In Ukraine, the Novoalexandrovskaya and Torian drafter horse breeds belong to breeds with a limited genetic resources. This creates a problem of conservation and efficient breeding of these breeds. One of the priority tasks of modern work with the Novoalexandrovskaya drafter and Torian horse breeds is to preserve the unique genetic resource, improve breeding qualities and working efficiency. Therefore, it is relevant to study the genetic features of these breeds. The article presents the results of research of the immunogenetic structure of Novoalexandrovskaya and Torian horse breeds of different farms of Ukraine on D-system of blood groups. The aim of the work was to identify genetic markers inherent in the Novoalexandrovskaya drafter and Torian horse breeds, which make it possible to solve breeding and genetic issues in the preservation and improvement of the breeds. A high frequency of alleles was found in Novoalexandrovskaya drafter horse breed, there are Ddg (0,230), Dad (0,202), Dde (0,174), Dd (0,115). The alleles Dcgm (0,080), Dbcm (0,048), Ddk (0,024), Dcеgm (0,017) Dd (0,015) were found relatively less common. The allele Dcegm (0.017) was the rarest allele among the Novoalexandrovskaya drafter horse breed and it was 14.78% less common than the allele Dd (0.115). The Torian horse breed has the high frequency of occurrence of alleles Dcgm (0,25), Dd (0,112) Ddg (0,097), Dbcm (0,073), Ddk (0,225). Less common alleles are Dde (0,048), Dcеgm (0,016), Dad (0,032). The actual degree of homozygosity of Novoalexandrovskaya grafter horse breed is G (0.132), the expected degree is Ca (0.148), the Torian horse breed degrees are G (0.064) and Ca (0.144) accordingly. The polymorphism level of Ae of the breeds is 6.75 and 6.919 accordingly, indicating homozygote deficiency and low level of consolidation. The actual degree of heterozygosity of Novoalexandrovskaya drafter horse breed is 0.867, while the expected degree is 0.871. The actual degree of heterozygosity of Torian horse breed is 0.935, while the expected degree is 0.855. Thus, the level of genetic diversity in the examined horses is rather high, which indicates a significant reserve of variability and avoids innbreeding depression. Keywords: allele, horses, Novoalexandrovskaya grafter horse breed, Torian breed, genetic frequency, genetic variability.

The article provides the substantiation of strategic guidelines for the formation of rational sizes of agrarian enterprises of dairy direction of specialization in the context of the increase of economic efficiency of their activity. There are denoted the main elements of conceptual and categorical apparatus of research of the size, scale, specialization and concentration of production in agrarian enterprises. It is determined, that the size of the agrarian enterprise of the dairy direction is a complex characteristic of its productive potential, which reflects by means of the system of parameters of the land tenure area and the number of the agricultural animals the possibilities of the enterprise to achieve certain results of milk production and its intensification at the preservation of the spatial characteristics of the enterprise. There have been studied the peculiarities of formation and functioning of the organizational-economic mechanism of managing the size of agrarian enterprises of the dairy direction. There has been grounded the methodical approach to changing the size of agrarian milk producing enterprises. There has been estimated the dynamics of levels of specialization, concentration and economic efficiency of milk production and sale in agrarian enterprises. There have been revealed the tendencies of attracting the instruments of rationalization of the production structure and the sizes of the milk producing enterprises. It substantiates the directions of development of economic potential of agrarian enterprises of dairy specialization. There have been defined the peculiarities and limits of the usage of integration instruments of rationalization of the size of agrarian milk producing enterprises. It determines the strategic guidelines for stabilization of the dairy cattle breeding sector in the present conditions and identifies the exclusive importance of the field fodder production as a catalyst for the sector development. It has been established that the key strategic guidelines for the development of dairy cattle breeding in agrarian enterprises should be the prevention of land degradation in the use of agricultural holdings, multinational companies and large land users with the introduction of appropriate regulatory measures; observance of food security of the country by balancing domestic production by stimulating Russian cattle breeding; development of export potential and reduction of import dependence of the domestic market. Keywords: dairy farming, field fodder production, specialization, concentration, strategic management, mechanism.

