<div style="text-align: justify;">Data on growth traits of Nellore sheep were extracted from the records maintained at Livestock Research Station, Palamaner, Andhra Pradesh, India for a period of five years. The genetic and phenotypic parameters were estimated for growth traits i.e., average daily gain (ADG) from birth to 3 months (ADGa), 3 months to 6 months (ADGb), 6 to 12 months (ADGc) and the corresponding Kleiber ratio (KR) at respective stages of growth. The non genetic factors included in the model were having significance on most of the traits studied. The heritability estimates for ADG and corresponding KR ranged from 0.17 to 0.25. The estimates of genetic correlations among the traits ranged between -0.28 (Ka-Kb) and 0.99 (ADGb-Kb). The moderate estimates of heritability, high and positive genetic correlations among the traits in the study were suggestive of moderate genetic progress in the Nellore breed of sheep through selection.&nbsp;</div>

Genetic parameters for growth rate and Kleiber ratios of Nellore sheep

<div style="text-align: justify;">The experiment was carried out to study the effect of organic practices, mulching and plant growth regulators on growth, yield and quality of papaya cv. Taiwan Red Lady 786 under subtropical conditions of Punjab. In this experiment, farmyard manure, vermicompost and mulching along with different concentrations of GA3, NAA and Ethrel were tested in randomized block design. Maximum plant height (145.33cm), stem diameter (37.66cm), number of leaves/plant (32.33), number of flowers (135.66/plant), number of fruits (40.66/plant), fruit set percentage (78.18%), fruit length (17.13cm), fruit breadth (12.23cm), specific gravity (0.92) and ascorbic acid percentage (83.77%) was recorded in GA3 200ppm with FYM, vermicompost and black mulching, whereas maximum TSS (16.710B) and minimum acidity percentage (0.129%) was recorded with application of Ethrel 200ppm with FYM, vermicompost and black mulching. The results of this experiment revealed that integration of PGR&rsquo;s application with farmyard manure, vermicompost and black mulch yield better results.</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">Response of organic practices, mulching and plant growth regulators on growth, yield and quality of papaya (<em>Carica papaya</em> L) cv. Taiwan Red Lady</div>

<div><strong>Background: </strong>The winter chill in temperate zones of the country affects animal production. It is understood that during cold winter animals have to maintain their body temperature through increased heat production, thus energy partitioning towards the production is compromised. Since sheep has a thick wooly coat that insulates the animal from harsh ambient temperatures, hence present study was undertaken to assess the impact of housing during cold winter on basic physiological, hemato-biochemical indices and growth in crossbred sheep in temperate Kashmir.&nbsp;<br />
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<strong>Methods: </strong>Twenty crossbred weaners of same age, sex and body weight were selected and divided into two groups of ten animals each. One group of sheep was managed under conventional closed shed and another group was managed under open fenced shed during winter from January to March. All the animals were maintained on a uniform nutritional regime. Physiological, hemato-biochemical parameters, body surface temperature, body weight and stress hormones were measured fortnightly.<br />
<br />
<strong>Result: </strong>Body weight of animals was significantly higher in closed shed (21.04&plusmn;0.23 kg) as compared to open shed (18.20&plusmn;0.19 kg). Heart rate, respiratory rate, body surface temperature differed significantly among the groups. NLR was significantly higher in animals under open shed (0.70) as compared to closed shed animals (0.63). Significant difference was observed in stress hormone cortisol with higher values in open shed animals (12.44&plusmn;0.07 ng/ml) than in closed shed animals (9.97&plusmn;0.08 ng/ml). No significant difference was observed in plasma total protein and A/G ratio, however, glucose was significantly higher in animals of open shed as compared to closed shed. Present study revealed that housing management during winter in sheep was essential to maintain production.&nbsp;</div>


<p>Housing Effect on Growth, Physiological and Blood Indices in Crossbred Sheep During Winter</p>


