نشریه پژوهش های علوم دامی
سال بیست و نهم شماره 4 (زمستان 1398)

The term “guinea fowl” is the common name of the seven species of gallinaceous birds of the family Numididae, which is originated from Africa and their meat and eggs are very popular. Eggs, one of the versatile foods, inexpensive and high nutritious, supply well balanced nutrients that affect human health. An egg is a rich source of protein and then have high biological value. Eggs contain essential proteins, fats, vitamins except vitamin C, minerals mainly including calcium, phosphorous, iron, magnesium, zinc, selenium, potassium and sodium, and bioactive compounds, and their compositions could be affected by type of bird, heredity, strain, age, hen diet, and environmental conditions such as season and rearing condition. An average weight of egg in commercial strains is usually 55 g and this trait mainly influenced by diet mainly the concentration of methionine and lysine and energy content. Distribution of proteins in egg component is equal between egg yolk and egg white. Other hands, the egg yolk is the major part of lipid, mineral and vitamins. The high consumer preferences of guinea fowl and its products demonstrate that guinea fowl is valuable and have high marketing potential. Compared to native hens and chickens, the guinea fowl’s benefits are: low production and rearing cost, high meat quality, greater capacity to scavenge for insects and grains, better ability to protect itself against predators and low incidence of common poultry diseases than chickens including parasites Newcastle Disease and Fowl Pox. In order to improving household protein supply and income and Because of the great potential for increasing guinea fowl production for smallholder farmers need to evaluate their products and specifically egg. This study was conducted to determine internal and external egg quality traits, chemical composition and fatty acid profile of yolk of East Azarbaijan province guinea fowl and compare their values with table hen eggs values.

A total of 50 clean eggs were obtained from Bonab guinea fowl research station by simple random sampling method. The guinea fowl breeders were at the same age and fed with similar diets. In order to compare of these values with table eggs values, 50 clean table eggs were purchased from a market. After sampling, the eggs were immediately transferred to the lab and internal and external egg quality traits were individually measured. Descriptive statistics of traits were determined using SAS software by univariate procedure and unpaired t-test was used to compare the data of guinea fowl eggs with table eggs data.

The results of this study showed that the mean external egg quality traits of guinea fowl eggs such as egg weight, shell ratio and thickness, egg shape index and egg volume were 40.736 g, 15.604% , 0.718 mm, 78.801 and 42.035 cm3, respectively. The mean of internal egg quality traits of guinea fowl eggs such as yolk and albumin percentage, haugh unit, yolk color, pH of yolk and albumin were 31.418%, 52.977%, 78.030, 8.80, 6.592 and 9.332, respectively. Also, the average external egg quality traits of table eggs such as egg weight, shell percentage and thickness, egg shape index and egg volume were 61.371 g, 9.080 %, 0.665 mm, 76.852 and 63.065 cm3. The mean of internal egg quality traits of table eggs such as yolk and albumen percentage, haugh unit, yolk color, pH of yolk and albumen were 31.334%, 59.585%, 75.075, 4.70, 6.431 and 9.415, respectively. The average of shell thickness of guinea fowl eggs were higher than hen eggs that indicate the shell strength of guinea fowl eggs is higher than table eggs. For determinating of chemical composition of guinea fowl and table eggs, 5 mixed samples (from each 10 eggs) were prepared. The amounts of albumin and yolk dry matter, albumin and yolk crude protein, yolk ether extract, and ash contents of shells were 13.526 and 46.662, 81.696 and 33.652, 31.456, and 89.924%, respectively and these values in table eggs were 12.730 and 45.770, 84.384 and 33.064, 30.406 and 77.564, respectively. The ash content of egg shells in guinea fowl was higher than that of table eggs. This is consistent with shell ratio and shell weight. Cholesterol content of the guinea fowl and table eggs were 1605 and 1391 mg/100 g of yolk, respectively. To determine the fatty acid profile of egg yolk of guinea fowl and table eggs, 5 mixed samples were selected and the fatty acids contents were measured by the gas chromatography method. In guinea fowl, the highest fatty acids content of egg yolks were palmitic acid, oleic acid and linoleic acid, with the amounts of 28.274%, 34.686% and 20.130% of total fatty acids of egg yolk, respectively. The highest and the lowest fatty acid content of table egg yolks were palmitic acid and docosapantaenoic acid with values of 29.176 and 0.026, respectively. The sum of saturated fatty acids (SFAs), monounsaturated fatty (MUFAs) acid and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in the egg yolk of guinea fowl were 38.144, 38.712 and 22.090 % and for table eggs were 40.638, 32.280 and 19.361 %, respectively. The sum of PUFAs of guinea fowl eggs significantly higher than table eggs (p<0.05). Sum of n-3 PUFAs in table eggs was higher than guinea fowl eggs (0.567 vs 0.342) and unlike n-6 fatty acids, the guinea fowl eggs had higher value in comparison of table eggs (21.746 vs 18.694). PUFAs and specially, n-6 PUFAs have a hypo-cholesterolemic effect than n-3 PUFAs and therefore guinea fowl eggs can decrease cholesterol content of serum.

