Cryopreservation of rooster semen is a reproductive technology carried out to boost genetic gain and productivity in commercial flocks of chicken. However, semen freezing significantly reduces the quality and fertilizing potential of spermatozoa. This study examined cryoprotective effects of the mitochondria-targeted antioxidant mitoquinol mesylate added to the freezing extender by assessing post-thaw characteristics of rooster sperm. Semen samples were diluted in the Beltsville extender supplemented with 0, 1, 10, 100 or 1000 nM of mitoquinol mesylate. Following the thawing of cryopreserved semen doses, we evaluated the following sperm parameters: motility and morphology, membrane integrity and mitochondrial function, acrosome integrity, apoptosis status, lipid peroxidation, DNA fragmentation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, epigenetic patterns (DNA methylation and histone modifications), and fertilizing ability. Semen diluted in extenders containing 10 or 100 nM of mitoquinol mesylate significantly exceeded all other groups of frozen-thawed semen samples in sperm motility, average path velocity as well as membrane/acrosome integrity, mitochondrial function indices and DNA/histone modification. Moreover, the addition of 10 and 100 nM of mitoquinol mesylate significantly reduced lipid peroxidation, apoptosis rate, DNA fragmentation and ROS concentrations compared with all other dilutions and was associated with a higher (P <= 0.05) fertilization rate compared with a non-supplemented control group, albeit it was still significantly lower compared with that obtained using fresh semen. It can be, however, concluded that mitoquinol mesylate significantly improved an array of quality parameters and fertilizing potential of rooster semen, and hence can be recommended for use as a diluent additive in semen cryopreservation procedures employed in commercial poultry operations.

One of the problems with the refrigerated storage of buck semen is the short shelf life. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by sperm cells are a major obstacle to successful cooled semen storage. In this regard, the mitochondria are the most sensitive organelles to cooling damage in sperm. Consequently, this study was aimed to determine the impacts of Mito-quinol (MitoQ), a mitochondrial-targeted antioxidant, in a soy lecithin containing extender on the quality of goat semen during cooling and storage at 4 degrees C. Semen samples from Markhoz goats were collected and pooled. Then, samples were diluted in the extender and divided into five equal aliquots and supplemented with 0 (control), 1, 10, 100, and 1000 nM of MitoQ and stored at 4 degrees C for 60 h. Finally, total motility (TM) and progressive motility (PM), viability, membrane functionality, mitochondrial activity potential (MAP), and MDA concentration (lipid peroxidation) were measured at 0, 30, and 60 h of cooling period. According to the current results, higher (P <= 0.05) rates of TM, PM, viability, membrane functionality, and MAP, as well as lower (P <= 0.05) MDA concentration were observed in MQ10 and MQ100 groups than groups of MQ0, MQ1, and MQ1000 at 30 and 60 h cooling storage. However, MitoQ had no effect (P>0.05) on the mentioned parameters at 0 h storage. Consequently, MitoQ can reduce oxidative stress by regulating mitochondrial function during cooling of the buck sperm and could be an effective additive in the cooling medium to protect sperm quality.

Background: Although sperm cryopreservation seems to be an efficient technique for distributing competent sperm for artificial insemination, the process affects the quality of post-thawed sperm. Objectives: This study was designed to see how the novel mitochondria-targeted antioxidant “Mito-TEMPO” affected buck sperm quality during cryopreservation. Methods: After proper semen samples collection, they were diluted and divided into 5 equal groups and cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen with 0, 1, 10, 100, and 1000 µM Mito-TEMPO. Sperm motility, lipid peroxidation, abnormal morphology, acrosome integrity, membrane integrity, and viability were all evaluated after thawing. Results: When the freezing extender was supplemented with 10 µM Mito-TEMPO, total motility, progressive motility, membrane integrity, acrosome integrity, and viability increased (P≤0.05), while lipid peroxidation decreased (P≤0.05). Conclusion: Finally, the novel mitochondria-targeted antioxidant “Mito-TEMPO” could be introduced as an effective cryo-additive to improve buck semen quality parameters during cryopreservation.