<p style="text-align: justify;">This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between growth hormone (GH) gene polymorphism and estimated body weight in Harri sheep. One hundred Harri sheep lambs were used to determine the birth weight (BW) and weight at 120 days of age. The daily live-weight gain (DLWG) 0-120 days (g) was calculated. The complete CDS of the Harri sheep GH gene is 2117pb in length (GenBank acc. no. KU255857). Three novel SNPs were detected by comparing with GenBanke acc. no. X12546_1. The G871A SNP in intron II, G1383A in exon IV that resulted in conversion of the amino acid arginine number 121 to lysine (R121K) and the A1509G in intron IV. Each SNP was found on both alleles the mutant homozygote was more common (48, 56 and 50%) than the heterozygote (30, 18 and 20%) for G871A, G1383A and A1509G respectively. A positive significant (P&lt;0.05) correlation between growth traits (BW, 120 day body weight and DLWG) and SNP and a highly significant correlation with the genotype were detected. The regression analysis indicated the positive effect of genotype and SNPs on the growth traits. Individuals carrying homozygote mutant alleles had the heaviest body weight and the highest DLWG. Consequently, these SNP may be useful indicators in the selection of lambs for higher growth rate and meat production.</p>


<p>Sequencing of growth hormone gene for detection of polymorphisms and their relationship with body weight in Harri sheep&nbsp;</p>


<div style="text-align: justify;">The growth rate and instability of mango production is studied for the period 1992-93 to 2013-14. For studying the growth rate, linear and compound models are fitted with and without spline. Spline model is fitted to take care of abrupt jumps in the data and evaluate the change in the trend of time series data.The entire period of study is divided into two sub-periods, 1992-93 to 2002-03 as sub period-I and 2003-04 to 2013-14 as sub-period-II as there is maximum percentage change in area, production and yield of mango in the year 2002-03. The best fitted model is selected by considering the model evaluation criteria, such as, Adj. R2 and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE). The compound model without spline, compound model with spline and linear model with spline was found to be best fit forarea, production and yield respectively. The growth rate in area, production and yield is found by using the best fit model. &nbsp;The growth rate for area is found to be positive and significant but for yield it is found to be significantly negative for each sub period and for the entire period of study. For this, though the production shows positive growth rate but it is insignificant for sub-period-Iand also for the whole period. The instability in mango production is studied with the help of coefficient of variation.As coefficient of variation is affected by long term trend, it is computed after eliminating trend from the data.From study of instability, it is found that area under mango in India shows lesser instability than production and yield. Though there is increase in production of &nbsp;mango but the increase is mainly due to the positive growth in area under mango. The yield of mango is declining at a significant rate. Decomposition analysis carried out by hazel&rsquo;s decomposition technique reveals that change in mean area made a great positive contribution towards the change in mean production, whereas, change in mean yield and change in area &ndash; yield interaction both made negative contribution towards change in mean productionfrom sub-period I to II.</div>

Fitting of appropriate model to study growth rate and instability of mango production in India

<div><strong>Background:</strong> The corriedale sheep breed was imported into J and K during sixties for use in improvement of local sheep and are maintained at Mountain Research Station of Sheep and Goat, SKUAST- K. The animals over the years were allowed to mate within the selected animals of the flock as there was hardy any fresh importation of exotic animals from last 49 years due to which closed flock population was established within the farm. This has led to apprehensions over the loss of genetic diversity through years.<br />
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<strong>Methods:</strong> The present study was to undertaken to evaluate the performance of Corriedale sheep under temperate climate and to estimate the inbreeding coefficient and its effect on growth and fitness traits of Corriedale sheep maintained at Mountain Research Centre for Sheep and Goat (MRCSG), F.V.Sc and A.H, SKUAST-K Shuhama, Kashmir. The information on performance and pedigree spanning over a period of 49 years (1969-2017) was collected and utilized for the study. The traits studied were birth weight (BW), weaning weight (WW), 6 months weight (6MW), 9 months weight (9MW) and 12 months weight (12MW) age at first lambing (AFL), litter size (LS), total lambs born per ewe (TLB) and survival rate (SR).&nbsp;<br />
<br />
<strong>Result:</strong> The averages estimates for BW, WW, 6MW, 9MW, 12MW, AFL, LS, TLB and SR were 3.72&plusmn;0.01 kg, 13.31&plusmn;0.07 kg, 18.65&plusmn;0.05kg, 22.15&plusmn;0.04 kg, 25.84&plusmn;0.06 kg 807.20&plusmn;4.34 days, 1.08&plusmn;0.00, 4.83&plusmn;0.03 and 80.76&plusmn;1.98, respectively. The overall inbreeding coefficient (F) and proportion of population inbred (per cent) for Corriedale sheep were 18.3 and 43.3, respectively. The increased inbreeding coefficient had negative impact and highly significant (p&lt;0.01) on all the traits under study except LS. The increased inbreeding coefficient (F) also had a negative impact on all the traits under study. With increase in the level of inbreeding there was a decrease in total body weight traits, lambs born per ewe and survival rate where as age at first lambing was increasing with the increase. he results indicated as decrease of 0.25 kg, 1.45 kg, 5.04 kg, 5.53 kg and 5.48 kg in body weight of the animals at birth, weaning weight, six months, nine months and twelve months from 1969-2017. To overcome the negative impact of inbreeding coefficient in the flock introduction of genetic variability through importation of Corriedale germplasm into the farm is highly recommended.</div>


