Ovulation rate (OR) and litter size (LS) were recorded in 72 ewes from a traditional sheep population native to Belle-Ile en Mer, France (BI) from 1986 to 1996. Mean, range and repeatability of OR were: 2.54 +/- 1.1 (n = 494), 1-8 and 0.8, respectively, whereas, for LS, they were: 2.23 +/- 1.0 (n = 146), 1-7 and 0.2, respectively. OR is significantly influenced by age, number of OR, maximum OR ...

Records for pigs included in an experiment on reciprocal recurrent selection conducted from 1956 through 1971 at the USDA Beltsville Agriculture Research Center were analyzed to obtain estimates of heritabilities and genetic correlations and to derive prediction equations for estimating weight of lean cuts (WTLC) and percentage of lean cuts of shrunk slaughter weight (LCPC). Lean cuts growth ra...

Interand intraspecific crossbreeding experiments were conducted to evaluate the aquaculture potential of hybrids in the genus Dicentrarchus, focusing on fertilisation and hatching success. The experimental design consisted of 24 controlled crosses in which individual and pooled fertilisations were made between wild D. labrax individuals (8 dams and 5 sires originating from West Mediterranean an...

The objective of this study was to investigate a potential association of an inactive myostatin allele with early calf mortality, and evaluate its effect on growth and carcass traits in a crossbred population. Animals were obtained by mating F1 cows to F1 (Belgian Blue x British Breed) or Charolais sires. Cows were obtained from mating Hereford, Angus, and MARC III (1/4 Hereford, 1/4 Angus, 1/4...

Gestation length, birth weight calving difficulty, calf mortality rate at birth, calf mortality rate from birth to weaning, preweaning calf growth rate and calf 200-d weight were evaluated in a biological type study in which four sire breeds were bred by AI to Hereford dams. Angus and Red Poll sires represented breeds of medium size, and Pinzgauer and Simmental sires represented large breeds. A...

Direct and maternal components were estimated for birth weight and weaning weight in a multibreed cattle population. Data consisted of 20840 records of calves with varying levels of British (B), Charolais (C), Simmental (S) and Afrikaner (A) breeds. It included several F1, backcrosses, threebreed and fourbreed crosses, having an approximate average composition of /8B : /8S : /8C : /8A. The numb...

Calving difficulty, survival from birth to weaning, birth weight, and weaning weight of 167 calves and carcass traits of 88 cattle (63 for adjusted fat thickness) were compared for progeny of Red Poll and Longhorn bulls mated to crossbred cows that calved at 2 or 3 yr of age. Results indicated that Longhornsired calves required 28% less assistance at calving than Red Poll-sired calves when dams...

The objectives of this study were to analyze calf performance traits and sex ratio frequencies in reciprocal Bos indicus–Bos taurus F2 Nellore–Angus calves (n = 539). produced using Angus-sired (AN) Nellore-sired (NA) F1 sires dams, resulting four cross types. Calf weight analyzed mixed models. Deviations from 50% ratios tested against expected binomial thresholds. Dam type influenced Julian bi...

The objective of this study was to quantify the effects of the Charolais-specific inactive myostatin allele on phenotypic means and genetic parameters of heifer breeding traits. Records were registered from 1996 to 2006 in 282 herds dedicated to the on-farm French Charolais purebred progeny test. Data consisted of 36,867 female calf records, including 17,518 inseminated heifers that were bred b...

Stable expression of a transgene may lead to increased fitness for wild plants after acquiring the transgene via crop-weed hybridization. Here, we investigate the stability of Bt toxin content in wild Brassica rapa acquiring the Bt gene from Bt Brassica napus. The Bt toxin content in nine Bt-expressing B. napus lines was 0.80-1.70 micro g/g leaf tissue throughout the growing season. These nine ...