Poultry farming is gaining strength in mitigating livelihood and nutritional security to the poor farmers which constitute 60% of the India’s population. Thus eggs of superior quality is prerequisite for profitable marketing and for hatchability too. The present study was conducted on two improved varieties, Vanaraja (dual purpose type) and Gramapriya (the layer type) chicken developed at PDP, Hyderabad and their crosses on random mating. The genetic groups taken were Gramapriya (male) x Gramapriya (female),Vanaraja(male) x Vanaraja(female), Gramapriya(male) x Vanaraja(female)and Vanaraja (male) x Gramapriya(female). 6 males and 30 females were taken from each genetic group and maintained separately under deep litter system with a mating ratio of 1 male : 5 females. To study the genetic effect on external and internal egg quality traits, a total of more than 50 eggs were collected at random from each of 4 genetic groups upto 28 weeks of age. The average shell thickness obtained to be ranged from 0.36 to 0.39 mm. The average albumen and yolk indices were found to be ranged from 7.396 to 8.656 and 41.749 to 43.888 respectively. The average shell weight and percentage of shell weight observed to be ranged from 4.147 to 5.627 g and 17.266 to 18.003% respectively.

In this study, genetic diversity analysis of MHC class II-DQA locus helped in identification of 25 new Bubu-DQA nucleotide sequences in swamp buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis carabanesis, Bubu). Phylogenetic analysis revealed the distribution of the buffalo DQA sequences in two major clusters of DQA1 and DQA2 genes, sharing common lineages with corresponding cattle alleles, possibly due to trans-species evolution. However, a highly divergent sequence, Bubu-DQA*2501, homologous to cattle (BoLA) DQA3 allele, was identified, indicating the existence of an additional locus; putative DQA3 in buffalo. PCR-RFLP analysis revealed extensive duplication of DQA locus in swamp buffaloes, sharing DQA1, DQA2, and DQA3 alleles in different combinations in duplicated haplotypes. Higher dN than dS values and Wu-Kabat variability at peptide-binding regions in Bubu-DQA indicated high polymorphism with balancing selection. Levels of genetic diversity within DQA sequences and duplication in a small population of swamp buffalo indicate the genetic richness of the species, important for fitness.

The present study was conducted to investigate efficacy of supplementation of polyherbal-potash alum mixture on immune status of cows during transition period. Fourteen crossbred cows in their late gestation were selected and randomly divided into 2 groups. Cows in one group were supplemented with mixture containing herbs and potash alum from 30 days ante-partum to 30 days postpartum. Trachyspermum ammi Asparagus racemosus, Ocimum sanctum, Emblica officinalis, Cinnamomum zeylancium and potash alum were used for preparation of mixture. Immune status viz, total leucocyte counts (TLC), differential leucocyte counts (DLC), in-vitro phagocytic activity (PA) of blood neutrophils and plasma cortisol level were estimated as well as incidence of diseases were studied. Results showed that supplementation mixture significantly (P<0.05) reduced cortisol level and TLC, whereas phagocytic activity was increased on the day of parturition. However, no significant (P<0.05) changes were observed in DLC. Incidence of mastitis, metritis and retention of foetal membrane (RFM) in control group was 28.57%, 28.57% and 14.28%, respectively whereas no such cases were found in treatment group. The study clearly indicated that supplementation of polyherbal-potash alum mixture enhance immunity during transition period.

In bovines, MHC-DQ loci are highly polymorphic and duplicated, which broadens the immunological repertoire. 1-3 Here, we report on the diversity at the DQ subregion in the yak (Bos grunniens, Bogr).Thirty-seven yaks were sampled in Arunachal Pradesh (India). After amplification of exon 2 from the DQA and DQB genes, 30 samples yielded readable nucleotide sequences covering both genes (Table S1). Twelve DQA and DQB PCR products with heterogeneous sequences were cloned, and six random positive clones were sequenced for each sample. Sequences of PCR products from homozygous samples and cloned sequences were submitted to NCBI (accession nos. KP999914-43, KP233802).We identified 13 DQA alleles in 13 animals and 18 DQB alleles in 22 animals. Nucleotide diversity at exon 2 was higher in DQA (0.130) than in DQB (0.074) alleles. Ten peptide binding sites 4 in DQB and three in DQA had a Wu-Kabat variability index of greater than 4, suggesting a major role of the DQB locus in adaptive selection (Fig. 1). The dN/dS values for DQA (0.63) and DQB (4.08) indicated that only DQB is under positive selection.Three yaks were found to be homozygous, and 10 were heterozygous and/or duplicated at both DQA and DQB (Table S1). The other 17 yaks were heterozygous or duplicated at either DQA or DQB. More than two alleles for both DQA and DQB in three yaks indicated duplication of both loci, which for DQA has also been observed in water buffalo. 5 For DQB, locus duplication could be confirmed in at least four yaks by the presence of more than two alleles. Phylogenetic analysis revealed different major clusters and an intermingling of DQA and DQB alleles respectively from yak and other bovines (Fig. S1). The yak DQA alleles belong to the DQA1 (alleles 3, 5 to 10, 12 and 13) or DQA2 (alleles 1, 2, 4 and 11) haplogroups. DQB allele 8 has a separate position, and other yak DQB alleles again are grouped into two major clusters. Both phylograms demonstrate that the DQ alleles are shared by bovine species and often evolved by duplication.Acknowledgements: The authors acknowledge the funding support received from the ICAR-NBAGR director under institute project No. 7.56.

Aquaporin 7 (AQP7) gene is a member of aqua-glyceroporins which transports glycerol and water to spermatids. The present study aimed to investigate the polymorphisms within exons 2, 3, 4, 5 and their flanking intronic regions in AQP7 gene of Murrah bulls. Genomic DNA was extracted from 69 Murrah bulls blood samples and was subjected to polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) analysis. PCR-SSCP analysis revealed a total of eight different variants for amplicons of exons 4 and 5. Amplicon of exon 4 revealed three different patterns viz. E4P1, E4P2 and E4P3 with the frequency of 0.30, 0.22 and 0.48, respectively. Analysis of exon 5 revealed five unique SSCP patterns viz. E5P1, E5P2, E5P3, E5P4 and E5P5, with the frequency of 0.10, 0.37, 0.20, 0.20 and 0.13, respectively. Sequence analysis showed 16 single nucleotide polymorphisms, 7 of which were observed in coding region. Amplicons of exons 2 and 3 showed monomorphic patterns. However, compared to the reference sequence of taurine cattle one transition (C6878T) in exon 3 and 4 transitions (G2099A, C2116T, A2117G, G6848C) in intron 2 were observed for all the bulls under study. The genetic variability identified in the AQP7 gene may serve as potential genetic marker(s) for semen quality traits in buffalo.