• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2009

Genetic variability is an important component in the ability of populations to adapt in the face of environmental change. Severe human impacts reduced Muzzafarnagri sheep of India from 500,000 in 1972 to 10,989 in 1973-74. Here we report for the first time the effect of this population decline on levels of genetic variability at 13 FAO recommended ovine microsatellite loci and contrast levels of variability to that in a breed from the same geographical region, which differed in numbers, by an order of magnitude (Marwari sheep). Of the 13 loci, 100% were polymorphic in both breeds. A high degree of genetic variation was observed within populations in terms of both allele diversity (number of alleles per locus, >4) and gene diversity (expected heterozygosity, >0.5), which implied that there is still a substantial amount of genetic diversity at the nuclear loci in a declining population. Nevertheless, overall low number of alleles per locus and relatively less abundance of low frequency alleles in Muzzafarnagri sheep suggested that genetic variability has been comparatively reduced in this population. Bottleneck analysis indicated that a genetic bottleneck did not occur during the most recent decline. In addition, we found that the differentiation among populations was moderate ($F_{ST}$= 11.8%). This study on assessment of genetic effects of the population declines in ovines is a step towards identification of genetically impoverished or healthy populations, which could prove to be a useful tool to facilitate conservation planning in this important species of small ruminants.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.60 no.5
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• pp.12.1-12.5
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• 2018

Background: The use of agroindustrial by-products in ruminant nutrition to be an interesting alternative in order to reduce production costs and environmental impacts arising from the inadequate destination of residues. The initial step of beer production yields a large volume of wet brewer's grains all year around, which is available at a low cost and has a high nutritional quality, and hence a big potential for animal production. Methods: Twenty-four Suffolk non-castrated male lambs, from simple parturition were kept in individual spots and allocated to four treatments constituted by four levels of substitution of sorghum silage by WBG (i.e.0; 33.5; 66.5 and 100% of substitution). It was used roughage: concentrate rate of 50:50, based on dry matter. Results: The ether extract intake increased while the acid detergent fiber intake decreased linearly ($P{\leq}0.05$). Substituion of sorghum silage by WBG did not change lambs' feed DMI, daily weight gain and feed conversion. Conclusion: The substitution of sorghum silage by WBG as roughage showed to be a viable alternative from the productive and economic point of view for finishing of feedlot lambs.