De novo genome assembly depicts the immune genomic characteristics of cattle.

Immunogenomic loci remain poorly understood because of their genetic complexity and size. Here, we report the de novo assembly of a cattle genome and provide a detailed annotation of the immunogenomic loci. The assembled genome contains 143 contigs (N50 ~ 74.

Melatonin improves the quality of in vitro produced (IVP) bovine embryos: implications for blastocyst development, cryotolerance, and modifications of relevant gene expression.

To evaluate the potential effects of melatonin on the kinetics of embryo development and quality of blastocyst during the process of in vitro bovine embryo culture. Bovine cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were fertilized after in vitro maturation. The presumed zygotes were cultured in in vitro culture medium supplemented with or without 10(-7) M melatonin.

Decreased expression of CD9 in bovine oocytes after cryopreservation and the relationship to fertilization capacity.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of vitrification of bovine metaphase-II (MII) oocytes on CD9 expression and fertilization capacity. Surviving vitrified/warmed oocytes were used to detect CD9 distribution (fluorescence microscopy), CD9 mRNA (qRT-PCR), and CD9 protein expression (Western blot), and to analyze in vitro fertilization rates (number of sperm bound to or that penetrated the oocytes) after removing the zona pellucida. Fresh oocytes acted as control.

Establishment of a transgenic mouse model with liver-specific expression of secretory immunoglobulin D.

Mutation of mevalonate kinase (MVK) is thought to account for most cases of hyperimmunoglobulinemia D syndrome (HIDS) with recurrent fever. However, its mechanism and the relationship between elevated serum immunoglobulin D (IgD) and the clinical features of HIDS are unclear. In this study, we generated by fusion PCR a vector to express high levels of chimeric secretory IgD (csIgD) specifically in the liver.

Tissue-specific and expression of porcine growth hormone gene in BAC transgenic mice.

One of the primary goals of traditional livestock breeding is to improve growth rate and optimise body size. Growth rate can be significantly increased by integrating a growth hormone (GH) transgene under the control of a ubiquitous promoter, but while such animals do demonstrate increased growth there are also serious deleterious side-effects to the animals health. Here we report the generation and initial characterization of transgenic mice that carried a porcine BAC encoding the porcine GH gene.

Effects of chemical activation and season on birth efficiency of cloned pigs.

The effects of chemical activation on birth efficiency of cloned pigs were studied by investigating the developmental process from porcine oocyte activation to birth of cloned pigs. Three different activation methods were used: (i) Electroporation (Ele); (ii) Ele followed by incubation with 6-dimethylaminopurine (6-DMAP); and (iii) Ele followed by a treatment with cycloheximide (CHX). In experiment 1, the rates of cleavage, developmental rates and cell number of porcine parthenogenetic (PA) embryos were investigated in the three treatment groups.

Stage-dependent effect of leptin on development of porcine embryos derived from parthenogenetic activation and transgenic somatic cell nuclear transfer.

Accumulating evidence suggests that leptin may play important roles in preimplantation embryonic development, although this remain controversial, and little is known about whether leptin has a stage-dependent regulatory effect on development of porcine embryos derived by parthenogenetic activation (PA) and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of addition of leptin to in vitro culture (IVC) medium on development of porcine embryos derived by PA and SCNT. We found that addition of 50 ng/ml human recombinant leptin improved the rate of PA embryos reaching the blastocyst stage and increased the total cell number of blastocysts compared with the control group.

Effects of ghrelin on in vitro development of porcine in vitro fertilized and parthenogenetic embryos.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of addition of ghrelin to in vitro culture medium on preimplantation development of porcine in vitro fertilized and parthenogenetic embryos. In Experiment 1, we sought to compare the in vitro developmental competence of IVF and parthenogenetic embryos. No significant (P<0.

Construct synthetic gene encoding artificial spider dragline silk protein and its expression in milk of transgenic mice.

Based on the known partial cDNA sequence of dragline silk protein an artificial gene monomer, a 360 bp sequence, was designed and polymerized to encode an analog of dragline silk protein. Six tandem copies of monomer were cloned into pBC1 vector and microinjected into the pronuclei of fertilized Kunming White eggs. Transgenic mice were screened by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Southern blot which revealed that 10 mice (5 male, 5 female) among 58 mice were transgenic positive.

In vitro developmental competence of pig nuclear transferred embryos: effects of GFP transfection, refrigeration, cell cycle synchronization and shapes of donor cells.

The present study was designed to evaluate the feasibility of producing pig transgenic blastocysts expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein (GFP) and to examine the effects of shape and preparation methods of donor cells on in vitro developmental ability of pig nuclear transferred embryos (NTEs). In experiment 1, the effect of GFP transfection on development of pig NTEs was evaluated. The cleavage and blastocyst rates showed no significant difference between NTEs derived from transfected and non-transfected donors.

Bovine oocytes vitrified by the open pulled straw method and used for somatic cell cloning supported development to term.

The objective of the present study was to determine if oocytes vitrified by the open pulled straw (OPS) method could subsequently be used to produce somatic cell cloned cattle. Post-thaw survival rates were 77.0, 79.

Effects of fucosylated milk of goat and mouse on Helicobacter pylori binding to Lewis b antigen.

Aim: To evaluate the effects of animal milk containing fucosylated antigens on Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) binding to Lewis b antigen.

Methods: A mammary gland expression vector containing human alpha1-3/4-fucosyltransferase cDNA sequences was constructed.