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This study aimed to estimate the genetic parameters for somatic cell count (SCC) and the genetic association between SCC and milk production traits using two different methods of SCC normalization. The dataset contained information on 8870 lactation records of 6172 Guzerá dairy cows selected for dual-purpose from 95 herds. The lactation means of SCC were normalized in two ways: (a) SCC1 = log10 (SCC) and (b) SCC2 = log2 (SCC/100) + 3. Multivariate analyses were performed considering milk production traits over the course of 305 days of lactation. Estimates of the variance components and genetic parameters were carried out by the Bayesian inference method, applying Gibbs sampling. Single chains of 2,000,000 iterations were used, with sampling discards of the first 5000 chains and a sampling period of every 50 iterations. The deviation of information criteria (DIC) was used to evaluate the best transformation for standardization of the SCC data, comparing analysis 1 (milk production traits over 305 days and SCC1) with analysis 2 (milk production traits over 305 days and SCC2). According to the data structure of this study, SCC1 normalization was the most efficient method and produced better estimates than normalization by the SCC2 method. The heritability estimates for SCC were low regardless of the transformation method used, indicating a small possibility of expressive genetic gains from the direct selection of these traits. However, the repeatability indicated the potential for increasing heritability estimates if the effects of the permanent environment were reduced. The genetic correlations between the milk yield and SCC traits do not indicate the possibility of a correlated genetic gain from the direct selection of one trait. However, concomitant selection for milk production traits and SCC will likely not affect the individual response either.

This study evaluated the effect of different cutting intensities and years of harvesting on the morphological characteristics and production of fresh (FMP) and dry matter (DMP) of cactus pear cv. Gigante (Opuntia ficus-indica Mill) under conditions of irrigation, high planting density and fertilization, with 12 months of regrowth. The experimental was completely randomized in a factorial design (3 × 2) with 12 replicates. The treatments were three cutting intensities (preserving the mother cladode (PMC), primary cladodes (PPC), or secondary cladodes (PSC)), and two years of harvesting. The soil was classified as Cambisol Haplicum and the irrigation water was classified as C4S1 (EC 5.25 dS.m-1) density of 50,000 plants ha-1. The research evaluated plant height, number of cladodes per plant (NCP), length, width, perimeter and thickness of the cladodes, cladode area (CA), cladode area index (CAI), FMP and DMP. There was no significant interaction between treatments (P > 0.05) for the variables plant height, NCP, CAI and FMP. The variables related to cladode morphology showed a significant interaction (P < 0.05). The treatment PSC resulted in a greater DMP (P < 0.05) with a mean of 27.17 Mg ha-1 yr-1, compared to PPC (18.58 Mg ha-1 yr-1) or PMC (11.78 Mg ha-1 yr-1). The treatment PSC promoted greater NCP and forage productivity at harvest and can be considered as a management practice for the sustainability of cactus pear cv. Gigante under irrigation. The more important morphological characteristics were also influenced by the lower cutting intensities. RESUMO: A pesquisa objetivou avaliar o efeito de diferentes intensidades de corte e anos de colheita, sobre características morfológicas e produções de matéria verde (PMV) e seca (PMS) da palma forrageira cv. Gigante (Opuntia ficus-indica Mill) sob condições de irrigação, adensamento e adubação, com 12 meses de rebrota. O delineamento experimental foi inteiramente casualizado em esquema fatorial (3 x 2) com 12 repetições. Os tratamentos constaram de três intensidades de corte (preservando o cladódio mãe (PCM), os cladódios primários (PCP) e os secundários (PCS) e dois anos de colheita. Período experimental 24 meses e duas colheitas com intervalos de 12 meses. O solo foi classificado como Cambissolo Háplico e a água de irrigação C4S1 (CE 5,25 dS.m-1) e densidade de 50.000 plantas ha-1. Foram avaliados: altura e número de cladódios por planta (NCP), comprimento, largura, perímetro, espessura e área dos cladódios (AC), índice de área dos cladódios (IAC), PMV e PMS. Não foi observada interação significativa (P>0,05) dos tratamentos para as variáveis altura, NCP, IAC e PMV. Variáveis relacionadas à morfologia dos cladódios apresentaram interação significativa (P<0,05). O tratamento PCS resultou na maior PMS (P<0,05) com produtividade média de 27,2 Mg ha-1 ano-1, quando comparada à PCP (18,6 Mg ha-1 ano-1) ou PCM (11,8 Mg ha-1 ano-1). O tratamento PCS no momento da colheita promoveu maior NCP e maior produtividade de forragem, sendo uma alternativa de manejo com vistas à sustentabilidade da palma cv. Gigante sob irrigação. As características morfológicas mais importantes também foram influenciadas pelas menores intensidades de corte.

