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Accurate and unbiased assessment of genetic parameters of milk and milk composition traits play an important role in formulating breeding program for genetic improvement of Murrah buffaloes. In this study, data spread over 28 years were utilized to estimate genetic parameters of traits viz., 305 d milk yield (305MY), 305 d fat yield (305FY), 305 d solid not fat yield (305SNFY), milk fat percentage (fat%) and solid not fat percentage (SNF) percentage (SNF%) in Murrah buffaloes kept at ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal. Bayesian multiple-trait analysis was done using animal model and Gibbs sampling to estimate (co)variance components. Posterior means of heritability and posterior standard deviation for 305MY, 305FY, 305SNFY, fat% and SNF% were 0.18 ± 0.05, 0.17 ± 0.05, 0.18 ± 0.05, 0.07 ± 0.03 and 0.15 ± 0.06 and posterior means of repeatability estimates along with posterior standard deviation for corresponding traits were 0.33 ± 0.04, 0.32 ± 0.04, 0.33 ± 0.04, 0.14 ± 0.02 and 0.30 ± 0.04, respectively. Estimates of genetic correlation varied from -0.080 (305MY and fat %) to 0.999 (305MY and 305SNFY). Permanent environmental correlations varied from -0.060 (305MY and SNF%) to 0.999 (305FY and 305SNFY). This study indicated that all considered traits except fat% have ample genetic variability which can be exploited for selection and genetic improvement of Murrah buffaloes.

Pedigree analysis is required to assess the genetic diversity and population structure of a close breeding population in order to effectively manage the breeding program and keep inbreeding under acceptable limits. Saanen x Beetal is a crossbred population of goats, reared at National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) Karnal for the last five decades. This germplasm has been acclimated to a tropical climate and has a higher milk potential and prolificacy. Objective of this study was to elucidate the genetic diversity, population structure, and inbreeding in the flock of the Saanen x Beetal goats. The data were collected from the Animal Genetics and Breeding Division of ICAR-NDRI, Karnal for 2603 animals from the year 1971–2021. Animals born between 2014–2017 were considered as a reference cohort. Results revealed that the average generation interval was 3.44 years for the complete pedigree. The average inbreeding coefficient and the average relatedness were 4.20% and 6.87%, respectively, for the complete pedigree and 10.78% and 10.80%, for the reference population. Higher inbreeding coefficient and average relatedness in the reference cohort demonstrated impact of enclosed gene pool and demands immediate intervention for managing diversity in the closed nucleus under study. Ancestors contributing 50% of the gene pool were 8 and 3 for the complete pedigree and reference cohort, respectively, which illustrates the fact that very few ancestors were responsible for genetic diversity in the flock, which results in the decline of effective population size. Effective number of founders (fe), ancestors (fa), and founder genome equivalents (fg) were 15, 7, and 3.11, respectively. The (fe/fa) ratio in the reference population was 2.14 indicating the occurrence of the bottleneck effect in the flock. We observed that inbreeding was non-significant for all reproductive traits except for age at first service and age at first kidding. To lessen inbreeding and augment genetic diversity in the flock, the stratified breeding plan needs to be followed, where, mate sele ction would be based on relatedness. Furthermore, introduction of unrelated Saanen and Beetal crosses will help alleviate the inbreeding accumulation.

In unstructured dairy programs, pedigree is usually shallow, which leads to biased prediction of breeding values using best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP). The objective of this study was to come out with a genomic prediction strategy that can utilize shallow pedigree information and predict unbiased and more accurate GEBV for sex-limited traits in a small population using single-step GBLUP (ssGBLUP). The data and models for a population under selection were simulated. Out of current 10 generations, 10th generation with 1000 candidates served as validation population. For the complete pedigree scenario, pedigree (P)BLUP estimated breeding values (EBV) were unbiased with accuracy (r) of 0.35 ± 0.02 and 0.26 ± 0.01 for 0.3 and 0.1 h