According to the results, the level of cholesterol, n-6 fatty acids and n-6 to n-3 fatty acids ratio of guinea fowl eggs were higher than those of table eggs. Also, the sum of PUFAs and the sum of SFA to sum of MUFA ratio in yolk samples of guinea fowl eggs in comparison with table eggs were higher.

The breeds and subpopulations of any species, which are the result of mutation processes, genetic drift, natural selection and gene-environment interactions, are very precious. They have been inherited down to the present generation, and their preservation is of great value and importance (Alijani, 2009). Genetic analysis of wild populations is essential for conserving biodiversity, increasing knowledge about the survival of these species, and finding the factors that threaten or contribute to the survival of these populations. The red deer is one of the biggest free-ranging mammals of central Europe and as it is not endangered in terms of population numbers, is the perfect model for studying the genetic population effects of a multitude of deliberate and unintentional anthropogenic influences on natural populations over a long period of time (Kiabi et al, 1998). Red deer gene pools are affected by habitat fragmentation, keeping of populations in enclosures, translocations, (re)introductions, and trophy hunting (Bruford et al, 2003). Various schedules of population regulation by hunting are applied throughout Europe. Many autochthonous stocks have been hybridized with the introduced animals, thus blurring the historical boundaries between formerly natural populations (Hiendleder et al, 1998). The objectives of the present studies were to gain insight into phylogeographic history; to characterize and quantify the genetic diversity within and among populations to implement conservation and management strategies, and to compare different molecular marker systems with regard to their respective resolution power (Cavalli –Sforza, 2003). For this purpose, a research program was designed to characterize populations of Iranian red deer (Cervus elaphus), using the mitochondrial control region (CR). In order to understand the origin, phylogeny, and phylogeography of the species C. elaphus, the DNA sequence variation of the mitochondrial D-loop gene of five populations of deer was examined from the entire distribution area of Cervinae with an emphasis on Iran. Several methods, including maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and nested clade analysis revealed that red deer originated from the area between Noshahr and other populations. The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) data do not support the traditional classification of red deer as only one species nor its division into numerous subspecies. The discrepancies between the geographical pattern of differentiation based on mtDNA D-loop and the existing specific and sub-specific taxonomy based on morphology are discussed. The present study was carried out to identify the existing gene pool, study the relationship and genetic variation of the Maral (Caspian red deer, C. elaphus) using the D-loop sequence data from the mitochondrial genome.

Blood, hair or tissue samples were taken from 78 Maral and their DNA was extracted. Sampling was carried out in coordination with Environmental and Wildlife Organization of the provinces of Ardebil, East Azarbaijan, Qazvin, Golestan and Mazandaran, as well as the Museum of Natural Resources and the reserves of the Gene Bank of Tehran. Blood samples were taken from those animals that were captured for population health check or treatments to use fumigant drugs and pneumatic gun in vacuum tubes contained EDTA. Hair samples were also taken directly from live animals and other tissue samples were provided from dead animals which newly dehorned. The D-loop region of the mitochondrial genome was amplified using specific primers with PCR and all PCR products were sequenced. A total of 130 sequences of D-Loopregion from deer species (52 sequences from NCBI and 78 sequences from Maral populations were studied) wereused for bioinformatics analysis between the species. The sequences were aligned and compared using BioEdit software to find nucleotide diversity. Using Mega software, a phylogenetic tree was drawn.  Haplotypes and genetic diversity parameters including nucleotide diversity, haplotype diversity, genetic distance, genetic differentiation, nucleotide frequency, etc., were performed using the DnaSp 5.10 software. DnaSP software was used to analyze the genetic data of the population, haplotypes and genetic diversity parameters, specific alleles, Rst, Fst values, and genetic distances of the 6-population hierarchy including Arasbaran, Ziaran, Semeskandeh, Fandoghlu, Ghorgh, Noshahr. Finally, NETWORK software applied to analyze the network to identify haplotypes.

The results of Maral sequence analysis using DnaSP software led to the identification of mutations that resulted in the creation of 5 haplotypes for the D-loop region. The haplotype diversity, nucleotide diversity and mean nucleotide difference for the D-loop region were 0.218, 0.0007 and 0.491, respectively. The negative and significant Tajima D test result demonstrated an inbreeding among the populations. Results showed that the Noshahr population was in highest genetic distance from other populations. The genetic distance estimated for other populations were low. The phylogenetic tree using the D-Loop region showed that the Maral's populations is divided into two main branches. The main branch of the first consists of the population of Noshahr and its second main branch is divided into two branches, the first branch of which is Arasbaran, Ziaran, Semaskand, Gorgan, and Fandoghlo, and the second branch of the population is Noshahr. It revealed that there were a close relationship among Arasbaran, Ziaran, Semaskand, Gorgan and Fandoghlo populations, while Noshahr population showed a higher diversity. The genetic diversity indices showed that the 6 investigated populations of Maral have probably experienced a bottleneck (Yuasa et al, 2006). Results of analysis D-loop sequences of Maral and other deer species showed that red deer, fawn deer and yellow deer were in a branch, but each was in separate groups, and Shoka was a separate branch. In this study, all Iranian Maral in a separate group of European, Asian and American red deer placed in one branch (Zamani, 2014). Placement of Polish red deer in the Maral Cluster, in network analysis, was an interesting result (Lorenzini, 2015); however, no historical evidence was found to support this result.

