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ThesisItem Open Access NUTRITIONAL EVALUATION OF APBN1 GRASS AND EFFECT OF PROTEIN SUPPLEMENTATION ON THE PERFORMANCE OF DECCANI SHEEP(SRI VENKATESWARA VETERINARY UNIVERSITY TIRUPATI - 517 502. (A.P.) INDIA, 2005-06) JAGADISH, Ch; RAMANA REDDY, Y(MAJOR); NAGALAKSHMI, D; MAHENDER, MABSTRACT : Evaluation of the potential feeding value of APBN1, an improved variety of hybrid napier as the sole feed and in supplemented rations was carried out to develop a forage based feeding system for intensive rearing of sheep. APBN1 forage samples harvested at 30, 40, 45, 50 and 60 days of growth were subjected to chemical, in vitro and in sacco evaluation to determine the optimum stage of harvesting for maximization of forage utilization in terms of fodder yield and nutritional quality. The yield of green fodder, dry matter and crude protein (MT/ha/yr) of APBN1 forage harvested at 30, 40, 45, 50 and 60 days of growth was found to be 274.68, 47.35, 7.44; 291.34, 61.09, 9.08; 344.74, 76.39, 11.45; 368.45, 85.26, 11.36 and 387.95, 98.81 and 11.21, respectively. The leaf to stem ratio of APBN1 forage at 30, 40, 45, 50 and 60 days of growth was found to be 0.36, 0.46, 0.65, 0.95 and 1.36, respectively. The dry matter content of forage increased from 17.24 per cent at 30 days to 25.47 per cent at 60 days of growth. The CP and CF values were 15.72, 23.81; 14.86, 24.67; 14.35, 25.32; 13.68, 26.64 and 11.34 and 29.88 per cent, respectively on DM basis for the forage samples harvested at 30, 40, 45, 50 and 60 days of growth. Progressive increase in crude fibre level and gradual decline in crude protein content was observed with the advancement in maturity of forage. The NFE content (46.12 %) was highest at 45 days of growth. The IVDMD value was highest (57.87 %) at 30 days and lowest (51.40 %) at 60 days of growth, when the forage samples were incubated with sheep rumen liquor. The effective degradable dry matter (EDDM) as determined by nylon bag technique in fistulated rams was 55.80, 54.70, 53.50, 52.40 and 43.78 per cent at 30, 40, 45, 50 and 60 days of growth, respectively. The effective protein degradability (EPD) decreased from 38.30 per cent at 30 days to 33.17 per cent at 60 days of growth. The insoluble but degradable protein fraction „b‟ was highest (77.07 %) at 45 days of growth. Based on the biomass yield, leaf to stem ratio, chemical, in vitro and in sacco evaluation, the optimum stage of harvesting for APBN1 forage was found to be at 45 days of growth. When the forage harvested at 45 days alone was fed ad libitum in chopped form, the rams on an average consumed 50.74, 4.40 and 28.34 g/kg W0.75 of DM, DCP and TDN respectively. The average digestibility coefficients of 66.63, 68.52, 69.10, 58.82, 56.34 and 62.21 per cent were observed for DM, OM, CP, EE, CF and NFE, respectively and the DCP and TDN values as 8.68 and 56.38 per cent were observed for APBN1 forage in Deccani rams. The Deccani rams on an average retained 5.28 g nitrogen per day. Effect of supplementation through protein and energy sources to the APBN1 forage was studied in adult Deccani rams. There was a significant increase in DM intake (g/kg W0.75) of rams supplemented with concentrate premix containing GNC + maize (71.10), SFC + maize (69.82) and CSC + maize (66.71) in comparison to that of the rams fed APBN1 forage (51.62) as the sole feed. Irrespective of the protein source, supplementation has enhanced the nutrient digestibility of rations in rams with the resultant improvement in DCP content of the ration by 72.78% (GNC), 35.64% (CSC) and 34.95% (SFC) and TDN value of ration by 26.80% (GNC), 21.59% (CSC) and 13.66% (SFC) in comparison to DCP (8.68%) and TDN (56.38%) of the ration containing APBN1 forage alone. There was a marked improvement (P<0.05) in nitrogen utilization with the net nitrogen retention (g/d) in rams supplemented with GNC + maize (15.13), SFC + maize (12.16) and CSC + maize (10.71) when compared to that of rams fed APBN1 forage (5.28) as the sole feed. It is concluded that APBN1 forage at 45 days of growth with DCP (8.68%) and TDN (56.38%) can be utilized as a potential maintenance type (perennial) green fodder for feeding adult