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The aim of present study was to investigate the effect of full mother contact and voluntary colostrum suckling on the health, stress and growth performance of neonatal Murrah buffalo calves. For this, two experiments (exp.) were conducted involving exp.1, 24 mother-calf pairs were divided into three equal groups (eight pairs/each group). In no mother contact (NC) group, weaning was allowed immediately after birth. In restricted mother contact (RC) group, restricted contact was allowed twice daily. In fence-line mother contact (FC) group, calves were in full-time mother contact from birth to day (d) 5 and allowed voluntary colostrum suckling and thereafter fence-line contact. In exp.2, another 24 mother-calf pairs were selected and divided into two groups (12 pairs in each group), with the same conditions as the RC and FC groups in exp.1. Average daily gain, total protein and total Ig concentrations differed between different groups in both experiments. Cortisol levels were lower in FC followed by RC and lowest in NC calves, and similar results were observed in exp.2. It was concluded that the provision of full mother contact along with free choice colostrum suckling from birth to 5 days followed by fenceline mother contact and twice daily suckling at milking time abated the separation and weaning stress and remarkably improved the growth, immune status and health of Murrah buffalo calves as compared to the calves which were allowed only limited contact twice daily or the calves which were weaned at birth.

The Anti-Müllerian Hormone (AMH) is a member of the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) superfamily, playing a significant role in cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. In females, AMH is secreted throughout their reproductive life span from ovaries, whereas in males it is secreted by gonadal cells at a very early stage of testicular development. AMH is a promising marker of ovarian reserve in women and can be used to measure the female reproductive lifespan. In the present study, we cloned and sequenced the GC rich AMH gene from Indian riverine buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) and goat (Capra hircus). Obtained sequences were compared to the AMH sequences of other mammals, and corresponding amino acid sequences revealed that the caprine and bovine AMH sequences are more closely related to each other than to those of other mammals. Furthermore, we analyzed the chromosomal localization of AMH genes in mammalian species to understand potential syntenic relationship. The AMH gene is localized between the sequences for the SF3A and JSRP1 genes and maintains this precise location in relation to other nearby genes. The dN/dS ratio of AMH gene did not indicate any pressure for either positive or negative selection; thus, the physiological function of the AMH gene in the reproduction of these two ruminant species remains very vital. Similar to other mammals, the AMH gene may be an important indicator for regulating female reproductive biology function in bovine, cetacean, caprine, and camelidae.