1 Fac. of Agriculture Univ. of Zagreb, Dept. of Animal Science, Svetosimunska c. 25, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia 2 Fac. of Agriculture Univ. of Zagreb, Dept. of Animal Nutrition and Husbandry, Svetosimunska c. 25, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia 3 Ministry of Agriculture, Veterinary Directorate, Planinska 2a, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia ABSTRACT The study was carried out on 272 Zagorje turkey chicks to estimate the effect of two different protein levels in diets on growth, bone development and carcass composition at the final age of 24 weeks. Birds of both sexes were divided into two groups: high protein (HP) and low protein group (LP) with 136 animals in each (68 ♂ and 68 ♀). LP group was fed a diet with 4% less crude protein content than the HP group during the first 8 weeks of age, while after this period both group were fed the same diet with access to a fenced pasture of 0.5 ha/group. Higher protein content in early rearing period had a positive effect on final body weight at 24 weeks of age. In the same time, morphometric characteristics of main bones showed that male turkeys of HP group had the most developed skeletal system and consequently the highest carcass weight. The carcass weight in male of HP group was higher than 3.0–3.5 kg as a preferable weight of processed carcasses of Zagorje turkey by Croatian consumers. These suggest that lowering the growth intensity by protein undernutrition during the first 8 weeks could have beneficial effects on carcass market of Zagorje turkey.

Broj somatskih stanica u mlijeku pokazatelj je higijenske kvalitete mlijeka i opci indikator zdravlja vimena. Njihov povecan broj je pouzdan znak poremecaja zdravlja krava ili higijensko- sanitarnih uvjeta proizvodnje. U cilju povecanja proizvodnje mlijeka te s obzirom na citav niz cimbenika koji mogu utjecati na variranje broja somatskih stanica vrlo je važno poznavanje njihovog utjecaja u nasim proizvodnim uvjetima. U ovom radu su prikazani rezultati analiza broja somatskih stanica od 395.299 uzoraka mlijeka u razdoblju od 2000. do 2008. godine. Testiran je utjecaj sezone (godisnje doba) na broj somatskih stanica u mlijeku. Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju znacajno variranje broja somatskih stanica tijekom razdoblja 2000.-2008. godine. S izuzetkom 2003. i 2004. godine može se uociti trend postepenog smanjenja broja somatskih stanica, koji je najvjerojatnije posljedica donosenja zakonskih propisa koji uređuju to podrucje (Pravilnika o kakvoci svježeg sirovog mlijeka i Uredbe o ciljnoj cijeni svježeg sirovog mlijeka) odnosno utjecaja broja somatskih stanica na formiranje otkupne cijene mlijeka. Nadalje, utvrđeno je da sezona (godisnje doba) ima znacajnog utjecaja na variranje broja somatskih stanica u mlijeku. U nasim klimatskim uvjetima povecan broj somatskih stanica uocen je u ljetnim i jesenskim mjesecima, a niži u proljetnim i zimskim mjesecima sto je najvjerojatnije posljedica visokih temperatura i vlage u tim razdobljima godine.

This work aimed to study the influence of dietary linseed on fatty acid profile and lipid oxidation in pig muscle (m. longissimus dorsi) and back fat. Sixty PIC fatteners were equally allotted to dietary treatments at initial live weight of about 27 kg and fed for 90 days with a control or a linseed diet (3% linseed, 105 mg/kg of α-tocopheryl acetate). Growth performance, carcass traits and meat quality were not affected by feeding linseed to any significant extent. No differences were found in the proportion of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids of muscle or back fat between diets. However, both muscle and back fat from linseed diet had a significantly higher n–3 and polyunsaturated fatty acid proportion (%), including C18:3n–3, C20:5n–3 and C22:6n–3, and a lower n–6/n–3 ratio compared with the control diet (4.3 vs.1.3, 1.9 vs. 0.44, 0.76 vs. 0.14, 0.17 vs. 0.12, and 4.6 vs. 17.4 ratio in muscle, and 5.3 vs.1.2, 4.3 vs. 0.87, 0.07 vs. 0.02, 0.04 vs. 0.02, and 2.8 vs. 15.8 ratio in back fat, respectively). Lipid oxidation, measured as 2- thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances was similar in muscle when feeding both diets after cold storage up to 6 days, but more developed in back fat when feeding the linseed diet after 3 days of cold storage. This study confirmed that continuous feeding of pigs with a relatively low level of linseed can produce a pork meat enhanced with both C18:3n–3 and pre- formed C20-22n–3, and with nutritionally optimized n–6/n–3 ratios without adverse effects on fatteners’ performances carcass traits and meat quality.

