• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.8
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• pp.1483-1494
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• 2024

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the effect of slaughter age on carcass traits, meat quality, and the relative mRNA levels of lipid metabolism-related genes in different muscles of Taihang black goats. Methods: In this study, the triceps brachii (TB), longissimus dorsi (LD) and gluteus (GL) muscles of 15 grazing Taihang black goats slaughtered at the age of 2, 3, and 4 (designated as 2-year-old, 3-year-old, and 4-year-old, respectively) were collected. The differences in carcass shape, meat quality, amino acid composition and lipid metabolism gene expression among Taihang black goats of different ages and from different plant parts were compared. Results: Compared with goats at other ages, goats slaughtered at the age of 4 had greater live and carcass weights, meat weights, bone weights and skin areas (p<0.05). LD in the 4-years-old had the lowest cooking loss and moisture content. The crude protein content in the LD of 2-year-old was significantly greater than that in the other age group, and at the age of 2, the LD had the highest crude protein content than TB and GL. The highest fat content was in LD, followed by TB, for goats slaughtered at the age of 4. Eight out of 9 essential amino acids had higher content in the TB compared with other muscles, regardless of age. The total essential amino acid content was highest in the 4-year-old and lowest in the GL muscle at the age of 3. The sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c) and adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) genes were significantly more abundant in the TB muscle than in the other muscles for goats slaughtered at the age of 2. At the age of 4, the ATGL and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) genes were significantly more abundant in the GL than in the LD, while the fatty acid synthase (FAS) genes were significantly less abundant in the GL than in the other muscles. Similarly, compared with those in goats of other ages, the relative mRNA expression levels of the FAS and heart-type fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP) genes in goats slaughtered at the age of 4 were the highest, and the relative mRNA expression of the PPARγ gene was the lowest (p<0.05). The relative mRNA expression of the H-FABP and FAS genes was positively correlated with the intramuscular fat (IMF) content, while the relative mRNA expression levels of the PPARγ and ATGL genes was negatively correlated with the IMF content. Conclusion: Overall, a better nutritional value was obtained for TB from 4-year-old goats, in which the total essential amino acid and fat contents were greater than those of other muscles. The comprehensive action of lipid metabolism genes was consistent with that of the IMF content, among which the FAS, H-FABP, PPARγ, and ATGL genes had positive and negative effects on the process of IMF deposition in Taihang black goats.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.365-370
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• 2009

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of different levels of supplemental selenomethionine (Se-Met) on growth performance and serum antioxidant status in Taihang Black goats. Fifty 16-week-old goats with an average body weight of 12.5${\pm}$0.5 kg were randomly assigned to five treatments fed a basal diet (0.049 mg Se/kg DM) supplemented with 0 (control), 0.10, 0.30, 0.50 and 1.00 mg of Se/kg DM (form Se-Met) for 80 days. Average daily gain and feed efficiency were higher (p<0.05) in the groups supplemented with 0.30 to 0.50 mg Se/kg DM compared with the control group. However, Se-Met supplementation had no influence on average daily feed intake (p>0.05). Se-Met supplementation significantly increased (p<0.01) the activity of glutathione peroxidase enzymes (GSH-Px) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in serum. The group supplemented with 0.50 mg Se/kg DM had the highest activity of GSH-Px compared with other groups (p<0.05). Serum SOD activity was higher (p<0.05) in goats supplemented with both 0.30 and 0.50 mg Se/kg DM than in control goats and goats supplemented with 1.00 mg Se/kg DM. Serum glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration were significantly decreased (p<0.05) in goats supplemented with 0.30, 0.50 and 1.00 mg Se/kg DM compared with control values. These results indicated that Se-Met supplementation markedly improved the antioxidant status in goats. Blood Se concentration increased linearly (p<0.001) and quadratically (p<0.001) as the level of supplemental Se-Met increased. The concentration of Se in the control diet (0.049 mg Se/kg DM) did not satisfy the Se requirement in goats as indicated by reduced growth rate, feed efficiency, activities of GSH-Px and SOD in serum, and blood Se concentrations. In conclusion, it is recommended that 0.30 to 0.50 mg of Se/kg DM from Se-Met (total diet Se of 0.349 to 0.549 mg/kg DM) be supplied in the diet of Taihang Black goats to enhance growth performance and improve antioxidant status.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.905-911
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• 2011

Polymorphisms of BMP15 gene exon 2 and its relationship with prolificacy of goats were detected by PCR-SSCP and DNA sequencing methods in Chinese two local goat breeds. The results showed that the product amplified by the primers displayed polymorphisms. Three genotypes (AA, BB and AB) were detected in Funiu white goats, and their frequency was 0.071, 0.715, 0.214, respectively. Two genotypes (AB and BB) were detected in Taihang black goats, and their frequency was 0.342 and 0.658, respectively. Sequencing revealed that four mutations (456T${\rightarrow}$G, 466C${\rightarrow}$G, 510C${\rightarrow}$T, 511T${\rightarrow}$C) occurred in genotype BB of Funiu white goat, which resulted in amino acid substitution of V155G and S171P. No mutation was detected in Taihang black goat. The Funiu white goat with genotype BB had 0.91 or 0.82 kids, more than those with AB or AA, respectively. The difference of the least squares means for litter size between BB and AB was not significant (p>0.05) in Taihang black goat. It is concluded that the BMP15 gene may be a major gene which affects the prolificacy in Funiu white goats. This study could provide basic molecular data on the reproductive characteristics of local breeds of Henan province in China, and a scientific basis for the conservation and utilization of those two goat breeds.