the aim of this study was to investigate the association of bovine leukocyte antigen-drb3 alleles with peripheral blood mononuclear cell (pbmc) proliferation in response to staphylococcus aureus. the animals included in this study (n=347) were approximately of same age and comprised of f2 holstein-friesian ´ charolais (n = 155), holstein-friesian backcross (f0 holstein-friesian dams crossed wit...

potential relationships between amino acid motifs in the antigen binding groove of various alleles of the bovine major histocompatibility complex dr (bola-dr) molecule and peripheral blood mononuclear cell (pbmc) proliferation, in response to s. aureus and phytohemaglutinin, were investigated. the animals included in the study were approximately of the same age and comprised of pure holstein-fr...

Intake and annual performance of Limousin × Holstein-Friesian and Simmental × Holstein-Friesian beef suckler cows, and pre-weaning growth of their calves Beef cross dairy heifers remain a significant source of replacement breeding stock for the suckler herd in Ireland. Previous studies at this centre have compared Hereford × Friesian beef suckler dams with Charolais × Friesian and Limousin × Fr...

The objective of this study was to determine the inbreeding levels and to analyze the pedigree of Irish purebred populations of Charolais, Limousin, Hereford, Angus, and Simmental beef cattle, as well as the Holstein-Friesian dairy breed. Pedigree analyses included quantifying the depth of known pedigree, average generation intervals, effective population size, the effective number of founders,...

The increased use of Holstein genetic material in the Irish dairy herd has consequences for beef production. In all, 42 spring-born steers [14 Holsteins (HO), 14 Friesian (FR) and Charolais × Holstein-Friesian (CH)] were reared to slaughter at between 26 37 mo age. Carcass weight was higher lipid concentration m . longissimus thoracis et lumborum lower (P < 0.05) CH than breeds. Overall acce...

With increasing concern about environmental burdens originating from livestock production, the importance of farming system evaluation has never been greater. In order to form a basis for trade-off analysis of pasture-based cattle production systems, liveweight data from 90 Charolais × Hereford-Friesian calves were collected at a high temporal resolution at the North Wyke Farm Platform (NWFP) i...

The objective of this study was to characterize breeds representing diverse biological types for postweaning growth and carcass composition traits in terminal crossbred cattle. Postweaning growth and carcass traits were analyzed on 434 steers and 373 heifers obtained by mating F1 cows to Charolais sires. Maternal grandsires represented Hereford, Angus, and MARC III (1⁄4 Hereford, 1⁄4 Angus, 1⁄4...

Plasma thyroxine (T4), triiodothyronine (T3) and iodide levels were measured from birth until 30 days of age in 17 Holstein x Friesian (HF), 7 Salers and 7 Charolais calves born at term. The response of plasma T4 and T3 levels to bovine thyrotropin (TSH) injection was also compared in two groups of 9 HF calves 3hrs and 21 days, respectively, after birth. In the HF calves, plasma T4 and T3 level...

Samples of longissimus (LT) and infraspinatus (IS) muscles from five contrasting groups of pasture-finished cattle (n=7/group) were assessed for quality and composition characteristics in order to determine whether features of pasture-finished beef reported previously apply across different muscles and different classes of cattle. The cattle were not raised together or slaughtered at the same t...