Agriculture Commons^™

Genes With Physiological Roles In Callipyge Muscle Hypertrophy, Hui Yu

Open Access Dissertations

Callipyge sheep is an excellent model to study genes regulation in muscle growth since the up-regulation of DLK1 and/or RTL1 results in extreme postnatal muscle hypertrophy in loin and hindquarters. DLK1 and/or RTL1 are the primary inducers of muscle hypertrophy due to the inheritance model for the callipyge phenotype. The overall aim of this dissertation is to study the physiological pathways responding to the up-regulation of DLK1 and / or RTL1 in the hypertrophied muscles. Microarray analysis of gene expression identified 375 genes that were differentially expressed in callipyge semimembranosus. Twenty-five transcripts were further verified by quantitative PCR in two …

Animal Housing Legislation, Kelli Kirtley

Student Papers in Public Policy

Legislation relating to animal housing has been a recent topic of interest in the policy arena. Relatively speaking, it is considered a novel issue; however, this legislation has existed for several years. It is only recently that public outcry has turned the attention of policymakers to confined animal housing.

Analysis Of Sources Of Variation And Relationships Among Sow Productivity Traits, Richard L. Cutshaw

Open Access Theses

The swine industry has witnessed major changes in the past three decades in terms of selection tools and implementation of effective selection. As the pork industry continues to consolidate, it is increasingly important to be able to accurately predict and direct future performance toward increased overall profitability. Overall, sow productivity greatly affects a pork producer's ability to be profitable in the industry and have sufficient knowledge of production levels to improve the likelihood of remaining profitable into the future.

The relationships among sow productivity traits including total number born, litter birth weight, number weaned, preweaning survival, mean piglet birth weight, …