sheep. Supplementation, irrespective of protein source, improved the nutrient intake, nutrient digestibility and nitrogen utilization of the rations containing APBN1 forage as the basal roughage and fulfilled the maintenance as well as growth requirements (70 g/d) of sheep. Supplementation through concentrate premix containing 125 g each of maize and GNC was found superior (P<0.05) in enhancing nutrient digestibility and nitrogen utilization of rams in comparison to other sources. Supplementation of critical nutrients to the basal roughage is a viable means of sustaining the optimum animal performance.ThesisItem Open Access GENETIC ANALYSIS ON PRE WEANING TRAITS OF DESl PIGS AND THEIR CROSSES WITH LWY(SRI VENKATESWARA VETERINARY UNIVERSITY TIRUPATI - 517 502. (A.P.) INDIA, 1997-10) VENKATA LAKSHMAIAH, P; VIROJI RAO, S.T(MAJOR); CHENDRA REDDY, V.R; KRISHNA REDDY, KThesisItem Open Access GENETIC ANALYSIS OF EXOTIC AND NATIVE CHICKEN(SRI VENKATESWARA VETERINARY UNIVERSITY TIRUPATI - 517 502. (A.P.) INDIA, 2010-12) SREENIVAS, DASARI; GNANA PRAKASH, M(MAJOR); SHARMA, R.P; RUDRANATH CHATTERJEE; RAVINDER REDDY, V; MAHENDER, MABSTRACT: The present investigation was carried out for estimation of genetic parameters on certain production, immunocompetence and egg quality traits in IWH, IWI and IWK strains and control population of White Leghorns and microsatellite marker based analysis on IWH and IWK strains and native breeds of Aseel and Kadaknath maintained at the Project Directorate on Poultry, Hyderabad. Significant genetic group differences were observed for all the production traits studied. The age at first egg (AFE) and body weights at 40, 52 and 64 weeks of age ranged from 143.49 * 0.56 to 155.63 * 0.57 days, 1290.74 * 7.21 to 1428.36 8.36, 1377.72 8.43 to 148 1.82 * 9.77 and 1455.73 * 9.49 to 1547.15 * 1 1.18 g, respectively. Egg production up to 40, 64 and 72 weeks of age ranged from 94.08 * 0.50 to 106.15 * 0.49, 178.24 * 1.20 to 202.32 k 1.18 and 190.90 + 1.22 to 215.17 1.20 eggs. respectively while egg weight at 28, 40, 52 and 64 weeks of age ranged from 43.81 * 0.15 to 46.77 * 0.15, 49.89 * 0.18 to 53.13 * 0.17, 53.1.3 k 0.16 to 54.65 * 0.15 and 55.47 * 0.15 to 57.59 * 0.14 g, respectively. The AFE was low to moderately heritable while the body weights were moderate to highly heritable. In general, egg production traits were lowly heritable while the egg weights were low to highly heritable. The genetic and phenotypic correlations of AFE were positive with body weights and egg weights but negative with egg production. The genetic and phenotypic correlations of body weight at 52 and 64 weeks of age were negative with egg production and positive with egg weight. The correlations among egg production traits and among egg weights were positive and high while the association between egg production and egg weight traits was moderate to high but negative. Significant differences among genetic groups were observed for antibody titre against SRBC and NDV only. Mean anti SRBC titre, anti NDV titre and response to PHA-P (mrn) ranged from 4.729 * 0.142 to 5.803 * 0.11 8, 10.033 .t 0.056 to 1 1.045 * 0.049 and 0.133 * 0.075 to 0.527 * 0.164, respectively. Heritability estimates of antibody titre against SRBC, NDV and response to PHA-P were low to medium. The anti SRBC titre had positive genetic correlation and negative phenotypic and environmental correlations with AFE. Genetic and phenotypic correlations with body weights and egg production traits were mostly positive. The genetic and phenotypic correlations of antibody titre against NDV with AFE and annual egg production were mostly positive. The correlations of response to PHA-P with other traits varied both in magnitude and direction. Significant genetic group differences were observed for various egg quality traits studied. The egg weight, haugh unit, yolk index, albumen index, yolk weight, albumen weight, shell weight and shell thickness ranged from 53.89 0.43 to 50.01 0.48 g, 65.38 * 0.92 to 80.98 * 1.01, 0.341 * 0.003 to 0.353 * 0.003, 0.056 * 0.002 to 0.087 * 0.002, 14.16 i 0.13 to 15.58k 0.12 g, 30.92 * 0.39 to 33.18k 0.39 g, 4.32 * 0.05 to 5.12 * 0.05 g and 0.336 k 0.003 to 0.376 * 0.003 