The DNA methylation events mark a major epigenetic change in the genome, reflecting non-genetic disease developments and varied phenotypes. The water buffalo is a dairy production animal with wide agro-climatic distribution in India. Breed-wise the coat color of water buffalo varies from ash-gray to jet black. A typical pigmentation pattern is found in one of the breeds of North India, Nili Ravi, with variedly distributed white patches. The DNA methylation pattern could potentially reveal the epigenetic factors responsible for the pigmentation patterns. To address this question, the DNA isolated from the skin tissues of Nili Ravi with varied white pigmentation and black Murrah buffaloes was subjected to reduced representation bisulfite sequencing. DNA methylation analysis revealed, 68.44%, 63.39%, and 47.94% of the promoter regions were hypermethylated in Nili Ravi over-white versus Murrah, Nili Ravi under-white versus Murrah, and Nili Ravi under-white versus Nili Ravi over-white, respectively. Major genes identified to be differentially methylated among over-white and under-white skin tissues in Nili Ravi included TBX2, SNAI2, HERC2, and CITED1. Overall the results have indicated differential methylation patterns to be potentially involved in hyper or hypopigmentation in Nili Ravi and Murrah buffaloes.

Selection of Murrah buffaloes based on production, reproduction, and health traits play an important role in sustainable genetic improvement. With the aim to construct an index comprising of production, reproduction and health traits of Murrah buffaloes, the production and reproduction data during a 50-year span (1971-2020) and for health traits data of 27 years (1994-2020) were analyzed. Various three, four, five, and six trait combinations of production, reproduction, and health traits were explored for construction of performance indices. The income and expenditure method was used to calculate relative economic values (REV) for traits under consideration. A total of 37 performance indices were constructed using a multi-trait combination of production, reproduction, and health traits. Out of 37 indices, the (ADMY-PY-DO-AFC-FF) based index was identified as the best, with 78%, 2%, and 20% weightage given to production, reproduction, and female fertility, respectively. Furthermore, when REVs of traits were increased by 25% and 50%, there was no change observed in the relative importance of traits in the best index, indicating that the index was robust to substantial increases in economic values. Therefore, it is recommended that the above constructed composite selection index can be employed in selection of female buffaloes to achieve sustainable genetic gain.

Production and reproduction traits in Nili-Ravi buffaloes maintained at the ICAR-Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes, Sub-campus, Nabha, Punjab, were analysed to study the impact of Number of pregnancies (parity) and season of birth on performance. The least squares method was used to elucidate the effect of parity and season of calving on production and reproduction traits. The overall least squares means of production traits, 305 days or less milk yield, total lactation milk yield, and lactation length were 2603.22±47.66 kg, 2691.82±56.20 kg, and 305.72±4.95 days, respectively, and reproduction traits age at service, age at calving, service period, calving interval and dry period were 1418.76±16.60 days, 1741.30±18.52 days, 163.52±7.33 days, 466.55±6.70 days and 157.11±4.18 days, respectively. The parity had shown significant effect on all studied production and reproduction traits. However, the season of calving impacted only dry period in Nili-Ravi buffaloes.

Bull fertility is considered an indispensable trait, as far as farm economics is concerned since it is the successful conception in a cow that provides calf crop, along with the ensuing lactation. This ensures sustainability of a dairy farm. Traditionally, bull fertility did not receive much attention by the farm managers and breeding animals were solely evaluated based on phenotypic predictors, namely, sire conception rate and seminal parameters in bull. With the advent of the molecular era in animal breeding, attempts were made to unravel the genetic complexity of bull fertility by the identification of genetic markers related to the trait. Marker-Assisted Selection (MAS) is a methodology that aims at utilizing the genetic information at markers and selecting improved populations for important traits. Traditionally, MAS was pursued using a candidate gene approach for identifying markers related to genes that are already known to have a physiological function related to the trait but this approach had certain shortcomings like stringent criteria for significance testing. Now, with the availability of genome-wide data, the number of markers identified and variance explained in relation to bull fertility has gone up. So, this presents a unique opportunity to revisit MAS by selection based on the information of a large number of genome-wide markers and thus, improving the accuracy of selection.

