The indigenous cattle populations from Greece and Cyprus have decreased to small numbers and are currently at risk of extinction due to socio-economic reasons, geographic isolation and crossbreeding ...with commercial breeds. This study represents the first comprehensive genome-wide analysis of 10 indigenous cattle populations from continental Greece and the Greek islands, and one from Cyprus, and compares them with 104 international breeds using more than 46,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).
We estimated several parameters of genetic diversity (e.g. heterozygosity and allelic diversity) that indicated a severe loss of genetic diversity for the island populations compared to the mainland populations, which is mainly due to the declining size of their population in recent years and subsequent inbreeding. This high inbreeding status also resulted in higher genetic differentiation within the Greek and Cyprus cattle group compared to the remaining geographical breed groups. Supervised and unsupervised cluster analyses revealed that the phylogenetic patterns in the indigenous Greek breeds were consistent with their geographical origin and historical information regarding crosses with breeds of Anatolian or Balkan origin. Cyprus cattle showed a relatively high indicine ancestry. Greek island populations are placed close to the root of the tree as defined by Gir and the outgroup Yak, whereas the mainland breeds share a common historical origin with Buša. Unsupervised clustering and D-statistics analyses provided strong support for Bos indicus introgression in almost all the investigated local cattle breeds along the route from Anatolia up to the southern foothills of the Alps, as well as in most cattle breeds along the Apennine peninsula to the southern foothills of the Alps.
All investigated Cyprus and Greek breeds present complex mosaic genomes as a result of historical and recent admixture events between neighbor and well-separated breeds. While the contribution of some mainland breeds to the genetic diversity pool seems important, some island and fragmented mainland breeds suffer from a severe decline of population size and loss of alleles due to genetic drift. Conservation programs that are a compromise between what is feasible and what is desirable should focus not only on the still highly diverse mainland breeds but also promote and explore the conservation possibilities for island breeds.
Aiming to determine the variability in stress indicators due to horse age and competitive season (May, July, September) in jumping horses in parkour, research was performed on 14 studs (7 younger, ...and 7 older) trained and bred in the same conditions. The stress indicators (heartbeats, cortisol, glucose, and lactate concentrations in saliva) were measured or sampled before, during and at the end of the training - parkour jumping. The significance of the differences in stress indicators between the horse age classes regarding the competitive season was tested by Tukey’s test. Based on determined results it could be concluded that all stress indicators, during the entire competitive season, were higher in younger (less experienced) than in older (more experienced) horses. Furthermore, all stress indicators, with the exception of heartbeats, were highest in the peak of competitive season (July), while the lowest values of all stress indicators were determined at the end of competitive season (September). Monitoring of stress indicators, especially heartbeats, could be used for routine evaluation of horse preparedness for a particular activity.
Since there is not enough data about milkability of the Jersey cows, the aim of this paper is to show basic milkability traits of this cattle breed depending on the parity and milk flow curve types. ...Cows had average daily production (DMY) of 22.23 kg, milk yield per milking (MYM) of 9.72 kg, and average and maximum milk flow about 1.66 and 2.49 kg/min, respectively. Statistical analysis showed that DMY and MYM of the cows in 4th parity was significantly (p<0.05) higher comparing to cows in 1st and 3th parity. The duration of entirely milking is similar regarding the paritiesand only the cows in 3th and 4th differ significantly (p<0.05). Regarding the effect of milk flow curve, the significant (p<0.05) difference between unspecified and rectangular milk flow curve has been found for the average milk flow (AMF) and descending phase of the milk flow curve (TD). Cows with unspecified milk flow curve, have significantly (p<0.05) lower AMF and longer TD compared to cows with rectangular curve. Cows with bimodal milk flow curve have significantly (p<0.05) longer duration of the ascending phase compering to: unspecified, descending and rectangular. The results of this study have shown that Jersey cows have lower production and milk flow compared to other dairy cattle breeds. Nonetheless, they have uniform milkability traits, and a large representation of desirable milk flow curves which are associated with a beneficial effect on the udder health.
Domestic donkey is a transboundary breed present in many Balkan countries. According to the Law on Animal Production, in many Balkan countries, for every breed of domestic animals it is necessary to ...create a separate breeding programme. Based on the results of a study evaluating the main morphological, reproductive and functional traits in 47 domestic donkeys in Macedonia during 2017 and 2018, current standards and breeding goals were defined for the next national breeding programme of this breed. According to the fact that the domestic donkey is a metapopulation and transboundary breed in almost all Balkan countries, it is a good recommendation to create a regional breeding programme with flexible standards and breeding goals for this relative of horses for all Balkan countries together.
