The difference in the frequency of the occurrence of reflexes/reactions in 355 cows (average weight 505.5 ± 7.9 kg) and 262 bulls (average weight 735.6 ± 8.4 kg) following stunning with a Matador SS 3,000 B trigger-activated captive bolt gun (Termet) was determined. The stun shot more than 2 cm from the ideal position was found in 79.6% of animals. Vocalization, corneal reflex, rhythmic breathing, blinking, eyeball rotation and the absence of tongue protrusion occurred more frequently in bulls (p < .05). Spontaneous limb movements and nystagmus occurred more frequently in cows (p < .05). No difference between bulls and cows was determined in the occurrence of a response to painful stimuli or attempts to regain normal posture. No dependency was determined between the frequency of the occurrence of a reflex/reaction and the distance of the stun shot from the ideal point on the skull for any of the monitored signs. This study shows that the occurrence of reflexes/reactions following the stunning of cattle with a captive bolt is not only dependent on the position of the shot if placed within a 9 cm radius from the ideal point on the cattle skull.

• MeSH
• chov zvířat metody   MeSH
• dýchání MeSH
• elektrický šok škodlivé účinky   veterinární   MeSH
• jatka * MeSH
• mrkání fyziologie   MeSH
• pohyby očí fyziologie   MeSH
• reflex fyziologie   MeSH
• rohovka fyziologie   MeSH
• skot fyziologie   MeSH
• vokalizace zvířat fyziologie   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• skot fyziologie   MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

The main goal of this study was to characterize the expression patterns of genes which play a role in mitochondrial DNA biogenesis and metabolism during the maturation of bovine oocytes with different meiotic competence and health. Meiotically more and less competent oocytes were obtained separately either from medium (MF) or small (SF) follicles and categorized according to oocyte morphology into healthy and light-atretic. The four oocyte categories were matured and collected after 0, 3, 7, 16 and 24 h of maturation. Either total RNA or poly(A) RNA were extracted from oocytes and the expression of selected mitochondrial translational factors (TFAM, TFB1M, and TFB2M), MATER, and Luciferase as external standard was assessed using a real-time RT-PCR. The level of TFAM, TFB1M and MATER poly(A) RNA transcripts significantly decreased during maturation in both healthy and light-atretic MF and SF oocytes. On the other hand, the level of TFB2M poly(A) increased during maturation in healthy and light-atretic SF oocytes, in contrast to MF oocytes. The abundance of TFAM total RNA was significantly higher after maturation than that before maturation in all oocyte categories. However, no differences in TFB1M and TFB2M total RNA were found in any oocyte categories. It can be concluded that the gene expression patterns differ in maturing bovine oocytes in dependence on their meiotic competence and health. The TFAM and TFB1M poly(A) RNAs are actively deadenylated at different meiotic stages but TFB2M poly(A) RNA remains elevated in light-atretic less competent oocytes until the completion of meiosis.

• MeSH
• IVM techniky veterinární   MeSH
• mitochondriální DNA biosyntéza   MeSH
• mitochondriální geny * MeSH
• mitochondriální proteiny genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• oocyty metabolismus   MeSH
• skot fyziologie   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• skot fyziologie   MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

The objective of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for longevity and assess the suitability of using these selection criteria to improve the genetic merit of the beef cattle population of the Czech Republic. The performance record database, which contains records of 363,000 beef cattle animals of 19 breeds and their crosses, was used. The populations of Charolais and Aberdeen Angus were large enough that the genetic parameter estimations and all analyses were done for these breeds separately. Two similar approaches of longevity definition based on probabilities were considered as follows: productive longevity (PL), which is the number of calvings at target ages of 78, 90, 150, and 160 mo, and longevity (L), which is based on the probabilities of cow reappearance in the next parity. A multibreed single-trait animal model for L and a multitrait animal model for combinations of 78/150 and 90/160 mo for PL were used. Specific combinations of months were established based on the analysis and represented the critical culling rates in the studied population. The high genetic correlations (0.88-0.95) of the combination 90/160 suggested that the PL at 160 mo of age can be predicted on the basis of the value at 90 mo, which will make earlier selection possible. Combination 78/150 is less efficient in the Czech population of beef cattle due to the lower correlations (0.79-0.93) between traits. The estimated heritabilities were low for both traits (below 0.14), but the additive genetic variance was sufficient for identifying animals with high genetic merit.