In conclusion, the recent fluctuations in population size and interruption in the gene flow are due to the past geographical transfer of red deer from a population to other habitats. A high risk of inbreeding was observed in Maral populations. Therefore, for conserving the populations, it is necessary to consider a program for introducing new blood from other populations and increasing their genetic diversity.

The grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) is a woody vine cultivated worldwide for its edible berries (grapes) that are eaten fresh or pressed to make juices. Grape processing generates a large number of by-products that can be broadly classified as follows: solid by-products (leaves, stems, seeds, skins, and pulp), highly viscous by-products (lees), and low-viscosity by-products (wastewater). The seeds (pips) are sometimes extracted to make oil. This datasheet deals with grape pomace (grape marc), which is the main solid residue of grape processing. Grape pomace always includes the pressed skins and the disrupted cells of grape pulp, which depends on process, stems, and seeds. Grape leaves , grape seeds, and oil meal are presented in their own datasheets. Condensed tannins were considered as a main limiting factor in some of the agricultural byproducts. So many research data are available about the effects of different chemical and physical treatments on condensed tannins levels and activity in tanniferous plants. Due to its high content of fiber (and particularly lignin) and the presence of phenolic compounds, grape pomace has low digestibility (Provenza and Launchbaugh, 1999). It can be used to feed ruminants, horses and rabbits, in association with feeds, which have a better nutritive value, but it is not recommended for pigs and poultry as a source of energy and protein. Grape pomace can be fed fresh, but as it is highly perishable and produced seasonally, it must be dried or ensiled before storage. Red grape pomace is one of the main agro-industrial byproducts with medium to high levels of condensed tannins. High concentration of condensed tannins limits their use in the feeding of farm animals (Abarghuei and Ruzbehan, 2013). Along with tannin, soluble and structural carbohydrates is expected to play a role in determining the extent of digestion and resultant fermentation products. Both tannins and carbohydrate sections had been reported to change as grape pomace is processed. Condensed tannin and carbohydrates are diverse in different grape pomace components (e.g. skin, seed, stalk) or from different cultivars. Processing with irradiation-based techniques can be served as green processing methods without negative environmental effects. However, reports about the effects of these processing methods on anti-nutritional factor are so scares. On the other hand, condensed tannins (proanthocyanidins) have been proved to be effective in reducing methane emissions both in vitro and in vivo. The main objective of this study was to determine the effects of microwave irradiation on in vitro and in situ chemical composition, levels of anti-nutrients, and nutritive value parameters of grape pomace.

Shade- air dried grape pomace was irradiated in a microwave oven at 2, 4, and 6 minutes and effects of irradiation were examined on chemical composition measures as well as phenolic compounds. Three ruminally fistulated male Holstein steers were used to prepare rumen fluid and to incubate the in-situ samples within the rumen according to a completely randomized block design in two separate stages. In order to determine the effect of processing on the gas production potential and inactivation of phenolic compounds and tannins, in vitro gas production was measured according to the method of Menke and Steingass (1988) in three separate runs and three replications in each run. Rumen fluid was prepared from the same three fistulated Holstein steers prior to morning meal. The degradability coefficients of dry matter and crude protein were also determined. Two bags for each sample were incubated in the rumen of each cow for 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours. To estimate the amount of disappearance at time zero, the bags containing the feed sample were washed with only cold tap water. Rumen incubated nylon bags were washed and rinsed until the effluent was clearو using a washing machine. The bags were oven dried at 60 °C for 48 hours. quantifying The NLIN procedure of SAS (statistical software, version 9.1) and Ørskov and McDonald (1979) proposed model were used to determine the degradability parameters of dry matter and crude protein.

Irradiation with microwave increased the amount of crude protein, dry matter, ash and insoluble fiber in neutral detergent. Significant decrease was observed in the total amount of phenolic compounds, total tannin, free condensed tannin and protein and fiber bound condensed tannins. In addition, the biological activity of phenolic compounds in protein deposition was also reduced. The highest reduction was seen in treatment of 6 minutes. The highest reduction was seen in 6-min treated samples. Irradiation with microwave irradiation increased the degradability of dry matter of red grapes and the quantities of produced gas at all incubation times in 4 minutes, but reduced the dry matter degradability in the treatment of 6 minutes compared with the control group. Irradiation reduced the protein degradation in all treatments compared with the control group. Irradiation also increased gas production. The highest gas production was observed in 2 minutes treatment with 120 h incubation (71.98 vs. 55.07 mL per 500 mg of dry matter). Also, section b showed a significant increase compared with control in treatments 2 and 6 minutes. The results of this study showed that microwave irradiation increases the nutritional value of red grape pomace by disabling a large part of the anti-nutrient contents and their activities. The effect of microwaves irradiation on the kinetics of crude protein degradability was significant at all of the processing times (P <0.05). Microwave irradiation significantly increased potentially degradable rotein, so it can be expected to change protein degradation in the rumen (NRC, 2001). Decreased protein degradation can be explained by cross-linking, breaking of hydrogen bonds and other weak non-covalent bonds, changing the position of amino acids, and ultimately increasing hydrophobicity of protein levels (Mora et al., 2003, VanSoet, 1994). Based on the results, it can be concluded that microwave irradiation can improve the nutritional value of red grape pomace, due to inactivation of condensed tannins.

