Boer goats physiology adaptation to saline drinking water

Impact of protein supply on the productive performance of growing lambs drinking natural saline water and fed low-quality forage under semi-arid conditions

Consuming saline water causes animals salinity stress, which leads to many adapting metabolic changes that could negatively affect its performance and the quality of the derived products. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the impact of increasing diet protein level on the productive performance of growing lambs drinking natural saline water in Egyptian semi-arid region. Twenty-four growing Barki lambs (4-5 months old) with an initial body weight of 20.7 ± 0.25 kg were randomly distributed into four similar groups for 150 days. Two diets were formulated: low protein and high protein levels (concentrate feed mixture containing 14% and 20% crude protein (CP) on dry matter basis, respectively). Within each level of CP, natural saline water was represented by low saline (LS) and high saline (HS) water, containing 658 and 2100 mg/L of total dissolved solids, respectively. Results showed that the HS water increased (p = 0.02) water intake by about 18% and had adverse effect (p < 0.001) on dry matter intake, nutrient digestibility, and growth performance. The ruminal pH values, total volatile fatty acids, and ammonia-N concentrations were not affected by drinking the HS water. However, the protein supplementation enhanced the HS lambs' nutrients digestion and showed greater growth performance. The HS water decreased (p < 0.001) the serum concentrations of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and increased (p = 0.03) the urea-N by about 9%. The protein supplementation amended the serum ALT and AST concentrations of HS lambs. It is concluded that the dietary protein supply was affective sustainable management strategy against the deleterious effect of drinking high saline water on growing lambs.

Impact of drinking of saline water on hemato-biochemical parameters of Black Bengal goats in the selected areas of Bangladesh

Global climatic changes are contaminating ground and surface water sources around the world, resulting in increased salinity. Knowing the animals' typical physiological capability for salinity tolerance without compromising their health is a necessity. The research was undertaken to determine the impacts of drinking water salinity on hemato-biochemical parameters of Black Bengal goats. A total of 40 Black Bengal goats (20 male and 20 female), age ranging from 1 to 5 years, were randomly selected and divided into 2 groups. The animals of group 1 received higher saline water (12 ppt) and those in group 2 received lower saline water (1 ppt) as regular drinking water. Blood parameters of all selected goats were measured. Serum creatinine, uric acid, urea, potassium, sodium, and chloride were significantly higher (P< 0.05) in the animals of group 1 compared with group 2, although serum phosphorous was significantly lower (P < 0.05) in group 1 compared with group 2. There were no significant differences in serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), glucose, magnesium, and calcium between the animals of group 1 and 2. AST and magnesium differed significantly (P < 0.05) between young and adult goats in group 1. Glucose and urea levels were slightly higher (P < 0.05) in young goats. In both groups, male goats had significantly higher (P < 0.05) serum potassium and urea levels than female goats. The results suggest that Black Bengal goats of the coastal areas have different salt tolerance capacities based on their age and sex, and adapt to higher salinity by changing kidney functions.

Effects of high salinity in drinking water on behaviors, growth, and renal electrolyte excretion in crossbred Boer goats under tropical conditions

Background and Aim:

The high salinity of drinking water has been a significant problem of the Mekong Rivers Delta. Animals drinking high salinity water altered feed and water intake (WI), urinary electrolytes excretion, and productivity. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of high salinity in drinking water on drinking and eating behaviors and kidney function in crossbred goats.

Materials and Methods:

The experiment was completely randomized with two treatments: freshwater (0%, seawater [SW0]) and water high in salinity (1.5%, SW1.5) from diluted SW, with five replicates (five animals per treatment). This experiment lasted 3 weeks: the 1^st week for the pre-treatment period and the 2^nd-3^rd weeks for the post-treatment. Dry matter intake (DMI) and WI were recorded every day, while urine volume (UV) was determined from day 8 to day 21. Blood and urinary samples were collected on days 6, 14, and 21 of the study for electrolytes and creatinine analysis.

Results:

The results demonstrated that both DMI and WI were affected by SW1.5 (p<0.05). Goats drinking from SW1.5 had lower DMI during D19–21, and the ratio of DMI/WI was significantly different during D16–21 (p<0.05). Interestingly, the UV from SW1.5 was higher than that from SW0 during D13–21 (p<0.05). Although the body weights (BW) of both groups were similar (p>0.05), the weight gain observed in the SW1.5 group tended to decrease (p=0.056) at the 2^nd week. The concentration of electrolytes in blood did not differ between the groups (p>0.05). In contrast, the concentration and excretion of Na+ and Cl- in urine increased in SW1.5 goats at D14 (p<0.05), while creatinine levels in the blood remained normal (p>0.05).

Conclusion:

The study concluded that crossbred male goats can tolerate 1.5% saline water from diluted SW for 2 weeks. The high salinity in water influences drinking and eating behavior in growing goats. However, the adaptive mechanism by increasing urine output and reducing the reabsorption of Na+ and Cl- in the kidney is the key function and works faster than behavioral responses. The kidney apparently drives drinking behavior during high salinity water consumption.

Genome-wide selection signal analysis of Australian Boer goat reveals artificial selection imprinting on candidate genes related to muscle development

As one of the best-known commercial goat breeds in the world, Boer goat has undergone long-term artificial selection for nearly 100 years, and its excellent growth rate and meat production performance have attracted considerable worldwide attention. Herein, we used single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) called from the whole-genome sequencing data of 46 Australian Boer goats to detect polymorphisms and identify genomic regions related to muscle development in comparison with those of 81 non-specialized meat goat individuals from Europe, Africa, and Asia. A total of 13 795 202 SNPs were identified, and the whole-genome selective signal screen with a π ratio of nucleotide diversity (π_case /π_control ) and pairwise fixation index (F_ST ) was analyzed. Finally, we identified 1741 candidate selective windows based on the top 5% threshold of both parameters; here, 449 candidate genes were only found in 727 of these regions. A total of 433 genes out of the 449 genes obtained were annotated to 2729 gene ontology terms, of which 51 were directly linked to muscle development (e.g., muscle organ development, muscle cell differentiation) by 30 candidate genes (e.g., JAK2, KCNQ1, PDE5A, PDLIM5, TBX5). In addition, 246 signaling pathways were annotated by 178 genes, and two pathways related to muscle contraction, including vascular smooth muscle contraction (ADCY7, PRKCB, PLA2G4E, ROCK2) and cardiac muscle contraction (CACNA2D3, CASQ2, COX6B1), were identified. The results could improve the current understanding of the genetic effects of artificial selection on the muscle development of goat. More importantly, this study provides valuable candidate genes for future breeding of goats.