A lactation curve can reveal abundant information about the pattern and persistency of lactation in an individual dairy animal. Identifying buffalo with particular pattern and persistency of lactation milk yield can serve as additional selection criterion for a dairy herd. Wood’s incomplete gamma function fitted well to the monthly test-day milk, fat% and SNF% yields of Murrah buffaloes and can be used in prediction of milk and milk constituents yield with higher accuracy. We also report that exponential function (Wilminks model) also can be used in prediction of milk constituents in Murrah buffaloes when constant k is changed in the model from 0.05 to 0.06 or 0.07. Thus, these functions can be used to make breeding and management related decisions particularly selection of desired and persistent buffaloes and thus improving the production of the herd by culling non-desired type of Murrah buffaloes.

India has a vast riverine and swamp buffalo diversity adapted to various agro-ecological conditions. In the present study, genetic diversity data for 10 different buffalo populations of India, using 20 highly polymorphic microsatellite markers has been generated for the genetic diversity analysis. The buffalo populations of Eastern Odisha state, were the primary focus.The minimal spanning network based on Bruvo's distance, PCA (Principal Component Analysis) based on the Fst (Fixation Index) values, and genetic admixture analysis using both the STRUCTURE and 'snapclust' were performed. The analysis could identify the Manda population as distinct from other Odisha buffalo breeds as well as adjoining Chhattisgarhi buffalo breeds. The total observed number of alleles ranged between 143 (Manda) and 301 (Paralakhemundi) with an average of 204 alleles per breed. The Sambhalpuri buffalo population also clustered into two separate subpopulations, half of the unique sub-population located geographically south-wards, displayed no admixture with any of the adjacent buffalo populations. The Manda buffalo population has shown sufficient allelic richness and heterozygosity under random mating being practiced in the field conditions.The study has led to the identification of the Manda as a distinct buffalo population, and the germplasm has been registered as a new Indian buffalo breed. Whereas, the Sambhalpuri population requires elaborate analysis to confirm the existence of two distinct sub-populations.

Chilika buffalo is native to the Eastern coast of India and well adapted to the largest coastal brackish water lagoon of Asia, Chilika Lake. We present here a report on the Chilika buffalo breed emphasizing the conservational urgency based on unique biochemical and molecular evidence related to liver and kidney functions while comparing it with tropically adapted other water buffalo breeds (Bubalus bubalis) of India. It is found that the Chilika buffalo breed has a better ability to withstand a long dehydration period as evident from its better glomerular filtration and higher expression of the ion transport channel. Mitochondrial D-loop sequencing results have shown these buffaloes being closer to swamp-type buffaloes of Bangladesh and northeast India and represent a unique “hybrid zone” on the eastern coast of India. Conservation of such uniquely adapted germplasm is crucial owing to the current global trend, where the introduction of exotic breeds has negatively impact “sui-generis” germplasm and they require higher managerial resource consumption for maintaining higher productivity. Further, the introduction of unconventional fisheries activities has proved detrimental to the lagoon ecosystem, potentially causing more threat to the buffalo’s population.

Background: HSP70 (Heat Shock Protein 70), plays a crucial role in nascent protein folding; the added challenges due to physiological factors demand stringent role-playing of such chaperones for tropical livestock such as water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis). Therefore to evaluate the variations at nucleotide level in HSP70 that could potentially unravel the molecular basis of thermal adaptation in the riverine buffalo breeds of India, the current study was targeted to sequence the CDS (Coding Sequence) and UTR (Untranslated Region) of the gene in a panel of 16 Indian riverine buffalo breeds. Methods: Blood samples were collected and genomic DNA was isolated followed by PCR standardized for the amplification of different fragments of the HSP70 gene using different sets of primer pairs covering the entire coding region and 5’UTR. Multiple amplicons generated to cover the entire gene were sequenced. Sequences were further analyzed manually for the identification of heterozygous animals to detect the polymorphic nucleotide sites and variation between breeds documented. Result: The HSP70 results suggest, the highly conserved nature of gene in buffalo. The only non-synonymous polymorphic site was found in the Toda buffalo breed (g.SNPC greater than T at position 14), resulting in amino acid change 5M greater than T. A total of 7 polymorphic sites were found in the 5’UTR flanking region. Additionally, two insertion/deletions (INDEL) of 30 and 1 nucleotide length were found in the 5’UTR.