The aim of this study was to estimate the genetic parameters for the ability of a sheep to rank among the top three in its age category (ABI3) and for its total score (TS) on the judgement championships held in different agricultural fairs in Brazil. Data files included 3180 records referring to 1896 animals for ABI3 and 4383 records referring to 2170 animals for TS. The relationship matrix was composed by 4069 animals. Variance components were estimated fitting threshold and linear animal models for ABI3 and TS, respectively, by Bayesian analysis using the Gibbs sampler. The posterior means of the heritability and repeatability were, respectively, 0.10 ± 0.07 and 0.57 ± 0.11 for ABI3 and 0.12 ± 0.04 and 0.31 ± 0.02 for TS. The low values for the heritabilities related to these traits reveal a strong influence of the environmental factors, as the differential management offered to the animals before and during the fair. The repeatability values for ABI3 suggest high correlation among the animal classifications in different fairs. However, for TS, the observed performance has moderate confidence to be repeated over time. We conclude that although reduced, there is genetic variability for the animal's performance in agricultural fairs. Nevertheless, due to the low heritability estimates, the expected response to direct selection for ABI3 and TS will be low.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of different concentrations of BMP4 on activation, development and mRNA expression of GDF9, BMP15, PCNA, Bax and Bcl2 in cultured bovine follicles enclosed in ovarian tissues. Ovarian tissue fragments were cultured for 6 days in α-MEM+ alone or supplemented with different concentrations of BMP4 (10, 50 or 100 ng/ml). Classical histology was performed to analyze follicle growth and morphology, while real-time PCR was used to analyze mRNA levels in fresh and cultured tissues. After 6 days, the culture of ovarian tissue in α-MEM+ alone or supplemented with 10, 50 or 100 ng/ml BMP4 promoted follicular activation. The different concentrations of BMP4 maintained the percentage of normal follicles similar to results of the control. The presence of 100 ng/ml BMP-4 in culture medium increased oocyte and follicular diameters of primary and secondary follicles when compared with those follicles from uncultured control or cultured in α-MEM+ alone (P < 0.05). The tissues cultured in the presence of increasing concentrations of BMP4 had an increase in mRNA expression of the tested genes, but despite this the differences were not statistically significant. In conclusion, 100 ng/ml BMP4 promotes an increase in diameters of follicles and oocytes of primary and secondary follicles after 6 days of in vitro culture.

Objective The present study aimed to evaluate the early growth performance of three Ethiopian goat populations (Bati, Borana and Short-eared Somali) from birth to 180 days and the influence of non-genetic factors such as sex, gemellarity and parity as well as goat ecotype on body weight (BW) and average daily weight gain (ADWG). Methods A total of 350 heads of breeding does (113 Bati, 137 Borana and 100 Short-eared Somali) were used, and the kids were monitored for 1 year at birth, 30, 90 and 180 days of age. A total of 125 household flocks (46 Bati, 48 Borana and 31 Short-eared Somali) were monitored. Results The birth BW of Bati (2.71 ± 0.04 kg; n  = 139), Borana (2.36 ± 0.05 kg; n  = 123) and Short-eared Somali (2.15 ± 0.08 kg; n  = 46) remained significantly different ( p  < 0.01) in all successive observations until 180 days (16.31 ± 0.02, 13.9 ± 0.22, 13.75 ± 0.36, respectively). In overall, the sex of kids, gemellarity and parity of doe factors influenced the kid BW and ADWG during the early growth period mainly until 90 days, and consistently in Bati goat ecotype. In consequence, higher ( p  < 0.05) BW and ADWG were observed in males and singletons than in females and twins, respectively. In conclusion, our study confirms that non-genetic factors genetic affect these three Ethiopian goat ecotypes. The relative high BW of Bati goats suggest that this ecotype is profitable to improve growth performance using genetic selection.

