Animals, Vol. 13, Pages 1888: Clinical Implications of Immune Checkpoints and the RANK/RANK-L Signaling Pathway in High-Grade Canine Mast Cell Tumors Animals doi: 10.3390/ani13121888 Authors: Noelia C. Talavera Guillén Andrigo Barboza de Nardi Felipe Noleto de Paiva Queila Cristina Dias Alexandra Pinheiro Fantinatti Wagner José Fávaro Mast cell tumors (MCTs) are the most common malignant cutaneous tumors in dogs, and they present extremely variable biological behavior. The interaction between RANK, RANK-L, and immune checkpoints is frequently detected in the tumor microenvironment, and, togeth ..read more

Animals, Vol. 13, Pages 1878: Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Bulgarian Autochthonous Sheep Breeds Revealed by Microsatellite Analysis Animals doi: 10.3390/ani13111878 Authors: Yanka Mihailova Krasimir Rusanov Mila Rusanova Pavlina Vassileva Ivan Atanassov Vasil Nikolov Elena G. Todorovska This study attempts to provide a deeper insight into the current genetic status of 12 Bulgarian autochthonous sheep breeds using microsatellite (SSR) markers. A total of 600 individuals from 50 flocks were analyzed using a panel of 13 SSR markers. In total, 228 alleles were found in the studied ..read more

Animals, Vol. 13, Pages 1887: Potential Application of Muscle Precursor Cells from Male Specific-Pathogen-Free (SPF) Chicken Embryos in In Vitro Agriculture Animals doi: 10.3390/ani13111887 Authors: Won-Seok Ju Kang-Min Seo Bo-Ram Lee Mi-Ryung Park Min-Gook Lee Sung-June Byun Hyeon Yang Young-Im Kim Sun A. Ock This study examined the potential benefits of male specific-pathogen-free (SPF) White Leghorn embryos in cellular agriculture for sustainable and ethical poultry meat production—addressing traditional farming challenges, including disease outbreaks of Salmonella and Avian i ..read more

Animals, Vol. 13, Pages 1880: Genome-Wide Association Study Identifies the Crucial Candidate Genes for Teat Number in Crossbred Commercial Pigs Animals doi: 10.3390/ani13111880 Authors: Lijuan Yang Xuehua Li Zhanwei Zhuang Shenping Zhou Jie Wu Cineng Xu Donglin Ruan Yibin Qiu Hua Zhao Enqin Zheng Gengyuan Cai Zhenfang Wu Jie Yang The number of teats is a crucial reproductive trait with significant economic implications on maternal capacity and litter size. Consequently, improving this trait is essential to facilitate genetic selection for increased litter size. In this study, we performed a ge ..read more

Animals, Vol. 13, Pages 1881: Genetic Diversity Analysis of the Red Swamp Crayfish Procambarus clarkii in Three Cultured Populations Based on Microsatellite Markers Animals doi: 10.3390/ani13111881 Authors: Jiaqing Liu Yunfei Sun Qianqian Chen Miaomiao Wang Qin Li Wenzong Zhou Yongxu Cheng With the increasing scale of crayfish breeding, the self-propagation and “catch large and keep small” breeding patterns have led to serious degradation of the fry, so the selection and breeding of high-quality fry is very important. Selecting a population with a high genetic diver ..read more

Animals, Vol. 13, Pages 1882: Anthelmintic Treatment and the Stability of Parasite Distribution in Ruminants Animals doi: 10.3390/ani13111882 Authors: Eric R. Morgan Anne Segonds-Pichon Hubert Ferté Patrick Duncan Jacques Cabaret Parasites are generally overdispersed among their hosts, with far-reaching implications for their population dynamics and control. The factors determining parasite overdispersion have long been debated. In particular, stochastic parasite acquisition and individual host variation in density-dependent regulation through acquired host immunity have been identified as key ..read more

Animals, Vol. 13, Pages 1883: How Does Nutrition Affect the Epigenetic Changes in Dairy Cows? Animals doi: 10.3390/ani13111883 Authors: Ana Lesta Pablo Jesús Marín-García Lola Llobat Dairy cows require a balanced diet that provides enough nutrients to support milk production, growth, and reproduction. Inadequate nutrition can lead to metabolic disorders, impaired fertility, and reduced milk yield. Recent studies have shown that nutrition can affect epigenetic modifications in dairy cows, which can impact gene expression and affect the cows’ health and productivity. One of the mos ..read more

Animals, Vol. 13, Pages 1885: Application of Enzyme-Linked Fluorescence Assay (ELFA) to Obtain In Vivo Matured Dog Oocytes through the Assessment of Progesterone Level Animals doi: 10.3390/ani13111885 Authors: Seunghoon Lee Jin-Gu No Bong-Hwan Choi Dong-Kyo Kim Namwoong Hyung JongJu Park Mi-Kyoung Choi Dong-Hyeon Yeom Juyoung Ji Dong-Hoon Kim Jae Gyu Yoo Successful dog cloning requires a sufficient number of in vivo matured oocytes as recipient oocytes for reconstructing embryos. The accurate prediction of the ovulation day in estrus bitches is critical for collecting mature oocytes. Tradition ..read more

Animals, Vol. 13, Pages 1886: Uncovering Patterns in Dairy Cow Behaviour: A Deep Learning Approach with Tri-Axial Accelerometer Data Animals doi: 10.3390/ani13111886 Authors: Paolo Balasso Cristian Taccioli Lorenzo Serva Luisa Magrin Igino Andrighetto Giorgio Marchesini The accurate detection of behavioural changes represents a promising method of detecting the early onset of disease in dairy cows. This study assessed the performance of deep learning (DL) in classifying dairy cows’ behaviour from accelerometry data acquired by single sensors on the cows’ left flanks ..read more

Animals, Vol. 13, Pages 1879: Recombinant Dense Granule Protein (NcGRA4) Is a Novel Serological Marker for Neospora caninum Infection in Goats Animals doi: 10.3390/ani13111879 Authors: Ruenruetai Udonsom Aongart Mahittikorn Apichai Prachasuphap Kodcharad Jongpitisub Panadda Dhepakson Charoonluk Jirapattharasate Neospora caninum is widely recognised as one of the most significant causes of abortion in cattle, with infections also occurring in sheep and goats. To prevent and control animal neosporosis, it is crucial to develop sensitive and specific methods for detecting N. caninum infection. Re ..read more