Firfty serum and fifty semen samples collected from cattle and buffalo bulls were subjected to ELISA and gB gene based PCR, respectively to detect antibodies in serum and viral DNA in the semen against BHV 1. Out of 50 bulls, 15 (30%) serum samples were detected positive by ELISA while 21 (42%) semen samples were positive by gB gene based PCR. While correlating the results of ELISA and PCR, some seronegative bulls revealed presence of viral genome in semen whereas few seropositive bulls could not reveal viral genome in semen, thus, suggesting application of combined serological assay and PCR assay to detect the presence of BHV-1 infection in bulls.

The effect of two thawing temperatures (37°Cfor30 sec. and 60°Cfor 7 sec.)on sperm survivability and conception rate in buffaloes with frozen semen of Murrah bulls was compared. Thawing at 60°C resulted in statistically significant increase (P0.05) in sperm survivability (motility,live spermatozoa and intact acrosomes) compared with thawing at 37°c. In all, 161 buffaloes were inseminated with frozen semen thawed at 37°Cand 159buffaloeswith semen thawed at 60°Cbetween 2006-07 and 2009-10. Conception rate of 64.15% and 50.31% was obtained with semen thawed at 60°C and 37°C, respectively, and the difference was significant (P0.05). Artificial insemination of buffaloes with frozen semen thawed at 60°C for 7 sec. could be safely used to improve both sperm survivability and conception rate in buffaloes.

The objective of this experiment was to study wheather the administration of GnRH plus PGF2 alpha synchronizes the estrus in anestrus crossbred cows exposed to bull urine (BU) during the winter season (Nov to Feb). The results indicated that a greater proportion of BU-exposed cows (n=20) showed estrus as compared to control (n=8) (90 vs 37.5 % P0.05). The mean plasma progesterone concentration remained below 1ng/ml in all animals of each group during the treatment period. The overall conception rate was double in BU-exposed cows (66.7 vs 33.3 % P0.05). From this experiment it can be concluded that oro-nasal application of BU synchronizes the estrus in a greater proportion of anestrus cows treated with GnRH plus PGF2 alpha during winter season.