Strong and stable geographic differentiation of swamp buffalo maternal and paternal lineages indicates domestication in the China/Indochina border region.

The swamp type of the Asian water buffalo is assumed to have been domesticated by about 4000 years BP, following the introduction of rice cultivation. Previous localizations of the domestication site were based on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation within China, accounting only for the maternal lineage. We carried out a comprehensive sampling of China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Nepal and Bangladesh and sequenced the mtDNA Cytochrome b gene and control region and the Y-chromosomal ZFY, SRY and DBY sequences.

A field study on artificial insemination of swamp and crossbred buffaloes with sexed semen from river buffaloes.

Sex preselection by flow sorting of X- and Y-sperm has been proven to be an efficient and economically feasible strategy for use in Holstein dairy cow breeding, and previous reports have demonstrated the feasibility of altering the sex ratio in buffalo species by using sexed semen in either artificial insemination or IVF. However, because buffalo reproductive physiology and farm management are different from Holsteins, factors involved in artificial insemination by sexed semen need to be further addressed before being applied in buffalo breeding at village-level husbandry. In this study, a total of 4521 swamp or crossbred (F1 or F2) buffaloes with natural estrus were inseminated with X-sorted sperm from river buffaloes, resulting in a 48.

Molecular cloning and expression analysis of the STAT1 gene in the water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis).

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) is a critical component of the transcription factor complex in the interferon (IFN) signaling pathways. Of the seven STAT isoforms, STAT1 is a key mediator of type I and type III IFN signaling, but limited information is available for the STAT genes in the water buffalo. Here, we amplified and identified the complete coding sequence (CDS) of the buffalo STAT1 gene by using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

Pregnancy and calving rates following transfer of in-vitro-produced river and F1 (river x swamp) buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) embryos in recipients on natural oestrus or synchronised for ovulation.

The main objective of this study was to compare pregnancy and calving rates following transfer of in-vitro-produced fresh river and F1 (river x swamp) buffalo embryos in recipients synchronised by Ovsynch protocol or following natural oestrus. River embryos were produced from cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) derived by ovum pick up (OPU) on 40 Murrah and Nili-Ravi donor buffaloes over a twice-weekly collection schedule for 120 single OPUs. F1 embryos were produced by fertilisation of swamp COCs recovered from abattoir ovaries coincubated with river sperm cells.