Ramin Farhadi; Abbas Farshad; Jalal Rostamzadeh; Abouzar Najafi
Abstract
The present study was conducted in order to use different levels of curcumin in the diluting sperm epididymis of Shal breed rams during storage at five degrees Celsius in the form of a completely randomized design with four treatments in six replications. Sperm samples were extracted from the testicular ...
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The present study was conducted in order to use different levels of curcumin in the diluting sperm epididymis of Shal breed rams during storage at five degrees Celsius in the form of a completely randomized design with four treatments in six replications. Sperm samples were extracted from the testicular tissue and used in the Tris-egg yolk diluent. Different concentrations of curcumin including 0, 10, 25 and 50 μM were added to the diluents. The samples were gradually cooled at 5°C and after stabilization at this temperature, in 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours, the parameters of total motility, progressive motility, viability, membrane integrity and the percentage of sperm abnormalities were evaluated. The results showed that the use of 25μM curcumin improved the parameters of total motility, progressive motility, viability and membrane integrity only at 6 and 12 hours, but no significant difference was observed at 24 and 48 hours compared to other treatment groups. Regarding sperm abnormalities, no significant difference was observed between the treatments in all the examined times. The results of this study indicate that using a concentration of 25μM curcumin can lead to the improvement of ram epididymal sperm quality in the initial periods of storage, but it loses its effect in longer periods of time. Therefore, it is recommended to use nanotechnology methods to improve the effectiveness of curcumin, especially during long-term storage of ram sperm.
Hossein Mohammadi; Amir Hossein khaltabadi farahani; Mhammad hossein Moradi; Abouzar Najafi
Abstract
Understanding the genetic control of temperament as a complex trait and correlated with economic traits is one of the breeding goals in beef cattle industry. The aim of the current study was genome wide association studies (GWAS) based on Gene set enrichment analysis for detecting the loci associated ...
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Understanding the genetic control of temperament as a complex trait and correlated with economic traits is one of the breeding goals in beef cattle industry. The aim of the current study was genome wide association studies (GWAS) based on Gene set enrichment analysis for detecting the loci associated with temperament traits in Brahman cattle breed. Therefore, 1370 Brahman cattle and phenotype records associated with temperament traits including Exit velocity, Pen Score, and Temperament Score were used. The evaluation of genome-wide association was carried out using PLINK package 1.90. The gene enrichment analysis was performed by the goseq R package for identifying biological pathways of nearby genes in selected candidate regions and finally, GO, Metacyc, KEEG, Reactome and panther databases were applied for bioinformatics analysis. By Gene set enrichment analysis, the biological pathways and candidate genes of neurotransmitter secretion (NRXN3 and CACNG3), Dopamine Neurotransmitter Release Cycle (PPFIA2), regulation of neuron projection development (GRID2), neuron projection (SLC8A1 and KCNQ2), Axonal growth inhibition (RTN4R), Neurotrophin signaling pathway (MAP2K2, MAP3K5 and PSEN1) and Focal adhesion (TLN2) were identified. The detected candidate genes played an important role in differentiation of synapse, neurotransmitters, neurological diseases and disorders, oxidative and environmental stresses, hormone receptors and glucose homeostasis. Considering the confirmation of the previous region of genome wide association and the identification of new genomic regions, the findings of this study can be useful in the genetic selection of higher production cattle through calm animals.
Hossein Daghigh Kia; Fatemeh Zare Ghaleh Jigh; Abouzar Najafi; Hossein Vaseghi Dodran
Abstract
In order to improve the quality of ram semen after freezing-thawing process, different levels of ethanol extract of Bilberry plants were investigated. In this study five rams were used for semen collection twice a week by an artificial vagina. In order to eliminate the effects of the individual, the ...
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In order to improve the quality of ram semen after freezing-thawing process, different levels of ethanol extract of Bilberry plants were investigated. In this study five rams were used for semen collection twice a week by an artificial vagina. In order to eliminate the effects of the individual, the semen samples were pooled. Different levels of Bilberry extract (0, 100, 150, 200 μl/ml) were added to the Tris- Egg yolk based extender. Following cooling and freezing of semen samples, they were stored in liquid nitrogen until evaluation. After freezing-thawing, motility parameters were evaluated using the Computer-assisted sperm analysis system (CASA), the viability of sperms by Eosin-Nigrosin staining, membrane integrity using the hypo-osmotic swelling test, sperm abnormality by Hancock solution and lipid peroxidation by measuring malondialdehyde concentration. The results showed that the addition of 150 μl of Bilberry extract improved sperm parameters following freezing-thawing process compared to the control group (P< 0.05). According to the results of this study, Bilberry extract can be used as a natural antioxidant, with high performance, inexpensive and available in ram sperm diluent.