Behaviour and seasonal variation in heart rate in domestic sheep,Ovis aries

Three major causes of heart rate variation in undisturbed adult ewes were identified: behaviour, season and individual identity. Heart rate was 8 beats/min lower when the ewe was lying than when she was standing. It was increased by ruminating by 2 beats/min above the value for idling, and by a further 6 beats/min when the ewe changed to grazing. It seems that the increases in heart rate when the ewe was standing were simply added to those associated with ruminating or grazing. Heart rate declined slightly during bouts of unchanged behaviour. It varied seasonally from a minimum in December to a maximum some 50% (46 beats/min) higher in June. This variation was closely linked with daylength, basal metabolic rate, food availability, food consumption and the reproductive cycle, although it also occurred in non-breeding animals. Changes in heart rate associated with daylength may be the secondary result of the effects of daylength on metabolic rate. After taking all these effects into account, there remained variation between five ewes of 16 beats/min.     

Bloat in sheep (Ovis aries)

1. Most of the field studies on bloat are conducted with cattle and most of the laboratory experiments seeking to explain the various parameters associated with bloat are done with sheep. 2. Based on grazing behaviour, it would be expected that sheep might bloat more severely than cattle because they selectively choose to eat leaves over stems and chew what they ingest more frequently than cattle. Furthermore, sheep appear to select legumes over grasses because the legumes can be eaten more rapidly. However, because they are selective, sheep eat more slowly than cattle. Despite a higher bloat expectation, bloating in sheep is reported to be less of a problem than in cattle. 3. Although frothing of rumen ingesta was described earlier in cattle as the cause of acute legume bloat, experiments with frothy bloat in sheep preceded those in cattle. 4. Anti-frothing agents were used in sheep before cattle to treat acute legume bloat. 5. Experiments devoted to the study of eructation in ruminants were carried out on sheep, then cattle. 6. Convincing evidence that rumen motility does not cease during acute legume bloat was gathered using sheep. 7. Although the transected tracheal technique for the determination of the volume of eructated gas was developed with cattle, the pathway of eructated gas was confirmed with sheep. 8. All the current evidence accumulated from experiments with sheep supports the hypothesis that death due to legume bloat is caused by acute neural, respiratory, and cardiovascular insult resulting from the effect of the distended rumen on thoracic viscera, diaphragm, intercostal muscles, and the abdominal vena cava. 9. Experiments with sheep and cattle being fed scabrous and nonscabrous diets similar in chemical composition show that sheep are more resistant than cattle to the increase in intrarumen pressure, decline in rumen contraction amplitude, and decrease in rumen contraction frequency caused by nonscabrous diets. 10. The sequence of events in the reticulorumen during primary and secondary contractions previously described following visual and palpation experiments with cattle was confirmed by the use of myoelectrodes implanted in the various sacs of the reticulorumen of sheep. 11. Elevated intrarumen pressure is associated with an increase in the frequency of primary (mixing) and secondary (eructation) contractions (more secondaries than primaries).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Survival of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) commingled with domestic sheep (Ovis aries) in the absence of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae

To test the hypothesis that Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae is an important agent of the bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) pneumonia that has previously inevitably followed experimental commingling with domestic sheep (Ovis aries), we commingled M. ovipneumoniae-free domestic and bighorn sheep (n=4 each). One bighorn sheep died with acute pneumonia 90 days after commingling, but the other three remained healthy for >100 days. This unprecedented survival rate is significantly different (P=0.002) from that of previous bighorn-domestic sheep contact studies but similar to (P>0.05) bighorn sheep survival following commingling with other ungulates. The absence of epizootic respiratory disease in this experiment supports the hypothesized role of M. ovipneumoniae as a key pathogen of epizootic pneumonia in bighorn sheep commingled with domestic sheep.     