This study investigated diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1) gene K232A mutation in Simmental cattle and its effects on fat deposition traits. The sample (n=26) consisted of yearling bulls and beef heifers from an intensive rearing system in Croatia. Carcass fatness was assessed by total dissection method, whereas intramuscular fat (m. longissimus dorsi) content was determined using Soxhlet extraction with hydrolysis. Intramuscular fatty acid composition was determined by gas liquid chromatography using in situ transesterification. The muscle DNA was extracted and Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCRRFLP) analysis of the 411 bp fragment of DGAT1 gene was applied. The DGAT1 K allele was less frequent in heifers than in bulls, with the overall allelic frequency of 17% K allele. Only KA and AA genotypes were obtained, without deviation from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Heifers showed a higher degree of carcass and muscle fattening with more unsaturated intramuscular fat than bulls; however, there was no interaction between sex and DGAT1 gene. Generally, no significant difference between DGAT1 AA and KA animals was observed for any of the examined traits, except the slightly higher carcass share of the fattest beef category and higher intramuscular C14:0 desaturation index in KA heterozygous.

Genetic structure of two human populations, indigenous and migratory population in the area of the Tuzla region, was analyzed with respect to some static and dynamic-morphological properties. The analyzed genetic data were collected by direct observation and survey of 472 pupils of school age. The investigated parameters of genetic heterogeneity were estimated by: analysis of the frequency of recessive phenotypes for every observed property, t-test analysis, and assessment of intragroup variation by analysis of Wahlund variance. Based on the obtained results it was observed that the frequency of the recessive homozygote for most of the analyzed properties was slightly higher in migratory populations. All values obtained by Wahlund variance analysis indicated a small genetic differentiation.

MtDNA variations, determined in terms of mtDNA haplogroups, were analyzed, the sample consisted of the human population of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the teritory of the Tuzla region. The analysis included a total of 245 mtDNA samples (kin unrelated individuals). Determination of mtDNA haplogroups was studied by using haplogroup-specific PCR-RFLP markers of a coding region of mtDNA. We observed that 95.11% of investigated individuals in the Tuzla region belong to the Western-Euroasian mtDNA haplogroups: H, V, T, I, J, K, U, X, W. The impact of migratory activities on the population structure of the Tuzla region was estimated by analysis within- and of intergroup genetic differences (index of genetic specificities, pairwise FST analysis and exact-p test) of indigenous and migrant categories (recent, internal, and historical). The analysis showed that a significant demographic influence on the genetic structure of indigenous people was exerted by the category of recent migrants only.

Diversity of nuclear microsatellite markers were analyzed in a reference sample of the population of northeast Bosnia and Herzegovina. 437 samples taken from unrelated individuals were processed and three samples of paternity proof were shown. Detection effectiveness profile of the research, points to a valid choice of method of extraction, amplification and genotyping short tandem repeat (STR) loci with PowerPlextm16 kit. Genetic analysis of allelic variants of the 15 STR loci PowerPlextm16 kit detected 17 samples determined as rare allelic variants or microvariants. Samples were divided into 15 different allelic variants at 7 different loci, and are: in locus D7S820, D16S539, D3S1358, D18S51, PENTA D, PENTA E and in locus vWA. Genetic analysis of mutations in cases of paternity determined three examples of single-step mutations in the loci FGA, Penta D and D3S1358. Genetic analysis of observed STR loci detected three allelic variant of genotype combination 7/10/11.3 in locus D7S820 Type II. Population genetic analysis of STR loci in a representative sample of the population of northeast Bosnia and Herzegovina included the application of the assessment tests of within-population genetic diversity and interpopulation diversity, as well as genetic differentiation between populations: North-eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) and BH general reference, then the Croatian population, Macedonian, Serbian and Slovenian. Based on the result analysis of specific forensic parameters, it can be assumed that the most informative marker is PENTA E for population genetic analysis and forensic testing in the population of northeast Bosnia and Herzegovina. Research results fit regional STR database of this part of Europe.