Sustainability in animal breeding can be understood as continuous availability of breeding animals and their germinal products for commercial production, that now and in the future, meet the requirements of a broad range of stakeholders: breeders, fa...
Heat shock proteins (HSPs) play an important role in all living organisms under stress conditions by acting as molecular chaperones. The expression of different HSPs during stress varies depending on their protective functions and anti-apoptotic acti...
Conservation and animal wellbeing are two key goals of the modern zoo and aquarium. In the case of ex situ conservation breeding programs, there is a unique paradox between these concepts; on some occasions, facilities must balance and mitigate arisi...
Livestock production in the European Union EU is highly dependent on imported soybean, exposing the livestock farming system to risks related to the global trade of soybean. Lupin species could be a realistic sustainable alternative source of protein...
The enhancement of green animal husbandry has a significant effect on carbon emissions, carbon neutrality, and ecological development. Promoting the production transformation of polluting enterprises has caught the attention of local governments, and...
As vital outcomes of agricultural technological innovation, new animal breeds are not only foundational to rural revitalization but also central to preserving ecological diversity. At present, China lacks a clear and coherent legal framework of prote...
The aim of this study was to apply the FaceReader technique to select the animal species and breed for a personalized AAT based on the emotions (‘neutral’, ‘happy’, ‘sad’, ‘angry’, ‘surprised&rsqu...
Globally, many local farm animal breeds are threatened with extinction. However, these breeds contribute to the high amount of genetic diversity required to combat unforeseen future challenges of livestock production systems. To assess genetic divers...
Animal breeding has undergone profound transformations from its origins in phenotypic observation to the integration of genomic and machine learning techniques. This review paper explores the progression of livestock breeding, tracing its roots to th...
The societal acceptability of different applications of genomic technologies to animal production systems will determine whether their innovation trajectories will reach the commercialisation stage. Importantly, technological implementation and comme...
Agriculture significantly contributes to the global water footprint (WF) with the animal breeding industry accounting for over 33% of agricultural water consumption. Since 2000, rapid development in animal breeding has intensified the pressure on wat...
The decline in farm revenue due to volatile milk prices has led to an increase in the use of beef semen in dairy herds. While this strategy (“Beef-on-dairy” (BoD)) can have economic benefits, it can also lead to unintended consequences af...
The genetic markers associated with economic traits have been widely explored for animal breeding. Among these markers, single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) are gradually becoming a prevalent and effective evaluation tool. Since SNPs only focus on t...
Damaging behaviors, like feather pecking (FP), have large economic and welfare consequences in the commercial laying hen industry. Selective breeding can be used to obtain animals that are less likely to perform damaging behavior on their pen-mates....
Research into genetic and physiological mechanisms of widespread disorders such as arterial hypertension as well as neuropsychiatric and other human diseases is urgently needed in academic and practical medicine and in the field of biology. Neverthel...
This study provides comprehensive results on the current status of inbreeding depression for traits upon which sheep are selected for the herdbook in Germany. A total of 30 sheep breeds from the OviCap national database met the inclusion criteria for...
The major goal of animal breeding is the genetic enhancement of economic traits. The CRISPR/Cas system, which includes nuclease-mediated and base editor mediated genome editing tools, provides an unprecedented approach to modify the mammalian genome....
Genomic selection (GS) techniques have improved animal breeding by enhancing the prediction accuracy of breeding values, particularly for traits that are difficult to measure and have low heritability, as well as reducing generation intervals. Howeve...
Improving animal welfare is a prerequisite for the societal acceptance of poultry production. Support for improvements requires practical tools to quantify animal welfare and identify predispositions at the individual level, where possible. In this s...
Osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD) is a degenerative disease of the cartilage leading to osseous fragments in the joints. It is important in horse breeding both from an animal welfare and an economic perspective. To study adequate breeding strategies to...
This study compared animal performance and carcass characteristics in steers born to a dairy breed dam and a dairy or beef breed sire allocated to one out of two production systems, both including grazing semi-natural pastures during summer. Spring-b...
This study aimed to identify bovine breeds through trichological morphology and morphometry and to validate this technique by comparing it with genetic characterization. Animals from Caracu, Curraleiro Pé-Duro, Nelore, and Bovino Pantaneiro br...
Copy number variations (CNVs) critically influence individual genetic diversity and phenotypic traits. In this study, we employed whole-genome resequencing technology to conduct an in-depth analysis of 50 pigs from five local swine populations [Rongc...
The question of how to feed the growing world population is very old, but because of the increase of population and possible climate change, currently it has an explosive impact. Plant breeding can be considered as the starting point for the whole hu...
In beef cattle, horn management is practiced to physically or surgically remove horns for the safety of animals and workers. However, invasive practices of dehorning and disbudding are a great threat to animal welfare, health, production and human sa...
