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Development of specialized beef cattle breeding contributes to increase in beef production, which directly affects the countrys food security. Currently, increasing productivity of animals is the major trend of cattle breeding development, which in turn requires improvement of breeding. The effectiveness of breeding work depends on the assessment of genetic value of breeding animals. To control authenticity of animal origin is a prerequisite for conducting breeding work. One of the main directions of cattle breeding in Kalmykia is breeding of Kalmyk cattle. The aim of the research was to study genetic diversity of Kalmyk cattle populations using microsatellite analysis. The study was conducted in the Regional Research and Production Center for Reproduction of Kalmyk State University. 60 Kalmyk cattle from Plodovitoe agricultural production company in Maloderbetovsky district were studied. PCR analysis was performed by 9 microsatellite loci: BM1824, BM 2113, INRA023, SPS 115, TGLA 122, TGLA 126, TGLA 227, ETH 10, ETH 225. It was found that the average number of alleles was 10.1, while the number of alleles per locus varied from 7 (BM 1824, SPS 115, ETH 10) to 18 (TGLA 122). The loci with the largest range of alleles were BM 2113 (12), INRA 023 (12), TGLA 122 (18) and TGLA 227 (12). The most informative loci were INRA 023, TGLA 122 and TGLA 227. The level of observed heterozygosity varied from 0.67 (ETH 10) to 0.83 (SPS 115, TGLA 227, ETH 225), and expected heterozygosity - from 0.86 (BM 1824, SPS 115, ETH 10) to 0.92 (BM 2113, INRA 023, TGLA 227). Analysis of fixation index data showed that 8 loci had negative index (BM 1824 (-0.22), BM 2113 (-0.26), INRA 023 (-0.26), SPS 115 (-0.18), TGLA 122 (-0.12), TGLA 126 (-0.10), ETH 10 (-0.28), ETH 225 (-0.04) and 1 locus (TGLA 227) had positive index (1.0). The results of the analysis of microsatellite loci showed that level of genetic diversity in the studied herd of Kalmyk cattle is high.

The article presents the results of physiological research carried out in a large sheep farm in the arid zone of southern Russia to study the manganese metabolism of single ewes of the Kalmyk breed and to establish their needs for this element by a factorial method of research. A scientific justification is given for optimizing the ration of manganese in single mutton ewes. The dynamics of the manganese content in the organs and tissues of the sheep and the organism of single mutton ewes for the first time have been revealed. Considering the physiological state of the ewes, the real daily requirement of the ewes in the studied microelement and the degree of its assimilation from the diets have been determined. It has been established that the intensity of manganese metabolism in the organism of fat-tailed ewes has been considerably increased during the non-dairy period and the distribution of manganese in their bodies has not been even. It has been higher in udder, uterus, chyme, omasum, and liver, and lower - in the fat of sheep's tail, blood, and internal fat. The factorial method about endogenous losses in feces and urine has been used to determine the daily requirement of manganese in the dry weight of single fat-tailed sheep. The daily requirement is 82 mg per head per day, or 50.3 mg/kg of dry substance of a diet and 1.44 mg/kg of live weight of an ewe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is known that the rumen microbiome directly or indirectly contributes to animal production, and may be a prospective target for mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions [1]. At the same time, feed types and components of diet can influence the composition of the rumen microbiome [2,3]. Fluctuations in the composition of the digestive tract microbiota can alter the development, health, and productivity of cattle [4]. Many studies of cattle microbiomes have focussed on the rumen microbiota, whereas the faecal microbiota has received less attention [5–7]. Therefore, the features of the faecal and the ruminal microbiomes in different cattle breeds are yet to be studied. Here, we provided 16S rRNA gene amplicon data of the ruminal and the faecal microbiomes from Yakutian and Kalmyk cattle living in the Republic of Sakha, Yakutia, Russia. Total DNA was extracted from 13 faecal and 13 ruminal samples, and DNA libraries were prepared and sequenced on an Illumina MiSeq platform. Paired-end raw reads were processed, and final operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were assigned to the respective prokaryotic taxa using the RDP (Ribosomal Database Project) database. Analysis of the microbiome composition at the phylum level revealed very similar faecal microbiota between the introduced Kalmyk breed and the indigenous Yakutian breed, whereas the ruminal microbiomes of these breeds differed substantially in terms of relative abundance of some prokaryotic phyla. We believe that the data obtained may provide new insights into the dynamics of the ruminal and the faecal microbiota of cattle as well as disclose breed-specific features of ruminal microbiomes. Besides, these data will contribute to our understanding of the ruminal microbiome structure and function, and might be useful for the management of cattle feeding and ruminal methane production.