Cryopreservation of ram semen is helpful for distributing proved spermatozoa for reproductive goals, but cold shock has destructive effects on fertility ability of frozen sperm cells. This study was performed to investigate the effect of the novel mitochondria-targeted antioxidant "MitoQ" on ram sperm quality and fertility potential during cryopreservation process. Semen samples were diluted in extenders supplemented with 0, 1, 10, 100 and 1000 nM MitoQ and then frozen according to the standard protocol. Motility and velocity characteristics, lipid peroxidation, acrosome integrity, membrane functionality, mitochondria active potential, viability, apoptosis status, DNA fragmentation, ROS concentration and reproductive performance were evaluated after thawing. In results, 10 and 100 nM MitoQ presented higher (P ≤ 0.05) total motility, progressive motility, average path velocity, acrosome integrity, membrane functionality, mitochondria active potential and viability as well as lower (P ≤ 0.05) lipid peroxidation, apoptosis status, DNA fragmentation and ROS concentration compared to the control group and the other treatments. Moreover, after fertility trial, 10 and 100 nM MitoQ resulted in higher (P ≤ 0.05) pregnancy, parturition and lambing rates than control group. Therefore, MitoQ is able to preserve quality parameters and fertility potential of post-thawed spermatozoa in sheep and it could be an effective additive for supplementation of ram's semen cryopreservation medium during reproductive programs.

Abstract Background Nutritional manipulation with functional nutrients like polyunsaturated fatty acids can boost milk production efficiency in dairy farming. It is important to consider the animal's physiological periods, especially the second half of the first pregnancy for mammary gland development. Objectives By considering multiple factors and comparing them, multi‐attribute decision‐making (MADM) can be utilized to conduct further assessments and select the best diet for the animals. Methods Forty primiparous Saanen does, from the last 2 months of pregnancy up to 4 months of lactation, have been assigned to four iso‐energetic and iso‐nitrogenous diets. Four dietary groups included: no external sources of fat (negative control, CT), saturated palm oil (positive control), roasted soybeans (omega‐6, SB) and extruded flaxseed (omega‐3, FS). Twenty‐two performance criteria such as feed intake, milk yield and composition, body weight, blood metabolites and hormones, the milk fatty acid profile, as well as morphological and histological measurements of the mammary gland, in the form of least‐square means, were considered. Results A decision‐making tool was used to select the best form of fat supplements in late pregnancy and early lactation diets, to improve lactation performance in Saanen goats. For this purpose, a MADM method was applied to determine the order of preference similarity to the ideal solution. According to the score of this method, the FS group had the highest coefficients (0.689), and the CT group had the lowest coefficients (0.281). Conclusions Incorporating flaxseed into the diets of Saanen goats during late pregnancy and early lactation is a valuable strategy for enhancing milk performance. This supplement is recommended as a source of fat. Additionally, the implementation of decision‐making tools, such as the MADM method in animal science, can significantly improve management decision‐making processes by reducing both time and cost. This presents a new avenue for making well‐informed decisions.

Abstract Background The second half of the first pregnancy is a critical period in the growth and development of the mammary gland. The use of functional compounds during this period may positively impact livestock performance. Objectives In this study, changes in lipogenic enzyme gene expression in the mammary gland of Saanen goats in response to different dietary fat sources were analysed. Methods Goats from four groups (10 each) received these diets from the last two months of pregnancy through four months of lactation: C−, no added fat (negative control group), C+, with saturated palm oil (positive control group), SB, with roasted soybeans (omega‐6 group) and FS, with extruded flaxseed (omega‐3 group). The fat content was about 4% of dry matter. Milk yield, milk fatty acid profile, milk health index (HI) and gene expression of four lipogenic enzymes in mammary tissue were measured. Results The FS group had significantly higher milk production with lower omega‐6 to omega‐3, monounsaturated to polyunsaturated, and total saturated fatty acids compared to other groups. The shorter and longer than16‐carbon chain of total milk fatty acid indicates significantly higher values for the C− and C+ groups, respectively. The milk HI for the SB group was significantly higher. The gene expression profile for acetyl‐coenzyme A carboxylase was higher in the C− group than other experimental groups. Conclusions The results show that manipulation of the diet with unsaturated fat supplements improved milk production, synthesis of milk fat and molecular expression of lipogenic enzymes in mammary tissue in primiparous Saanen goats.

