Salmonella stained antigen has been widely used in Malaysia for detection of Salmonella infection in poultry. Growth phase of four Salmonella enterica serovar Pullorum (SP 9-25, SP 14/11, SP 690/79 and SP 7107/07) used in the antigen production were investigated based on colony enumeration and turbidity. This study aimed to determine the growth curve and the difference between S. Pullorum isolates based on turbidity measurement and spread plate technique for optimisation towards biomass production of salmonella antigen using bioreactor. Current production of the antigen used conventional methods and the number of bacterial cells is low and with several other drawbacks. The isolates were cultured in nutrient broth, incubated aerobically with constant shake for 48 hours to determine the lag, exponential, stationary and the death phase of the bacteria. Turbidity of the bacterial cells was measured using spectrophotometer and the colony was counted using total plate count every four hours. Based on the colony forming unit per milliliter, SP 690/79 strain showed the fastest growth where this bacteria achieved its mid-exponential growth at 8 hours. This is followed by SP 14/11 where this strain demonstrated the mid-exponential growth at 12 hours. The other two strains (SP 9-25 and SP 7107-07) are the slowest growth where their mid-exponential growth was measured at 14 hours. However, SP 690/79also the fastest strain entering the death phase which demonstrates the difference growth of the S. Pullorum strains. This study demonstrates that each S. Pullorum strains multiplying and dying at different phase though in the same serovar.

A primary fibroblast cells from embryos of brown quail Coturnixypsilophora has been established and partially characterized. The cells were maintained in Modified Eagle’s medium (MEM) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum. The cells were able to grow at temperatures between 35°C and 38°C with optimum temperature of 37°C. The growth rate of primary quail fibroblast cells increased as the FBS proportion increased from 5% to 20% at 37°C with optimum growth at the concentrations of 10% or 15% FBS. The cells showed no microbial contamination throughout the period of experiment and the total chromosome number of a diploid cell was 78, according to karyotyping and chromosome analysis. The susceptibility of quail primary cells for avian viruses was investigated in this study after inoculation with ND and IB viruses. Both viruses showed a satisfactory CPE development and the infectivity were assayed by virus titration (TCID50). This suggests that the quail primary cells can be used for isolation of various avian viruses with further steps of infectivity confirmation in the future.

Kedah-Kelantan cattle (KK) being an indigenous breed are highly adapted to the hot-humid Malaysian climate and can survive in harsh, marginal environments. This makes the KK a valuable genetic resource, given the challenges of climate change and the changing demands of the livestock sector. Hitherto there is no comprehensive programme to genetically improve the purebred KK. Genetic improvement of the KK would be to fulfill the breeding objectives of increasing lean meat growth rate, enhancing meat quality, raising feed efficiency, improving fertility and maintaining adaptability. The breeding structure proposed is a 2-tier breeding structure, with a nucleus tier followed by a commercial tier below it. The nucleus tier would comprise of a number of pedigree farms run as a community
breeding project. A sire reference scheme is proposed, where progeny of reference sires are used as genetic links between pedigree herds and between years. Some guidelines are offered on the establishment
and implementation of the scheme. Modern breeding technology such as BLUP using an Animal Model, artificial insemination, embryo transfer, tissue scanning, MAS and MAI could be used as tools to support the KK genetic improvement programme. To address the problem of genetic erosion, emphasis should be given to the conservation and sustainable utilization of the KK. The programme is expected to have a high impact on the livestock sector. Substantial investments are needed to develop infrastructure and human capital associated with the KK breeding programme. The establishment of a KK breed society will improve awareness concerning the KK and protect the interests
of the KK breeding community.