To understand the similarities and dissimilarities of a breed structure among different buffalo breeds of North India, it is essential to capture their morphometric variation, genetic diversity, and effective population size. In the present study, diversity among three important breeds, namely, Murrah, Nili-Ravi and Gojri were studied using a parallel approach of morphometric characterization and molecular diversity. Morphology was characterized using 13 biometric traits, and molecular diversity through a panel of 22 microsatellite DNA markers recommended by FAO, Advisory Group on Animal Genetic Diversity, for diversity studies in buffaloes. Canonical discriminate analysis of biometric traits revealed different clusters suggesting distinct genetic entities among the three studied populations. Analysis of molecular variance revealed 81.8% of genetic variance was found within breeds, while 18.2% of the genetic variation was found between breeds. Effective population sizes estimated based on linkage disequilibrium were 142, 75 and 556 in Gojri, Nili-Ravi and Murrah populations, respectively, indicated the presence of sufficient genetic variation and absence of intense selection among three breeds. The Bayesian approach of STRUCTURE analysis (atK= 3) assigned all populations into three clusters with a degree of genetic admixture in the Murrah and Nili-Ravi buffalo populations. Admixture analysis reveals introgression among Murrah and Nili-Ravi breeds while identified the Gojri as unique buffalo germplasm, indicating that there might be a common origin of Murrah and Nili-Ravi buffaloes. The study provides important insights on buffalo breeds of North India that could be utilized in designing an effective breeding strategy, with an appropriate choice of breeds for upgrading local non-descript buffaloes along with conservation of unique germplasm.

Genetic diversity was assessed in a buffalo population (Dharwadi) of Karnataka by utilizing 25 heterologous bovine microsatellite markers. Genotypic status of individuals at each locus was identified by automated DNA sequencer, and allelic data were analyzed for genetic diversity parameters. Observed number of alleles varied between 5 and 19 with 13.12 ± 0.80 alleles per locus. High level of heterozygosity (0.63) indicated plenty of existing genetic diversity in this buffalo population. Within-population inbreeding estimate (FIS) was significantly positive (0.186) and 88% of the investigated loci contributed toward the homozygote excess. Accordingly, significant deviation from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium was observed at 24 of 25 analyzed loci. The population did not suffer reduction in effective population size in the last few generations. Assessment of Dharwadi buffalo population for mutation-drift equilibrium did not reveal significant heterozygosity excess under all the models of microsatellite evolution as per Sign test. No shift was recorded in the frequency distribution of alleles, and a normal L-shaped curve indicated absence of any recent genetic bottleneck. The study highlighted sufficient genetic variability within Dharwadi buffalo population that can be utilized in combination with phenotype and production information for registration as a distinct breed of Indian buffalo.

Murrah is a predominant milch breed of buffalo in India with superior genetic potential for milk production. Estimation of genetic parameters for production and reproduction traits is prerequisite for making breeding plan and efficient management decisions. This work was undertaken to understand the influence on performance traits by various factors (genetic and non-genetic) along with assessment of genetic parameters in Murrah buffaloes. The genetic parameters were figured using mixed model least-squares analysis. The results revealed that season and period in which animals calved, affects the performance of Murrah breed and may be considered during its evaluation. The heritability estimates for first lactation 305 days/less milk yield (305FLMY), first lactation total milk yield (FLTMY), first Lactation Length (FLL1), Wet average (WA), Herd average (HA), Age at first calving (AFC1) and Age at first service (AFS1) were 0.39±0.10, 0.29±0.09, 0.14±0.09, 0.29±0.09, 0.3±0.11, 0.27±0.09 and 0.22±0.09, respectively. The phenotypic and genetic correlation amid 305FLMY and majority of another production trait were positive and significant. Thus, it may be concluded that appropriate estimation of genetic parameters leads to robust selection for performance traits for genetic improvement in Murrah buffalo.

