BACKGROUND: Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) plays a central role in regulation and control of the immune responses to infectious diseases. Due to its polymorphism, individual differences in response to vaccines have been observed in different chicken populations. Studying the association of chicken MHC with immune response to vaccines will help the control of infectious disease and vaccination success. Objectives: The present study aimed to evaluate the MHC polymorphism and its association with antibody response against infectious bursal disease (Gumboro), Newcastle (ND) and Influenza (AI) vaccines in Khorasan native chickens. Methods: Diversity of LEI0258 microsatellite marker (MHC genotyping) was investigated by fragment analysis method. Antibody titer against IBD was measured by ELISA and antibody titers against ND and AI vaccines were measured by Haemaglutination Inhibition (HI) assay. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software (version 21). Univariate regression analysis was performed using weighted least squares with weight number of progeny mean data. Results: Total of 13 LEI0258 microsatellite alleles were identified in Khorasan native chickens which indicated a high genetic diversity in the population. The allele 361 bp had the highest (28.48%) and the allele 350 bp had the lowest (0.69%) frequency, respectively. In evaluating the association of MHC with immune responses, 311 and 313 bp alleles were significantly associated with elevated immune responses to Newcastle vaccine, while allele 266 bp was associated with lower IBDV antibody titers (p<0.05). ConclusionS: According to the important role of MHC in controlling infectious disease resistance or susceptibility and quality of immune responses, these results could be used for selection and improving the populations under selective breeding.

BACKGROUND: Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) encodes for highly variable molecules, most of which are responsible for foreign antigen recognition and activation of immune responses in the host. LEI0258 microsatellite, located in the poultry MHC region, is a suitable genetic marker for determining MHC haplotypes and genetic diversity in poultry.OBJECTIVES: Considering the fact that there is no report on the frequency and types of MHC alleles and population genetic analysis in Ross 308 poultry in Iran, the present study aimed to investigate the diversity of MHC haplotypes of Ross 308 broilers by LEI0258 microsatellite.METHODS: A total of 216 blood samples were collected from two productive herds of Ross 308 broilers. After extracting DNA of the blood samples and amplifying LEI0258 microsatellite alleles, genotyping of MHC haplotypes was performed using agarose gel electrophoresis and fragment analysis techniques.RESULTS: A total of seven alleles and 21 genotypes were identified for LEI0258 microsatellite in these two groups. the highest and the lowest frequencies belonged respectively to allele 385 bp (42.86 %) and allele 300 bp (4.33 %). Heterozygous 207/385 was found to be the dominant genotype in both populations. According to the similarity matrix analysis, there was an 84.56 % similarity between the two groups.CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained in this study revealed a high level of heterozygosity (85.71 % and 91.35 %) and deviation from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium (P<0.0001) in these two Ross populations. Ross 308 broiler chickens had lower allelic diversity and higher genetic similarity compared to the native ones. These findings provided additional information on the use of MHC as a candidate gene marker in genetic improvement and resource conservation in broiler populations.

This study was performed to investigate the possibility of superfecundation by surgical intrauterine artificial insemination in dogs of confirmed genetic pedigree. Artificial insemination was performed on 3 days after ovulation with 1.3×10∨8 spermatozoa. Five puppies were delivered on 60 days after insemination. The ratio of the number of newborns to the number of corpora lutea was 83.3% (5/6). Parentage analysis with 10 canine-specific microstatellite markers demonstrated that one puppy was genetically relative to the sire-A family and four puppies were genetically relative to the sire-B. The present study demonstrated that two kinds of puppies with different genetic pedigree can be produced by surgical uterine insemination of semen of individual dog into each uterine horn of a bitch.

The objective of present study was to ascertain genetic diversity for cattle parentage testing. A total of 59 random cattle samples(29 Korean native cattle and 30 dairy cows) were genotyped by using 11 microsatellite loci(BM1824, BM2113, ETH10, ETH225, EH3, INRA23, SPS115, TGLA122, TGLA227, TGLA53, and TGLA126). This method consisted of multiplexing PCR procedure and showed reasonable amplification of all PCR products. Genotyping was performed with an ABI 310 genetic analyzer.

The study aimed to characterise the genetic diversity of Kangayam, Umblachery, Alambadi, Bargur, Pulikulam, Deoni and Ongole cattle breeds present in South India. A total of 96 animals were genotyped for 27 FAO-recommended microsatellite loci. The genotypes were analysed using various bioinformatics tools. A total of 1340 alleles were observed across the 27 microsatellite markers and 7 breeds, with allele count ranging from 6 to 13. The average number of observed alleles obtained in Alambadi, Bargur, Deoni, Kangayam, Ongole, Pulikulam and Umbalacherry cattle were 6.59 ±2.15, 6.96 ± 2.05, 7.52 ±2.42, 6.19 ±2.32, 6.67 ± 2.11, 8.07 ± 2.13 and 7.63 ± 2.34, respectively. The highest number (Na=14) of alleles was observed in Deoni, whereas the lowest number (Na=3) of alleles was noticed in Ongole, Kangayam and Alambadi breeds of cattle. Most of the microsatellite markers were considered informative (PIC &gt; 0.50) and the PIC values showed a significant positive correlation with the number of alleles (r = .517, p = .006), regardless of differences in allele size. The dendrogram among the seven breeds revealed that the Alambadi and Bargur breeds of cattle formed one cluster, while the Kangayam, Umblacherry and Ongole cattle were distinctly different from all other breeds of cattle.

This study was conducted to evaluate potential extinction risk of Turkish native cattle breeds using Mantel and AMOVA tests and Bottleneck analysis. A total of 271 DNA samples were isolated from Anatolian Black, Anatolian Grey, South Anatolian Red, Native Southern Anatolian Yellow, East Anatolian Red, and Zavot cattle. In this study, genotypes of 20 microsatellites were determined by capillary electrophoresis and fragment analysis. A total of 269 different alleles were detected. The maximum and minimum numbers of total alleles were observed in TGLA122 (n=26) and INRA005 (n=7) loci, respectively. The highest average observed and expected heterozygosity values were determined as 0.619–0.852 and 0.669–0.877, respectively. The average FIS value was 0.068. Results of AMOVA and Mantel tests illustrated statistically significant differences in populations (p<0.001) and correlation (p<0.01). Bottleneck analysis revealed a normal distribution of L–shaped curve indicating that there was no recent risk of extinction for these breeds.