Interspecific transfer of IVM IVF-derived red sheep (Ovis orientalis gmelini ) embryos to domestic sheep (Ovis aries )

Two embryo production methodologies were investigated to generate Red sheep embryos for use in an interspecific embryo transfer program. In Experiment 1, 4 multiparous female Red sheep (Ovis orientalis gmelini ) were implanted with CIDR type G devices for 11 d. Forty-eight hours prior to CIDR removal, a total of 22.5 mg bid of FSH-P was administered over a 3-d period. Laparoscopic embryo collection was performed 5 d post breeding, and embryos were transferred to domestic recipient ewes (Ovis aries and Ovis orientalis musimon ). In Experiment 2, 7 nulliparous female Red sheep were implanted with CIDR devices and injected with 200 IU of PMSG and 25 mg of FSH-P on the 8th day of implant insertion. At 60 to 70 h post PMSG/FSH-P treatment, follicular oocytes were aspirated laparoscopically. The recovered oocytes were matured in M199 (with fetal calf serum, FSH, LH, penicillin and streptomycin) at 39 degrees C in a humidified atmosphere containing 5% CO(2). At 24 h oocytes were fertilized with frozen-thawed semen at a concentration of 1.6 x 10(6) sperm/ml. The ova/embryos were placed in CR2 or BOEC culture medium at 20-22 h post IVF. Following 3 to 4 d in culture, embryos were transferred laparoscopically to the uterine horn of synchronized recipients. In Experiment 1, 4 embryos and 6 UFO were collected from 2 embryo donors, respectively. Two embryos were transferred with the aid of a laparoscope to each of 2 Rambouillet recipients, one of which gave birth to a healthy Red sheep lamb at 158 d of gestation. In Experiment2, a total of 62 oocytes was collected from 7 oocyte donors; 16 developed to the 16- to 32-cell stage and were transferred to 8 recipients. Three of these IVM-IVF embryos were transferred laparoscopically to 2 Mouflon recipients, resulting in no pregnancies. Thirteen IVM-IVF embryos were transferred to 6 Rambouillet recipients. Each of these gave birth to a single healthy Red sheep lamb. Gestation lengths of the 3 IVM-IVF lambs ranged from 152 to 162 d. This research demonstrates that when using compatible species IVM-IVF technology in conjunction with interspecific ET can lead to the production of live offspring and can be used to propagate exotic ovine species.     

Resolving ambiguities in the karyotype of domestic sheep (Ovis aries)

Internally consistent G-, Q- and R-banded karyotypes and idiograms for sheep chromosomes at the 422-band level of resolution are presented. These were derived by sequential Q- to G-staining, and sequential Q- to R-staining of prometaphase spreads prepared from sheep with normal and Robertsonian chromosomes. The fused chromosomes served as stable morphological markers. To minimise confusion due to chromosomal nomenclature, we have listed chromosome-specific (reference) molecular markers that have been mapped byin situ hybridization to sheep chromosomes. The use of molecular markers in conjunction with the sequential Q- to G- and sequential Q- to R-banded karyotypes and iodiograms provided here will elimiate ambiguities in identifying and numbering sheep chromosomes and will facilitate their comparison with cattle chromosomes. Edited by: J.B. Rattner     

Early onset of reproductive senescence in domestic sheep Ovis aries

A central theme in life history theory is to determine how reproduction varies with age in iteroparous organisms. Evidence of ageing and senescence, defined as the progressive loss of function accompanied by decreased performance with age, remains poorly documented for large herbivores, in particular as it relates to reproduction. Analyses of body weight of 87 532 domestic sheep lambs demonstrates that onset of reproductive senescence in ewes occurs already at 5 and 6 years of age when measured, respectively, as lamb weight and litter size produced. This provides convincing evidence of early onset of reproductive senescence in this highly domesticated sheep breed. As this is earlier than indicated for other Ovis species as well as for the Soay sheep, an ancient and lightly domesticated sheep, we hypothesize that there may be a cost of selection for large litter size in mammalian herbivores.     

Resolving ambiguities in the karyotype of domestic sheep (Ovis aries)

The unambiguous identification of ovine chromsomes has become essential for the mapping of the sheep genome, which predominantly consists of telocentric chromosomes of gradually decreasing size. Nucleolus organizer regions (NORs) and Robertsonian fusions have been used here as the cytological and morphological markers, respectively, to define the banding pattern of eight paris of sheep telocentric chromosomes that have an ambiguous identification status. Five Robertsonian chromosomes involving most of the ambiguous chromosomes as well as normal prometaphase chromosomes were stained sequentially and separately by QFQ, GTG, and Ag-NOR methodologies. The prometaphase banding patterns of the ambiguous chromosomes 4, 6, 8, 9, 21, 24, 25 and 26 are represented schematically. For providing an accurate image of the banding pattern, a system of shading has been employed to show the relative intensity of bands in a given chromosome. The results presented here will facilitate the regional mapping of the sheep genome, extend the information on cytogenetic homology with other bovids, and substantially accelerate the comparative mapping studies in Bovidae.     

