Browsing by Author "Archunan, G."

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    A correlation of fecal volatiles and steroid hormone profiles with behavioral expression during estrous cycle of goat, Capra hircus
    (2014-08) SankarGanesh, D.; Ramachandran, R.; Muniasamy, S.; Kumar, V. Ramesh Saravana; Suriyakalaa, U.; Kannan, S.; Archunan, G.; Achiraman, S.; TANUVAS
    Chemical signals (both volatile and non-volatile) form the major communication channels in animals. These signals are transferred mainly through excretory sources to facilitate inter-individual communication. In particular, the reproductive cycle of female mammals, including goats, exhibits significant changes in the constituents of their excretory products, and female mammals also express different behavioral patterns. We propose that feces is one of the important sources of chemo-signals in goats. However, the behavioral patterns and analysis of excretory sources based on chemical communication have not yet been studied in the Indian goat, Capra hircus. To validate our hypothesis, we analyzed the behavioral patterns and the volatiles and steroid hormone profiles in the feces samples of female goats during the estrous cycle. Here, we synchronized the estrous cycle in six female goats and obtained feces samples.
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    Evaluation of pheromone-based kit: A noninvasive approach of estrus detection in buffalo
    (2018-07) Muthukumar, Subramanian; Muniasamy, Samuthirapandi; Srinivasan, Mahalingam; Ilangovan, Andivelu; Satheshkumar, S.; Rajagopal, T.; Kumar, V. Ramesh Saravana; Sivakumar, K.; Archunan, G.; TANUVAS
    In view of the silent nature of estrus in buffalo, a noninvasive assay kit has long been felt necessary for easy and effective estrus detection. This study was designed to detect estrus in buffalo using a kit formulated in our laboratory based on pheromone compound. Group I: Urine samples collected at estrus phase and group II: randomly collected urine samples were subjected to the test using the kit. No colour developed (i.e., positive reaction) in estrus urine after adding the kit solution. By contrast, pale and/or dark pink colour developed (i.e., negative reaction) in urine from the proestrus and diestrus buffaloes, respectively. Field evaluation of the kit in groups I and II revealed that 60.87% and 71.43% of urine samples were correctly identified as estrus and nonestrus (i.e., proestrus and diestrus), respectively. Therefore, the first of its kind estrus detection kit formulated based on urinary pheromone can as well be used as a simple device to detect estrus in buffalo.
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    Faecal chemical cues in water buffalo that facilitate estrus detection
    (2013-03) Karthikeyan, K.; Muniasamy, S.; SankarGanesh, D.; Achiraman, S.; Kumar, V. Ramesh Saravana; Archunan, G.; TANUVAS
    Chemo-signals are among the reliable non-invasive methods for estrus detection in mammals. Water buffalo is a silent heat animal and, hence, there is search for chemo-signals which would be effective non-invasive indicators of estrus state. We analyzed the faecal chemical cues during the estrous cycle in buffalo and to find the estrus-specific faecal volatile compounds adopting bull behavior assay. The faecal samples were collected at three phases of the estrous cycle (i.e., proestrus, estrus and postestrus) and subjected to gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analyses. We found 27 volatile compounds in the faeces of buffaloes, of which 4-methyl phenol (4mp) and trans-verbenol (tv) were found only in estrus faeces.