The results of research are presented for new stud lines of Kalmyk cattle: Pirat 6626, Pokhvalny 8643, and Ozhog 6136.To assess meat productivity, carcass morphological composition, physical and chemical properties, amino acid and fatty acid compositions of muscle tissue, control slaughter of young bulls (15 months old) of different breed lines was carried out. The slaughtershowed a higher weight of fresh carcass in bulls of Pirat 6626 line, which was 215.9 kg. Weight of Pokhvalny 8643 and Ozhog 6136 lines was lower, 212.5 kg in average. Bulls of new lines insignificantly differed by the dressed weight and slaughter yield amountedto 221.4 to 223.9 kg (56.0% to 56.4%), respectively. At slaughter, carcasses of all experimental animals were characterized by a good yield of deboned meat (82.3 to 82.6%) with a relatively small bone content (17.4 to 17.7%). Compared to bulls of Pokhvalny 8643 and Ozhog 6136 lines, Pirat 6626 line had water binding capacity higherby 1.96 and 1.09%, and juice loss during cooking was lower by 0.76 and 0.90%.Chemical composition analysis of deboned meat showed a higher protein content in meat from Pokhvalny 8643 bulls (23.41%) than from Pirat 6626 (20.95%) and Ozhog 6136 (21.75%) lines. Fat content in the meat of Pirat 6626 and Ozhog 6136 bulls was higher than in Pokhvalny 8643 bulls and amounted to 2.84 and 2.99%.In proteins of animals from all three lines, the content of essential amino acids exceeds the levels recommended by FAO/WHO for humans; there are no limiting amino acids.The maximum lysine amino acid score was observed in proteins of Pirat 6626 animals, which was higher by 3.6% than in Pokhvalny 8643 line and by 7.9% than in Ozhog 6136 line; leucine and isoleucine were higher in proteins of Pirat 6626 and Ozhog 6136 lines.Valine amino acid score was higher in muscle proteins of Pirat 6626 bulls (120.0%), than in the proteins of Pokhvalny 8643 (110.0%) and Ozhog 6136 (114.0%) lines.In Pokhvalny 8643 bulls, methionine amino acid score had the smallest difference with the reference protein. The minimal difference in phenylalanine amino acid score with the reference protein was also observed in Pokhvalny 8643 bulls and amounted to 5.0%.According to the results of protein biological value calculation, Pokhvalny 8643 line has more balanced ratio of essential amino acids of 89.7%, while Pirat 6626 and Ozhog 6136 lines show ratios of 81.6% and 81.7%, respectively.Differences in fatty acid composition of intramuscular fat from bulls of all three lines are insignificant, but Pokhvalny 8643 line shows some superiority in the content of polyunsaturated acids by 0.48 to 0.33%.Sensory assessment of boiled beef and meat broth quality from new lines of Kalmyk young cattle was «good» and «very good».

Reference intervals of concentrations of chemical elements in biological substrates of animals and humans are the main tool for interpreting the results of laboratory studies. However, establishing the reference intervals, it is necessary to take into account the factor of regional characteristics that consist of a number of elements: climate, terrain, the degree of anthropogenic loads, etc. In this regard, the main purpose of this study was to establish reference intervals for the concentration of chemical elements in the hair of cows of the Kalmyk breed bred in a separate biogeochemical province. The studies were carried out on cows of the Kalmyk breed (n = 126; age 3-5 years) bred in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) of Russia. Hair samples were taken with the upper withers of an animal. The elemental composition of the samples was estimated according to 25 chemical elements by ICP-AES and ICP-MS. Reference intervals for the content of chemical elements in animal hair were calculated according to the IUPAC recommendations (Poulsen OM et al., 1997) (2.5-97.5 percentile). As a result of the research, the following values of the boundaries of intervals have been established: Al (139-704); As (0.051-0.287); B (0.921-4.95); Ca (1272-3391); Cd (0.002-0.014); Co (0.111-0.517); Cr (0.674-3.09); Cu (4,840-8.99); Fe (250-1120); Hg (0.004-0.052); I (0.266-1.61); K (1433-6687); Li (0.248-0.857); Mg (393-2252); Mn (7.22-65.89); Na (1013-5258); Ni (0.448-2.88); P (160.0-374); Pb (0.170-0.615); Se (0.147-0.419); Si (6.36-604); Sn (0.011-0.630); Sr (4.5-17.80); V (0.401-1.59); Zn (72.93-126.0). The reference intervals obtained in our study can be used to assess the elemental status of the Kalmyk cows bred in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) of Russia. The research was carried out in accordance with the state contract No. 19-28 "Implementation of adaptive technologies for keeping specialized beef cattle in the conditions of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]