mrn, respectively. The heritability estimates based on sire, dam and sire + dam components of variance for egg weight, yolk index, albumen index and albumen weight ranged from low to medium while those of haugh unit, yolk weight, shell weight and shell thickness ranged from low to high. The genetic and phenotypic correlations of egg weight with other egg quality traits except shell quality traits were mostly positive and moderate to high. High positive genetic and phenotypic correlations between haugh unit and other traits were observed. Genetic correlation of yolk weight with albumen weight was positive while that with shell quality traits was mostly negative. Shell weight was positively correlated with shell thickness. All the 15 microsatellite loci were polymorphic. The mean number of alleles (Na) varied from 2.0 to 5.0 among the loci and 3.13 * 0.13 to 3.80 k 0.13 among the populations. The effective number of alleles varied from 1.041 to 4.755 across the loci and between 2.33 0.09 and 3.21 k 0.1 1 among the populations. The allele frequency ranged from 0.012 to 0.980 across the loci. The overall mean PIC values ranged from 0.038 to 0.756 across the loci and 0.434 to 0.579 among the populations. The expected and observed heterozygosity estimates (0.634 * 0.020 and 0.723 * 0.031) were highest in Aseel, while lowest in IWH strain (0.500 i 0.022 and 0.471 * 0.034). Overall mean inbreeding coefficients for IWH, IWK, Kadaknath and Aseel were 0.205, 0.1 16, -0.052 and -0.130, respectively. The mean values of Fls, FST and FIT values over all the loci were -0.050 & 0.065,0.05 1 & 0.308 and 0.003 k 0.064, respectively. The genetic distance was least between Kadaknath and Aseel (0.023) and highest between IWH and Aseel (0.160). Kadaknath and Aseel were closer with maximum genetic identity index (0.977) while IWH and Aseel were more wide apart with least identity index (0.852). Phylogenetic analysis grouped IWH and IWK strains in to one cluster and Kadaknath and Aseel breeds in to another cluster. All the loci except MCW 048 deviated significantly from equilibrium frequency in at least one of the populations, while all the loci except MCW 007 and MCW 048 departed from the equilibrium frequency on overall basis.ThesisItem Open Access GENETIC ANALYSIS OF PRODUCTIVE AND REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE IN CROSSBRED PIGS(SRI VENKATESWARA VETERINARY UNIVERSITY TIRUPATI - 517 502. (A.P.) INDIA, 2010-07) PANDU RANGA REDDY, P; PUNYA KUMARI, B(MAJOR); GNANA PRAKASH, M; SURESH, JABSTRACT: Data on 1662 pigs belonging to 50 and 75% Large White Yorkshire (LWY)-desi crossbreds maintained at All India Coordinated Research Project on Pigs, Tirupati born during 2005 to 2010 were utilizd to study the influenct of genetic and non-gcnctic factors on reproductive traits, litter traits, body weights, body measurements and avcrage daily gains. Prediction equations were developed to cstirnatc body weights based on body meanmments. Genetic parameters were estimated for various traits. The overall least squares means for AFS, AFF, FL GP and SP were 329.05 * 2.90, 440.42 * 2.80, 171.15 ~t 2.97, 111.28 zt 0.26 and 283.87 * 3.00 days respectively. The effects of pcriod and stason only were significant on reproductive baits. The overall kast quarts mean LSB, LSW and LWB and LWW were 7.59 * 0.17, 6.94 0.16 piglets and 8.40 + 0.18 and 66.92 * 1.42 kg, respectively. The effects of pcriod and parity were significant (Pg.O1) on majority of the litter traits. The overall least squares mcan body weights were 1.13 * 0.02, 2.13 It 0.01, 3.19 * 0.02, 4.29 * 0.02, 5.41 It 0.03, 6.48 0.03, 7.55 * 0.04, 8.72 * 0.05 and 9.97 * 0.06 kg at birth, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 wks of age, respectively. Genetic group, period, parity and litter size pup affected all pre weaning body weights highly significantly except for the non-significant effect of stason on body weight at birth. Scxual dimorphism in favour of males was evident from 1 to 6 weeks of age. Body weights of piglets born in rainy and winter seasons and those from smaller litters recorded significantly higher body weights. The overall least squares means for BL, HW. HG and PG varied from 22.68 to 50.58, 16.91 