the archaeological evidence suggests that iran has been one of the first origins of sheep domestication in the world. this study aims to investigate the genetic diversity of indigenous iranian sheep breeds using mitochondrial dna (mtdna) and to explore the evolutionary history of sheep domestication in iran. single nucleotide polymorphism (snp) markers in the control region of mtdna were used t...

Sixty eight adult ewes of Zel sheep breed were screened with forced PCR RFLP method for the detection of the FecB gene and its effects on litter size. Genomic DNA was extracted from the blood of 68 Zel matured ewes with litter size varied from 1 to 2 lambs per ewe lambing. Digestion of the FecB gene (190 base pairs) with AvaII restriction enzyme resulted in none carrier 190 bp band wild type in...

calpastatin has been introduced as an effective candidate gene as regards growth efficiency and meat quality traits. throughout the present study, blood sampling as well as carcass trait measurements were performed on 74 lori-bakhtiari sheep and on 40 zel-atabay cross-breds from industrial slaughterhouses of shahrekord and gorgan cities, respectively. following dna extaction, polymerase chain r...

The genotypes for calpastatin (CAST) and calpain (CAPN) loci were determined by PCR-RFLP and PCRSSCPmethods. Blood samples were collected from 200 pure-bred Zel sheep from Shirang’s Zel sheep Breeding Station located in south-west of Golestan, Iran. Extraction of genomic DNA was performed based on the modified salting out method. Based on results, two investigated loci were polymorphic an...

In this study, all the hairs and their follicles characteristics of Iranian Bakhtiari sheep were investigated. A total of 48 healthy Bakhtiari sheep (aged 5-8 months) were selected and categorized on the basis of sex (24 females and 24 males). Samples were taken as small pieces from different regions of the skin, fixed and stained with haematoxylin and eosin. The following indices in each piece...

Border disease is a congenital viral disease of sheep and goats and cause significant economic losses worldwide. It may cause abortion in sheep. However, there isn’t any report of ovine abortion due to this virus from Iran. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of this viral infection in sheep abortions in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province. To this end, 100 samples of aborte...

In a survey of 430 Lori-Bakhtiari sheep at a slaughterhouse in Iran, gallstones were found in the gallbladder of 7 sheep (1.6%). Biliary calculi were more frequent in adult and female sheep (P < 0.05). Chemical analysis of the gallstones revealed 6 sheep with pigment (bilirubin) stones and 1 sheep with cholesterol stones. Chemical composition of bile in these sheep was evaluated. Bacteriologic ...

Abstract The whole blood potassium concentration has shown the bimodal distribution in sheep, which has been classified into LK and HK types; HK allele is recessive to LK with a single gene inheritance. This polymorphism showed different behavior in different environment, which could be due to adaptation process. This research was conducted on the Zel and kermani breed research station, which...