Using a novel and fast genotyping method called Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR (KASP™), we carried out a pilot study on 48 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) belonging to 40 genes in French Alpine (n = 24) and Saanen (n = 25) goats reared in Romania. Furthermore, the associations of the 13 polymorphic genetic variants with milk production and composition were investigated. Thirty-five SNPs did not show polymorphism in the studied populations. Polymorphic SNPs were detected in the following genes: CAST, CLEC4E, DES, GHRHR, HSP90AA1, IL15RA, IL1RN, IL8, MITF, PPRC1, SOCS3, TNF and TNFSF13. The studied Alpine population was in Hardy-Weinberg disequilibrium at the g.62894878A>G locus (rs671391101) (P < 0.05). The results showed that four SNPs rs671391101 (GHRHR), rs640582069 (IL1RN) rs635583012 (SOCS3) and rs635969404 (IL15RA) out of the 13 polymorphic markers were significantly associated with milk production, protein, fat and lactose content in the Alpine breed. However, no significant effect was recorded in the Saanen population regarding milk yield or milk chemical composition. The current results provide new insights for the development of SNP marker-assisted selection technology in the goat industry and confirm the potential of using SNPs for the GHRHR, IL1RN, SOCS3, and IL15RA genes as candidate genes for selection, highlighting the direct implications of such genes for farm production outputs. The results from this study are relevant for future goat genomic studies and the inclusion of the associated traits into up-to-date selection schemes.

The overall objectives of the research were to evaluate the effect of cross-breeding Dorper (DO) rams with Turcana (TA) ewes on growth and reproductive performances of F 1 DOxTA and R 1 DOx(DOxTA) crossbred lambs reared under a semi-intensive management system; to study the adaptability of the DO breed to Romanian farming conditions; and to evaluate the effects of melatonin implants outside the breeding season on reproductive performances in DO ewes. Animals were managed on cultivated pastures, with an average stocking rate of 12 head/ha. Additional 200 g concentrates/day were given for 90 days during the winter season and a three lambings per two years system was practised with the use melatonin implants for oestrous induction outside the natural breeding season. Dorper and F 1 crossbreds were found to be highly precocious when put to the ram as ewe lambs, with an average fertility rate of 84.2% and 79.3%, respectively, compared with 19.3% in the TA controls (CG). The litter size in adult DO ewes was 136.6% versus 118.8% for the TA (CG). Dorper-sired progeny had significantly higher body weights of lambs at weaning (90 days) compared with TA purebreds (23.8 kg, 23.5 kg, 21.5 kg, 19.4 kg for DO, R 1 , F 1 and TA, respectively). At the age of 8 months, all three DO genotypes were significantly heavier (46.1 kg, 40.7 kg and 43.5 kg for DO, F 1 and R 1 , respectively) compared with the TA females, who reached 32.3 kg. Average daily gain from birth to 28 days of age was significantly higher in DO purebreds and F 1 and R 1 crossbreds compared with TA lambs (266.4 g, 253.8 g, 223.4 g and 157.3 g, respectively). Lamb survival rates until weaning were not affected by the genotype. When using melatonin implants in the DO ewes, the fertility rate increased to 88%, compared with a fertility of 41.6% in non-treated DO ewes. Out-of-season prolificacy was not affected by melatonin treatment, with litter size being 127% and 120% in treated and non-treated DO ewes, respectively. The DO breed performed well under Romanian semi-intensive management, and proved to be a highly adaptable breed to the new rearing conditions. ________________________________________________________________________________

This ecological study evaluates the association between fatality rates in traffic accidents (FR-V) and the study variables: infant mortality rate (IMR), proportion of young drivers involved in motor vehicle accidents (MVA) with casualties, and the proportion of young residents from 1995 to 1998 in the Brazilian State capitals and the Federal District. There was an important association between the MVA fatality rate and IMR (r = 0.57; p = 0.002), that is, the less developed a society, the higher its traffic mortality rate. No significant association was found between the proportion of young drivers in MVA with casualties and the MVA fatality rate (r = -0.27; p = 0.184). Nevertheless, the strong association observed between the proportion of young residents and the MVA mortality rate (r = 0.59; p = 0.002) suggests a possible correlation between traffic mortality and adolescence.

The main objective of the current study was to obtain preliminary results on genetic polymorhism of A and C variants at the CSN2 locus in indigenous Romanian goat (Banat White, Carpatina) breeds using a rapid and efficient genotyping method, TaqMan assay (Applied Biosystems, USA). Hair follicle samples were taken from 73 Banat White and 82 Carpatina purebred goats from Arad, Caras-Severin and Timis counties. After the optimization of the genotyping assay it was found that the most frequent allele at the CSN2 locus was C in Banat White breed, while CSN2*A and CSN2*C showed similar frequencies in Carpatina breed (0.51 and 0.49, respectively). All three genotypes were detected in the two studied breeds, however, AA was the least frequent, especially in Banat White. The studied polymorphisms are potential markers for milk production in the studied breeds and the results will be useful in future works aimed at identifying possible associations with milk production traits, in order to test the feasibility of producing hypoallergenic organic goat milk.

Goat breeding has become an important sector in Eastern Europe, with Romania and Hungary being among the major producer countries. Given the limited number of research done up-to-date concerning genetic studies of indigenous goat breeds reared in Romania and Hungary, the current preliminary study aimed to analyze the variability of genes related to mastitis and gastrointestinal parasitism by using Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR (KASP™). We studied 52 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) belonging to 19 genes in indigenous breeds from both countries, namely Banat’s White (n = 36), Carpatina (n = 35) from Romania and Hungarian Milking (n = 79) and identified 16 polymorphic SNPs among 10 genes (PTX3, IL6, CLEC4E, IL8, IL1RN, IL15RA, TNFSF13, SOCS3, TNF and TLR3) in 150 animals. Furthermore, the diversity of the studied breeds was investigated. The PIC values ranged from 0.042 to 0.691. The mean values of observed and expected heterozygosity were 0.235 and 0.246 respectively. The highest observed heterozygosity was obtained for IL15RA g.10343904C>T in Banat’s White (0.464), IL15RA g.10354813C>T in Carpatina (0.577) and SOCS3 g.52626440T>G in Hungarian Milking (0.588). Pairwise FST values between the Romanian breeds and Romanian and Hungarian breeds were small (0.009 and 0.015), indicating the close relationship among the studied goat populations. From all the polymorphic SNPs identified, the Hungarian Milking breed showed the highest proportion of polymorphisms (100%), whereas the Carpatina breed had the lowest percentage (87.5%). The highest value of MAF was obtained for SOCS3 g.52626440T>G (0.46), IL15RA g.10343904C>T (0.47), IL15RA g.10344025C>T (0.45), and IL15RA g.10354813C>T (0.42). The 16 polymorphic SNPs identified in a panel of 150 unrelated individuals belonging to three Romanian and Hungarian indigenous goat breeds could be used in future genomic based breeding schemes as markers for genetic resistance to mastitis and gastrointestinal parasitism in goat breeds found in Eastern and Central Europe.