to 36.65, 23.27 to 47.43, 19.03 to 42.19 cm from bid to 8 weeks of age. The effect of litter size group was significant on all the biomctrical measurements at various ages. Season also influenced body measurements at birth, 2 and 8 weeks of age significantly where as at other ages it influmced one (or) more traits but not all. Parity e f f i was significant on all the body measurements at 4 and 6 weeks of age. Sexual dimorphism was evident on all the body measurements at birth only. Significant effect of genetic group was observed only on heart girth and paunch girth at birth and 2 woeks of age, respectively. The overall least squares mean ADG during 0 to 2, 2 to 4, 4 to 6, 6 to 8 and birth to 8 weeks wm 0.150 + 0.001, 0.160 f 0.001, 0.150 * 0.002, 0.170 * 0.002 and 0.160 * 0.001 kg, respectively. Pigs from smaller litters recorded significantly higher ADGs. Heritability of gestation period in 75% LWY group was 0.08 * 0.38 while that of litter traits ranged hm 0.14 + 0.35 to 0.32 + 0.48 among the genetic groups. Heritability estimates varied from 0.19 + 0.09 to 0.97 * 0.22 for body weights and from 0.13 * 0.08 to 0.80 f 0.17 for ADGs. Heritability estimates among body measurements were medium to high. The genetic, phenotypic and environmental correlations among gestation period and litter traits ranged hm -0.76 to 029, -0.24 to 0.01 and -0.22 to 0.35, while those among litter baits wm all positive and high. Genetic, phenotypic and environmental correlations among body weights were positive and medium to high. Phenotypic comlations among body weights were all positive. Comlations among ADGs were very low without any consistent trend. Phenotypic correlations among body measurements ranged from - 0.0 1 to 0.9 1 and among body weights and measurements, it ranged from -0.03 to 0.86. Prediction equations were developed to predict body weight at birth 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks of age based on cOrnSponding measurements on each genetic group. The R~ values varied from 69.1 to 81.7 percent among the genetic groups. Multiple regression equations developed at 2 and 8 weeks of age were found to be most efficient of all.ThesisItem Open Access CYTOGENETIC CHARACTERIZATION OF MAHABUBNAGAR GOATS(SRI VENKATESWARA VETERINARY UNIVERSITY TIRUPATI - 517 502. (A.P.) INDIA, 2010-07) UMA DEVI, P; Ramesh Gupta, P(MAJOR); Sakunthala Devi, K; Dhana Lakshmi, KABSTRACT : The research was carried out on Mahabubnagar (34) and non-descript goats (13) for cytogenetic characterization by the short term lymphocyte culture technique. A total of 1050 metaphase spreads were examined for the chromosome count and morphology and for Mahabubnagar goats 170 karyotypes and for non-descript animals 75 karyotypes of were prepared. The diploid chromosome number in all the goats was found to be 2n = 60, XY in males and 2n = 60, XX in females. All the autosomes were acrocentric in morphology. The X-chromosome was the longest acrocentric, while the Y-chromosome was smallest and dot-like in appearance in majority of the karyotypes examined. In few metaphase spreads, it was submetacentric in appearance. The data on relative length were converted into angles using arcsin transformation for conducting the least squares analysis. The variation in relative length of the chromosomes was not significant between animals in Mahabubnagar goats, while it was significant for the autosomes 1 to 11 and 19 to 29 in non-descript goats. The effect of genetic group, sex of the animal, coat color and presence or absence of horns, beard and wattles on relative length of the chromosomes was found to be non-significant. The overall least squares mean relative length of autosomes, X- and Y-chromosomes varied from 2.029 to 4.825 percent, 5.164 and 1.961 percent respectively. Among the genetic groups, sexes, coat colours and presence or absence of horns, beard and wattles the least squares means for relative length ranged from 1.975 to 4.937, 1.922 to 4.828, 2.041 to 5.065, 1.982 to 4.856, 1.985 to 4.915 and 1.950 to 5.042 percent, respectively for autosomes and for the X-chromosome ranged from 5.010 to 5.320, 5.147 to 5.181, 4.984 to 5.405, 5.105 to 5.224, 5.104 to 5.224 and 4.944 to 5.388 