Epidemiological studies have shown a potential association between maternal periodontitis and pregnancy complications. We used a pregnant murine model to study the effect of infection with the periodontal pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis on pregnancy outcomes. Female BALB/c mice were inoculated with heat-killed P. gingivalis (10(9) CFU) in a subcutaneous chamber and mated 2 weeks later. At ges...

This study aimed at evaluating the quality of imputation accuracy (IA) by marker (IAm) and individual (IAi) in US crossbred dairy cattle. Holstein × Jersey crossbreds were used to evaluate from a low (7K) medium density (50K) SNP chip. Crossbred animals, as well their sires (53), dams (77), maternal grandsires (63), all genotyped with 78K Seven different scenarios reference populations tested w...

Adjustment factors for age and month of calving were developed from Holstein lactation m r d s in Ecuador. Age factors were similar to those in the United States, but calendar month effects were small, apparently because of uniform feeding and management as the result of a similar climate throughout the year. Genetic evaluations were computed with the USDA animal model system but without identi...

The purpose of this study was to estimate correlations between purebred and F1 crossbred performance to verify the appropriateness of current models used in multibreed selection. Records on birth weight (WB) and weaning weight (WW) from purebred Limousins (LIM) and Limousin × Angus progeny (F1) were used to estimate genetic parameters using a multiple-trait (purebred and F1 weights were differe...

Metabolic rate varies significantly between individuals, and these differences persist even when the wide range of biotic and abiotic factors that influence metabolism are accounted for. It is important to understand the life history implications of variation in metabolic rate, but they remain poorly characterised despite a growing body of work examining relationships between metabolism and a r...

The aim of this study was to evaluate different mating strategies among endogamic strains to create F1 populations of mice, minimising the effect of inbreeding depression on somatic development and embryo yield. Females from the strains Swiss, CBA and C57Bl/6 were divided in nine experimental mate arrangements. The total numbers of pups born alive per dam and somatic development, estimated by w...

Population manipulations such as translocation are becoming increasingly important tools in the management of rare and declining species. Evaluating the effectiveness of such manipulations requires comprehensive monitoring of population processes, including dispersal, survivorship, and reproduction. We investigated the mating system of a translocated population of gopher tortoises (Gopherus pol...

Myostatin, a member of the transforming growth factor-beta superfamily, is a negative regulator of skeletal muscle growth. Cattle with mutations that inactivate myostatin exhibit a remarkable increase in mass of skeletal muscle called double muscling that is accompanied by an equally remarkable decrease in carcass fat. Although a mouse knockout model has been created which results in mice with ...