The increasing use of artificial insemination (AI) in the poultry industry emphasizes the need for the sharing of good quality sperm. The evaluation of semen quality characteristics of poultry gives an excellent sign of their reproductive potential and has been reported to be a major determinant of fertility and subsequent hatchability of eggs. In poultry industry in order to take advantage of new AI techniques, proper storage of poultry semen is needed. As poultry semen is viscous, highly concentrated, with low volume, containing 6 (chicken) to 12 (turkey) billion spermatozoa/ mL, the extension of good semen with a proper diluent is required prior to AI and storage. Reproduction performance is affected some factors include; nutrition, genetic, management, and environment. One of the fundamental aim in poultry industry is production of fertile eggs with high hatchability. In reproduction physiology, male and female are important, but sire effect is more than dam because of breeding program, semen samples could be applied for females. In layer industry, number of females are more than males; so, artificial insemination is an important tool for genetic diversity and high reproductive performance. One of the major problems in artificial insemination is low quality of poultry semen. Freezing and thawing have adverse effects on sperm viability. Since lipids (poly unsaturated fatty acids) are important part of plasma membrane of sperm cells, it could be destroyed in short times of storage in a liquid condition. It has been reported that antioxidants can be employed to prevent sperm damage during chilling storage condition (Malo et al. 2011). It is well known that sperm of farm animals is highly sensitive to oxidative stress (Surai et al. 1998). The high concentration of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the cell membrane of the sperm is also considered as another key factor for susceptibility to the oxidative stress. The process of semen production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) may lead to impairment of sperm morphology, motility, and finally viability. Pharmacological plants have some antioxidant components, which decrease free radical levels in organism. One of the major problems in sperm viability is sperm fragmentation. In this case, nucleus chromatin of sperm damages or splits. In some cases, the motility and normality of the semen analysis is acceptable, but the sperm nucleus of sample is damaged.  Different tests are available for detection of sperm DNA damages like COMET assay, TUNEL assay, SCSA, and Sperm Chromatin Dispersion (SCD) test. Among these assays, the SCD test is a simple and low-cost method for the analysis of sperm DNA fragmentation (Shanmugam et al., 2014). This method is based on the principle that sperm with DNA fragmentation fails to produce halo of dispersed DNA loops when mixed with agarose followed by acid denaturation and nuclear protein removal. The halos can be visualized using bright-field microscopy after staining with Wright’s stain. This study was designed to evaluate the effects of Rosemary extract on rooster semen parameters during chilling storage condition at 4ºC.

Dimension of individual cages were 85×70×70cm. Photoperiod program was applied based on 10 h darkness and 14h light. Water and feed were ad libitum. Rooster were fed corn and soybean meals based on 2107 kcal and 12% protein per Kg of dry matter. The semen was collected twice a week for six times from 10 mature roosters using abdominal rubbing method. As the rooster responded to abdominal rubbing by everting its cloaca, the ejaculate was collected using a graduated pipette; then, total volume was recorded. Urine or fecal contamination was discarded. Fresh semen was evaluated for sperm concentration using a haemocytometer. The semen samples were diluted by Sexton extender and evaluated at 25-27 °C. Then, the samples were divided into six equal parts. Different treatments were including: 0(control), 15, 25, 35, 45 and 60 µg/ml of Rosemary extract. Rosemary extract were added to each part and kept at 4oC for 72h. The parameters included motility, viability and plasma membrane integrity were evaluated at 0, 24, 48 and 72 h after storage. Also, DNA fragmentation was evaluated 48h after storage at 4 oC. In this method, sample is affected by acid treatment and denatures sperm chromatin. For elimination of proteins from chromatin, DNA strands are scattered around the sperm head and then, a halo forms around the sperm head.  With staining, halo is visible under the microscope. Halo in fragmented sperm is very small.   Data of the experiment were analyzed by Proc ANOVA SAS software (repeated measurement) and means were compared by Duncan's multiple range test.

Sperm during time of storage undergoes different changes and potentially undergoes mechanical and oxidative damages. At the time of storage in liquid condition, free radicals are released and sperm performance decreases significantly. The results of this experiment revealed that applying 35 µg/ml Rosemary extract could decrease DNA fragmentation (P<0.05). It seems that this concentration of Rosemary extract has antioxidant properties in rooster semen. Avian sperm have high concentration of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids within the phospholipids and therefore, are prone to peroxidation damage (Blesbois et al. 1997). Also, after 48h of storage, motility, viability and sperm plasma membrane integrity were lower in treatment 60µg/ml Rosemary extract than control group (P<0.05). Finally, it was demonstrated that 48h after storage, motility, viability and sperm plasma membrane integrity in samples treated by 35µg/ml Rosemary extract were higher than control group (P<0.05). High level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in oxidative stress is related to DNA fragmentation. Free radicals oxidize purine and pyrimidine bases of DNA structure of sperm and it causes damage DNA structure. The prevention of free radicals is the first defense line of antioxidants against oxidative damage. Rosemarry extract improved rooster sperm quality after thawing (Shafigh et al. 2016).  This is the first study to report the use of DNA fragmentation test in rooster sperm in Iran. This is a simple technique requiring no sophisticated instruments when Wright stain is used for visualization of the halos. According to the results of this study, it seems that applying 35µg/ml Rosemary extract can be useful in rooster semen at 4 oC. Rosemary extract effectively reduced DNA fragmentation. This effect seems to be associated with the high motility of treatment (35µg/ml Rosemary extract) compare with other treatments.