percent, respectively. The contribution of Y-chromosome to the total genome was 0.457 and 0.509 percent in Mahabubnagar and non-descript goats, respectively. The Y-chromosome overall mean arm ratio, centromeric index and morphological indices were 1.68, 39.22 percent and 214.00, respectively, confirming its submetacentric morphology. In the present investigation with 42 metaphase spreads, a total of 213 NORs were detected in Mahabubnagar goats. The mean number of NORs per metaphase was 5.071, which ranged from 4.72 to 6.17, where as the number of NORs per metaphase ranged from 1 to 13. The highest frequency (P<0.05) of metaphases (21.43%) examined had one NOR, while the lowest frequency (2.38%) had 9 or 11 NORs. The outcome of the present study have revealed that the morphology, number and various morphometric measurements of the chromosomes of the Mahabubnagar goats were analogous to those reported in literature for descript breeds of goats in India like Bengal, Pashmina, Gaddi and local goats like Kanni Adu of Tamil Nadu and local goats of Rohilkhand region. Therefore, the Mahabubnagar goats may be recognized as a distinct breed of Andhra Pradesh State.ThesisItem Open Access CYTOGENETIC CHARACTERIZATION OF PUNGANUR CATTLE(SRI VENKATESWARA VETERINARY UNIVERSITY TIRUPATI - 517 502. (A.P.) INDIA, 2010-07) BHARATHI, GUTTI; SAKARAM, D(MAJOR); RAMESH GUPTA, B; RAGHUNANDAN, TABSTRACT : The blood samples of total 30 animals consisting each sex of 15 animals of Punganur and 5 ND animals(2M+3F) were cultured through short term lymphocyte method and 1000 metaphases of these animals were analyzed for morphology and different morphometric aspects for characterization. The diploid chromosome number consisting of 60 (2n=60, XY) was found in both the cattle. All the autosomes were acrocentric. X-chromosome was sub-metacentric while the Y- was found smallest acrocentric. The morphometry revealed that mean relative lengths of autosomes varied from 5.34 to 1.87 percent in Punganur and 5.10 to 1.97 percent in ND. The X-chromosome contributed 4.81 and 4.57 percent in Punganur and ND, while the Y-chromosome accounted 1.69 and 1.93 percent in Punganur and ND to Genome. The means for arm ratio, centromeric index and morphological index of the X- chromosome were 1.55± 0.17, 0.40±0.05 and 5.12±0.46 in Punganur and 1.55±0.05, 0.40±0.01 and 5.30±0.29 in ND respectively. Analysis of variance based on the transformed relative lengths revealed significant differences among the genetic groups with respect to the relative lengths of chromosomes 10, 26, 27, 28, 29, and Y-chromosome. The relative lengths of all chromosome except 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 28, 29 and X-chromosome showed differences among sexes in Punganur cattle. The sex wise analysis of variance in ND cattle revealed no significant difference among the sexes for all chromosomes except 29 pair of autosome. The NOR-banding revealed that on average 5 chromosomes in the complement showed the NOR regions most of them present on telomeres and some of them are in ends of the long arms. Even though the location and distribution of these regions varies among breeds of cattle, the NOR pertaining to this breed were located on chromosomes 2, 3, 4, 5 and 28.ThesisItem Open Access CYTOGENETIC STUDIES ON ONGOLE BREED OF CATTLE(SRI VENKATESWARA VETERINARY UNIVERSITY TIRUPATI - 517 502. (A.P.) INDIA, 2010-07) BHARATI, ALOK; GNANA PRAKASH, M(MAJOR); SAKARAM, D; NARASIMHA REDDY, YABSTRACT: A cytogcnctic study was conducted on 38 Ongole cattle maintained at Livestock Research Station, Lam. Ciuntur and nearby villages by utilizing shortterm lymphocyte culture technique. The normal diploid chromoso~nen umber was 60 which consisted of 29 pairs of acrocentric autosomes and one pair of sex chromosomes. The X-chromoson~e was sub-mctnccntric and Y clirolnosome \vils acrocentric. The ~norphometric measurements of clir.o~nosorncs obtained li.0111 farm bred aninials and those from ficld animals clid not diffr signific:lntly. l'he relative lengths (RL) of chrornoso~ncs I, 5, 6, 15, 16, 17, 15, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and X clwomosome were significantly different anlong the sexes. The RL of autosolnes ranged