MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small endogenous molecules that are involved in a diverse of cellular process. However, little is known about their abundance in bovine oocytes and their surrounding cumulus cells during oocyte development. To elucidate this situation, we investigated the relative expression pattern of sets of miRNAs between bovine oocyte and the surrounding cumulus cells during in vitro maturation using miRNA polymerase chain reaction (PCR) array. Results revealed that a total of 47 and 51 miRNAs were highly abundant in immature and matured oocytes, respectively, compared with their surrounding cumulus cells. Furthermore, expression analysis of six miRNAs enriched in oocyte miR-205, miR-150, miR-122, miR-96, miR-146a and miR-146b-5p at different maturation times showed a dramatic decrease in abundance from 0 h to 22 h of maturation. The expression of the same miRNAs in preimplantation stage embryos was found to be highly abundant in early stages of embryo development and decreased after the 8-cell stage to the blastocyst stage following a typical maternal transcript profile. Similar results were obtained by localization of miR-205 in preimplantation stage embryos, in which signals were higher up to the 4-cell stage and reduced thereafter. miR-205 and miR-210 were localized in situ in ovarian follicles and revealed a spatio-temporal expression during follicular development. Interestingly, the presence or absence of oocytes or cumulus cells during maturation was found to affect the expression of miRNAs in each of the two cell types. Hence, our results showed the presence of distinct sets of miRNAs in oocytes or cumulus cells and the presence of their dynamic degradation during bovine oocyte maturation.
The aim of this study was to assess preferences and marketing of Afar goats in Aba’ala, Afar region, Ethiopia. Data were collected using questionnaire and PRA tools from purposively selected 90 goat producers in the village and randomly selected 100 goat buyers in Aba’ala central market. The data were analyzed with the Wilcoxon signed rank test and MS-Excel. Ranking indices were used to cascade selected animals. Milk yield, coat colour and appearance were the most preferred traits by goat producers to select breeding does while fast growth, appearance and coat colour were for breeding bucks. In the market, buyers’ decision for purchasing breeding doe was influenced by the coat colour, overall appearance and age of the breeding doe. While body weight, coat colour and appearance were very important attributes for purchasing breeding buck. Market price was highly(P<0.01) affected by body weight of the marketed goat rather than coat colour. The market price of castrated buck had higher price compared to the breeding doe, female replacement, and male replacement. The most important production constraints were drought and feed scarcity. The current finding can be used to design interventions for productivity improvement of the goats and marketing system in the study area. Concerned bodies like governmental and non-governmental organizations should conduct detail and broad investigation on the customer preferences and marketing system for development of viable Afar goat value chain.
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