Related GMR Articles
Leptin is a hormone that affects the regulation of feed intake, energy balance and body composition in mammals. Several polymorphisms in the bovine leptin gene have been associated with phenotypic variance of these traits. We evaluated two known single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the leptin gene of 253 grazing Brangus steers. Brangus is a 5/8 Angus-3/8 Brahman composite. Data were ... more
DNA methylation is essential for adipose deposition in mammals. We screened SNPs of the bovine DNA methyltransferase 3b (DNMT3b) gene in Snow Dragon beef, a commercial beef cattle population in China. Nine SNPs were found in the population and three of six novel SNPs were chosen for genotyping and analyzing a possible association with 16 meat quality traits. The frequencies of ... more
The objective of this study was to estimate the heritability of predicted daily enteric methane emissions (PME) from growing Nellore cattle. Dry matter intake (DMI) records of 955 Nellore animals that were born between 2004 and 2013, which were obtained in a postweaning performance test lasting 83 ± 15 days, were used. The PME of each animal, obtained as MJ/day and converted to g/day, was ... more
We examined the impact of censored data on estimates of heritability of longevity. Longevity, defined as the length of productive racing life of an individual, is influenced by many factors. A simulated data set, modelled on the Irish Thoroughbred industry, was used to estimate heritabilities of longevity. Several scenarios representing various levels of censoring of performance data ... more
Study of immigrant populations may contribute to a better understanding of the epidemiology of diseases associated with the aging process. We examined the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, including apolipoprotein E (ApoE) polymorphism, in elderly subjects who were born in Japan, migrated to South Brazil and have lived in that region for over 40 years, versus a group of elderly, ... more
Green fluorescent protein (GFP) is widely used as a reporter transgene in a variety of organisms. Some of the advantages of using GFP include non-invasive visualization of biological events and/or tissues in live specimens and its benign nature. When GFP is expressed throughout the organism, in neurons and eyes, lifespan and climbing ability of flies are ... more
Growth hormone (GH) is a part of the somatotropic axis that controls metabolism, growth, development and aging in a wide range of animals. Mutations that reduce GH signaling have been associated with extended life spans and increased longevity in ways similar to what is observed in dietary restriction (DR) models. However, the mechanism by which DR works is not well understood. Here, we ... more
There has been much speculation about which phenotypic traits serve as reliable indicators of productivity in queen honeybees (Apis mellifera). To investigate the predictive value of queen body weight on colony development and quality, we compared colonies in which queens weighed less than 180 mg to those in which queens weighed more than 200 mg. Both groups contained naturally ... more
Overexpression of the gene coding for α-synuclein has been shown to be an inherited cause of Parkinson disease. Our laboratory has previously co-expressed the parkin and Pink1 genes to rescue α-synuclein-induced phenotypes within a Drosophila model. To further investigate the effect of Pink1 in this model, we ... more
We selected honey bee colonies (Apis mellifera L.) with a high tendency to collect sunflower pollen and estimated the heritability of this trait. The percentage of sunflower pollen collected by 74 colonies was evaluated. Five colonies that collected the highest percentages of sunflower pollen were selected. Nineteen colonies headed by daughters of these selected queens were evaluated ... more