from 1.92 + 0.01 to 5.24 * 0.02 per cent. The Xchromosome was the longest while Y-chi-ornosome was the shortest and contributed 5.42 + 0.03 and 1.79 + 0.02 per cent to the genome. The decline in the RL of the chromosomes was sha1-p lio~lI ~to 3 and was gradual thercaficr. The arm ratio, ccnt~x~meriicn dex and moi.phological intlcv fbr thc X-chromosome were 1.87 + 0.015, 0.35 * 0.002 ant1 5.75 + 0.075, respectively.ThesisItem Open Access GENETIC EVALUATION OF ONGOLE CATTLE UNDER PROGENY TESTING PROGRAMME(SRI VENKATESWARA VETERINARY UNIVERSITY TIRUPATI - 517 502. (A.P.) INDIA, 2010-05) SAI REDDY, S; RAMESH GUPTA, B(MAJOR); VINOO, R; SUDHAKAR, K; MAHENDER, MABSTRACT : The data on Ongole cattle maintained under the ICAR Network Project on Genetic improvement of Ongole breed through the Associate Herd Testing Programme at Lam farm, Guntur (1935), Cattle Breeding Farm, Chadalawada, Prakasam district (625), Livestock Research Station Mahanandi, Kurnool district (404) and Composite Livestock Farm, Chintaladevi, Nellore district (201), spread over a period of 22 years from 1987 to 2008, were analyzed. Multivariate analysis was undertaken to estimate the genetic divergence between the sets of the bulls under the progeny testing programme. The morphometric differences of the chromosomes between the cows born by embryo transfer technique and artificial insemination were studied. The overall least squares means for body weight, height at withers, chest girth and body length of Ongole cattle from birth to 24 months of age ranged from 26.49 to 245.40 kg, 71.58 to 133.58 cm, 66.35 to 146.53 cm and 62.91 to 127.64 cm, respectively. The effects of farm and period of birth were significant on the body weight, height at withers, chest girth and body length at all the ages studied. Season of birth significantly affected the body weight at birth, 1 and 3 months of age; height at withers at birth, 1 and 6 months age; chest girth at 3 months and body length at 6 months of age. The sex of the calf and set of the bulls significantly influenced the body weights and biometrical measurements, virtually at all the ages. The overall least squares means for 300-days lactation milk yield, total lactation milk yield, lactation length, peak yield, days to reach peak yield, milk yield per day of lactation and milk yield per day of calving interval were 718.53 kg, 720.90 kg, 233.99 days, 3.90 kg, 35.67 days, 3.08 kg and 1.43 kg, respectively and almost all these traits were affected significantly by the farm, period of calving, set of the bulls and order of lactation. However, peak yield alone was affected (P<0.01) by the season of calving and none of the production traits were influenced by the sex of the calf. The overall least squares means of number of inseminations per conception, age at first conception, age at first calving, gestation period, service period, dry period and calving interval were 2.02, 1358.82 days, 1592.22 days, 287.58 days 232.38 days, 282.94 days and 517.61 days, respectively and almost all these characters were affected by the farm, period, set of the bulls and order of lactation, while none of the reproductive traits were influenced by the season. Sex of the calf had significant influence on gestation period and dry period only. The mean breeding efficiency of the Ongole cows varied from 63.66 to 83.75 per cent and the rank correlations of breeding efficiency estimated by three different formulae were positive and significant. The farm and set of the bulls significantly influenced the breeding efficiency. The overall least squares means for life time milk yield, herd life, productive life, milk yield per day of herd life and productive life; wet days and dry days per herd life; wet days and dry days per productive life and gestation period per herd life and productive life were 3805.88 kg, 3773.84 days, 2287.48 days, 1.00 and 1.67 kg; 32.15 and 67.85%; 53.58 and 46.41% and 39.46 and 66.54%, respectively and all these traits were influenced by one or the other of the non-genetic effects studied. However, none of these characters were influenced by the set of the bulls. The estimates of heritability and genetic and phenotypic correlations of body weights and