• MeSH
• chov MeSH
• dlouhověkost genetika   MeSH
• fenotyp MeSH
• genetická variace * MeSH
• parita MeSH
• rozmnožování * MeSH
• skot genetika   fyziologie   MeSH
• těhotenství MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• skot genetika   fyziologie   MeSH
• těhotenství MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika MeSH

The fusion of sperm and oocytes determines the fertilization competence and subsequent development of embryos, which, in turn, can be affected by various proteins and DNA methylation. However, several factors in this whole regulation process remain unknown, especially in yaks. Here, we report that fibroblast growth factor 10 (FGF10) is an important growth factor that can enhance the maturation rate of yak oocytes and the motility of frozen spermatozoa. Subsequent blastocyst quality was also improved by increasing the total cell number and level of pregnancy-associated protein in blastocysts. These effects were significantly high in the group that received the 5 ng/ml FGF10 treatment, during both in vitro maturation (IVM) and capacitation. Our data show that the effects of FGF10 were dose-dependent at vital steps of embryogenesis in vitro. Furthermore, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, western blot analysis, and immunofluorescence demonstrated that the levels of CD9, CD81, DNMT1, and DNMT3B in both mature cumulus-oocyte complexes and capacitated sperms were regulated by FGF10, which was also highly expressed in the group treated with 5 ng/ml FGF10 during both IVM and capacitation. From our present study, we concluded that FGF10 promotes yak oocyte fertilization competence and subsequent blastocyst quality, and could also regulate CD9, CD81, DNMT1, and DNMT3B to optimize sperm-oocyte interactions and DNA methylation during fertilization.

• MeSH
• antigeny CD81 genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• antigeny CD9 genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• blastocysta účinky léků   fyziologie   MeSH
• DNA-(cytosin-5-)methyltransferasa genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• DNA-(cytosin-5)-methyltransferasa 1 genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• embryonální vývoj účinky léků   genetika   fyziologie   MeSH
• fertilizace in vitro veterinární   MeSH
• fertilizace účinky léků   genetika   fyziologie   MeSH
• fibroblastový růstový faktor 10 aplikace a dávkování   fyziologie   MeSH
• IVM techniky veterinární   MeSH
• messenger RNA genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• oocyty účinky léků   fyziologie   MeSH
• skot embryologie   genetika   fyziologie   MeSH
• těhotenství MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• skot embryologie   genetika   fyziologie   MeSH
• těhotenství MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

The objective was to assess the effects of the month of conception, month of calving, sex of the calf, and twins on gestation length (GL) in Holstein cows and heifers in two dairy herds with different milk yields. The study was performed in northeast Czech Republic over a 6-year period on two commercial dairy herds with a mean annual milk production of 11,060 kg per cow in the higher milk-producing herd and 8854 kg per cow in the lower milk-producing herd. Gestation length in cows that conceived in different months of the year was longer in the higher milk-producing herd than that in the lower milk-producing herd throughout the year (P < 0.01), whereas GL in heifers was almost the same in both herds. Gestation length in cows that conceived in different months of the year was longer than that in heifers through the whole year in both herds (P < 0.05). Similar results were found in cows and heifers that calved in different months of the year. Gestation length in cows and heifers that conceived in the first months of the year was longer than in those that conceived in the last months of the year in both herds (P < 0.05). Gestation length in cows and heifers that calved in late fall and throughout winter was longer than in those that calved in spring and summer in both herds (P < 0.05). Gestation length in females carrying male calves was longer than in those carrying female calves (P < 0.0001). Gestation length in cows (P < 0.0001) and heifers (P < 0.05) carrying singles was longer than in those carrying twins in both herds. In conclusion, results indicate that GL in Holstein cattle is associated with the month of conception, month of calving, herd, parity, sex of the calf, and twins.

• MeSH
• časové faktory MeSH
• dvojčata MeSH
• laktace MeSH
• parita MeSH
• sexuální faktory MeSH
• skot fyziologie   MeSH
• těhotenství u zvířat * fyziologie   MeSH
• těhotenství MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• skot fyziologie   MeSH
• těhotenství MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika MeSH