Data set of 17.767 weight records of 4.210 Santa Inês lambs were used aiming to evaluate the importance of the inclusion of the maternal effect in the model to estimate components of (Co) variance and resulting genetic parameters for the growth curve through random regression models. The fixed and random regressions were fitted using Legendre Polynomials of order three, being fit four models that differed in relation to the inclusion of the additive genetic and permanent environmental maternal effects. Considerable increase was observed in Log L and decrease in the criteria AIC and BIC when the maternal effect was included (genetic or permanent environmental), evidencing its importance. The maternal genetic effect explained larger proportion of the phenotypic variance than the maternal permanent environmental along the growth curve. The direct additive genetic variance was inflated by maternal effect, when this last one was not considered in the analysis model, reflecting the same behavior in the heritabilities. The maternal permanent environmental effect contributed to maternal variance, as well as, it inflated maternal genetic variance, when it was not considered in the model. Similar behavior was verified with maternal heritability. The correlation estimated for the four models hardly differed in function of maternal effect. The maternal effect should be considered in the genetic studies of the growth curve of Santa Inês sheep. Utilizaram-se 17.767 registros de pesos de 4.210 cordeiros da raça Santa Inês com o objetivo de avaliar a importância da inclusão do efeito materno nos modelos de estimação de componentes de (Co) variância e parâmetros genéticos resultantes para a curva de crescimento, por meio de modelos de regressão aleatória. As regressões fixas e aleatórias foram ajustadas por meio de polinômios de Legendre de ordem três, testando-se quatro modelos que diferiram quanto à inclusão dos efeitos genético aditivo materno e ambiente permanente materno. Observou-se considerável aumento no Log L e diminuição nos critérios AIC e BIC quando se adicionou o efeito materno (genético ou ambiente permanente), evidenciando sua importância. O efeito genético materno explicou maior proporção da variância fenotípica que o ambiente permanente materno ao longo da curva de crescimento. A variância genética aditiva direta estimada foi inflacionada pelo efeito materno, quando este não foi incluído no modelo de análise, refletindo o mesmo comportamento nas herdabilidades. O efeito de ambiente permanente materno contribuiu para a variância materna, como também, inflacionou variância genética materna, quando não foi considerado no modelo. Comportamento semelhantemente foi verificado com a herdabilidade materna. As correlações entre pesos nas diferentes idades estimadas pelos quatro modelos praticamente não diferiram em função da modelagem do efeito materno. O efeito materno deve ser considerado nos estudos genéticos da curva de crescimento da população em estudo.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the polymorphic FecGE allele on reproductive traits in Santa Inês and Morada Nova ewes. The traits evaluated were as follows: total progeny weights at birth (PWB) and weaning (PWW) and progeny survival rates at birth (PSRB) and weaning (PSRW). A total of 389 animals, belonging to two Santa Inês herds and one Morada Nova herd, were genotyped. There was a difference between the averages for all the traits studied regarding type of parturition, herd/breed, genotype/herd, and genotype/type of parturition. For each additional progeny, if the female was FecGE/E, the PWB decreased by 1.02 kg and the PWW by 3.16 kg, also with a 0.04% reduction in PSRB and no change in PSRW. If the female was FecGE/+, the reduction in PWB was 0.24 kg, with an increase in PSRW by 0.11%, but no change in PWW and PSRB. In general, these results demonstrate that FecG+/+ females have a better ability to increase their number of progenies without reducing PWB and PWW (also similar to FecGE/+). Thus, it is suggested that further studies on the association between the traits of interest and candidate genes in sheep should be carried out so that the regions which have the greatest effect on the expression of these traits are actually identified. It was not possible to verify the effect of the FecGE allele on the PWB, PWW, PSRB, and PSRW in these Morada Nova and Santa Inês herds.

Foi objetivo deste trabalho avaliar o consumo e digestibilidade da MS e nutrientes. de silagens de capim-elefante (CE) contendo subproduto do processamento da acerola desidratada (SACD). Utilizaram-se 20 ovinos machos nãocastrados, distribuídos em delineamento inteiramente casualizado, com cinco níveis de SACD na silagem (0; 3,5; 7; 10,5 e 14% da matéria seca) e quatro repetições. Estimaram-se os consumos de matéria seca (MS), celulose, hemicelulose, proteína bruta (PB), fibra em detergente neutro (FDN), fibra em detergente ácido (FDA), bem como os consumos de matéria seca (MSD), proteína bruta (PBD), fibra em detergente neutro (FDND) e energia digestível (ED). Foram avaliados também as digestibilidades da MS, PB, FDN, FDA, celulose, hemicelulose e EB, e o balanço de nitrogênio (BN). A adição de SACD, não influenciou o consumo de MS, FDN e FDA em g animal-1 dia-1 e g UTM-1 (unidade de tamanho metabólico = PV0,75), MSD, FDND em g animal-1 dia-1 e ED (0,86 Mcal dia-1). Contudo, a adição de 1% do SACD na ensilagem do capim-elefante resultou em aumento de 1,91 e 0,04 g nos consumos diários de PB e PBD, respectivamente. Com a adição do SACD, não houve alterações na digestibilidade da MS (43%), PB (36,4%), FDN (44,8%) e BN (0,22 g dia-1) das silagens. Entretanto, o BN atingiu valores positivos quando foram adicionados 10,5 e 14% do SACD à dieta. O subproduto da acerola desidratado pode ser adicionado em níveis de até 14% da matéria natural na ensilagem de capim-elefante, pois não compromete nem o consumo nem a digestibilidade dos nutrientes em ovinos.The present study aimed to determine de nutritional value of mixed elephant grass silages and increasing levels of dehydrated acerola industry by-product (PAC). Five PAC levels (0; 3.5; 7.0; 10.5 and 14%) were evaluated in a digestibility trial with 20 male non-castrated sheep in a randomized experimental design of five treatments (PAC levels) and four replications per treatment (sheep). Intake and digestibility of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), cellulose (CEL), hemicelulose (HCEL) and energy digestible as well as nitrogen balance were determined. The addition of PAC, didn't influence the consumption of DM, NDF, ADF, DDM and DNDF. However, the addition of 1% PAC in the silage of elephant grass resulted in increase of 1.91 g and 0.04 g in the daily consumptions of CP and DCP, respectively. With the addition of PAC, there were no alterations in the digestibility of DM (43%), CP (36.4%), NDF (44.8%) and in nitrogen balance (0.22 g) of the silages. However, nitrogen balance reached positive values when 10.5 and 14% of PAC were added to the silage. The by-product of dehydrated acerola may be added in levels of up to 14% of the natural matter in the silage of elephant grass, because it doesn't affect the intake and digestibility of the nutrients by sheep.

Utilizaram-se 17.767 registros de pesos de 4.210 cordeiros da raça Santa Inês com o objetivo de avaliar a importância da inclusão do efeito materno nos modelos de estimação de componentes de (Co) variância e parâmetros genéticos resultantes para a curva de crescimento, por meio de modelos de regressão aleatória. As regressões fixas e aleatórias foram ajustadas por meio de polinômios de Legendre de ordem três, testando-se quatro modelos que diferiram quanto à inclusão dos efeitos genético aditivo materno e ambiente permanente materno. Observou-se considerável aumento no Log L e diminuição nos critérios AIC e BIC quando se adicionou o efeito materno (genético ou ambiente permanente), evidenciando sua importância. O efeito genético materno explicou maior proporção da variância fenotípica que o ambiente permanente materno ao longo da curva de crescimento. A variância genética aditiva direta estimada foi inflacionada pelo efeito materno, quando este não foi incluído no modelo de análise, refletindo o mesmo comportamento nas herdabilidades. O efeito de ambiente permanente materno contribuiu para a variância materna, como também, inflacionou variância genética materna, quando não foi considerado no modelo. Comportamento semelhantemente foi verificado com a herdabilidade materna. As correlações entre pesos nas diferentes idades estimadas pelos quatro modelos praticamente não diferiram em função da modelagem do efeito materno. O efeito materno deve ser considerado nos estudos genéticos da curva de crescimento da população em estudo. Data set of 17.767 weight records of 4.210 Santa Inês lambs were used aiming to evaluate the importance of the inclusion of the maternal effect in the model to estimate components of (Co) variance and resulting genetic parameters for the growth curve through random regression models. The fixed and random regressions were fitted using Legendre Polynomials of order three, being fit four models that differed in relation to the inclusion of the additive genetic and permanent environmental maternal effects. Considerable increase was observed in Log L and decrease in the criteria AIC and BIC when the maternal effect was included (genetic or permanent environmental), evidencing its importance. The maternal genetic effect explained larger proportion of the phenotypic variance than the maternal permanent environmental along the growth curve. The direct additive genetic variance was inflated by maternal effect, when this last one was not considered in the analysis model, reflecting the same behavior in the heritabilities. The maternal permanent environmental effect contributed to maternal variance, as well as, it inflated maternal genetic variance, when it was not considered in the model. Similar behavior was verified with maternal heritability. The correlation estimated for the four models hardly differed in function of maternal effect. The maternal effect should be considered in the genetic studies of the growth curve of Santa Inês sheep.