biometrical measurements varied from 0.01 to 0.43, 0.06 to 0.99 and 0.03 0.40 respectively. Similarly, the heritabilities of 300-days lactation milk yield, total lactation milk yield, Lactation length, peak yield, milk yield per day of lactation, milk yield per day of calving interval, gestation period, service period, dry period and calving interval were 0.27, 0.24, 0.21, 0.24, 0.09, 0.22, 0.14, 0.06, 0.06 and 0.06, respectively. The genetic correlations among production and reproduction traits were positive and ranged from 0.04 to 0.99, while the phenotypic correlations among these traits varied from 0.01 to 0.49. The heritability estimates for life time milk yield, herd life, productive life, lactation milk yield per herd life and productive life; wet and dry days per herd life; wet and dry days per productive life and gestation period per herd life and productive life were 0.66, 0.10, 0.17, 0.49 and 0.49; 0.23 and 0.23; 0.30 and 0.30 and 0.08 and 0.08, respectively. The genetic correlations among the various life time production traits ranged between 0.69 and 0.99 whereas the phenotypic correlations ranged from 0.01 to 0.47. The Mahalonobis genetic distances (D2) between all combinations of sets were highly significant. The calving interval, total lactation milk yield and lactation length contributed 40%, 40% and 20% to the total genetic diversity among the sets. Two distinct clusters were formed, the first one consisting of sets 1, 2, 3 and 5, while the second cluster had only 4th set. The diploid chromosome number was found to be 60, XX in both ET born and AI born cows. All autosomes were acrocentric, while the X-chromosome was longest submetacentric. The mean relative length of the autosomes varied from 1.95 to 4.97 and 1.95 to 4.99 per cent in ET and AI born cows respectively. The relative length of chromosome 20 of ET born cows was significantly longer (2.86%) than that of the AI born cows (2.77%). Except this, no other differences either in chromosome number or in chromosome morphology were detected between the ET born and AI born cows, suggesting that ET born cows were as good as the AI born cows with respect to their chromosome profiles. The present study indicated that the overall performance of the animals of Lam farm, with respect to the production, reproduction and life time traits, was the best, followed by Chadalawada, Mahanandi and Chintaladevi farms. The performance of the Ongole cattle during various periods did not exhibit any specific trend while the animals either born or calved during summer exhibited superior performance, when compared to those in rainy and winter seasons. The production and reproduction performance of the cows delivering female calves was better than those giving birth to male calves. The genetic variation among the set of bulls did not show a definite trend although the multivariate analysis revealed two clusters, one consisting of sets 1, 2, 3 and 5 and another set 4, with a considerable inter cluster distance.ThesisItem Open Access GENETIC STUDIES ON GROWTH, PRODUCTION AND IMMUNOCOMPETENCE OF JAPANESE QUAILS (Coturnix coturnix japonica) UNDER SELECTION(SRI VENKATESWARA VETERINARY UNIVERSITY TIRUPATI - 517 502. (A.P.) INDIA, 2009) SAKUNTHALA DEVI, K; RAMESH GUPTA, B(MAJOR)ABSTRACT : An investigation was made on the Black (3,438) and Brown (3,710) Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) under selection in generations 8, 9 and 10 for high 4-week body weight, maintained at the Poultry Experimental Station (PES), Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, to estimate the genetic and phenotypic variation in the growth, production and reproduction performance and to estimate the genetic progress in various economic traits. The immunocompetence levels, genetic parameters and genetic progress in various traits were estimated. Selection indices based on body weights, Age at first egg, Egg production, Egg weight and Egg mass were developed. The overall least squares means for body weights at day-old to 4 weeks of age were 9.41+0.01, 33.23+0.08, 71.61+0.16, 121.96+0.24 and 173.66+0.07 g respectively. The strains had significant influence on body weights from day-old to 4 and 8 to 20 weeks of