Historically, female domestic goats carrying multiple kids are mostly unable to express sufficient nursing ability due to a limited number of functional teats. Therefore, the functional teat is an important component in prolific goat breeding, and plays a key role in the future health of their kids. With this motivation, we wanted to investigate the phenotypic features, litter size, histology of adult female mammary glands, and the gene expression profile of the fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF-2) gene in goats. To illustrate this, the initial dataset of the current study consists of an electronic questionnaire that includes 697 individuals (548 does and 149 bucks) of five endemic and three exotic goats from 2015 to 2020 in different geographic areas of Iran, from 59 Markhoz (MARG), 50 Azari (AZAR), 73 Busheri (BUSH), 69 Sarbisheh (SARB), 165 Mahabadi (MOHA) indigenous goats and also exotic breeds, including 183 Saanen (SANN), 39 Alpine (ALPN), and 59 Boer (BORE) goats. The results of this study confirmed that MOHA goats (4.16%), BORE (4.43%) and SANN goat breeds (5.75%) have larger litter sizes. Interestingly, the evidence gathering when SNTs occurred showed that both the BUSH and BORE goat breeds had the highest frequency of SNTs. Moreover, under the same physiological and lactation conditions, there was no statistically significant difference in histological features between the three compared does class consist of the two teats, SNTs, and four functional teats. In addition, the results of the gene expression profile significantly highlight the FGF-2 gene pattern in two teat groups compared to other SNT groups (P < 0.01). In summary, this scenario can be used to generate further research and facts on responsible candidate genes, the variations in teat numbers in goats, examining both the incidence of SNT and litter size.

This study investigated the effects of supplementing Lake extender with cysteamine (CYS) on rooster semen quality in cold storage and it's fertility performance. Semen samples were diluted with Lake extender supplemented with different concentrations of CYS (0, 1, 2, 4 and 8 mM) and were cooled and stored at 5 °C for a period of 46 h. Motility, membrane functionality, viability, lipid peroxidation, and mitochondria membrane potential were evaluated at 0, 23 and 46 h of storage. Fertility was assessed at 23 h of storage. Although at the beginning time (0 h), parameters were not affected, 1 mM of CYS improved (P ≤ 0.05) total motility, progressive motility and mitochondria membrane potential during 23 and 46 h storage. Moreover, 1 and 2 mM CYS improved (P ≤ 0.05) membrane functionality and viability compared to other groups. Lipid peroxidation was lower (P ≤ 0.05) in samples diluted with 1 and 2 mM CYS compared to the others. Artificial insemination with 23-hrs cooled-stored semen produced the higher (P ≤ 0.05) fertility rate in groups received 1 and 2 mM CYS compared to the control group. In conclusion, addition of 1 and 2 mM CYS to the extender could be helpful to protect rooster semen against structural and functional damages of cooling storage process.

The objective of this study was to compare the expression of pituitary gonadotropin genes between three populations of native birds in Iran and Hyline W-36. One hundred and twenty-eight 37-week-old chickens (Golpayegan, Marandi, Isfahan, and Hyline W-36) were studied for 12 weeks. All birds were reared in the same cage system and under similar nutritional and managerial conditions. Quantitative characteristics such as egg number, egg weight, egg production percentage, egg mass, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio were calculated. At the end of the trial, five hens in each group were slaughtered after weighing, and their heads, livers, ovaries, and oviducts were removed. The gene expression of LH and FSH was determined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), after RNA extraction from the pituitary gland. The results showed that Hyline W-36 had the highest egg number, egg weight, percentage of egg production, and egg mass. The feed conversion ratio was the highest in the Marandi, but the lowest was observed in the Hyline W-36. Expression of the FSH gene in Hyline W-36 was higher than in other groups. A positive and significant correlation was observed between the expression of the pituitary gland FSH gene, egg mass, and relative ovarian weight. The difference in production performance of various genetic populations seems to be mainly due to the differential expression of the FSH gene in the pituitary gland. Therefore, for genetic enhancement programs in native chicken, these results may help identify the metabolic pathways of gonadotropins gene expression, their effects on the ovaries, and reproductive activity.