Economic values of clinical mastitis, claw disease, and feed efficiency traits along with 16 additional production and functional traits were estimated for the dairy population of the Slovak Pinzgau breed using a bioeconomic approach. In the cow-calf population (suckler cow population) of the same breed, the economic values of feed efficiency traits along with 15 further production and functional traits were calculated. The marginal economic values of clinical mastitis and claw disease incidence in the dairy system were -€ 70.65 and -€ 26.73 per case per cow and year, respectively. The marginal economic values for residual feed intake were -€ 55.15 and -€ 54.64/kg of dry matter per day for cows and breeding heifers in the dairy system and -€ 20.45, -€ 11.30, and -€ 6.04/kg of dry matter per day for cows, breeding heifers, and fattened animals in the cow-calf system, respectively, all expressed per cow and year. The sums of the relative economic values for the 2 new health traits in the dairy system and for residual feed intake across all cattle categories in both systems were 1.4 and 8%, respectively. Within the dairy production system, the highest relative economic values were for milk yield (20%), daily gain of calves (20%), productive lifetime (10%), and cow conception rate (8%). In the cow-calf system, the most important traits were weight gain of calves from 120 to 210 d and from birth to 120 d (19 and 14%, respectively), productive lifetime (17%), and cow conception rate (13%). Based on the calculation of economic values for traits in the dual-purpose Pinzgau breed, milk production and growth traits remain highly important in the breeding goal, but their relative importance should be adapted to new production and economic conditions. The economic importance of functional traits (especially of cow productive lifetime and fertility) was sufficiently high to make the inclusion of these traits into the breeding goal necessary. An increased interest of consumers in animal welfare and quality of dairy farm products should probably lead to the incorporation of health traits (clinical mastitis incidence and somatic cells score) into the breeding goal. However, keeping carcass traits in the breeding goal of the Slovak Pinzgau breed does not seem to be relevant to the long-term market situation.

• MeSH
• chov MeSH
• fenotyp MeSH
• krmivo pro zvířata ekonomika   MeSH
• mastitida skotu ekonomika   MeSH
• mlékárenství ekonomika   MeSH
• mléko ekonomika   MeSH
• skot genetika   fyziologie   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• skot genetika   fyziologie   MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

The developmental competence of oocytes is acquired progressively during folliculogenesis and is linked to follicular size. It has been documented that oocytes originating from larger follicles exhibit a greater ability to develop to the blastocyst stage. The differences in cytoplasmic factors such as mRNA transcripts could explain the differences in oocyte developmental potential. We used bovine oligonucleotide microarrays to characterize differences between the gene expression profiles of germinal vesicle stage (GV) oocytes with greater developmental competence from medium follicles (MF) and those with less developmental competence from small follicles (SF). After normalizing the microarray data, our analysis found differences in the level of 60 transcripts (≥1.4 fold), corresponding to 49 upregulated and 11 downregulated transcripts in MF oocytes compared to SF oocytes. The gene expression data were classified according to gene ontology, the majority of the genes were associated with the regulation of transcription, translation, the cell cycle, and mitochondrial activity. A subset of 16 selected genes was validated for GV oocytes by quantitative real-time RT-PCR; significant differences (P˂0.01) were found in the level of TAF1A, MTRF1L, ATP5C1, UBL5 and MAP3K13 between the MF and SF oocytes. After maturation the transcript level remained stable for ATP5F1, BRD7, and UBL5 in both oocyte categories. The transcript level of another 13 genes substantially dropped in the MF and/or SF oocytes. It can be concluded that the developmental competence of bovine oocytes and embryos may be a quantitative trait dependent on small changes in the transcription profiles of many genes.

• MeSH
• embryonální vývoj genetika   MeSH
• fertilizace in vitro MeSH
• oocyty metabolismus   fyziologie   MeSH
• oogeneze genetika   MeSH
• ovariální folikul metabolismus   MeSH
• sekvenční analýza hybridizací s uspořádaným souborem oligonukleotidů MeSH
• skot genetika   fyziologie   MeSH
• stanovení celkové genové exprese MeSH
• vývojová regulace genové exprese MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• skot genetika   fyziologie   MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

Play behavior positively affects welfare of farm animals, yet impoverished social environment during early ontogeny may limit the opportunity or motivation to play. This study investigated the independent and the combined effects of the presence of the dam during the colostrum feeding period and subsequent group housing on play behavior and growth in dairy calves. Forty female calves were allocated to 1 of 4 treatments according to a 2×2 factorial design. The treatments were with or without mother during the 4d after birth and companion housing (single pens or grouped housing in pens of 4 calves between 1 and 8wk of age). After 8wk of age all calves were housed in groups of 4 calves. Play behavior of the calves was observed at 2, 5, and 12wk of age in the following situations: 6 h of spontaneous behavior in the home pen, a 15-min open-field test, and a 15-min social test with an unfamiliar calf. Additionally, play behavior after grouping or relocation at 8wk of age was recorded during two 2-h sessions. There were no significant effects of the mother by companion interaction either on the amount of play behavior in any of the tests or on the body weights of the calves. Presence of the mother after birth did not increase later playfulness, with the exception of higher spontaneous play at 12wk of age. When calves were housed in groups of 4, they played more in the home pen on wk 2 and 5 than individually housed calves of the same age. In contrast, individually housed calves were more playful during open-field tests and social tests on wk 2 and 5. At 8wk, single calves that were placed in a new pen with 3 unfamiliar calves played more than twice as much as grouped calves that were just moved to a new pen with familiar companions. These results show that single-housed calves are deprived of natural levels of play, as demonstrated by both their lower spontaneous play behavior and the higher rebound effect when they are exposed to larger spaces or larger spaces plus companions. Calves that stayed with their mothers for 4d postpartum grew much better until the end of the second week. After that, grouped calves grew better until wk 10 and they tended to be heavier for at least 2wk after relocation or mixing at wk 8. The study shows that brief maternal rearing and group housing independently improve different aspects of performance and welfare of dairy calves.