Milk serves as a mode of protection to neonate through transferring the host defense proteins from mother to offspring. It also guards the mammary gland against various types of infections. Along with the presence of six vital proteins, bovine milk (whey) contains a massive class of minor proteins, not all of which have been comprehensively reported. In this study, we performed an LC-MS/MS-based ultra-deep identification of the milk whey proteome of Indian zebu (Sahiwal) cattle. Three independent search engines that are Comet, Tandem, and Mascot-based analysis resulted in the discovery of over 6,210 non-redundant proteins commonly identified. Genome-wise mapping revealed that chromosome 1 showed a minimum expression of 14 proteins, whereas chromosome 19 expressed 250 maximum proteins in milk whey. These results demonstrate that milk proteome in Sahiwal cattle is quite complicated, and minor milk fractions play a significant role in host defense.

Bull fertility is considered an indispensable trait, as far as farm economics is concerned since it is the successful conception in a cow that provides calf crop, along with the ensuing lactation. This ensures sustainability of a dairy farm. Traditionally, bull fertility did not receive much attention by the farm managers and breeding animals were solely evaluated based on phenotypic predictors, namely, sire conception rate and seminal parameters in bull. With the advent of the molecular era in animal breeding, attempts were made to unravel the genetic complexity of bull fertility by the identification of genetic markers related to the trait. Marker-Assisted Selection (MAS) is a methodology that aims at utilizing the genetic information at markers and selecting improved populations for important traits. Traditionally, MAS was pursued using a candidate gene approach for identifying markers related to genes that are already known to have a physiological function related to the trait but this approach had certain shortcomings like stringent criteria for significance testing. Now, with the availability of genome-wide data, the number of markers identified and variance explained in relation to bull fertility has gone up. So, this presents a unique opportunity to revisit MAS by selection based on the information of a large number of genome-wide markers and thus, improving the accuracy of selection.

In this study, mitochondrial D-loop sequence data on riverine, swamp and hybrid buffaloes from India have been generated and compared with other reported Indian riverine, Chinese and Bangladeshi swamp buffalo populations. Sequence analysis revealed the presence of 132 haplotypes, with a haplotype diversity of 0.9611 ± 0.0045 and a nucleotide diversity of 0.04801 ± 0.00126. For the first time, the existence of riverine-swamp hybrids among the Indian Chilika buffalo population has been recorded, having 49 chromosomes, which was also confirmed by mitochondrial haplotype sharing between Chilika and Indian swamp as well as Chinese swamp buffalo populations in the network analysis. Phylogenetic analysis documents the sharing of reported pre-domestication haplogroups 'SA1', 'SA2', 'SA3' and 'SB1' between the Chilika and swamp buffalo populations of India, China and Bangladesh, an indication of the migration of swamp buffaloes towards Bangladesh and adjoining lower parts of India and north towards Chinese domestication sites. The results have also been supplemented by multidimension scaling, grouping Indian and Chinese swamp buffaloes more closely together with Bangladeshi buffaloes, but into a separate quadrant, whereas Chilika grouped away from other riverine as well as swamp buffaloes. These findings thus confirm the previous reports that the northeast region of India, close to the Indo-China border, is the point of evolution of swamp buffaloes with multiple sites of domestication.

This study is the maiden attempt for genetic characterization of the Purnathadi, a phenotypically distinct buffalo population of the western Vidarbha region of Maharashtra and to explore genetic diversity using STR markers. A total of 48 unrelated Purnathadi buffaloes from the entire native tract were genotyped using a battery of 25 heterologous microsatellite markers. 5' end of forward primer of each microsatellite marker was labeled with one of the fluorescent dyes, viz., FAM (Blue), VIC (Green), NED (Yellow) or PET (Red) to assess the fragment length of genotyped PCR product with automated DNA sequencer (ABI 3100). 23 microsatellite loci (except ETH003 and ILSTS030) amplified successfully and adequately high allelic diversity (observed: 0.615 ± 0.043 and expected: 0.655 ± 0.037) was reported with 162 distinct microsatellite alleles. Sufficiently high Shannon index and PIC indicated the suitability of markers to evaluate genetic diversity in Purnathadi buffaloes. Within-population inbreeding estimates (

