Antibody response to goat erythrocytes in endangered Nicobari fowl, Vanaraja and their various F1 and F2 crosses under the hot humid climate of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India

Peeping into Mitochondrial Diversity of Andaman Goats: Unveils Possibility of Maritime Transport with Diversified Geographic Signaling

Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a part of South-East Asia, is enriched with the presence of native breeds of livestock (cattle, pig, goat) and poultry. There are two native goat breeds, viz., Andaman local goat and Teressa goat in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. However, to date, the origin and genetic makeup of these two breeds have not been detailed. Therefore, the present study describes the genetic makeup of Andaman goats through analysis of mitochondrial D-loop sequence for sequence polymorphism, phylogeographical signaling and population expansion events. The genetic diversity of the Teressa goat was less compared to the Andaman local goat due to its sole presence on Teressa Island. Out of 38 well-defined haplotypes of Andaman goats, the majority of haplotypes belonged to haplogroup A followed by haplogroup B and haplogroup D. The result of mismatch distribution and neutrality tests indicated no population expansion event of haplogroup A and B. Finally, based on poor geographical signaling, we hypothesize that Andaman goats have been imported to these Islands either through multidirectional diffusion or unidirectional diffusion. We justify our hypothesis of multidirectional diffusion on the basis of observation of the haplotype and nucleotide diversity of Andaman goats. Simultaneously, the probability of unidirectional diffusion of goats in these islands from the Indian subcontinent in different spells of domestication events through maritime routes cannot be ignored.

Study on the muscle transcriptome of two diverse Indian backyard poultry breeds acclimatized to different agro-ecological conditions

OBJECTIVE

Free-range (FR) poultry production systems are associated with quality products and improved welfare. All the 19 diverse chicken breeds of India have evolved under the FR system and are adapted to different agro-climatic conditions. It is vital to explore indigenous germplasm with modern genomic tools to have insights into genomic characteristics of production traits and adaptation.

METHODS

In this study, breast tissue transcriptome profiles were generated and analyzed from four biological replicates of two indigenous backyard poultry breeds of India-Ankaleshwar, a breed of the mainland, and Nicobari, a breed adapted to islands. The read quality of sequences was checked by FASTQC and processed reads were aligned to the reference genome (bGalGal1).

RESULTS

More than 94% mapping to the reference genome was observed for all samples. A total of 12,790 transcripts were common across both groups, while 657 were expressed only in Ankaleshwar and 169 in Nicobari. The highest expressed genes across both groups were associated mainly with muscle structure, contraction, and energy metabolism. The highly expressed genes identified in Ankaleshwar were involved in fatty acid catabolism and oxidative stress mitigation. Functional terms, pathways, and hub genes in Nicobari participated in muscle fiber growth, adipogenesis, and fatty acid anabolism. A key hub gene (RAC1) in Nicobari is a potential candidate affecting the laying rate in chickens. The qRT-PCR results also substantiate the RNA-seq results.

CONCLUSION

The findings provide a precious molecular resource to advance understanding of the genetic basis of adaptation, meat quality, and egg production in backyard chickens.

Effect on physiological and production parameters upon supplementation of fermented yeast culture to Nicobari chickens during and post summer

Nicobari is an indigenous bird reared for meat and eggs. This study evaluated the effect of heat stress on plasma levels of leptin, growth hormone and their receptors, liver AMP kinase, plasma cholesterol and lipid peroxide (MDA). The laying period coincided with the post summer period. The birds were equally divided into three groups, control group was offered ad libitum feed and treatment groups were supplemented with fermented yeast culture at 700 mg (T1) and 1.4 g/kg (T2) of feed/day. The levels of plasma Leptin and GH hormones were higher (p < 0.05) in the control group when compared to the treatment groups. The expression of the hormone receptors was higher in the brain, and MMP3 gene expression in the magnum was lower in the treatment group. Plasma cholesterol, MDA and AMP kinase were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the control group. Fermented yeast culture supplementation decreased feed intake and increased egg production parameters, which indicates a greater efficiency of supplementation. Supplementation reduced the severity of necrosis of villi in the jejunum when compared to control. In conclusion, higher ambient temperature during summer had negative effect on production parameters through modulation of physiological parameters which could be ameliorated by supplementation of FYC.

Correlation of innate immunocompetence traits with economic traits in various indigenous and exotic breeds of chicken

Birds (433) were utilized for investigation at 7 weeks of age and at 45 weeks of age (119). The immunological traits measured included humoral response like HA, MER and MES; non-specific immune responses like CPW and APW complement and PI and CMI response. In two broiler lines, body weight at 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 weeks of age were measured in addition to body weight at hatch and feed efficiency to 10 weeks of age. In rest of the genetic groups, the economic traits measured included day old body weight, body weight, shank length and keel length at 5, 10, 15 and 20 weeks of age, age at sexual maturity, egg production as number of eggs to 40 weeks of age, egg weight at 40 weeks of age, per cent mortality during different periods up to 20 weeks of age, feed consumption per day, and feed conversion ratio to produce a dozen of eggs or a kg of egg mass. All the traits were measured on individual birds except for per cent mortality and feed efficiency in broilers. For evaluation of humoral and nonspecific responses except PI, the birds were immunized with sheep red blood cells (SRBCS) by injecting 1 ml of 25% (v/v) SRBCs suspension in PBS intramuscularly in thigh muscle. The various components of immunocompetence parameters like humoral and nonspecific responses were measured on day 5, 12 and 19-post immunization. Natural antibodies for various immunocompetence traits were also measured on the day of SRBC injection. For evaluation of effect of age, birds of the Aseel, Kadakanath, Naked Neck and Frizzle were immunized against SRBCs at 45 weeks of age and immunocompetence traits were measured on day 0 and 7 p.i. CMI response was estimated by injecting 0.1 ml of PHA-P interdigitally (100 μg PHA-P/0.1 ml of PBS) between the 3rd and 4th toe of the right foot of each chicken as Foot index (FI) and was estimated by measuring the skin swelling. Data so collected were analyzed statistically utilizing appropriate statistical procedures to evaluate correlation coefficients among immunological and economic traits calculated as simple product moment correlation. HA was positively correlated with MER, CPW and APW and negatively correlated with FI and PI. The trend remained the same on all the days of study. The correlation of MER with CPW and APW were mostly positive and did not present any definite trend in both magnitude and direction with FI and PI. The correlations between CPW and APW were positive and highly significant. No definite trend was observed for the correlation between CPW with FI and PI. The trend remained the same for APW also. FI and PI were negatively correlated in indigenous breeds and broilers but positively correlated in Dahlem Red and White Leghorns. Irrespective of direction, all the estimates were small. HA was seen to be positively correlated with body weight, shank length, keel length, ASM and negatively correlated with egg production and mortality. MER was positively correlated with body weight, shank length, keel length and ASM and negatively correlated with egg production and mortality. The relationship of FI and PI with body weight, shank length, and keel length was negative. Relation between FI and egg production was negative. The relationship of immunocompetence traits with economic traits presented in the literature as well as realized in this study did not lead to any definite conclusion suggesting more study to quantify the magnitude and direction of relationship for their use in practical breeding programmes.