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Objective: The study was conducted to investigate variations in the immunophysiological responses to exercise-induced stress in Jeju and Thoroughbred horses.Methods: Blood samples were collected from the jugular veins of adult Jeju (n = 5) and Thoroughbred (n = 5) horses before and after 30 min of exercise. The hematological, biochemical, and immunological profiles of the blood samples were analyzed. Blood smears were stained and observed under a microscope. The concentration of cell-free (cf) DNA in the plasma was determined using real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and polymorphonuclear cells were separated using Polymorphprep, and the expression of various stress-related and chemokine receptor genes was measured using reverse transcriptase (RT) and real-time PCR.Results: After exercise, Jeju and Thoroughbred horses displayed stress responses with significantly increased rectal temperatures, cortisol levels, and muscle catabolism-associated metabolites. Red blood cell indices were significantly higher in Thoroughbred horses than in Jeju horses after exercise. In addition, exercise-induced stress triggered the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) and reduced platelet counts in Jeju horses but not in Thoroughbred horses. Heat shock protein 72 and heat shock protein family A (Hsp70) member 6 expression is rapidly modulated in response to exercise-induced stress in the PBMCs of Jeju horses. The expression of CXC chemokine receptor 4 in PBMCs was higher in Thoroughbred horses than in Jeju horses after exercise.Conclusion: In summary, the different immunophysiological responses of Jeju and Thoroughbred horses explain the differences in the physiological and anatomical properties of the two breeds. The physiology of Thoroughbred horses makes them suitable for racing as they are less sensitive to exercise-induced stress compared to that of Jeju horses. This study provides a basis for investigating the link between exercise-induced stresses and the physiological alteration of horses. Hence, our findings show that some of assessed parameters could be used to determine the endurance performance of horses.

The aim of this study was to estimate the effect of sex, slaughtered season and year on carcass traits, and also estimated the corresponding effects of the contribution to auction and *

Haman Country OfficeABSTRACTThe objective of this study was to examine the suitability of genetic evaluation models using the integrated racing records collected from Gwacheon and BusanGyeongnam racetracks. Results obtained are summarized as follows: In the short-distance races of 1,400 meters and less the records of finishing time at Gwacheon racetrack was superior, whereas, in the races of 1,800 meters and more it was superior in the records from BusanGyeongnam racetrack. The effects of contemporary groups accounted for 42.7~70.2% of the total variation, and the effects of the individual race considering racing classes was the biggest in all racing distances. Heritabilities and repeatabilities for the finishing time were estimated in the range of 0.153-0.238 and 0.401-0.498, respectively. Correlation coefficients between the breeding values estimated from the integrated records and the breeding values estimated from records of Gwacheon and Busan-Gyeongnam were 0.907 and 0.803, and coefficients of rank correlations were 0.891 and 0.846, respectively. The correlation coefficients between sire's annual earning of the integrated records and Gwacheon and BusanGyeongnam racetracks records were 0.943 and 0.886, and coefficients of rank correlations were 0.938 and 0.853, respectively. Also, the correlation coefficient of sire's annual earning between Gwacheon and BusanGyeongnam racetracks was 0.742. The results of this analysis indicate that the genetic evaluation using the integrated racing records are reliable when the racing records from BusanGyeongnam racetracks are stabilized and more data are accumulated.(Key words : Finished time, Contemporary group, Heritability, Repeatability, Breeding value)

While athletic abilities such as speed, endurance and recovery are important in the horse, genes related to these abilities have not been extensively investigated. Here, we characterized the horse peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta (PPAR delta) gene and analyzed the expression of PPAR delta during exercise. PPAR delta is a known regulator of beta-oxidation, muscle fiber transformation, and running endurance. Through evolutionary analysis using the synonymous and non-synonymous mutation ratio, it was revealed that positive selection occurred in the horse PPAR delta gene. Two important domains related to nuclear hormone receptors, C4 zinc finger and ligand binding domain, were also found to be conserved well in horse PPAR delta. Horse PPAR delta was expressed ubiquitously in many tissues, but the expression level was various depending on the tissues. In the skeletal muscle, PPAR delta increased about 2.5 folds after 30 min of exercise. Unlike in muscle, the increase of PPAR delta expression was observed at 60 mm but not 30 min of exercise in leukocytes. This finding might be useful for testing the endurance of horse using blood samples. Conclusively, the horse PPAR delta gene is evolutionarily conserved well and can be used as a biomarker of endurance in horse.