The Busha is an indigenous breed of cattle in many Balkan countries. It has been bred for centuries. It belongs to primitive shorthorn cattle (Bos brachyceros europaeus). These cattle used to be the ...dominant and most important breed in almost all Balkan countries until the 1950s and 1960s, but today in lowland areas where intensive farming is practiced they have already been replaced by more productive and specialized breeds of cattle. In Macedonia this breed has officially been classified as a triple purpose breed (raised for meat, milk and draft) but considering its low production capabilities it is more similar to some primitive draft breeds. This breed is part of the National Biodiversity Program for the conservation of indigenous breeds of animals in the Republic of Macedonia. Economic, cultural and scientific reasons underlie the need to protect the biological diversity of autochthonous breeds of cattle such as the Busha. The aim of the research was to establish a gene bank for different strains of adult Busha cattle in the Republic of Macedonia. To this end, 998 samples of blood, 1100 hair coat samples and 958 doses of semen were collected from adult Busha cattle. Also, a phenotypic characterization was done on adult Busha cattle for their major productive and morphological traits. During the last few years, there have been certain negative trends in the population size of Busha cattle in accordance with the decline of the rural population in the hills and uplands and young people's disinterest in rearing indigenous breeds of cattle such as the Busha.
The aim of this paper is to present the total number of some ruminants in recent years (from 2007 to 2014) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Macedonia. The analysis of the total number of cattle, ...goats and sheep was based on the information available on the FAOSTAT statistical database website. To perform statistical analysis, we used the base indices which show the percentage change between the annual and average numbers of ruminants in the analyzed period. The comparison of the average numbers of cattle, goats and sheep in this period revealed that these ruminants were the most numerous in Serbia. The least significant difference test indicated that the differences between Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the total number of goats in 2007-2014 were statistically non-significant (p > 0.001).
Abstract
In the course of evolution, pecorans (i.e., higher ruminants) developed a remarkable diversity of osseous cranial appendages, collectively referred to as “headgear,” which likely share the ...same origin and genetic basis. However, the nature and function of the genetic determinants underlying their number and position remain elusive. Jacob and other rare populations of sheep and goats are characterized by polyceraty, the presence of more than two horns. Here, we characterize distinct POLYCERATE alleles in each species, both associated with defective HOXD1 function. We show that haploinsufficiency at this locus results in the splitting of horn bud primordia, likely following the abnormal extension of an initial morphogenetic field. These results highlight the key role played by this gene in headgear patterning and illustrate the evolutionary co-option of a gene involved in the early development of bilateria to properly fix the position and number of these distinctive organs of Bovidae.
Preservation of genetic diversity is one of the most pressing challenges in the planetary boundaries concept. Within this context, we focused on genetic diversity in a native, unselected and highly ...admixed domesticated metapopulation. A set of 1,828 individuals from 60 different cattle breeds was analysed using a medium density SNP chip. Among these breeds, 14 Buša strains formed a metapopulation represented by 350 individuals, while the remaining 46 breeds represented the global cattle population. Genetic analyses showed that the scarcely selected and less differentiated Buša metapopulation contributed a substantial proportion (52.6%) of the neutral allelic diversity to this global taurine population. Consequently, there is an urgent need for synchronized maintenance of this highly fragmented domestic metapopulation, which is distributed over several countries without sophisticated infrastructure and highly endangered by continuous replacement crossing as part of the global genetic homogenization process. This study collected and evaluated samples, data and genomewide information and developed genome‐assisted cross‐border conservation concepts. To detect and maintain genetic integrity of the metapopulation strains, we designed and applied a composite test that combines six metrics based on additive genetic relationships, a nearest neighbour graph and the distribution of semiprivate alleles. Each metric provides distinct information components about past admixture events and offers an objective and powerful tool for the detection of admixed outliers. The here developed conservation methods and presented experiences could easily be adapted to comparable conservation programmes of domesticated or other metapopulations bred and kept in captivity or under some other sort of human control.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Although the marketing and marketing planning are considered as the main conditions for achieving successful management of the animal production farms, a great number of the farmers in Republic of ...Macedonia do not have their own plan for marketing solutions. Planning of the marketing activities is necessary for contemporary farm management because they have a great impact on the farmer’s final profit. To achieve an effective management of the farm, the marketing planning should be viewed in scope of the production planning and financing of the production unit. The planning is fundamental for the effectiveness of every animal production unit. Of course, there are cases where not everything can be achieved as planned, as it is when unpredicted situations occur, and in these cases the farmer should react promptly in order to adapt to the new conditions. Nevertheless, the marketing plan is the foundation for taking further effective marketing solutions, which on the other side will provide maximal profit for the owner. It should be noted that the organization of the marketing activities in the animal production sector in Republic of Macedonia is very poor. The few bigger agricultural organizations, such are some privatized units of the former state-owned agricultural organizations, do have certain elements of marketing activities, but that is far from serious marketing approach. Everywhere is obvious the lack of development plan. The few pale traces of marketing elements that can be found in some farms, are mainly lacking solid background i.e. they do not take into consideration the availability of the resources, the demand of the market, as well as a target group of consumers, but instead they are simply copied from some others, more successful organizations, which give us the right to call it “imitation marketing”. Being not adapted to the capabilities of the organization, nor to the market or the consumers that is meant for, this type of marketing does not posses the necessary strength, and thus can not achieve the expected impact on the free market.
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