Busa is an old endangered autochthonous breed of the western Balkan, especially Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Albania. A related breed is Gatacko, derived from Busa × Tirolean Grey crossbreds. Fifteen purebred Busa cattle and thirteen Gatacko animals were genotyped for polymorphisms at the kappa-casein gene by a Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) essay. The alleles A, B and C were found and the allelic frequencies were 0.46 (A), 0.46 (B) and 0.08 (C) in Busa cattle and 0.58 (A) and 0.42 (B) in Gatacko. Only AA, AB, BB and BC genotypes occurred. Further alleles were not detected and are therefore either absent in both populations or rare. The allele »B« found in this small population will be useful for a sire selection program in the future.

Pramenka je ovca kombiniranih svojstava, skromna u ishrani, vrlo otporna i dobro prilago ena našim uvjetima, ali slabih produktivnih osobina jer se uzgaja u brdsko-planinskim uvjetima, nepovoljnim za intenzivniju proizvodnju sto ne hrane, zbog ega je ishrana veoma esto kvantitativno i kvalitativno nedostatna. Na pravilnost ishrane ukazuje razina njihove proizvodnje, ali i njihov metaboli ki status koji se prosu uje odre ivanjem biokemijskih parametara krvi. Biokemijski parametri krvi mogu ukazati na energetsku, proteinsku i mineralnu opskrbu organizma, a istovremeno i na zdravstveni status životinje. Stoga smo proveli ispitivanje širokog spektra biokemijskih parametara u krvi ovaca s dva lokaliteta, op ine Livno i Travnik, u ljetnom razdoblju kada su životinje bile na ispaši karakteristi nog botani kog sastava navedenih podru ja, a sve s ciljem usporedbe sa standardnim vrijednostima parametara za ovce, ali i me usobnih podataka s dva razli ita podru ja. Krv je uzorkovana iz v. jugularis i u serumu su odre ivani sljede i biokemijski parametri: glukoza, Mg, P, Ca, ukupni proteini, LDH, GGT, AST, ALT, ALKP, kolesterol, trigliceridi, urea i albumini. Važnost istraživanja je u injenici da se prou avanjem metabili kog statusa unapre uju saznanja o interakciji lokalnog uzgoja i metabolizma ovce u funkciji održivosti autohtonih pasmina.

Several different phenotypes of the native Pramenka sheep have been developed in the Balkan region for different environmental and socio-cultural conditions. Animals from seven West Balkan Pramenka sheep types were analysed for 15 microsatellite markers and for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and the results were used to assess genetic variation within and among the types and to infer the genetic population structure of the Pramenka sheep. Mean expected heterozygosity and allelic richness over the microsatellite loci and sheep types were 0.78 and 7.9, respectively. A Bayesian statistical method for estimating hidden genetic structure suggested that a core of the largest panmictic population was formed by Serbian, Kosovan, Bosnian, Montenegrin and Albanian types, while Croatian and Macedonian types comprised two other main populations, respectively. Mitochondrial DNA analysis revealed two mtDNA haplogroups in the Pramenka sheep, B and A, with a frequency of 93.7% and 6.3%, respectively. A total of 60 mtDNA haplotypes were found in 64 animals sequenced, and the mean nucleotide and haplotypic diversities over the types were 0.013 and 0.945, respectively. Molecular analysis suggests that the West Balkan Pramenka sheep types have their origins in two distinct maternal lineages of domestic sheep and different Pramenka phenotypes tend to form few panmictic populations. The Pramenka sheep represents a valuable resource of genetic diversity in sheep.

The aim of the study was to explore the effect of lactate on insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in rats. Thirty Wistar rats, weighing 250 - 300 g. were arbitrarily divided into one of three groups (n =10): insulin (1 IU/kg) treated group, lactate (80 mg/kg), and insulin plus lactate treated groups. Blood glucose levels were measured in venous samples collected from the tail vein over 3 hour period after insulin or/and lactate administration in 30-minute intervals. To estimate the influence of lactate on insulin blood level, a total of 20 rats were divided into 4 groups (n = 5): saline, insulin, lactate, and insulin plus lactate treated group, respectively. Sixty minutes after the appropriate application of the same doses of insulin, lactate, and lactate plus insulin, as in the previous part of the experiment, plasma insulin and blood glucose levels were determined in blood samples drawn from the abdominal aorta. Lactate in combination with insulin, in comparison to insulin application alone, caused a dramatic increase in plasma insulin level (p<0,001) and more profound hypoglicaemia (p<0,001). The results of this investigation indicate that lactate application significantly increases the rate of glucose uptake from peripheral blood caused by exogenous insulin action. The possible involvement of lactate in the mechanism of enhanced glucose uptake due to insulin action after physical exercise is discussed.

The influence of dietary palm olein, in comparison to fish oil and lard, on lipid levels in egg yolk and blood plasma, the fatty acid composition of egg yolk, and various production parameters were studied. Brown Lohman laying hens (n=45) were randomly assigned into three groups of 15 birds, and treated with experimental diets with either 3% palm olein (PO), fish oil (FO) or lard (L) for 6 weeks. At the end of the experiment, feed consumption was significantly lower for hens fed the PO diet, except week 6 of the experiment. The concentration of plasma triglycerides was increased by all experimental diets, whereas there were no significant increases of plasma total lipid and total cholesterol concentrations only in the PO group. For yolk lipids a decrease in triglycerides in the FO and L groups was observed, while total cholesterol and total lipid were significantly decreased in the PO group. Feeding with the PO diet resulted in the lowest concentrations of palmitic, stearic and linoleic acid, as well as in the highest concentration of monounsaturated oleic acid in the yolk total lipid. It was concluded that the composition of yolk lipids did not closely match the concentrations of lipids observed in experimental diets or plasma. Based on the current work it seems that the PO diet modulates egg yolk lipid content best.

Knowledge of spontaneous aberrations, namely, of their frequency in non-irradiated cells is of paramount importance not only in cytogenetic research, but also in contemporary animal production. The paper deals with research on spontaneously emerged chromosomal aberrations in the peripheral blood lymphocytes in the cattle of 'Busa' breed. To obtain metaphase chromosomes the conventional method of lymphocyte cultivation was used, albeit slightly modified and adapted to the examined animals and the laboratory conditions. The research findings indicate that a certain percent of spontaneously emerged chromosomal aberrations of chromatid type (gap and break) have been found in the peripheral blood lymphocytes in the cattle of 'Busa' breed.

The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility to modification the total lipid and cholesterol level, as well as fatty acid composition of egg yolks, by supplementing diets of laying hens with different fats. The trial was conducted in two six week experiments. Experiment I was conducted on 180 Isa Brown hens assigned to two age categories: 36 months - old (O), and 27 weeks of age - young (Y) hens. Both ago categories were divided into three groups: control groups fed a diet I with no supplemented fat (OC and YC) experimental groups fed a diet II supplemented with 3.2% of palm oil (OP and YP) and experimental groups fed a diet III supplemented with 2.5% of lard (OL and YL). In Experiment II 45 Lohman Brown hens of 56 weeks of age were randomly assigned into three groups of 15 birds each and were fed with three experimental diets supplemented with either 3% fish oil (group FO), 3% palm olein (group PO) or with 3% lard (group L). The results of our trial support the thesis of constant cholesterol content in egg yolk, that was accepted by the majority of researchers, although it was possible to affect the levels only in some conditions, as for example by the age of hens in Experiment I or by feeding Lohman Brown hens with 3% of supplemented lard in Experiment II. However, the experiment proved the possibility of altering egg yolk fatty acid composition, this being a trend in actual investigations of egg yolk cholesterogenic modification.