The evolution of single and two humped camels dating back to 40 to 45 million years ago, when the Camelida family was evolved during the Eocene in North America. Genus Camelini and Genus Lamini, which includes species of Guanaco, Lama, Alpaca, and Vicugna, were evolved from the Camelida family, about 11 to 25 million years ago. Old world camel can be divided into wild and domestic one and two humped camels, in which wild type of one humped camel has been distanced centuries ago (Burger 2016). Among 150,000 of Iranian one-humped camel, there are about 2,000 one-humped (Turkmen) camels, which are the country’s major species (Ansari Renani et al 2010), whom mainly rearing in Golestan province. Single-humped camels are used mainly for the purpose of producing meat, milk, transport, hair, and sports (Abdel-Aziem et al. 2015; Ramadan and Inoue-Murayama 2017). Several studies in different species have shown that the genetic polymorphisms of the Myostatin gene can increase the lean meat (Mosher et al. 2007). The identified polymorphisms of the gene in the camel included mutations in non-coding regions and synonymous mutations in coding regions (Shah et al. 2006; Sajadi Zirjani et al. 2016). Myostatin or Growth differentiation factor 8 (GDF8) is a member of beta-transforming family (TGF-β) that limits muscle mass (Wang and Mcpherron 2012). The mutation in the Myostatin gene increases muscle mass through the growth and proliferation of its cells (Mosher et al. 2007). The Myostatin gene with its three exons and two introns, has been sequenced in wild and domestic two-humped and domestic Arabian camel. The aim of this study was to investigate the sequence of the Myostatin gene (Gene ID: 105099167) of Camellus Bactrianus, Ferus, Dromedarius (Arabian) and some other species with Iranian Turkmen Dromedarius camel. Therefore, the evolutionary relationships among different species in terms of the sequence of this gene can be determined using phylogenetic study. For this reason, the whole genome sequence of Turkmen camel was performed and Myostatin gene sequences of different species were obtained from data banks.

The blood sample was obtained using syringe from the abdominal vein of a pure Iranian Turkmen camel, then stored in an EDTA containing plastic tube. After extraction, one microliter of the product was used to measure concentration using QubitTM Fluorometer (Invitrogen, Cat. No. Q32857). After evaluation, the sample was sent for whole genome sequencing using the Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform. After trimming the results, reads were assembled and the reads containing the Myostatin gene were extracted from the whole data set. To compare the different species of camels, the Myostatin gene sequence of Arabic camels, wild Bactrian camel, domesticated Bactrian camel, and Alpaca were obtained from NCBI. Using the CLC Genomics Workbench 12 software, alignment was performed to compare and obtain the sequences of the Myostatin gene in old and new world camels. Alignment for comparison of Myostatin gene sequence parameters of different camel species were conducted using CLC Genomics Workbench 12 software. Then, the number of gaps, differences, distances, identity percent, and identity of Myostatin gene sequence nucleotides was considered in different camel species. To study the degree and the relative time of divergence of the camel species, a phylogeny tree using neighbor-joining method was prepared. Also, annotation information of Myostatin was used to extract exons and introns of the gene. Then, the number of gaps, differences, distances, identity percent, and identity of Myostatin protein sequences was considered in different camel species. The phylogenetic and evolutionary situation of the Turkmen camel compared to many other species.

Concentration of extraction product was 304 ng/μl. A total of 589,326,158 clean reads of about 88 billion nucleotides in paired end mode with the length of 150 base pairs were obtained. The Myostatin gene sequence was extracted from the assembled whole data set. Alignment results of Myostatin gene sequence in different camel species showed the greatest gap, differences and distance, and the least similarity between the alpaca species and other camel species were obtained. Also, the most similarity obtained between wild and domestic two-humped camels. The phylogenetic tree obtained from the gene sequence alignment revealed that Alpaca is far apart from other camel species. Among old world camels, the two-humped camels are more distinct from the Arabian one-humped camel. The length of the exons in different species was equal, but not the sequence, and exon alignment showed evolutionary conservation of exon length and ultimately the protein length. Considering identity and differences of exons and gene sequence revealed that Alpaca is more distant from other species. Also, one-humped and two-humped camels were similar to each other. The results are consistent with the results of Shah et al. (2006), which did not observe any polymorphism by sequencing of exon 1 of this gene. In the study of Yi et al. (2017), domestic and wild two-humped camel were located in different branches of the phylogenetic tree. In this study, the Iranian Turkmen camel was located in a separate branch between the two-headed and one-humped Arab camels. Myostatin gene alignment was conducted between different species and the phylogenetic tree showed that camels, horses, sheep, goats and cows belong to different groups. In the study of Hedayat-Evrigh et al. (2016), it was found that one-humped and two-humped camels were far away from cattle and horses. Homology between sheep and goat, as well as przewalski horse and the horse were complete. The lowest homology of 92.82 was found between humans and buffaloes. The greatest gaps of 3236 nucleotide were seen between sheep and donkeys.