• MeSH
• bydlení zvířat MeSH
• chování zvířat * MeSH
• hmotnostní přírůstek * MeSH
• odstavení MeSH
• pohoda zvířat MeSH
• přátelé MeSH
• skot růst a vývoj   fyziologie   MeSH
• sociální chování * MeSH
• sociální prostředí MeSH
• tělesná hmotnost MeSH
• věkové faktory MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• skot růst a vývoj   fyziologie   MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

The purpose of our study was to develop an approximation procedure to estimate reliabilities of single-step genomic BLUP breeding values in a test-day model for routine evaluation of milk yield in a dairy cattle population. Input data consisted of 20,220,047 first-, second-, and third-lactation test-day milk yield records of 1,126,102 Czech Holstein cows (each lactation being considered a separate trait), with 1,844,679 animals in the pedigree file and with genomic data from 2,236 bulls. Evaluation was according to a multi-lactation model. The procedure was based on the effective number of records per animal from milk recording as well as from genomic and pedigree relationships. Traits were analyzed individually, and genetic covariances among traits were subsequently taken into account. The use of genomic information increased average reliability in young bulls from 0.276 to 0.505, but increased reliability in proven bulls only from 0.828 to 0.855. The reliabilities of genomic breeding values in multi-trait evaluation for first, second and third lactations, respectively, averaged 0.652, 0.673, and 0.633 for young bulls and 0.907, 0.894, and 0.852 for proven bulls. For an index combining all 3 lactations, the average reliability of a single-step genomic BLUP prediction was 0.712 and 0.925 for younger and proven bulls, respectively. Increased reliability due to genotyping in the population of all genotyped and nongenotyped animals was very small (<0.01) because of the small proportion of genotyped animals in the population.

• MeSH
• chov metody   MeSH
• fenotyp MeSH
• genom * MeSH
• laktace * MeSH
• mlékárenství metody   MeSH
• mléko sekrece   MeSH
• modely genetické MeSH
• reprodukovatelnost výsledků MeSH
• skot genetika   fyziologie   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• skot genetika   fyziologie   MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika MeSH

Increase of milk yield after calving causes changes in milk fatty acids (FA) composition and simultaneously corresponds with reproduction performance decrease. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationships between milk FA group composition (SFA, saturated fatty acids; MUFA, monounsaturated fatty acids; and PUFA, polyunsaturated fatty acids) during the first 5 lactation weeks and subsequent reproductive results (INT, calving to first service interval; NUM, number of services per conception, and DO, days open) in Czech Fleckvieh cows. A total of 1231 individual milk samples from 382 cows were collected and subsequently analyzed. Simultaneously, body condition score (BCS) was weekly evaluated as well. Software SAS 9.1 was used for statistical analysis. Daily milk yields increased whereas BCS, milk fat and protein contents decreased during period observed. The reduction of basic milk components (% of fat, % of protein) was associated with increased SFA and decreased MUFA, respectively PUFA contents. Significant (P<0.01-0.05 days) increase in NUM (+0.15 to +0.29 AI dose) and DO (+8.16 to 15.44 days) were detected in cows with the lowest SFA content. On the contrary, cows with the highest content of MUFA presented significantly (P<0.01-0.05) higher values of NUM (+0.13 to +0.30) and DO (+7.26 to +15.35 days). Milk FA groups composition in early lactation potentially used as NEB indicators, especially SFA and MUFA proportion, affected subsequent reproductive results of Czech Fleckvieh cows. Therefore, its post-partum values could serve as predictors of potential fertility of dairy cows.

• MeSH
• fertilita fyziologie   MeSH
• kyseliny mastné mononenasycené chemie   metabolismus   MeSH
• laktace fyziologie   MeSH
• mléko chemie   MeSH
• nenasycené mastné kyseliny chemie   metabolismus   MeSH
• skot genetika   fyziologie   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• skot genetika   fyziologie   MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH