Czech Journal of Animal Science, 2018 (vol. 63), issue 9

Placental characteristics of German Landrace sows and their relationships to different fertility parametersOriginal Paper

Andreas Vernunft, Melanie Maass, Klaus-Peter Brüssow

Czech J. Anim. Sci., 2018, 63(9):339-346 | DOI: 10.17221/23/2017-CJAS  

The placenta is the central foetal organ that ensures a sufficient exchange of nutrients and metabolites for adequate foetal growth. Specific data profiles for placental characteristics from modern pig lines with high fertility and today's genetics are not currently available. This study focuses on describing the placental weight and size of German Landrace pigs and any subsequent relationship to litter number and important fertility parameters for these sows. As a basis for data collection, 55 litters from primi- and multiparous German Landrace sows with a total of 832 piglets were used. From these births, 766 placentas were recovered and weighed,...

Discriminant analysis of colour measurements reveals allele dosage effect of ASIP/MC1R in bay horsesOriginal Paper

Thomas Druml, Gertrud Grilz-Seger, Michaela Horna, Gottfried Brem

Czech J. Anim. Sci., 2018, 63(9):347-355 | DOI: 10.17221/105/2017-CJAS  

Considering the variability of bay coat colour, we aimed to investigate the association of different shades of bay with ASIP and MC1R genotype combinations and we studied the discrimination between the bay and black coat colour. We phenotypically characterized coat colour using a spectrophotometer. The measurements were based upon international standards as defined by the CIE L*a*b* colour system and we phenotyped five different body parts (neck, armpit area, shoulder, belly, croup) of 43 bay and 14 black horses kept under standardized conditions. From the five measuring points a stepwise discriminant analysis revealed that chromacity...

Incorporation of two levels of black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens L.) larvae fat or extruded linseed in diets of growing rabbits: effects on growth performance and diet digestibilityOriginal Paper

Cátia Martins, Marco Cullere, Antonella Dalle Zotte, Cristóvão Cardoso, Susana P. Alves, Rui José Branquinho de Bessa, João Pedro Bengala Freire, Luísa Falcão-e-Cunha

Czech J. Anim. Sci., 2018, 63(9):356-362 | DOI: 10.17221/22/2018-CJAS  

The use of black soldier fly (BSF) (Hermetia illucens L.) larvae fat as a lipid supplement in growing rabbit's diet was evaluated at two levels of supplementation in comparison to two levels of extruded linseed. Forty-eight weaned rabbits aged 35 days were individually housed in digestibility cages and randomly allocated to one of the four diets: Linseed-Low (30 g/kg of fat from linseed), Linseed-High (60 g/kg of fat from linseed), BSF-Low (30 g/kg of BSF fat), BSF-High (60 g/kg of BSF fat). Animals had ad libitum access to water and feed during 5 weeks, and were slaughtered at 70 days of age. In the fourth week of the trial, faeces...

Genetic differences in eggshell ultrastructural properties of Saudi native chicken breeds kept at high ambient temperaturesOriginal Paper

Moataz Fathi, Tarek Ebeid, Gamal Rayan, Salah El-Safty, Osama Abou-Emera

Czech J. Anim. Sci., 2018, 63(9):363-370 | DOI: 10.17221/29/2018-CJAS  

Egg quality and eggshell ultrastructural properties of four Saudi native chicken breeds were compared to detect genetic differences. A total of 480 laying hens at 28 weeks of age, representing four Saudi native breeds of chicken (black, black-barred, gray, and brown) kept under hot environmental conditions (34 ± 1°C) were randomly assigned to the current experiment. Laying hens were housed in individual cages in an open-sided house during hot summer season. A total of 360 intact eggs were randomly collected (90 from each breed) for egg quality assessment. Eggshell samples were prepared to evaluate ultrastructural measurements using a scanning...

Genomic structure and expression of the porcine ACTC1 geneOriginal Paper

Antonín Stratil, Pavel Horák, Michaela Nesvadbová, Mario Van Poucke, Věra Dvořáková, Roman Stupka, Jaroslav Čítek, Kateřina Zadinová, Luc J. Peelman, Aleš Knoll

Czech J. Anim. Sci., 2018, 63(9):371-378 | DOI: 10.17221/34/2018-CJAS  

A partial cDNA (~1200 bp) of the porcine ACTC1 gene was identified in the subtracted foetal hind limb muscle cDNA library (44 days of gestation; using m. biceps femoris cDNA as the driver). Using specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers, a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clone containing the genomic ACTC1 gene was identified and the gene was sequenced. Specific PCR primers designed from the BAC and cDNA sequences were used for amplification and comparative sequencing of ACTC1 of Pietrain and Meishan pigs. The gene is approximately 5.4 kb in length, is composed of 7 exons, and has a coding sequence...