Cerebral coenurosis in a wild sheep (Ovis ammon)

Cerebral coenurosis is described in a 2 year-old wild sheep (Ovis ammon). Diagnosis was based on clinical signs and pathology.     

Sister chromatid exchange in chromosomes of sheep (Ovis aries)

Blood lymphocyte cultures from 32 Comisana and Laticauda sheep breeds (15 males and 17 females) raised in Southern Italy were studied using sister chromatid exchange (SCE) test. Of the 932 cells studied, the SCE-mean value was 7.20 +/- 2.5 per cell for both breeds. Indeed, the SCE mean values were 7.12 +/- 2.45 and 7.28 +/- 2.55 in Comisana and Laticauda breeds, respectively, and the differences were not significant. No statistical differences were noticed between male and female cells (7.25 +/- 2.39 and 7.16 +/- 2.60, respectively). The SCE frequency distribution did not follow a Poisson distribution. The number of SCE were significantly higher than expected in chromosomes 1, 2 and 3 (p < 0.001) and significantly lower than expected in the X and remaining chromosomes (p < 0.001) on the basis of relative chromosome lengths.     

A novel maternal lineage revealed in sheep (Ovis aries)

It is generally believed that domestic sheep have two maternal lineages (haplotypes A and B), based on mitochondrial DNA analysis. In the present study, we provide evidence that a novel maternal lineage (haplotype C) is exhibited in Chinese native sheep. To verify this finding, 231 samples were collected from six Chinese local breeds, which cover the vast geographical region of sheep inhabitation in China. For comparison, 50 samples were collected from two Western breeds collected in China. Mitochondrial DNA was screened by PCR single-strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP), leading to the identification of novel band patterns in ND2 and ND4 genes in the Chinese breeds. Interestingly, mutations at the two loci were in strong linkage disequilibrium. Direct sequencing of the DNA fragments revealed a non-synonymous substitution in ND2. Furthermore, two synonymous mutations were identified by comparisons of the novel type (haplotype C) and the established types (haplotypes A and B). The entire mitochondrial control region for 55 samples was then sequenced to construct a phylogenetic tree and median joining network. Both the tree and network demonstrated a topology of three groups, which is in consistent with the SSCP analysis. Unlike Western breeds, Chinese breeds are composed mainly of haplotypes A and B, but with a small fraction of haplotype C. According to Fu's test and mismatch distribution, haplotype C has not been subject to a recent population expansion. Based on these results, we propose a novel origin for Chinese sheep.     

Blood biochemistry values of sheep (Ovis aries ligeriensis)

1. Analysis of biochemical parameters were carried out on material pooled from 30 female sheep (Ovis aries ligeriensis). 2. The values determined were for the common metabolites and enzymes utilized for specific studies in general metabolism (urea, glucose, cholesterol, lipids, bilirubin, uric acid, creatinine, alkaline phosphatase, GOT, GPT, LDH, LAP, CGT, CK and amylase). 3. Results of these studies were compared with values from normal human adults. 4. The differences obtained in human and sheep ranges can be explained by the different physiology of the two species. 5. This study gives values for the sheep as an experimental animal in biomedical research.     

Mitochondrial DNA variation of domestic sheep (Ovis aries) in Kenya

The history of domestic sheep (Ovis aries) in Africa remains largely unknown. After being first introduced from the Near East, sheep gradually spread through the African continent with pastoral societies. The eastern part of Africa was important either for the first diffusion of sheep southward or for putative secondary introductions from the Arabian Peninsula or southern Asia. We analysed mitochondrial DNA control region sequences of 91 domestic sheep from Kenya and found a high diversity of matrilines from the widespread haplogroup B, whereas only a single individual from haplogroup A was detected. Our phylogeography analyses of more than 500 available mitochondrial DNA sequences also identified ancestral haplotypes that were probably first introduced in Africa and are now widely distributed. Moreover, we found no evidence of an admixture between East and West African sheep. The presence of shared haplotypes in eastern and ancient southern African sheep suggests the possible southward movement of sheep along the eastern part of Africa. Finally, we found no evidence of an extensive introduction of sheep from southern Asia into Africa via the Indian Ocean trade. The overall findings on the phylogeography of East African domestic sheep set the grounds for understanding the origin and subsequent movements of sheep in Africa. The richness of maternal lineages in Kenyan breeds is of prime importance for future conservation and breeding programmes.