The range of healing targets for particular Ficus species compiled from local medicines can be competitive with that of broad-spectrum traditional remedies. In the current study, we studied the antimicrobial activity of the ethanolic extracts derived from the leaves of Ficus elastica Roxb. ex Hornem. and its cultivars (F. elastica 'Rubra', 'Robusta', 'Burgundy', 'Variegata') against Aeromonas sobria to evaluate the possible use of this plant in preventing infections caused by this fish pathogen in aquaculture. The current study was conducted as a part of an ongoing project between five universities undertaken in the frame of a cooperation program aimed at the assessment of medicinal properties of tropical and subtropical plants, cultivated in vitro. The leaves of F. elastica and its cultivars, cultivated under glasshouse conditions, were sampled at M. M. Gryshko National Botanic Garden (NBG), National Academy of Science of Ukraine. Specifically, the leaves of F. elastica and its cultivars, i.e. F. elastica 'Rubra', 'Robusta', 'Burgundy', 'Variegata' were sampled for our study. Aeromonas sobria (K825) strain, originated from freshwater fish species such as common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss Walbaum), respectively, was isolated in the Department of Fish Diseases, The National Veterinary Research Institute in Pulawy (Poland). Antimicrobial susceptibility of the tested Aeromonas sobria was performed by the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method (1966) according to the recommendations of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) (2014), with our some modifications. Our results of the antimicrobial screening revealed, that F. elastica and its cultivars possessed mild antibacterial properties against the A. sobria strain. The ethanolic extract obtained from leaves of F. elastica 'Variegata' exhibited the maximum antimicrobial activity against A. sobria. Thus, F. elastica and its cultivars (F. elastica 'Rubra', 'Robusta', 'Burgundy', 'Variegata') disclosed mild bioactivity, and this plant can be regarded as a potential source of antibacterial agents. The results of the current study provide a new perspective for the use of various species belonging to the Ficus genus as medicinal plants to improve the antibacterial responses in salmonid aquaculture. Keywords: Ficus elastica Roxb. ex Hornem., extract, antimicrobial efficacy, Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion technique, fish pathogens, susceptibility, resistance.

The production of high-quality silkworm biomaterial Bombyx mori L. contributes to the expansion of the possibilities of its use in various areas of human activity - in light and pharmacological industries, aviation, medicine, radio and electrical engineering, mill production, photography and cinematography, food industry.The economic efficiency of the technological process for the production of silkworm hybrids was determined using breeds marked by sex at the grena stage, based on the fact that there is no single standard method for calculating the cost of the sericulture production process. Costs and profits depend on many factors, both direct and indirect costs, on the general economic and political situation in the world, as well as on changing, unpredictable factors, such as natural and climatic conditions. Since the cultivation of hybrids took place under the same cultivation conditions, the economic effect was determined based on differences in the preparation of hybrid eggs. Cost-effectiveness calculations were made for the yield of cocoons from 1 standard box of caterpillar ants. The cost of production was different, since with the traditional weight method of obtaining hybrids, distribution by sex occurred at the cocoon stage, during the removal of cocoons from cocoons and their sorting, on 8–14 days from the day of mass pupation. The profitability of using hybrids based on sex-marked lines at the egg stage is almost 11% higher compared to hybrids obtained by the traditional weight method. The economic effect is to increase the viability of caterpillars - by 4%, the yield of cocoons from 1 box of ant caterpillars, kg - by 17-24 kg. Additional profit from the technological process of production of silkworm hybrids when using Mer.6.white and Mer.7.white lines is UAH 2020.08, and Bp.35 white and Bp.54 white - UAH 2023.30. The obtained indicators of the level of profitability are calculated for one-time rearing of hybrids, and with repeated rearing, the level of profitability increases significantly and ranges from 40% to 70% per year. Keywords: sericulture, breeds, sex marking, silkworm hybrids, economic effect, hybrid production technology.

The article presents the results of research on the reduction of the negative influence of heat stress on the milk productivity of cows in the second half of lactation due to the use of a protein feed additive with protected protein and starch. One of the factors of effective milk production with intensive management of the industry is the creation of comfortable conditions for keeping animals on the farm. Highly productive cows are quite demanding on the conditions of maintenance and microclimate. The study of the productive action of the complex drug Bypass protein + passable starch under the influence of temperature stress was carried out by us for the first time. The influence of the thermal factor of the environment on the productivity of cows is well described in the literature and the mechanisms of such an effect are described. The main consequence of the reaction of cows to temperature stress is a decrease in the consumption of dry matter of feed. This factor becomes the main factor in reducing productivity due to energy and protein deficiency. The same reaction was observed in our studies, both in the control and experimental groups. But we confirmed for the first time that the actions of compensation of temperature stress can be controlled due to the configurations of protein and energy entering the body by bypassing the scar. In our research, it has been proven for the first time that even in the conditions of reduced feed consumption, this way of providing cows with protein and energy is a reliable way of managing the productivity of cows and stabilizing their homeostasis during the period of temperature conditions that are dangerous for the existence of animals. It was established that the decrease in daily milk yield by 1.3 kg is a consequence of the negative influence of the temperature factor, when the daily air temperature in the summer period was at the level of +24.5-36.4 oС. The proof of this is the decrease in the rate of decline in the level of milk productivity of the cows of the experimental groups in August, when the average daily air temperature dropped to +24-26 °C. Modernization of the feeding ration of high-yielding cows by increasing the content of non-degradable protein in the rumen to the norm during temperature stress contributed to better adaptation of animals to productivity and quality indicators of milk. Keywords: protected protein, cows, milk productivity, protein supplement, heat stress.