Although there are differences between the nucleotide sequence of the introns and the exons of Camelida family, there was no difference in amino acid sequence of the gene, which indicates the strong protection of this gene during the evolutionary period. It can be said that numerous mutations in the gene have been eliminated during natural selection and no evolutionary opportunity has been provided for the mutations. The study of the homology and difference between the 16 species revealed that the homology of the protein sequence is very high in different species.

Stocking density is an important issue in the poultry industry, because it is highly related to the outcome of poultry productivity as well as animal welfare issues. Stocking density for broiler chickens is defined as the number of birds or the total live weight of birds in a fixed space (Estevez 2007). Therefore, high stocking density increases profitability due to a higher production of chicken meat per space (Puron et al. 1995). However, high stocking density was reported to decrease the absorptive capacity of broiler chickens by impairing villus structures of small intestine (Shakeri et al. 2014; Li et al. 2017). Regardless, physiological alterations in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of broiler chickens due to high stocking density in relation to productive performance have not been examined. Meanwhile, it is indicated that with increasing in stocking density, the productivity decreases because of increasing in  health problems and decreasing in the performance of broiler chickens (Estevez, 2007). Birds cannot synthesize threonine (Thr); therefore, it is one of essential amino acids. Threonine participates in protein synthesis and its catabolism produces many products important in metabolism. Threonine is considered as the third limiting amino acid after methionine and lysine for broiler chicks (Kidd et al. 1999; Ayasan and Okan 2006; Baylan et al. 2006; Ayasan et al. 2009). Kidd (2000) reported that threonine deficiency resulted in decreasing utilization of methionine + cyctein and lysine. In addition, threonine incorporated in a high concentration in γ-globulin, it affects the immune function (Smith and Greene 1947; Crumpton and Wilkinson 1963; Tenenhouse and Deutsch 1966; Azzam et al. 2011a, b). Recently, Houshmand et al. (2012) observed significant interactions between protein level and stocking density for body weight gain and final body weight. Therefore, the aim of our study was to investigate the effects of dietary threonine levels on performance and meat quality of broilers chickens under different stocking density condition.

For this reason, 495 male Ross-308 broiler chickens from 1 to 42 days of age were used based on a completely randomized design with 4 treatments and 5 replicates. Two different stocking densities were achieved by raising a different number of broiler chickens per pen with identical floor size (1.2 m ×1.5 m). Two different stocking densities included 10 birds/m2 (18 birds/pen) or 15 birds/m2 (27 birds/pen). The dietary treatments consisted of: 1) basal diet based on corn-soybean meal as control group that containing 0.79, 0.69 and 0.6 percent standardized ileal digestible Thr in starter, grower and finisher periods, respectively; 2) high stocking density group fed basal diet; 3) high stocking density group fed basal diet supplemented with 10 percent L-Thr higher than control group (diets containing 0.88, 0.76, and 0.66 percent standardized ileal digestible Thr in starter, grower and finisher periods, respectively); and 4) high stocking density group fed basal diet supplemented with 20 percent L-Thr higher than control group (diets containing 0.96, 0.83, and 0.72 percent standardized ileal digestible Thr in starter, grower and finisher periods, respectively). The bell feeder (56 cm diameter and 172.6 cm circompherence) were used and feeder space for control and stocking density groups were 9.5 and 6.4 cm per bird, respectively. The diets were formulized to meet the requirements of broilers as established by the Ross 308 broiler nutrition specification in starter (1-10d), grower (11-24d) and finisher (25-42d). The birds were reared under controlled conditions for temperature, ventilation, and lighting based on Ross-308 management guide booklet recommendations. The broiler chickens' diets were formulated based on standardized ileal digestible amino acids recommendations (Hoehler et al. 2005) and other requirements were obtained from Ross-308 nutrition specification. Broiler chicken performance (feed intake, body weight gain, feed conversion efficiency, and European production efficiency factor), distribution and shape of distribution parameters, carcass parameters, and meat fat and protein percentage, and jejunum morphology were measured. Data were evaluated for variance homogeneity by Minitab 18 version (Minitab 2019 LLC) software and analyzed using GLM procedure (SAS 2004) based on a completely randomized design with 4 treatments and 5 replicates in each treatment. The mortality data were subjected to arc sine transformation prior to analysis, and then analyzed using GLM procedure (SAS 2004).

The results showed that high stocking density significantly decreased feed intake, body weight, feed conversion ratio, and carcass yield of broilers, while Thr supplementation could not ameliorate the negative effects of high stocking density which were in agreement with Azzam et al. 2011a, b. European production efficiency factor (EPEF), breast, thigh and abdominal fat percentage, intestinal morphology, and breast fat and thigh meat protein percentage were not affected by treatments. Maximum weight of the birds was decreased by increasing in stocking density, but the minimum weight was not affected by treatments. The skewness was negative for high stocking density groups, which means that body weight of the most of the broiler chickens in these groups were lower than mean of the group.

In conclusion, high stocking density lowered broiler chickens' performance. Although final body weight per m2 in high stocking density treatments were higher than control group, but high stocking density led to decrease in the maximum weight of the birds and had a negative skewness in the distribution of the birds. On the other hand, threonine supplementation could not compensate the negative effects of stocking density, though 10 percent Thr supplementation only increased breast meat protein as compared with control group. It is suggested that Thr supplementation is not a good treatment for improving the bird’s performance under high stocking density.