As the basis of animal reproductive activity, normal spermatogenesis directly determines the efficiency of livestock production. An in-depth understanding of spermatogenesis will greatly facilitate animal breeding efforts and male infertility treatme...
In order to deal with the effects of globalization, urbanization, increase in world population, global warming, and climate change; and according to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2 targets, which aim to end hunger, achieve food security and...
Compassionate conservation advocates for minimizing individual suffering in conservation practice and adheres to the principle “individuals matter”—intrinsically, in and of themselves. Our objective is to determine the extent to whi...
Even though birds are some of the most common road-killed animals, it remains to be determined whether avian roadkills are related to breeding numbers and breeding success, mainly due to a lack of study areas that monitor breeding populations and roa...
As the life span of companion animals increases and their owners’ concern for their quality of life increases, interest in dental diseases has also gained attention. While many studies have explored oral diseases in general, research on small-b...
Genetic improvement programs have resulted in spectacular productivity gains for most animal species in recent years. The introduction of quantitative genetics and the use of statistical models have played a fundamental role in achieving these advanc...
Cat breeds differ enormously in their behavioural disposition, a factor that can impact on the pet-owner relationship, with indirect consequences for animal welfare. This study examined whether lateral bias, in the form of paw preference, can be used...
Genomic selection (GS) has changed cattle breeding, but its use so far has been in selecting superior bulls for breeding. However, its farm-level impact, particularly on female selection, remains less explored. This study aimed to investigate the imp...
EU regulations on organic rabbit farming are relatively recent, and scientific evidence on key technical aspects remains limited. Outdoor systems may improve health and welfare by allowing natural behaviours, but their effectiveness depends on manage...
Vertebrate molecular genetic research methods typically employ single genetic loci (monolocus markers) and those involving a variable number of loci (multilocus markers). The former often employ microsatellites that ensure accuracy in establishing in...
Understanding the genetic basis of growth and feed efficiency traits is essential for advancing beef cattle breeding programs. This study analyzed the average daily gain (ADG; from birth [day 0] to 200 days of age) and the Kleiber ratio (KR) in Charo...
In the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, characterized by its humid climate, large rural areas are being abandoned, mostly in less-favoured areas covered by heathlands, which present a low nutritive quality for livestock production. The high combus...
(1) Background: Indigenous chickens (Gallus domesticus) (ICs) are an essential component of agriculture and rural livelihood among 80% of small-scale farmers (SSFs) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, in the past decade, significant losses of Indig...
Local livestock breeds in Slovenia have been eligible for financial incentives in the form of a fixed payment per livestock unit (LU) since 2002. The scheme has however not been successful in reversing the erosion of animal genetic resources (AnGR)....
Brachycephalic dogs remain highly popular despite the well-documented health problems associated with their conformation. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in the bonding between humans and dogs, behavioral characteristics, awarene...
The conservation of threatened local livestock genetic resources involves characterising them to implement conservation strategies. The Utrerana is a Mediterranean-type chicken breed, included in the Official Catalogue of Livestock Breeds of Spain an...
Seventy-eight calves from Asturiana de los Valles, Retinta, and Rubia Gallega breeds, under extensive and intensive farm systems and animal mixing and non-mixing conditions, and during the transport and lairage in slaughterhouses, were studied. This...
The papers published in this Special Issue “SNP arrays” (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Arrays) focus on several perspectives associated with arrays of this type. The range of papers vary from a case report to reviews, thereby targeting wider audienc...
The objective of this review is to ask whether, and how, principles in conservation biology may need to be revisited in light of new knowledge about the power of epigenetics to alter developmental pathways. Importantly, conservation breeding programm...
There appear to be growing concerns among experts, NGOs, and members of the public about the welfare of companion dogs. With farm and laboratory animals, legislative initiatives have long been considered valuable tools in the management of welfare wh...
Zoos worldwide play an important role in both in situ and ex situ conservation via efforts such as providing breeding programmes and reintroductions into the wild. Zoo populations are crucial as a buffer against extinction. However, a mismatch betwee...
(1) Background: Target capture sequencing (TCS) is potentially a cost-effective way to detect single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and an alternative to SNP array-based genotyping. (2) Methods: We evaluated the effectiveness and reliability of TCS...
The rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is a unique multipurpose domestic species that has relevant economic impacts in several contexts. This review is focused on rabbit genetic resources that have been mainly bred for the fixation of differentiating fea...
This review summarizes and analyzes the current status and trends in conservation of agricultural AnGR in Russia. The biodiversity of farm animal species in Russia is significant and is represented by 507 breeds, including 236 aboriginal ones. Based...
Cancer is the most common cause of death in adult dogs. All dogs would benefit from early diagnosis, but there are no specific guidelines regarding the schedule of cancer screening in companion animals. The aim of this study was to retrospectively ev...
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