The article presents the results of complex research that continues previous work aimed at determining the polymorphism of the CSN2, PRL, LEP, and TNF-α loci and analyzing the productivity of dairy cattle with different genotypes for these loci. The goal of the work is to analyze the selection work with populations of dairy cows based on the results of typing individuals for allelic variants of the CSN2, PRL, LEP, and TNF-α loci, which are associated with economically valuable traits but are not directly evaluated by traditional phenotype-based methods. To analyze the data, the observed (Ho) and expected (He) heterozygosity and Wright's fixation index (Fis) were used. Individual animal typing was performed using AS-PCR (CSN2), SSCP (TNF-α), and PCR-RFLP (PRL, LEP) methods. The studies revealed an excess of heterozygous individuals for the CSN2 and TNF-α loci and a significant predominance of homozygous individuals for the LEP locus in the population of Ukrainian Black-and-White dairy cows. For the prolactin (PRL) and leptin (LEP) genes, a deviation from genetic equilibrium was shown due to the increase in the number of homozygous individuals. In the population of Ukrainian Red-and-White dairy cows, a high level of inbreeding (39%) was found for the PRL locus, which was reflected in a deviation from the genetic equilibrium state (χ2 = 13.50). In the case of the beta-casein and leptin loci, the situation is opposite, with a marked excess of heterozygous individuals (-0.24 and -0.18, respectively), but no deviations from the equilibrium state were observed in the population (χ2 values of 2.06 and 2.42, respectively). For both populations, there were no significant changes in the ratio of different alleles and genotypes for several loci investigated, and the impossibility of fixing desired alleles using traditional breeding methods was demonstrated. Based on a comparative analysis of different types of DNA markers and typing methods (AS-PCR, SSCP, and PCR-RFLP), the sensitivity of the Ho, He, and Fis parameters to the number of alleles at the locus was established, which should be taken into account when conducting genetic-population studies. Keywords: polymorphism, population, cows, allele, genotype, homozygosity, variability, fixation.

Only the most prosperous apiaries in veterinary and sanitary terms are able to ensure the proper functioning of the beekeeping industry. To do this, it is necessary to carry out timely and comprehensive diagnostic production and laboratory measures in order to identify the causative agents of bee diseases and prevent their spread. One of the modern high-precision methods is the polymerase chain reaction using specific primers. This method of analysis is quite widely used in many countries of the world for the diagnosis of viral diseases of bees. The purpose of the research is a comparative assessment of the use of two methods: epizootological examination in the field and diagnosis of viruses using PCR with specific primers for entomopathogenic viruses. As part of the experiment, 162 samples of pathological material from 17 regions of Ukraine were examined. According to the results of a three-year epizootological examination, clinical examination of families and differential diagnosis, 146 samples of pathological material were selected for PCR research. Out of 146 samples tested by PCR, only 51 were positive, which is 34.9%. This confirms the difficulty of establishing a diagnosis of viral diseases of bees based on clinical signs. Analyzing the results obtained over the years of research, it should be noted that the lowest number of positive cases of bees affected by viral agents according to PCR results was recorded in 2015 - 9 samples (17.6%) of cases, the largest - in 2016 - 27 (52.9%). According to the determination of the specific share of each of the studied viruses, it was established that the most common in 2014 were chronic paralysis (26.7 %) and sac-like brood (46.7 %), in 2015 – sac-like brood (66.7 %), in 2016 – chronic paralysis and saccular fetus. This indicates that effective and high-quality diagnostics of viral infections, apart from the viral disease of offspring, have not yet been sufficiently developed in Ukraine. Keywords: viral diseases of bees, epizootological, clinical method of research, polymerase chain reaction.

