Functional Characterization of Native Breeds

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Genetics and Genomics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 July 2023) | Viewed by 2257

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Genetics, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, University of Córdoba, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
Interests: poultry; animal production; egg production; meat quality; animal genetics; animal husbandry; animal breeding

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Guest Editor
Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IFAPA), Alameda del Obispo, 14014 Córdoba, Spain
Interests: poultry; animal production; egg production; meat quality; animal genetics; animal husbandry; animal breeding
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Animal genetic resources in each country comprise much more than a mere source of food and wealth. The impact that animals have on the environment and culture is also very important and is part of our heritage. Local animal populations are capable of expressing optimal functionalities in a wide range of production systems and non-optimal environments and climatic situations. Therefore, the functional control of these genotypes is one of the bases of their conservation and improvement programs. This Special Issue is aimed at providing selected contributions on advances in the phenomic and genomic characterization and evaluation of the different aptitudes of local breeds, including studies in the field of quantitative and molecular genetics. We invite original research and review papers that address the application of phenomic and genomic technologies, quantitative and molecular genetics, and other tools focused on the functionality characterization regarding products such as milk, meat, eggs, honey, wool, leather, etc., and their derivates, physical, behavioral, sports, and work skills, between others of native breeds.

Dr. Antonio González Ariza
Dr. Francisco Javier Navas González
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • native breeds
  • genetic resources
  • functionality
  • phenomics
  • genomics
  • quantitative genetics
  • molecular genetics

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 1945 KiB  
Article
Discriminant Analysis and Data Mining CHAID Decision Tree as Tools to Evaluate the Buffering Effect of Hydroxytyrosol on Reactive Oxygen Species in Rooster Sperm Cryopreservation
by Esther Díaz Ruiz, Antonio González Ariza, José Manuel León Jurado, Ander Arando Arbulu, Alejandra Bermúdez Oria, África Fernández Prior, Juan Vicente Delgado Bermejo and Francisco Javier Navas González
Animals 2023, 13(19), 3079; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13193079 - 02 Oct 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 719
Abstract
Sperm cryopreservation is effective in safeguarding genetic biodiversity in avian species. However, during this process, spermatozoa are very susceptible to plasma membrane peroxidation in the presence of high concentrations of reactive oxygen species (ROS). To mitigate this effect, the addition of exogenous antioxidants, [...] Read more.
Sperm cryopreservation is effective in safeguarding genetic biodiversity in avian species. However, during this process, spermatozoa are very susceptible to plasma membrane peroxidation in the presence of high concentrations of reactive oxygen species (ROS). To mitigate this effect, the addition of exogenous antioxidants, such as hydroxytyrosol (3,4-dihydroxyphenylethanol; HT), an antioxidant derived from olive oil, to the cryopreservation sperm diluent, could be useful. To verify this, a cryopreservation diluent was supplemented with different concentrations (0 μg/mL, 50 μg/mL, 100 μg/mL, and 150 μg/mL) of HT. For this, semen was collected in 10 replicates from 16 roosters of the Utrerana avian breed, and a pool was prepared with the optimum quality ejaculates in each replicate. After cryopreservation, spermatozoa were thawed and different in vitro semen quality parameters were evaluated. A discriminant canonical analysis (DCA) was carried out and revealed that total motility (TM; Lambda = 0.301, F = 26,173), hypo-osmotic swelling test (HOST; Lambda = 0.338, F = 22,065), and amplitude of lateral head displacement (ALH, Lambda = 0.442; F = 14,180) were the variables with the highest discriminant power. Finally, a chi-squared automatic interaction detection (CHAID) decision tree (DT) was performed excluding fresh semen samples and ROS was found to be the most valuable variable to discriminate between the different established freezing groups. Samples in the absence of HT or with low concentrations of this antioxidant showed less desirable ROS values in cryopreserved rooster semen. The present study could lead to the improvement of cryopreservation techniques for the genetic material of local poultry breeds and optimize the conservation programs of endangered native avian breeds. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Characterization of Native Breeds)
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14 pages, 3594 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Chute Exit, Novelty and Human Approach Tests in Mertolenga Beef Cattle
by Andreia Vitorino, George Stilwell, José Pais and Nuno Carolino
Animals 2023, 13(6), 1087; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13061087 - 18 Mar 2023
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Abstract
Livestock behavior and welfare are increasingly recognized to be related, not only to the animals’ handling, but also with productivity. The present work was carried out at the Mertolenga Breed Testing Center and its objective was to evaluate the behavior of Mertolenga breed [...] Read more.
Livestock behavior and welfare are increasingly recognized to be related, not only to the animals’ handling, but also with productivity. The present work was carried out at the Mertolenga Breed Testing Center and its objective was to evaluate the behavior of Mertolenga breed young bulls when exiting the chute, the reaction to novelty and human approach tests, as well as to understand if the responses between these tests are related. Twenty-nine Mertolenga-bred young bulls from 16 different farms, aged between 8 and 13 months, entered the study farm from the end of May to the beginning of June 2021. Data was collected on six different days and analyzed with the SAS® 9.4 software. Older animals showed a tendency to leave the chute more calmly, take longer to touch the novelty ball and to touch the ball less often, with a consequent reduction in the likelihood of playing with it. In the human approach test, animals that came out of the chute more calmly allowed the human to come closer. These behavior tests should be further studied on potential sires, so as to increase docility and manageability of autochthonous beef breeds. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Characterization of Native Breeds)
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