Introduction: Many previous studies have proved that the anatomical features of cervix can affect the success of artificial insemination. These characteristics differ in sheep breeds. This study aimed to describe the anatomical features of cervix in Zell ewes; the only tailed sheep in Iran. Methods: Eighty nonpregnant and clinically healthy reproductive tracts of adult Zel sheep were collected...

Genetic improvement programs may improve disease resistance in animal production. The best-characterized genetic control of disease resistance and immune response in animals is the one associated with the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC). The ovine lymphocyte antigenof DRB1 gene encodes cell surface glycoproteins that initiate immune responses by presenting processed antigenic peptides to...

Genotypes of Iranian Zel sheep for Calpastatin(CAST) locus were determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) methods and for Calpain(CAPN) locus by PCR-SSCP. Blood samples were collected from 200 purebred Zel sheep of Zel Breeding Station located in Golestan province i...

Leptin (LEP), the expression product of the obese gene produced primarily in the adipose tissue, is related to feed intake, growth and lipid metabolism. The aim of this study was to study the possible association between polymorphism of the LEP gene with growth and carcass traits among three Iranian sheep breeds of the Shal, Zandi and Zel varieties. A total of 180 purebred animals of the Shal, ...

The influence of melatonin receptor 1A gene on litter size was studied in 150 ewes from Zel (n=100) and Naeini (n=50) sheep breeds. Two restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analyses were done to determine all genotypes occurring by variations at MnlI and RsaI restriction sites. The M and C were the most frequent alleles in both of these breeds. The MM genotype was predominant in Zel ...

The histamine H3 receptor (H3R) has been recognized as a promising target for the treatment of various central and peripheral nervous system diseases. In this study, a non-imidazole compound, ZEL-H16, was identified as a novel histamine H3 receptor agonist. ZEL-H16 was found to bind to human H3R with a Ki value of approximately 2.07 nM and 4.36 nM to rat H3R. Further characterization indicated ...

genetic improvement programs may improve disease resistance in animal production. the best-characterized genetic control of disease resistance and immune response in animals is the one associated with the major histocompatibility complex (mhc). the ovine lymphocyte antigenof drb1 gene encodes cell surface glycoproteins that initiate immune responses by presenting processed antigenic peptides to...

selective signatures in whole genome can help us to understand the mechanisms of selection and to identify the genomic regions that have been under natural or artificial selection during long years. the objective of this study was to identify the genomic regions that have been under artificial and natural selection in baluchi and zel sheep breeds. 143 sheep from baluchi (n=96) and zel breeds (n...

leptin (lep), the expression product of the obese gene produced primarily in the adipose tissue, is related to feed intake, growth and lipid metabolism. the aim of this study was to study the possible association between polymorphism of the lep gene with growth and carcass traits among three iranian sheep breeds of the shal, zandi and zel varieties. a total of 180 purebred animals of the shal, ...