Halla horse is crossbreed between Jeju and Thoroughbred horses and is used for riding, racing and meat production. Thus, molecular genetic studies are needed to establish and preserve the industrially valuable Halla horses. This study aimed to analyses the genetic diversity and population structure through 12 microsatellite (MS) markers for Halla and putatively related 3 breeds (Jeju, Mongolian and Thoroughbred horses). On average, the number of alleles, observed heterozygosity (Hobs), expected heterozygosity (Hexp), and polymorphic information content (PIC) among all horses were 10, 0.767, 0.799, and 0.771, respectively. Neighbor-joining tree and STRUCTURE analysis showed that Halla horses were between Thoroughbred and Jeju horses, tend to more influenced by Thoroughbred horses. Therefore, these results could be considered for use as the basic genetic breed relationships resource among the horse breeds (Jeju, Mongolian, and Thoroughbred horses) related to the origins of the Halla horse.

In recent years, various methods of measuring body temperature have been developed using wireless biosensors to facilitate an early detection of pregnancy and parturition in cows. However, there are no studies on real-time monitoring of cattle body temperature throughout pregnancy. Therefore, we investigated the daily mean ruminal temperature in pregnant cows throughout pregnancy using a ruminal bio-capsule sensor and then evaluated the temperature variation between pregnant and non-pregnant cows. In pregnant cows, the mean and standard deviation of ruminal temperature was 38.86 ± 0.17℃. Ruminal temperature in pregnant cows slowly decreased until 180 to 190 days after artificial insemination and after that, the temperature increased dramatically until just before parturition. Furthermore, the means ruminal temperature was significantly different between pregnant and nonpregnant cows. The mean and standard deviation of ruminal temperature were as follows: 38.68 ± 0.01℃ from days 80 to 100, 38.78 ± 0.02℃ from days 145 to 165, 38.99 ± 0.45℃ from days 200 to 220, 39.14 ± 0.38℃ from days 250 to 270 before parturition. Therefore, our results could provide useful data for early detection of pregnancy and parturition in Korean cows.

A pregnancy diagnosis is an important standard for control of livestock’s reproduction in paricular dairy cattle. High reproductive performance in dairy animals is a essential condition to realize of high life-time production. Pregnancy diagnosis is crucial to shortening the calving interval by enabling the farmer to identify open animals so as to treat or re-breed them at the earliest opportunity. MicroRNAs are short RNA molecules which are critically involved in regulating gene expression during both health and disease. This study is sought to establish the feasible of circulating miRNAs as biomarkers of early pregnancy in cattle. We applied Illumina small-RNA sequencing to profile miRNAs in plasma samples collected from 12 non-pregnant cows (“open” cows: samples were collected before insemination (non-pregnant state) and after pregnancy check at the indicated time points) on weeks 0, 4, 8, 12 and 16. Using small RNA sequencing we identified a total of 115 miRNAs that were differentially expressed weeks 16 relative to non-pregnancy (“open” cows). Weeks 8, 12 and 16 of pregnancy commonly showed a distinct increase in circulating levels of miR-221 and miR-320a. Through genome-wide analyses we have successfully profiled plasma miRNA populations associated with pregnancy in cattle. Their application in the field of reproductive biology has opened up opportunities for research communities to look for pregnancy biomarker molecules in dairy cattle.

페로몬에 기반한 해충방제 기술은 페로몬이 동정되는 곤충의 수가 지수적으로 증가함에 따라 더욱 성공가능성이 높은 전략이 되고 있다. 이 연구는 애기유리나방, [Synanthedon tenuis (Butler) (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae)]의 성페로몬((Z, Z )-3, 13-octadecadien-1-ol.)에 의한 화학 통신교란(pheromone-mediated chemical communication disruption, PCD)의 효과에 대한 것이다. 본 PCD법은 우리나라 전남 순천과 경 남 진주의 2곳의 단감 과수원에서 2016년과 2017년에 총 4회 수행되었으며, PCD의 효과는 성페로몬 처리구와 무처리구에서의 평가용 트랩 포 획수로 나타내었다. 성페로몬 처리구의 평가용 트랩에 유인된 수컷 성충수는 무처리구에 유인된 수보다 유의하게 적었으며, 유인수 감소효과는 95.2~100% (평균 98.8±1.2%)이었다. 이러한 결과로 볼 때 성페로몬에 기반한 애기유리나방의 방제가 가능할 것으로 판단된다