<p>Effect of Inbreeding Coefficient on Growth and Fitness Traits in a Closed Flock of Corriedale Sheep</p>


<div style="text-align:justify"><strong>Background:</strong> The Norduz sheep is a local breed of sheep bred for its meat, milk, progeny and fleece and is one of the genetic resources in the rural areas of Norduz, a district of the Turkish province of Van. The PCR-based method involves amplification of a conserved DNA region and digestion of the PCR products with DNA restriction endonucleases throughout the genome. Based on the resulting polymorphisms, statistical methods can be used to identify the desired genotypes among the alleles found. The objective of this study was to identify the polymorphisms of the growth hormone gene and determine their association with six growth traits in Norduz sheep.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
<strong>Methods:</strong> Out of 50 Norduz sheep, three different loci, GHY1, GHY2 and GHY3 (with the length of 599, 690 and 679 bp respectively) of GH gene on chromosome 11 of sheep genome were selected to identify polymorphisms among individuals using the PCR-RFLP technique (GH/MspI).&nbsp;<br />
<br />
<strong>Result:</strong> In this research study, no polymorphisms were detected after digesting three loci of the GH gene with the enzyme MspI. The 50 individuals of Norduz sheep had only AB genotypes for all three loci, indicating that no polymorphisms were present in the regions of the GH genes studied.</div>


<p>Detection of Growth Hormone (GH) Gene Polymorphism in Norduz Sheep</p>


<div style="text-align:justify">
<div style="text-align: left;"><strong>Background: </strong>Sheep are one of the important sources of agricultural production in the country and they are one of the pillars of agricultural income. Awassi sheep constitute the numerical majority of Iraqi sheep, as it represents 55-60%. A modern method must be used to in feed, management, improvement of environmental and genetic improvement to increase that productivity in a way that matches the importance of these animals in the livestock sector to achieve the desired target. The season of birth is one of the environmental factors affecting the weight and growth rate of the lambs.</div>

<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
<strong>Methods:</strong> The study was conducted using forty Awassi ewes, 3-4 years old. lambed single male lambs distributed over the two birth seasons (20 ewes/season). The first season was at winter (October to December) and the second season was at spring (February to May). Milk samples were collected 50 ml/ewe for analysis of its components such as fat, protein and solids non-fat percentage, by the German Eco-Milk analyses device.</div>

<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
<strong>Result:</strong> The results of the statistical analysis showed no significant effect for birth season on weight of lambs at birth and a months after birth for the two seasons, while the differences were significant (p<strong>&le;</strong>0.05) at the age of 2 and 3 months in favor of the winter birth. Milk production showed a significant increase (p<strong>&le;</strong>0.05) at the second and third months of ewes in spring season compared to winter. the results showed a significant (p<strong>&le;</strong>0.05) superiority for the percentage of fat, non-fat solids and protein for winter season ewes. A significant positive correlation (p<strong>&le;</strong>0.05) was observed for winter season ewes in body weight, milk fat and protein ratio, a significant positive correlation (p<strong>&le;</strong>0.05) for spring season ewes between body weight and milk production. While the results showed a significant negative correlation (p<strong>&le;</strong>0.05) between the percentage of milk fat for ewes between winter and spring seasons and a highly significant positive relationship (p<strong>&le;</strong>0.05) for milk protein, non-fat solids and weight of ewes for winter and spring seasons, respectively.</div>
</div>


