Test day milk yield data on Damascus goats maintained at Walla station belonging to ministry of agriculture in Jordan were collected over the period from 2002 to 2010 and included 7700 test days (1540 records). Wood model parameters were estimated using non-linear regression and individual curves were fitted. The characteristics of lactation curve were computed. The initial yield (a), rate of increase (b) and rate of decline (c) parameters in Wood's model for Damascus goats were 1.12±0.002, 0.35±0.0003 and 0.08±0.00, respectively. The values of peak milk yield (PMY), peak week (PW) and persistency (PS) were 1.29±0.007 kg, 3.93±0.008 and 0.86±0.07, respectively. Heritability estimates were found to be low, being 0.09 ±0.01,

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The objectives of the current study were to detect putative genomic loci and to identify candidate genes associated with milk production traits in Egyptian buffalo. A total number of 161 479 daily milk yield (DMY) records and 60 318 monthly measures for fat and protein percentages (FP and PP, respectively), along with fat and protein yields (FY and PY, respectively) from 1670 animals were used. Genotyping was performed using Axiom® Buffalo Genotyping 90 K array. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) for each trait was performed using PLINK. After Bonferroni correction, 47 SNPs were associated with one or more milk production traits. These SNPs were distributed over 36 quantitative trait loci (QTL) and located on 20 buffalo chromosomes (BBU). For the 47 SNPs, one was overlapped for three traits (DMY, FY, and PY), six were associated with two traits (one for PP and PY and five for FY and PY) while the rest were associated with only one trait. Out of 36 identified QTL, eleven were overlapped with previously reported loci in buffalo and/or cattle populations. Some of these SNPs are placed within or close to potential candidate genes, for example: TPD52, ZBTB10, RALYL and SNX16 on BBU15, ADGRD1 on BBU17, ESRRG on BBU5 and GRIP1 on BBU4. This is the first reported study between genome-wide markers and milk components in Egyptian buffalo. Our findings provide useful information to explore the genetic mechanisms and relevant genes contributing to the variation in milk production traits. Further confirmation studies with larger population size are necessary to validate the findings and detect the causal genetic variants.

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The aim of the present genome-wide association study (GWAS) was to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and candidate genes associated with lactose percentage (LP) and lactose yield (LY) in Egyptian buffalo. The phenotypic dataset included 60,318 monthly measures for LP and LY from 1481 animals. A total number of 114 animals with high and low deviated performance were selected for genotyping with Axiom Buffalo Genotyping 90K Array. Genome-wide analysis was performed using a single marker regression. The GWAS revealed 32 significant and seven suggestive SNPs for LP, however; only two suggestive SNPs were identified for LY. The identified genomic regions are overlapped with previously reported QTL in different cattle breeds. In addition, novel genomic loci were detected. The identified genomic regions harbored many candidate genes with biological roles associated with milk production traits, such as TPD52 and ZBTB10 on chromosome 15; AADAT and GALNTL6 on chromosome 3 and COL8A1 and PLOD2 on chromosome 1. Our findings provide the basis to uncover the key markers and candidate genes affecting lactose traits which facilitate the exploration of the genetic mechanisms that control lactose traits variation in Egyptian buffalo.

The purpose of this study was to estimate the genetic and phenotypic trends of 305-day milk yield of Holstein cows in a commercial farm. Data consisted of 2654 lactation records for 850 Holstein cows sired by 316 sires, collected from 1991 to 2007. The data were analyzed using Least Squares technique to examine the effect of year, season of calving, parity and interaction between season of calving and parity factors on 305-day milk yield. Heritability of 305 day milk yield trait and breeding values were estimated using VCE 6.0.2 software. Highly significant effects for year of calving, parity and the interaction between season of calving and parity on the 305-day milk yield were observed. However, season of calving had a non significant effect on the 305-day milk yield. The average of 305-day milk yield was 7042 kg. The heritability estimate of 305-day milk yield was 0.06. The regression of 305-day milk yield on year of calving showed a significant negative phenotypic trend being-91.6 kg per year. However, the genetic trend depicted a significant positive trend (+ 2.19 kg per year). In conclusion, although the trend in the estimated breeding values found for cows was positive, it still did not lead to change in the average milk production due to the probable reduction in the nutritional and /or management conditions of the herd.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the productive and reproductive performances of Shami and Holstein cows under the Syrian conditions.

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