Lack of, or abnormal, ovarian follicular development is a major factor associated with impaired fertility in mammals. However, development of new treatments is limited by our poor understanding of ovarian follicular ...

with MTDFREML procedures. Breeding values were estimated (EBV) for individual BW (n = 2,111), PW (n = 2,006), PE (n = 1,677), and SI (n = 1,677). Direct heritability estimates were 0.03, 0.25, 0.18, 0.11 and 0.08 for BW, PW, PE, SI, and TB, respectively. Genetic...

This thesis examines ruminant digestion, ecology, and evolution, particularly where they can improve livestock production systems. We performed an experiment that estimated ruminal in situ degradation parameter values of ...

The present work was conducted to determine if modification of MONTs with Cu and Zn would enhance the protection of broiler chicks against the adverse effects of AF, and to determine if the modified MONTs would be bioavailable ...

The objective of this study was to determine effects of feeding chestnuts and acorns on growth performance, carcass quality and further processed products of Duroc/Duroc crossbred finishing barrows. Barrows (n = 30) were ...

For decades, the role of the divalent ion calcium was the focus of understanding mechanisms leading to sperm fertilization competency and management of semen storage. Little focus has been placed on other divalent ions, ...

Six studies (three with broilers and three with turkeys) were conducted to determine if E. coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) would enhance the effects of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and the T-2 toxin (T-2) in chicks and poults fed ...

Fescue toxicosis affects domestic animals grazing fescue pasture infected with the endophytic fungus, Neotyphodium coenophialum. Signs of fescue toxicosis include increased body temperature and respiration rate and decreased ...

The Pregnancy Associated Glycoproteins (PAGs) represent a multigene family of trophoblast expressed proteins, found exclusively in the placenta of even-toed mammals such as ruminants (cattle, sheep), pig, etc. In ruminants, ...

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] The effects of heat stress in animal agriculture are expected to become more serious as global temperatures continue to increase. Negative effects on ...

The proposed signal for maternal recognition of pregnancy in pigs is estrogen, produced by the elongating conceptus. To understand the role of estrogen in porcine conceptus elongation and pregnancy establishment, a loss ...

In vitro embryo culture systems promote development at rates lower than in vivo. The goal of this project was to discover transcripts that may be responsible for a decrease of embryo competency in blastocyst stage embryos ...

H19 is a maternally-expressed imprinted non-coding RNA with tumor suppressor activity. H19 is located in an imprinted cluster which contains the paternally-expressed fetal growth factor Igf2. Monoallelic expression of H19 ...

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) accounts for up to 70 percent of health disruptions and $500 million in associated medical costs and production losses, thus receiving considerable attention from cattle health personnel ...

"The ability to elucidate quantitative trait architecture and introduce potentially beneficial traits makes introgression a useful tool. Unfortunately, due to the nature of inheritance there are certainly limitations to ...

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Endometriosis affects millions of women worldwide; its symptoms are pain and reduced fecundity. An established rat model was used which endometriosis ...

Three studies were conducted to investigate perinatal changes in metabolism and behavior of beef cattle and horses. In the first study, effects of parity on perinatal nutrient availability assessed through calf size and ...

Accounting for ancestry and cryptic population structure is important in population genetic data analysis. The estimation of ancestry can help elucidate the effects of admixture or stratification on allele and genotype ...

Nuclear transfer (cloning) is the process of transferring a donor cell nucleus into an enucleated oocyte. The oocyte and donor cell are subsequently fused and activated to allow for nuclear reprogramming and continued ...

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Pregnancy loss is the most common complication of human gestation, and roughly one-half of conceptions result in pregnancy loss, most frequently in the ...