<p>Seasonal Influence on Productive and Growth Performance in Awassi Sheep</p>


<div style="text-align: justify;">This study was undertaken to assess the performance of Madras Red sheep fed concentrate feed at different physiological stages such as prior to breeding (14 days), late gestation (last 42 days) and early lactation (first 60 days) &nbsp;and compounded feed for growing lambs up to 120 days of age. The study was conducted at Postgraduate Research Institute in Animal Sciences, Kattupakkam, Tamil Nadu. In this, sixty ewes were selected in the age group of 3 to 5 years and divided into three groups with twenty in each group. The first group was allowed for grazing for seven hours daily from 9.00 A.M to 4.00 P.M and served as control group (G1).The second and third group (G2 and G3) of animals were supplemented with concentrate feed @ 10% and 20% of their daily dry matter requirement, respectively. The result indicates that the supplementation of concentrate feed to sheep significantly (p&lt;0.05) improved the production and reproduction performance of sheep in terms of body weight gain during late pregnancy and early lactation, conception rate, lambing percentage, birth weight and ADG of lambs in group (G3) when compared to concentrate feed supplementation @ 10 % of dry matter requirement (G2) or non-supplemented groups (G1). It is concluded that the net profit available per ewe was more in G3 followed by G 2 and G1 groups.</div>

Effect of concentrate feed supplementation during different physiological stages in Madras Red Sheep

<p><strong>Background:</strong> Litter size represents a key economic trait in Australian-Hu sheep (Australian White sheep&nbsp;♂&nbsp;&times; Hu sheep&nbsp;♀) and determines breeding profitability. Growth differentiation factor 9 (<em>GDF9</em>) is recognized as a principal candidate gene influencing litter size in <em>ovis aries</em>. Previous research on Australian-Hu sheep has focused on associations between polymorphisms in the coding region of <em>GDF9</em> and litter size, with limited attention to the promoter region. To address this gap, this study examined the <em>GDF9</em> promoter region polymorphism in Australian-Hu sheep, analyzed its association with multiple lambing and evaluated its impact on promoter activity, aiming to provide a theoretical foundation for selecting molecular markers for multiple lambing breeding.<br />
<br />
<strong>Methods: </strong>To investigate single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci effects in <em>GDF9</em> promoter region on lambing rate of Australian-Hu crossbred sheep, 193 pregnant ewes were selected. Genomic DNA (gDNA) was extracted from blood, the <em>GDF9 </em>promoter region was amplified by PCR and SNP sites were identified using Sanger sequencing. Association analyses between SNPs and lambing rate were conducted and a dual-luciferase reporter assay evaluated the SNPs&rsquo; effects on <em>GDF9</em> transcriptional activity.<br />
<br />
<strong>Result: </strong>In the <em>GDF9</em> promoter region of Australian-Hu Sheep, six linked SNP sites were identified: g.42117805C&gt;T, g.42117824T&gt;C, g.42117899G&gt;A, g.42118070A&gt;G, g.42118197T&gt;G and g.42118272C&gt;T. Five loci (g.42118070A&gt;G, g.42118272C&gt;T, g.42117805C&gt;T, g.42117824T&gt;C and g.42117899G&gt;A) showed significant association with lambing rate (P&lt;0.05), with heterozygous genotypes yielding higher lambing rate. Dual-luciferase reporter assays indicated that the (-517 to +3) region functions as the core promoter. Mutations at g.42118070A&gt;G, g.42118197T&gt;G and g.42118272C&gt;T within this region reduced <em>GDF9</em> promoter transcriptional activity. These findings provide a basis for identifying molecular markers to screen for multiple lambing traits in Australian-Hu sheep.</p>


Genetic parameters for growth rate and Kleiber ratios of Nellore sheep

Response of organic practices, mulching and plant growth regulators on growth, yield and quality of papaya (Carica papaya L) cv. Taiwan Red Lady

Housing Effect on Growth, Physiological and Blood Indices in Crossbred Sheep During Winter

Sequencing of growth hormone gene for detection of polymorphisms and their relationship with body weight in Harri sheep

Fitting of appropriate model to study growth rate and instability of mango production in India

Effect of Inbreeding Coefficient on Growth and Fitness Traits in a Closed Flock of Corriedale Sheep

Detection of Growth Hormone (GH) Gene Polymorphism in Norduz Sheep

Seasonal Influence on Productive and Growth Performance in Awassi Sheep

Effect of concentrate feed supplementation during different physiological stages in Madras Red Sheep

Identification of GDF9 Promoter SNPs Affecting Lambing Rate in Australian-Hu Sheep