The importance of milk and dairy products in the nutrition and health of the community has caused the production and consumption of these products always be considered by policy makers and planners in the country. Milk is a corruptible product that is used both as a final product and as a raw material for the production of other dairy products. Therefore, any problems and inadequacies in supply and demand affect the market of milk and dairy products. East Azarbaijan Province is one of the largest provinces producing milk and dairy products in the country, with an annual production of 842,000 tons of raw milk, the country's third rank. In the last years many problems such as fluctuations in the price of milk in the market, its poor distribution, rising prices of inputs (especially feed), and the high cost of production are affecting the milk industry and causing some disruptions in production and consumption of milk in this province. So, considering these conditions, the examination and recognition of the structure of the milk market is certainly inevitable in the design and development of market regulation programs for this valuable product as well as their effective implementation. The necessity of recognizing the structure of the various product markets has led to numerous studies in this field (Paarlberg and Haley 2001; Khodadkashi and Shahikitash 2005; Hatirli et al. 2006; Memarnejhad et al. 2009; Asiabani et al. 2012; Praveena and Samsai 2014; Khodaverdizadeh and mohammadi 2016). The review of these studies suggests that researchers often use the indicators of concentration ratios and Herfindahl-Hirschman to examine the structure of the market. Although different products have been considered in the studies, it seems that with all the importance of milk production and consumption in the East Azerbaijan province, there is no study on the identification of the milk market structure in this province. In the present study, the structure of the milk market and its degree of concentration in the East Azarbaijan province have been investigated to provide a detailed picture of the degree of competition and the oligopoly of this important and strategic product in the market. It is hoped that the results of the study could be effective in designing and developing milk market regulation programs and their effective implementation.

The market structure is in fact one of the characteristics of the market organization, which, by identifying them, can determine the nature of pricing and market competition. One of the important aspects of market structure is market concentration. Using the concept of concentration, the structure of the market as well as the size of competition and monopoly in individual markets or in the economy could be examined. There are different statistical and econometric methods can be used for the measurement of market concentration. The most important of which are the concentration ratios (CRn), the Herfindahl-Hirschman index (HHI), Hanah – Kay (HK), first order Shannon's entropy (E), and logarithmic standard deviations (L). The statistics and information required for calculations and estimates, which mainly include the production of milk in livestock farms of East Azarbaijan province, the number of dairy factories in East Azarbaijan province, and the rate of absorption of raw milk for each of these factories, were provided from the relevant organizations and institutions such as Organization of Agriculture- Jahad- East Azarbaijan Province, Iran dairy industries Company, and Pegah Bazar Gostar Region 1 company (Tabriz Branch), in 2010 and 2014.

Market concentration of milk producers in East Azarbaijan province was measured based on CRn, HHI, HK, E, and L index. Investigating the milk production of livestock farms and the share of factories of milk absorption in 2010 and 2014 showed that the cities of Tabriz, Azarshahr, Meyaneh, Maragheh, and Sarab have the largest share of milk production in the East Azarbaijan province. Also, among the factories of raw milk recipients, the East Azarbaijan Pegah Company, Azarnoosh shargh, and Shifteh Bonab have the largest share of milk absorption. Furthermore, the results showed that the market structure of milk production of livestock farms in 2010 and 2014 was open oligopoly and the market power of the milk production has increased over the time. This indicates that the number of active livestock has dropped in this interval. Furthermore, the results of mentioned index at the level of dairy factories indicated that the structure of the milk market has ranged from the exclusive competition in 2010 to the open oligopoly in 2014. The ceasing and exiting of some dairy factories from the market and the reduction of the number of factories from 55 to 22, can be a reason of this increased concentration in the province's milk market.

So, based on the results, more attention of managers and policy makers to new investments in dairy industry and creation of necessary and sufficient grounds for the discovery and use of modern methods and advanced technologies of production and maintenance as well as the treatment and elimination of problems of closed dairy factories cause to rise production and absorption capacity of milk. However, the competitiveness of these types of activities prevents excessive price rises and improves the quality and diversity of dairy products, and creates new job opportunities and increases production in the province

Royal jelly is a secretion of mandibular and hyppopharyngial glands of young (ages 4-15) worker honey bees that is used to feed larvae in the first three days of their lives and queen during its entire life (Bogdanov 2012). Today, production of royal jelly and its usage by human is increasing as well as improving methods of production. China is the greatest producer of royal jelly, because they use high royal jelly producing lines and specific equipment and experienced beekeepers in the process (Krell 1996; Chen et al. 2002). No data is existing about the amount of royal jelly production in Iran, otherwise its consumption is increasing. Naturally, it is possible to harvest royal jelly from natural queen cells in swarming period of colonies, but at this way the amount of harvested royal jelly is very low. Colack Board and 24 hour methods are the most common methods for yielding bee queen in Iran, but their usage in royal jelly production have not been yet examined. So, this experiment was conducted in order to survey and compare these two methods of royal jelly production and determine the effect of this method on the acceptance of grafted cells and the amount of royal jelly harvested from each grafted cell and hive. In the second stage, honey productions of control colonies compared with experimental colonies and economic analysis of royal jelly production with these two methods are presented.