age, whereas the influence of generations was significant from day-old to 16 weeks of age. Sex effect was significant on 2, 3 and 4 weeks body weights, while hatch had significant influence from day-old to 20 weeks of age. The body weights of Black strain were superior to Brown from 1 to 20 weeks of age. The overall least squares mean Age at first egg was 56.26+0.51 days, which was significantly influenced by generation and hatch. Strain and generations influenced the egg production upto 16 and 30 weeks, whereas hatch effect was significant on egg production upto 30 weeks only. The overall least squares means for egg production was 30.85 and 73.02 upto16 and 30 weeks of age, respectively. The Black strain matured earlier and produced more number of eggs than Brown strain. The generation and hatch had significant influence on egg weight. The overall least squares mean egg weight was 14.22 g. The overall least squares means for Average daily gain during 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks of age and cumulative growth rate from 1 to 4 weeks age were 3.10, 5.47, 7.16, 7.35 and 23.46 g respectively. The Average daily gain of Black Japanese quails was significantly higher than those of Browns at all the ages. The females had significantly higher average daily gains than males. The overall least squares means for feed conversion ratio upto 6 weeks age, feed intake per dozen eggs and kg egg mass upto 7-30 weeks age were 1.70, 2.49, 2.95, 3.52, 4.67, 6.30, 750.93 and 4,070.05 g respectively. The influence of sex was significant on Feed conversion ratio. The overall least squares means for HA titers at 5th and 10th day of post inoculation and Foot pad index were 4.48, 2.00 and 0.16 in Black and 5.44, 2.14 and 0.26 mm in Brown strain respectively. The heritability estimates of body weights varied from low to high, while they were low for age at first egg in Black (0.04 to 0.13) and Brown (0.07 to 0.15). The estimates for egg production upto 30 weeks of age varied 0.02 to 0.08 in Black and from 0.02 to 0.07 in Browns. The heritability of egg weight was found to be low. The heritability estimates for feed conversion ratio were low to medium in Black (0.03 to 0.32) and low to high (0.02 to 0.59) in Browns. The Haemagglutination titer has low to medium (0.18 to 0.35) heritabilities in both the strains, whereas Foot pad index was low heritable (0.02 to 0.04). Genetic, phenotypic and environmental correlations for body weight at various ages varied from low to high in magnitude. Age at first egg was correlated negatively (-0.11 to -0.16) with egg production and positively with egg weight at genetic level, while the estimates among different ages of egg production were high. The association between egg production and egg weight was negative at genetic and phenotypic level. The genetic correlations among average daily gains were in general positive at all ages. The genetic correlation between body weights and Feed conversion ratio were positive, while the weight gain was phenotypically negatively correlated with feed conversion ratio. The genetic correlations of body weights at early age with Haemagglutination titers and FPI were positive but low. The Foot pad index had positive genetic correlation with Haemagglutination titers in two strains. The genetic progress in body weight at 4-weeks age varied from 6.25 to 6.74 g in Black and from 7.24 to 8.46 g in Brown strains. The linear regression equations were fitted for predicting the Haemagglutination titers and Foot pad index based on the body weights which had lower R2 - values. A total of 112 selection indices were computed based on the body weights at 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks of age and dams AFE, dams EP16, dams EW16 and dams EM16. At 4-weeks of age of selection the selection indices consisting of BW4, dams EP and dams EM (I52) and BW4, dams AFE and dams EM (I49) in Black strain and those with BW4, dams EP16 and dams EM16 (I52) and BW4, dams AFE, dams EP16 and dams EM16 in Brown strain were found to be ideal ones. These indices are expected to reduce the AFE, increase the EM (which takes care of EP and EW) and keep the body weight either constant, reduce marginally or increase