Stanniocalcin-1 (STC1) is secreted by the variety of tissues having a major role in the regulation of calcium ions in the involuting mammary gland. The present work aims to sequence and structural characterization as well as expression profiling of STC1 gene in buffalo. Polymorphism identified in the 3-untranslated region (UTR) was analysed by polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) genotyping in riverine and swamp buffaloes. Expression profiling of STC1 was performed in different lactation stages of mammary gland and peripheral blood mononuclear cells to study the impact of 3'-UTR polymorphism on its expression. Different polymorphic sites were detected in the entire coding and noncoding regions of riverine and swamp buffaloes, including two INDELs. An identified polymorphic nucleotide locus A324G, having target sites for two miRNAs, namely bta-miR-2382 and bta-miR-1343, reported in cattle, was genotyped by PCR-RFLP to reveal variable allelic distribution among swamp and riverine buffaloes. Gene expression profiling across buffalo mammary tissues representing different lactation stages showed maximum expression of the STC1 gene in the involuting mammary gland. Ruminants' specific genetic variation has been observed in STC1 and its implication in buffalo mammary gland involution as well as coregulation of gene expression through miRNA binding in the 3'-UTR is suggested.

In this study, we have sequence characterized and analyzed the polymorphism in buffalo NOD1 (nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain 1) gene as well as its expression analysis. Full-length sequence analysis of NOD1 revealed this gene in buffalo being conserved with respect to the domain structures, similar to other species. Alternate splice variants having exon3 skipping also identified for the first time in the gene expressed in buffalo-purified peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Phylogenetically ruminant species were found to be clustering together and buffalo displaying maximum similarity with cattle. Sequencing of NOD1 across 12 Indian buffalo breeds identified 23 polymorphic sites within coding region, among which 16 were synonymous and 7 changes found to be non-synonymous. Four SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) of them were genotyped in 393 animals belonging to 12 riverine, swamp and hybrid (riverine × swamp) buffalo populations of diverse phenotypes and utilities, showing variable allelic frequencies. Principal component analysis revealed, riverine and swamp buffaloes being distinctly placed with the distribution of breeds within the group based on the geographical isolation. Further, quantitative real-time PCR detected NOD1 expression in multiple tissues with PBMCs and lungs showing highest expression among the tissues examined. Structural analysis based on the translated amino acid sequence of buffalo NOD1 identified four protein interaction motifs LxxLL important for ligand binding. Molecular interaction analysis of iE-DAP and NOD1-LRR and their complex stability and binding-free energy studies indicated variable binding energies in buffalo and cattle NOD1. Overall, the study reveals unique structural features in buffalo NOD1, important for species-specific ligand interaction. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s13205-018-1534-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Bovine-specific microsatellite markers were used to assess the genetic variation in Belahi cattle. Both within-breed (Belahi) and between-breed (Sahiwal, Gir, Tharparkar, Rathi, Nagori, Mewati, Kankrej and Belahi breeds) diversity indices were estimated. Sixteen microsatellite loci were polymorphic with more than five alleles per locus. Mean allelic diversity was 9.31, with a total of 149 alleles. Polymorphism information content varied from 0.31 (TGLA227) to 0.87 (CSSM33) with an average of 0.71. Estimate of Nei’s gene diversity was 0.72 ± 0.15. The observed and expected heterozygosity at different loci were 0.69 ± 0.17 and 0.71 ± 0.15 and varied from 0.30 (TGLA227) to 0.88 (TGLA122) and 0.32 (TGLA227) to 0.88 (CSSM33), respectively. Within-population inbreeding estimates (FIS) for Belahi cattle was 0.0337, indicating an average deficiency of 3.37%. Belahi cattle revealed the presence of genetic diversity within population and there was no significant heterozygosity excess indicating the absence ...

