = 113) or conventional semen (n = 88). Statistical analyses were performed using PROC GLIMMIX procedure of SAS 9.4 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC). Overall P/AI was 60.7% for EST and 54.2% for TAI regardless of types of semen and 68.1% for conventional and 48.9% for sex-sorted semen regardless of insemination strategies. Fertility of heifers inseminated with either sex-sorted (53.5%; 44.2%) or conventional (69.0%; 67.0%) semen did not differ between EST and TAI respectively. Besides, the interaction between the semen type and the insemination strategy was not significant for P/AI. The embryonic loss was significantly greater with sex-sorted semen (17.1%) compared to conventional semen (1.6%). There was no sire effect with sex-sorted semen on P/AI (52.6% vs. 46.2%) and embryonic loss (16.4% vs. 18.0%). As expected, sex-sorted semen resulted in more female calves (89.8% vs. 51.6%) than conventional semen. Thus, sex-sorted semen can be used with 5-day Cosynch+Progesterone protocol to eliminate the inadequate oestrus detection and to increase female calves born in dairy heifers.     

An aggregation index (AI) to quantify spatial patterns of landscapes

There is often need to measure aggregation levels of spatial patterns within a single map class in landscape ecological studies. The contagion index (CI), shape index (SI), and probability of adjacency of the same class (Qi), all have certain limits when measuring aggregation of spatial patterns. We have developed an aggregation index (AI) that is class specific and independent of landscape composition. AI assumes that a class with the highest level of aggregation (AI =1) is comprised of pixels sharing the most possible edges. A class whose pixels share no edges (completely disaggregated) has the lowest level of aggregation (AI =0). AI is similar to SI and Qi, but it calculates aggregation more precisely than the latter two. We have evaluated the performance of AI under varied levels of (1) aggregation, (2) number of patches, (3) spatial resolutions, and (4) real species distribution maps at various spatial scales. AI was able to produce reasonable results under all these circumstances. Since it is class specific, it is more precise than CI, which measures overall landscape aggregation. Thus, AI provides a quantitative basis to correlate the spatial pattern of a class with a specific process. Since AI is a ratio variable, map units do not affect the calculation. It can be compared between classes from the same or different landscapes, or even the same classes from the same landscape under different resolutions.     

河南省特有种——荷花柳(新考)

荷花柳是河南特有植物,公开发表的文献资料较少。针对荷花柳的现有文献资料及实物考察,对荷花柳叶近轮生及花的形态进行了考证;基于河南野生资源状况调查,探索了荷花柳繁殖技术,并对其景观利用价值进行简单分析。     

白薇提取液复合涂膜对脐橙冷藏保鲜的影响

以脐橙为试材,用白薇复合提取液(白薇乙醇提取液和壳聚糖混合液)、壳聚糖涂抹果皮,以不作处理为对照,通过测定果实品质及采后生理生化指标考察白薇复合涂膜对脐橙的保鲜效果。结果表明:与对照相比,2个涂膜处理均可以保持较高的可溶性固形物(TSS)、可滴定酸(TA)、V–C及总糖(TSC)含量;有效抑制果实丙二醛(MDA)含量的积累和降低果实多酚氧化酶(PPO)活性,保持果实较高的超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)、过氧化物酶(POD)、苯丙氨酸解氨酶(PAL)活性,极显著(P?0.01)降低果实失重率;至贮藏结束时,白薇复合涂膜组果实腐烂率为4.67%,显著(P?0.05)低于对照组果实腐烂率(7.33%),且复合涂膜组果实总糖含量为12.13%,极显著(P?0.01)高于对照组。白薇提取液复合涂膜对脐橙冷藏保鲜的效果较好。     

白首乌的组织培养条件的优化

以白首乌茎段、叶片、茎尖和带腋芽茎段为外植体,进行离体培养植株再生研究,结果表明：适合初代诱导的培养基为：MS+6-BA 1.0 mg·L-1+NAA 0.1 mg·L-1,诱导率可达100%;最佳外植体是带腋芽茎段;芽苗增殖的最佳培养基为：MS+KT 1.5 mg·L-1+NAA 0.05 mg·L-1,增殖系数为5.6;生根培养基为：1/2 MS+NAA 0.5 mg·L-1,生根率为93.3%。     

牛心朴子种子萌发特性及对干旱胁迫的响应

试验设置了不同温度、光照和PEG等梯度处理,以发芽率、发芽势和发芽指数等作为测定指标,筛选牛心朴子种子的最优发芽条件并确定种子对干旱胁迫的忍耐能力。结果表明:1)牛心朴子种子不存在休眠现象,最适的萌发恒温范围为20~30℃,且萌发的起始温度较低,为10℃。光照条件不是限制种子萌发的关键条件,但黑暗条件会影响种子的活力;2)低浓度(5%)的PEG对牛心朴子种子胚根的伸长有一定的促进作用,但对胚芽则表现为抑制作用;随着PEG浓度的增加,胚根/胚芽比值亦增大,而发芽率、相对发芽率、发芽势、发芽指数、种子萌发胁迫指数以及种子萌发抗旱指数则呈明显的下降趋势;3)牛心朴子种子对干旱胁迫具有一定的忍耐能力,在15%浓度的PEG溶液胁迫下,种子可正常萌发;4)牛心朴子种子发芽较快,在置床后的第3天便有超过70%的种子萌发,故推荐该种子萌发的初次计数时间为置种后的第3天,末次计数时间为第8天。