In most of modern protein nutrition systems by determining the protein requirement of animals, it do not emanate from the content of crude and digestible protein in the ration, but from the amount of protein degraded in the small intestine and defined as the sum of degradable and non-degradable protein in the rumen. A new approach to providing protein nutrition to highly productive animals is based on providing the animal body with easily soluble nitrogen compounds of feed protein and non-protein sources of nitrogen, which is provided by proteolysis of microorganisms and feed protein. During growing calves, the inclusion of protein-energy feed additives with different content of protected protein in the composition of complete diets contributes to obtaining the planned indicators of growth intensity and development of young animals, reducing nutrient consumption and has a positive effect on the economics of growing. As a result of the scientific and economic experience, it has been proved that the inclusion of high-protein feed additives with different contents of degradable protein and starch makes it possible to balance the rations of calves with the necessary amount of nutrients, minerals and biologically active substances. The using of a feed additive with a high content of protein non-degradable in the rumen and passing starch in the diet of heifers of the experimental group made it possible to obtain higher rates of live weight gain of animals by 10,1-10,2 % when grown from 3 to 10 months of age with a highly probable difference. Compared with the control group, which indicates a high productive effect of this additive compared to sunflower meal. The implementation of perspective developed protein supplements in the rations of calves during growing helps to reduce the amount of feed consumed per group by 4314.2 UAH during the experiment period, and allows you to receive additional income from the commercial value of the gain of the whole group – UAH 8719 Keywords: heifers, supplement, feeding, live weight gain, protein.

The presented article gives the results of evaluation of the body build type of firstling cows of Ukrainian black and white dairy breed, there are determined the influence of linear features of body build and udder on their milk output and quality and also the relations between these indicators in the form of regression equations. It was revealed that the average daily milk output of cows had a probable correlation influence with height, body depth, width of loin, rear udder attachment, central ligament, udder depth. Average milk fat content had a probable correlation with rear udder attachment and central ligament, while average protein content had a probable correlation with their height, chest width, body depth, butt width and front udder attachment, indicating a weak positive correlation between these parameters. A probable correlation between the average somatic cell content and the linear estimate of body type indicators was found only with the estimate of udder depth, central udder ligament and posterior dugs position. In the course of the research it was revealed that the average daily milk output of firstlings was likely influenced by the following attributes of linear estimation of the type of body build: height, breast width, angularity, butt width, posterior attachment of udder, udder depth, central ligament and posterior dugs location. By the results of the researches the regression model of prognostication of the average daily milk output of the firstling cows by the values of the linear estimation of the body build type of the cows is developed, that will allow making the decision on expediency of their further utilization in the second month of lactation. The proved models for predicting fat and protein content percentages in milk should be used for evaluation of firstling cows as auxiliary ones. There were created the models for prediction of number of mastitis cases in firstlings and content of somatic cells in milk on the basis of values of indicators of linear estimation of body type of cows. Keywords: dairy cows, body build, linear estimate, daily output, fat and protein content percentages, somatic cells, regression model.

Much attention is paid to the study of kappa-casein gene polymorphism in dairy breeds of cattle. Moreover, there is a lack of research on kappa-casein polymorphism in cattle beef breeds. Knowing that different alleles of the kappa-casein gene have different effects on milk yield and milk protein content, it would be important to study the exact allele associations in Ukrainian Charolais cattle. In addition, it would be relevant to find out whether there is an effect of different alleles of the kappa-casein gene on growth parameters in offspring. In addition, the current study would be highly relevant due to no previous research of κ- Cn in Ukrainian Charolais cattle. The polymorphism of the kappa-casein (κ-Cn) gene was studied in the population of Ukrainian Charolais cattle (n=29), "Privilla" agricultural company (Ukraine, Luhansk region) using the PCR-PDRF method. DNA was extracted from blood using the DNA Sorb isolation kit (AmplySens). Hind III restriction enzyme (FastDigest, Thermo Scientific) was used to see 2 allelic variants of κ-Cn polymorphism, which are A (273 bp) and B (182, 91 bp). The frequency of the A allele was 0.57±0.065 and 0.43±0.065 of the B allele. According to the genotyping results, allele frequency distribution in the population of 2021 did not reliably differ from the population of 2012. As a result, allele frequencies of the kappa-casein gene in 2012 for allele A was 0.61±0.054 and for B 0.39±0.054. This indicates the lack of selection pressure on population dynamics such as selective selection and gene drift over a period of 10 years. The frequency of AA genotypes was equal to 0.31, of BB genotype to 0.17 and of AB to 0.52. It was found that the theoretically expected number of genotypes, calculated according to the Hardy-Weinberg principle, did not reliably differ from the actual number. It could be related to current alleles being within an equilibrium state. In cattle with different genotypes of the κ-Cn gene, the values of the liveweight gain (kg) and the average daily gain (g) were calculated. In cattle with the BB genotype, there was an increase in the weight gain of their calves at weaning at 210 days (206.0±5.65 kg). In addition, the average daily gain of calves was 981.0±26.94 g, compared to genotypes AA (201.4±8.08 kg and 958.9±37.85 g, respectively) and AB – (196.8±2.45 kg and 936.9±11.73 g, respectively). Though, there were no significant differences between AA, BB and AB genotypes considering the studied parameters. Keywords: gene, kappa-casein, cattle, Charolais, polymorphism, meat productivity.