Aim: The present study was performed to investigate the effect of genetic and non-genetic factors affecting milk fat yield and to estimate genetic parameters of monthly test day fat yields (MTDFY) and lactation 305-day fat yield (L305FY) in Murrah buffaloes. Materials and Methods: The data on total of 10381 MTDFY records comprising the first four lactations of 470 Murrah buffaloes calved from 1993 to 2014 were assessed. These buffaloes were sired by 75 bulls maintained in an organized farm at ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal. Least squares maximum likelihood program was used to estimate genetic and non-genetic parameters. Heritability estimates were obtained using paternal half-sib correlation method. Genetic and phenotypic correlations among MTDFY, and 305-day fat yield were calculated from the analysis of variance and covariance matrix among sire groups. Results: The overall least squares mean of L305FY was found to be 175.74±4.12 kg. The least squares mean of overall MTDFY ranged from 3.33±0.14 kg (TD-11) to 7.06±0.17 kg (TD-3). The h 2 estimate of L305FY was found to be 0.33±0.16 in this study. The estimates of phenotypic and genetic correlations between 305-day fat yield and different MTDFY ranged from 0.32 to 0.48 and 0.51 to 0.99, respectively. Conclusions: In this study, all the genetic and non-genetic factors except age at the first calving group, significantly affected the traits under study. The estimates of phenotypic and genetic correlations of MTDFY with 305-day fat yield was generally higher in the MTDFY-5 of lactation suggesting that this TD yields could be used as the selection criteria for early evaluation and selection of Murrah buffaloes.

The objective of the present study was to identify the best fit lactation model in relation to bovine leptin gene and to assess lactation persistency based on lactation curve traits in crossbred Karan Fires cattle. Incomplete gamma (Wood) function and exponential (Wilmink) function tests were used to describe the characteristics of lactation curve in first lactation. Woods model showed a comparatively better fit. Different types of lactation curves depicted by these cattle using data spread over a period of 15 years (1994 to 2009) were grouped into desired and nondesired type of lactation curve. Subsequently, genotype profiling was done using PCR-RFLP. A single nucleotide polymorphism identified in exon-2 region of bovine leptin gene, was associated with desired type of lactation curve and animals having TT genotype showed better persistency of milk yield. The results validated in test population had shown positive relationship between leptin genotypes and lactation curve traits. The inference from work has a potential application in breeding program of the country, where it may give support to existing expected producingability (EPA) based selection methodology followed for selection of dairy animals, by adding leptin genotype as one additional selection criterion for early selection in crossbred dairy bulls and cattle.

A predictive model for daughter pregnancy rate (DPR) in Indian Murrah buffaloes has been developed. The data pertaining to first lactation reproduction traits, viz., age at first calving (AFC), first service period (FSP), and number of services per first conception (NS/FCON) of 719 Murrah buffaloes calved from 1985 to 2010 at the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal (Haryana), India were adjusted against significant environmental influence. First lactation reproduction records of 474 Murrah buffaloes were used for determining voluntary waiting period (VWP) and estimating DPR. Seven simple and multiple regression models in each case were developed where the buffaloes had their first insemination after 63 days (DPR 63), 84 days (DPR 84), and 105 days (DPR 105) of first calving. Among the seven models (I to VII) for DPR 63, DPR 84, and DPR 105, model II, having only FSP as an independent reproduction variable, was found to be the best prediction model, based on the four statistical criterions (high coefficient of determination (R 2), low mean sum of squares due to error (MSSe), conceptual predictive (CP) value, and Bayesian information criterion (BIC)). Three linear equations were developed using model II, viz., DPR 63 = 0.0033 (274 − FSP), DPR 84 = 0.0027 (332 − FSP), and DPR 105 = 0.0027 (310 − FSP). The average errors for the prediction of DPR 63, DPR 84, and DPR 105 were 1, 13, and 8 %, respectively. Therefore, 63 days of VWP is the optimum period for getting the best DPR in Indian Murrah buffaloes.

The present study reports the polymorphism study of bone morphogenetic protein receptor (BMPR- 1B) FecB mutation in Kajali sheep of India. Blood samples were collected from native tract i.e. Sangrur, Barnala, Ludhiana and Moga districts of Punjab, India. Screening of 40 DNA samples revealed absence of FecB carriers in this population. The results thus indicate that either other genetic mutations or simple management practices (mostly the feeding), could be responsible for high fecundity in Kajali population, thus these animal deserve further investigation.

