Effect of sex (ram or wether) and short duration, high volt electrical stimulation on tenderisation of Longissimus thoracis et lumborum and Semimembranosus muscles derived from Boer Goat and large frame Indigenous Veld Goat

This study determined whether castration and electrical stimulation (ES) influenced chevon tenderness and related physiological characteristics in Boer Goat (BG; n = 36; 21 bucks and 15 wethers) and large frame Indigenous Veld Goat (IVG; n = 41; 21 bucks and 20 wethers). Half of buck and wether carcasses were ES (20s, 400 Volts peak, 5 ms pulses at 15 pulses/s) 10 min post-mortem. Dressed carcasses were chilled (4 °C within 1-h post-mortem). pH and temperature decline, % drip loss, sarcomere length (SL), myofibril fragmentation length (MFL; 1- and 4-days post-mortem), Calpain-1, -2 and calpastatin activities (1- and 24-h), Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF; 1-day post-mortem) and sensory attributes (tenderness and juiciness; 4-days post-mortem) were measured on Longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) and Semimembranosus (SM) muscles. ES carcasses had significantly lower pH irrespective of sex or breed. Buck LTL and SM were less tender (P ≤ 0.05) supported by longer MFL and higher calpastatin activity (P < 0.05), than wether muscles. ES LTL were more tender (WBSF and sensory) (P ≤ 0.001) while ES SM were less affected (P = 0.055). ES caused lower Calpain-1 activity in the LTL. SL do not support cold shortening and calpastatin played a major role in the tenderisation of chevon early post-mortem. A longer ageing period is recommended for goat meat in general to achieve acceptable levels of tenderness.

Cloning, nucleotide sequencing, and bioinformatics analyses of growth hormone mRNA of Assaf sheep and Boer goats reared in Egypt

BACKGROUND

Identification of molecular characterization of genes underlying livestock productive traits may allow applying advanced biotechnology techniques to improve animal productivity. Growth hormone (GH) controls body growth rate, milk production, reproduction as well as carbohydrate, lipid, and protein metabolism. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the genetic variations of growth hormone cDNA sequences between Assaf sheep (As_GH) and Boer goat (Bo_GH) that mainly used for genetic improvement in Egypt using bioinformatics analysis. Growth hormone cDNA was isolated from the pituitary gland tissue of Assaf sheep Boer goat and subcloned into pTZ57R/T cloning vector for sequencing.

RESULTS

Molecular weight of As_GH cDNA was 665 bp and was 774 bp for Bo_GH cDNA. The complete coding sequences (CDS) of As_GH and Bo_GH were registered in the GenBank database under accession number (AC: MH128986 and AC: MG744290, respectively). High homology percentage was observed (99.5%) between AS_GH and Bo_GH protein sequences with one different amino acid in the As_GH protein sequence (Arg194). The protein sequence of As_GH has only one motif signature; Somatotropin_1 from 79 to 112 aa compared to Bo_GH protein sequences and GenBank database that had two motifs signature. The growth hormone cDNA sequence of Assaf sheep has a unique three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (A637A638G639) that encodes for arginine (Arg194); this insertion mutation (AAG) was not found in the growth hormone cDNA sequences of Boer goat in the present study and GenBank database breeds. This mutation can be used to develop SNPs markers for Assaf sheep.

CONCLUSIONS

GH sequence of Assaf and Boer goat is highly conserved and the homogeny in the codon region (99.5%). The Assaf sheep GH sequence has a unique three SNPs that may be used to develop SNPs markers for such breed. Further studies are needed to investigate the genetic variations of growth hormone gene in different sheep and goat breeds in Egypt and document the relationship between these variations and the productive performance of animals.

Dataset on growth curves of Boer goats fitted by ten non-linear functions

Data on the description of growth of female Boer goats from the Mexican national breeding flock are presented. Goat meat is highly appreciated for the preparation of traditional dishes of Mexican cuisine, and its demand is on the rise. Boer goats are of relatively recent arrival in Mexico and the size of the performance-recorded flock has been increasing steadily in the last ten years. Repeated measures of body weight at different ages from birth to adulthood of Boer goats are scarce. When available, such data can be used to describe the growth pattern and the meat production potential of goat meat breeds such as the Boer. This paper presents data on estimators of growth curve parameters, plots of average predicted growth curves, plots of residuals on age, and data on goodness of fit statistics of ten non-linear functions fitted to describe the growth curve of Boer goats.

Dynamic Distribution of Gut Microbiota in Goats at Different Ages and Health States

The importance of the gut microbiota (GM) of animals is widely acknowledged because of its pivotal roles in metabolism, immunity, and health maintenance. The level of health can be reflected by the dynamic distribution of GM. In this study, high-throughput sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene was used to compare the microbial populations from feces in healthy and diarrheic kids, which reflected the dynamic shift of microbiota in kids and investigated differences from adult healthy goats. Healthy kids and goats not only displayed higher species richness but also exhibited higher bacterial diversity than diarrheic kids based on the results of the operational taxonomic unit analysis, alpha diversity, and beta diversity. Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were the most dominant phyla in all samples. At the genus level, the differences in diversity and abundance between diarrheic kids and the other two groups were gradually observed. In the diarrheic kid intestine, Bacteroides remained the dominant species, and the proportion of Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1 and Paeniclostridium increased, whereas Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group, Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005, and Christensenellaceae_R-7_group were significantly reduced. The results showed the differences of GM in diarrheic kids and healthy kids were significant while in kids and goats were not obvious. Differences in the composition of intestinal microbiota may not be the cause of diarrhea, and some changes of bacterial richness may guide our interpretation of diarrhea. This study is the first to investigate the distribution of GM in Boer goats with different ages and health states. Furthermore, this study will provide a theoretical basis for the establishment of a prevention and treatment system for goat diarrhea.