This experiment was carried out in honey bee colonies (Apis mellifera meda) of East Azarbaijan province in 2016. We used 30 honey bee colonies headed by one year old sister queens and the same contents of the hive and then, they were randomly divided into three groups. Experimental design was 2×3 factorial based on CRD, which had two factors including method and period. Ten colonies were organized as 24 hour protocol, 10 as cloack board method, and 10 untreated colonies as control. For this reason, 45 grafted cells were added into each hive. Experiment was repeated three times in May, June, and July. Royal jelly was gathered in the 3rd day after grafting. Number of accepted cells was counted and the amount of royal jelly production from each cell was measured. as Also, the total amount of royal jelly production by each hive was calculated. Linear multiple trait model was used to analyze data. Statistical model was: Yij= μ + Mi + Sj + MSij + eij; where: Yij = record of each trait, μ = overall mean, Mi = effect of method, Sj = effect of month, MSij = interaction effect of method and month, eij = experimental error. The cost-income of the royal jelly production was calculated for the test colonies, considering the price of each kilogram of honey and jelly, 200 thousand Rials and 50 million Rials, respectively.  

Results showed that there was no significant difference between two methods in acceptation rate of grafted larvae. The interaction between two factors (working method and time) was not also significant. But, there was a significant difference between the months in acceptation rate; so that, mean comparisons showed the lowest larvae acceptance in July (%78.7200) and the highest in June (%85.2700). No significant difference was observed between two methods based on total royal jelly production from each hive. Also, the interaction between two factors (working method and time) was not significant. However, the effect of time was significant; so that, the maximum amount of royal jelly production from each hive was occurred in May (9.7730 g/hive) and the minimum in July (8.3295 g/hive). The amount of royal jelly production from each cell in different amounts was not significantly different. Also, the effect of method and amount interaction was not significantly different. But amount of royal jelly harvested from each cell significantly affected by method; so, the amount of royal jelly per cell in cloack board method was more than 24 hours method (262.66 and 236.87 mg/cell, respectively). Cost-Income calculation showed that, by production of royal jelly, we can add 919.5 thousand Rials to the income from each hive.  Considering the results of this study and other related reports (Sahinler 2005; Le Jiang 2001; and Elmi 2016), month and season had a considerable effect on royal jelly production. Colony internal contents (brood and food area and population) and external condition (honey and pollen flow) are varying with season (Buchler et al. 2013). Larvae acceptance and the amount of royal jelly could be affected by each of these factors. Larvae acceptance in this study was higher than other related reports (Kumar and Kumar 1999). Mean of royal jelly per hive in current research was lower than that of other report (Elmi 2016). It seems that environmental factors affected this trait. Due to climate situations followed by poor nutritional pollens in the nature, there was a decline in breeding quality of queens at the year of experiment. Mean of royal jelly production per cell was nearly the same as other related reports (Elmi 2016; Bogdanov 2012). Considering amount of royal jelly per cell, it seems that Cloack Board method is preferable to the 24-hour method. One of the advantages of the Royal jelly production on the experimental colonies was that none of the colonies had swarmed. Also, there was no significant difference between groups in honey production of three groups, and royal jelly production had not negative effect on the amount of honey production. Therefore, royal jelly production can be achieved by beekeepers to increase their income.

Generally, the results of this study showed that the percentage of larvae acceptance and the amount of royal jelly produced from each hive are acceptable in both ways. The amount of the royal jelly produced from each cell in the Cloack Board method is greater than the 24 - hour procedure, and the use of the Cloack Board method to produce royal jelly can be more advisable under the 24 h method, because: the amount of royal jelly are obtained from each cell is high and there is no need for the removal of the queen and the colony develops normally. Furthermore, production of royal jelly would increase the beekeepers income by using any of the above methods without any negative effect on honey yield, and it has a positive effect on swarming tendency of colonies.

Coccidiosis is one of the most common diseases in poultry industry in all over the world that is characterized by enteritis. Coccidiosis causes economic losses in chicks, because it induces diarrhea and deaths. This disease decreases the plasma concentration of arginine and suppresses antioxidant system. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of different levels of arginine on antioxidant status, carcass traits, and serum carotenoid levels in broiler chicks challenged with Eimeria spp.

A total number of 384 one-day-old broiler chicks (Ross 308) of mixed sex was allocated into 8 groups with 8 birds/pen from grower period. At 21 days, broiler chickens were challenged with a mixture of Eimeria species. Birds were divided into infected and uninfected groups and received arginine at 85, 100, 125, and 150 % of recommended levels. The levels of antioxidant enzymes, malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), and serum carotenoid levels were assessed in blood sera and also carcass traits were evaluated.

Coccidiosis decreased total antioxidant capacity, and serum carotenoid levels, but increased MDA and NO in comparison with uninfected Birds (p<0.05). However, 125 and 150% diets, increased total antioxidant capacity and serum carotenoid levels, but decreased MDA (P<0.05).

In conclusion, coccidiosis decreased antioxidant status and serum carotenoid levels in broiler, but dietary inclusion of higher levels of arginine improved antioxidant status and serum carotenoid levels. In summary, higher levels of arginine could be recommended to improve antioxidant capacity and serum carotenoid levels in broiler challenged with coccidiosis.