In present study the effect of genetic polymorphism of Fatty acid synthase (FASN) gene on eight traits related to milk production and its composition in 162 Murrah buffaloes was studied. The traits studied includes 305 days milk yield, lactation fat average (LFA), 305 days fat yield (305LFY), lactation solid not fat average (LSA), 305 days solid not fat yield (305LSY), lactation total solid average (LTSA), 305 days total solid yield (305LTSY) and peak yield (PY). Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) was used to identify the SNP in a 472 bp PCR amplified product of exon-40 in FASN gene. It was found to be polymorphic with Guanine to Adenine transition and three genotypes namely AA, AG and GG were observed. Allele A was found to be more frequent than G allele. We report for the first time that exon-40 FASN gene is associated with LFA, LTSA and peak yield in Murrah buffaloes. This information can augment future studies to determine the role of bovine FASN gene as a candidate gene marker for a milk fat, total solids and peak milk production.

Haptoglobin (Hp) protein has high affinity for hemoglobin (Hb) binding during intravascular hemolysis and scavenges the hemoglobin induced free radicals. Earlier reports indicate about uniqueness of Hp molecule in human and cattle, but in other animals, it is not much studied. In this paper, we characterized buffalo Hp molecule and determined its molecular structure, evolutionary importance, and tissue expression. Comparative analysis and predicted domain structure indicated that the buffalo Hp has an internal duplicated region in α-chain only similar to an alternate Hp2 allele in human. This duplicated part encoded for an extra complement control protein CCP domain. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that buffalo and other ruminants were found to group together separated from all other non-ruminants, including human. The key amino acid residues involved in Hp and Hb as well as Hp and macrophage scavenger receptor, CD163 interactions in buffalo, depicted a significant variation in comparison to other non-ruminant species. Constitutive expression of Hp was also confirmed across all the vital tissues of buffalo, for the first time. Results revealed that buffalo Hp is both structurally and functionally conserved, having internal duplication in α-chain similar to human Hp2 and other ruminant species, which might have evolved separately as a convergent evolutionary process. Furthermore, the presence of extra Hp CCP domain possibly in all ruminants may have an effect during dimerization of molecule in these species.

A genetic study was conducted to elucidate the effect of alpha-Lactalbumin (α-LA) gene polymorphism on milk production traits involving total milk yield and daily milk yield during first lactation in two breeds of water buffaloes namely, Murrah and Bhadawari. Single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) was carried out to explore genetic polymorphism present at this locus. For this study, exon 1 region of α-LA was analyzed. Finally, polymorphism data was associated with milk production traits by employing least square analysis. In Murrah buffalo, five genotypes such as AB, BB, BC, CC and CD and four alleles A, B, C and D were detected whereas in Bhadawari buffalo two genotypes namely, AB and BC and three alleles namely, A, B and C were found. Genotypes showed significant effects (p≤0.05) on total milk yield and daily milk yield in Bhadawari buffalo but had non-significant effects on these traits in Murrah buffalo. (Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci. 2006. Vol 19, No. 3 : 305-308)

Phenotypic characterization and body biometric in 13 traits (height at withers, body length, chest girth, paunch girth, ear length, tail length, length of tail up to switch, face length, face width, horn length, circumference of horn at base, distances between pin bone and hip bone) were recorded in 233 adult Gojri buffaloes from Punjab and Himachal Pradesh states of India. Traits were analysed by using varimax rotated principal component analysis (PCA) with Kaiser Normalization to explain body conformation. PCA revealed four components which explained about 70.9% of the total variation. First component described the general body conformation and explained 31.5% of total variation. It was represented by significant positive high loading of height at wither, body length, heart girth, face length and face width. The communality ranged from 0.83 (hip bone distance) to 0.45 (horn length) and unique factors ranged from 0.16 to 0.55 for all these 13 different biometric traits. Present study suggests that first principal component can be used in the evaluation and comparison of body conformation in buffaloes and thus provides an opportunity to distinguish between early and late maturing to adult, based on a small group of biometric traits to explain body conformation in adult buffaloes.