The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of estimating the weight of Kalkoohi camels using digital image processing. For this purpose, Kalkoohi camels were weighed monthly on a private farm for one year. On the day of weighing, digital images were taken from all camels from their lateral side. These digital images were processed in MATLAB software environment and the required numerical features of each image including different morphological features were extracted. Among all extracted features, major axis length, minor axis length, the number of non-zero elements (NNZ) and equivalent diameter had a significant and high correlation with the weight of camels (p <0.01) and were considered as effective features in developing neural network. The multi-layer artificial neural network, which was trained by back propagation algorithm, was used to estimate the weight of camels based on their digital images. The accuracy of the final model in estimating the weight of Kalkoohi camels based on their image features was 99%. The correlation coefficient between the estimated weights by artificial neural network model and the actual weights of the camels was 98%, and the deviation of estimated weights from the measured weight of camels was 2.21 kg. The results of this study revealed that digital image processing technology has a good potential to estimate the weight of Kalkoohi camels, and this method could be a good alternative to weigh camels using a scale.

This study conducted to determine the effect of guanidino acetic acid consumption and management methods on the enhancement of aged rooster's reproduction. A total of 486 broiler breeders (Ross 308) were used in a 3 × 3 factorial experiment from week 41 to 62. Three levels as 0, 1200, and 1600 (mg/kg) of guanidino acetic acid, as a precursor of creatine (CreAmino) in combination with three management methods (no-management, spiking, and, intra-spiking methods) were evaluated. Quantitative and qualitative characteristics of sperm were determined every other week. At the end of the experiment, three roosters from each treatment were slaughtered and their testicles were evaluated for morphological and histological characteristics. The volume of sperm was a significant reduction in CreAmino (1200 mg/kg) + spiking. Sperm progressive motility reduced in CreAmino (1200 mg/kg) + nomanagement and CreAmino (1600 mg/kg) + intra-spiking. Also, CreAmino (1200 mg/kg) +no-management, increased the weight of the testicles. CreAmino (1600 mg/kg) + spiking showed the highest number of spermatozoa. The results showed that using 1600 mg CreAmino in combination with management methods, spiking and intra-spiking, can reduce and delay the occurrence of signs of aging in roosters. So, with using this level of CreAmino it is expected fertility in broiler breeder flock improved.

Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of feeding oil supplement on mammary gland development and milk production responses in Holstein cows. Ten multiparous Holstein cows (42.2±9.2 d before calving, 3.25±0.25 body condition score, and 620±35 kg body weight) were randomly assigned to treatments. Treatments were a diet with oil added as palm oil (PO; n=5), or fish oil (FO; n=5) given to cows until 63 d in milk. Milk yield was recorded daily, milk composition (fat, protein, lactose, total solid and somatic cell count) was measured weekly and fatty acid profiles of milk fat were determined at first and last week of the experiment. Samples of mammary tissue were obtained at 7 and 63 d in milk by biopsy gun. Tissue slides were analyzed by Image J software. Results showed that fish oil supplemented diet compared to the palm oil supplemented diet increased milk production after 6 weeks of lactation (P<0.05), content of polyunsaturated fatty acids milk fat (P<0.05) and docosahexaenoic acid (P<0.01). Moreover, n-6:n-3 ratio was decreased by fish oil supplement (P<0.05). Histological studies showed that FO increased the relative percentage of tissue area occupied by epithelial cells as well as a number of total alveoli in each microscopic field (P<0.05). Data suggested that feeding fish oil during the dry period and early lactation could improve development and function of the mammary gland in the dairy cow.

An experiment was conducted on Nadooshan goats of Iran, during the breeding season, to evaluate the effectiveness of flushing and equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) treatment on reproductive traits. Ninety-two intact does with an average live weight of 25.11 ± 3.933 kg were randomly divided into four equal experimental groups. Controlled internal drug release device (CIDR) were inserted for 18 days in all groups. Experimental groups consist of: 1- Control (C); 2- eCG (600 IU; E); 3- eCG (600 IU) + Flushing (E+F); and 4- Flushing (F). Does in two last groups (E and E+F) were injected intramuscularly, at the time of CIDR withdrawal, with 600 IU of eCG. The first group (C) received no treatment and served as a control. All animals were submitted to pasture and mineral licks and groups E+F and F additionally received flushing ration. Pregnancy rate in group F was more than the control group (p