The adrenergic receptor beta 2 (ADRB2) plays a role in various physiological responses of the muscle to exercise, such as contraction and relaxation. Given its important role in muscle function, we investigated the structure of the horse ADRB2 gene and its expression pattern after exercise to determine if it can serve as a putative biomarker for recovery. Evolutionary analyses using synonymous and non-synonymous mutation ratios, were compared with other species (human, chimpanzee, mouse, rat, cow, pig, chicken, dog, and cat), and revealed the occurrence of positive selection in the horse ADRB2 gene. In addition, expression analyses by quantitative polymerase chain reaction exhibited ubiquitous distribution of horse ADRB2 in various tissues including lung, skeletal muscle, kidney, thyroid, appendix, colon, spinal cord and heart, with the highest expression observed in the lung. The expression of ADRB2 in skeletal muscle was significantly up-regulated about four folds 30 minutes post-exercise compared to pre-exercise. The expression level of ADRB2 in leukocytes, which could be collected with convenience compared with other tissues in horse, increased until 60 mm after exercise but decreased afterward until 120 mm, suggesting the ADRB2 expression levels in leukocytes could be a useful biomarker to check the early recovery status of horse after exercise. In conclusion, we identified horse ADRB2 gene and analyzed expression profiles in various tissues. Additionally, analysis of ADBR2 gene expression in leukocytes could be a useful biomarker useful for evaluation of early recovery status after exercise in racing horses.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the alternative splicing in equine cordon-bleu WH2 repeat protein-like 1 (COBLL1) gene that was identified in horse muscle and blood leukocytes, and to predict functional consequences of alternative splicing by bioinformatics analysis. In a previous study, RNA-seq analysis predicted the presence of alternative spliced isoforms of equine COBLL1, namely COBLL1a as a long form and COBLL1b as a short form. In this study, we validated two isoforms of COBLL1 transcripts in horse tissues by the real-time polymerase chain reaction, and cloned them for Sanger sequencing. The sequencing results showed that the alternative splicing occurs at exon 9. Prediction of protein structure of these isoforms revealed three putative phosphorylation sites at the amino acid sequences encoded in exon 9, which is deleted in COBLL1b. In expression analysis, it was found that COBLL1b was expressed ubiquitously and equivalently in all the analyzed tissues, whereas COBLL1a showed strong expression in kidney, spinal cord and lung, moderate expression in heart and skeletal muscle, and low expression in thyroid and colon. In muscle, both COBLL1a and COBLL1b expression decreased after exercise. It is assumed that the regulation of COBLL1 expression may be important for regulating glucose level or switching of energy source, possibly through an insulin signaling pathway, in muscle after exercise. Further study is warranted to reveal the functional importance of COBLL1 on athletic performance in race horses.

Since ancient days, domestic horses have been closely associated with human civilization. Today, horse racing is an important industry. Various genes involved in energy production and muscle contraction are differentially regulated during a race. Among them, creatine kinase (CK) is well known for its regulation of energy preservation in animal cells. CK is an iso-enzyme, encoded by different genes and expressed in skeletal muscle, heart, brain and leucocytes. We confirmed that the expression of CK-M significantly increased in the blood after a 30 minute exercise period, while no considerable change was observed in skeletal muscle. Analysis of various tissues showed an ubiquitous expression of the CK-M gene in the horse; CK-M mRN A expression was predominant in the skeletal muscle and the cardiac muscle compared to other tissues. An evolutionary study by synonymous and non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphism ratio of CK-M gene revealed a positive selection that was conserved in the horse. More studies are warranted in order to develop the expression of CK-M gene as a biomarker in blood of thoroughbred horses.

We have built a database server called HorseDB which contains the genome annotation information and biological information for horse from public database entries. The aims of HorseDB are the integration of biological information and horse genome data on genome scale using bioinformatic methods. To facilitate the extraction of useful information among collected horse genome and biological data, we developed a user-friendly interface system, HorseDB; an Integrated Horse Resource and web Service. The database is categorized by the general horse information data, a sequence annotation data, and a world-wide web analysis program interface. The database also provides an easy access for user to find out the useful information within horse genomes and support analyzed information, such as sequence alignment and gene annotation results. HorseDB can be accessed at http://www.primate.or.kr./horse.

The Melanocortin-4 receptor gene (MC4R) regulates the energy balance and the genetic basis of obesity. A polymorphism in the porcine melanocortin-4 receptor has previously shown to be associated with growth, fat deposition and feed intake. In this study, the polymorphism of the gene was studied in several pig breeds of Duroc, Landrace, Berkshire, and Yorkshire. The results showed that the frequencies of MC4R genotype varied among those breeds. Association analyses were also performed between the MC4R polymorphism and average daily gain, feed conversion ratio, backfat thickness and lean percentage phenotypes. The results strongly support that the MC4R polymorphism can be used DNA marker selection indicator for economically important traits for pig breeding program in Korea.

The aim of this study was to construct a correct pedigree of miniature horses (MH). The sex of MH was detected by PCR amplification of the sex determining region of the Y chromosome gene (SRY) prior to parentage testing. Ten random MH samples for parentage testing were genotyped by using 16 micro satellite markers. Since the SRY band (430 bp) was detected in horses No.1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, these are male. However, the DNA segment was not identified in horses No.3, 4, and 5, which therefore are female. After genotyping, parentage testing was performed according to Mendelian fashion and International Society for Animal Genetics (ISAG) guideline. Of the 10 MH, 3 were qualified by the compatibility of 16 markers according to Mendelian fashion in the present DNA typing for parentage verification. These results can provide basic information for developing parentage verification and an individual identification system in MH.